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I’ve been hearing a lot recently about an extremely popular drink called the Green Smoothie. I hear stories from my friends about turnip greens, kale, nutrients, anti-nutrients, $800 blenders and drinking whole heads of lettuce in one sitting.
So naturally I was curious.
Who wouldn’t be? (My hubs is not allowed to answer that question.)
I found a few recipes, dusted off our (not $800) blender and tried it out.
My review:
It’s not always the tastiest drink (a little earthy). But I can easily convince myself that it’s good.
It’s super fun to mix and match flavors.
I’m certainly upping my daily dose of fruits and veggies (easily by 300%).
And the biggest part is I’m sleeping better and my energy has kicked way up just in the 2 weeks that I’ve been making daily smoothies.
All good stuff.
The most notable thing that happened is that my habits are changing.
I’m naturally seeking out more nourishing food throughout the day.
I’m gravitating towards clean protein and away from things like sugar.
I’m already adding nutrients like chia seeds to my smoothies to optimize it with my metabolism.
I’m feeling more repelled than usual by processed food.
(Notice that giving up coffee, a common green smoothie enthusiast claim, is NOT on this list)
All this is happening without a huge effort on my part.
But the green smoothies are not what made this happen.
I am.
Healthy (and not so healthy) changes can absolutely crate a domino effect within your behavior.
One change can lead to 3 more changes very quickly.
But only if you want it to happen.
The reason this health-driven domino effect is happening in my life is because I’m inviting it.
I’m allowing myself to be pulled in these directions.
I’m going with the flow when I crave egg whites and zucchini for breakfast.
I’m not questioning it when my body says ‘no’ to extra cheese
I don’t feel like any part of these choices deprives me.
But it’s important to know I can buck this trend at any time if I wanted to.
I can go eat a fast food meal and wash it down with a large soda right now. I can choose to stop drinking the smoothies.
I have done that very thing in the past when I wanted to lose weight.
I made healthy changes, saw the momentum building, and I freaked out about how quickly my life was changing.
It felt like I was stumbling on the momentum.
Like I couldn’t keep up.
I felt uncomfortable and even scared.
So I slacked off.
And the momentum slowed to a halt.
That cycle repeated again and again until I saw what was going on.
The moral of this story.
I’ve had a lot of ‘green smoothies’ in my life. Diet plans, cutting out specific food groups, exercise classes, trainers, even coaches.
Nothing worked unless I did my work and cleaned up my fears.
You must allow change to happen before you can change your life.
You must be ready for it. You must invite it and allow it to happen without worrying where it will end up.
No matter what change you’re implementing. It could be the magic, #1, secret, no-fail key to weight loss that only celebrities know about. But if you don’t allow the change to happen, it won’t work no matter what you do.
Too often what stops the momentum of change is our fear. It’s too much, too soon (or not soon enough), too restricting, too different, we’re not ready, or we feel too vulnerable. There are dozens of reasons that make us fear and ultimately stop change.
Here’s the thing: Those fears aren’t real. I know they feel as real as the nose on your face. But they’re not. They’re smoke screens. Unfounded and designed to make you stay just where you are.
My big fear was that it happened too fast and I ‘wasn’t ready’.
Which was completely illogical because what I wanted more than anything at that time was to lose weight.
But that’s the point. Fears that make us resist the domino effect of healthy change are not logical. If we look at them and question them, we will see just that.
Our egos fear change. It’s natural and totally okay. Just know that it’s not rooted in anything sincere. You can question the truth of those fears. You can test their legitimacy. And you can decide not to believe them.
That is how the fears lose their power over us and we become ready for change.
Your green smoothie can be a gateway drug to a plethora of healthy changes.
But only if you let it.
If you try to change while holding onto any fears, you will buck the trend of change in your life faster than you can say ‘cheese ball’.
Actual changes in your life can be easy. The hard part is being aware of your resistance to them.
Logically, you wouldn’t think you have fears about healthy changes.
But if change is really hard for you, if you buck it and sabotage your momentum, that’s a red flag that you have fears that need to be uncovered.
Once you have done your work, change can be created, not forced.
That’s the sweet spot when you can’t wait to see what changes come next.
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