Marlow Lou: body

We have all been intrigued by those Instagram photos of gorgeous women sipping on their green smoothies with the hashtag - #delicious #skinny #soyummy - and thought, hey if they think it’s delicious it must be delicious. These women also look pretty damn fine whilst drinking their green smoothie so like any normal person you would straight away think that maybe if I drink a green smoothie I will look damn fine too. Easy! My male friend calls this thinking basic bitch logic (don’t ask) but none the less I have also scrolled through my Instagram feed, seen the photos and thought ooh I want to try a green smoothie too!

The very next day I strolled down to the local organic, Paleo café and ordered myself the greenest of green smoothies. It was filled with bucket loads of vegies and I was pumped to taste the deliciousness that everyone was talking about. I lift the straw to my lips feeling super proud of myself for getting on the green smoothie band wagon, excited for that first delicious taste, and as this liquid concoction of vegetables enters my mouth I am filled with pure horror. What is this? How can anyone drink this? I am struggling to swallow this one mouthful yet drink the whole glass or even drink it on a daily basis! This drink is totally grosssssss…..

The only thought going through my mind is ‘you Instagram girls lied to me’. This was like hashtagging #healthy next to the photo of a mars bar cheesecake - a complete and utter lie. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little bit but none the less it was not a pleasant experience.

Now, I will admit this was over six months ago and it took me a very long time to try a green smoothie again so feel free to call me a hypocrite BUT I kind of love green smoothies now. I do have a sneaking suspicion that going for the greenest of green smoothies was a bad idea as these bad boys really do need some fruit in them to add some delicious sweetener. So for those of you who were like me and could not comprehend how anyone consumed such ghastly green drinks try my suggestion below. Still healthy but just not so healthy that its gross (hehe).

My daily dose:

1 banana (can be frozen if desired)

Handful of organic spinach straight from the garden

1 teaspoon of natural peanut butter (obsessed with PB)

Sprinkling of cinnamon

Liquid – I add some water and lactose free milk but you could add coconut water, or just milk, whatever your heart desires really.

Chuck it all into a blender, blend away until smooth and there you have it, a green smoothie. You can also replace the peanut butter with other nut butters or even tahini is delicious. I also tend to add some more water at the end to top the smoothie up and blend again quickly. It is simple, quick and easy. You have the benefits of spinach and banana, the healthy fats of your nut butter and the hydration of coconut water. Drinks up ladies and gentleman x