Fitness Fridays: Strawberry Kale Smoothie

I decided to launch a fitness series with every Friday dedicated to a wellness blog post.  Fitness and health has been a big part of my life since basically university.  When I was growing up I never really ate well.  I loved sugary foods (still do actually) and whenever I would indulge in fatty foods (which would be often) I would just tell myself “I’ll deal with it when I get older.”  Well, when I reached high school I weighed about 180 pounds and was wearing sizes 14 and XL (I’m now anywhere from a four to an eight depending on the brand, and a small or medium).  Whenever I hear people in diet commercials say “I wish I had my high school body” I can’t help but majorly disagree.  I am at a point right now where I am the thinnest I have probably ever been since I was maybe six or seven.

I’m going to share my workout plan in another post, but I wanted to share a recipe for my go-to breakfast at the moment.  For the past week and a bit I have been drinking strawberry kale smoothies for breakfast.  I found the recipe online at Tablespoon, but not only are these yummy and filling, but they are also incredibly good for you as well.

Kale is generally known as a superfood thanks to it’s many benefits.  Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium.  Best of it, among other things, it has anti-cancer properties.  So mix the kale with strawberries, bananas, and plain yogurt, and you get a yummy fruit smoothie that is not only good for your diet, but for your health as well.

From Tablespoon:

  • 1 cup chopped fresh kale, stems removed
  • 1 cup Cascadian Farm frozen strawberries, thawed slightly (doesn’t really matter on the brand, I’ve been using Kirkland Signature Frozen Strawberries from Costco)
  • 1 frozen ripe banana
  • 1 cup Yoplait plain yogurt (I usually just buy whichever yogurt is the cheapest)
  • 1 cup crushed ice

I highly recommend leaving the strawberries overnight in the fridge in a Ziplock to defrost them, so by the morning they are nice and soft and blend nicely.  Usually I blend the strawberries first with the yogurt.  I then throw in the kale little bits at a time so it doesn’t all just sit at the top.  I then throw in the banana in pieces, then add the ice to finish it up.  I do not recommend blending it all at once because it would just be too much for your blender to handle (I did this the first time, it took forever to make).

On average it takes around five minutes from start to finish.  If you make the recipe as shown it’s usually enough for two servings. I pour it in a tumbler so I can bring it to work but I usually have enough left for another cup (which I also drink).

As for calories, it depends on the brands you are using.  I have been using Kirkland Signature Frozen Strawberries and the yogurt brands change every time.  On average I would say it would be around 300 calories, but it’s packed full of a number of really good stuff.

Let me know if you try out the recipe or if you make any modifications to it, I would love to try it!

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