yesterday, i shared with you one of my favorite smoothie recipes. what i didn't share with you is when i drink it, so if you don't mind i'd like to do that right now. (:
it may shock you to learn that i don't "eat" anything until roughly noon time (or before the gym, if i choose to go early). this may not seem too radical to you, but know this: i also wake up at 5 am everyday. the reason i abstain from food until noon is actually simple: i'm not hungry until then. i've never been one of those people who wakes up starving. and while i love breakfast foods, i've also never been one to consume them at breakfast (helloooo breakfsat for dinner!)
but that doesnt mean i'm starving until noon (i hate using the word starving. because really, not too many people i personally know have ever starved. cravings, however... craving is a different word. and almost everyone i know has cravings. but cravings are not hunger. say it with me now: cravings are not hunger)
i know, you were all worried for my health for a moment.
a few months ago, Robyn, along with my other favorite plantbased eaters on twitter, shared their morning rituals. upon waking, they immediately drink room temperature water with lemon, followed by green tea, followed by a green smoothie. so i thought, hey why not do that? the whole premise behind eating in this pattern is pretty simple: our bodies have spent 8 hours or more (if you are lucky!) of resting, not digesting. so it doesnt seem like the best plan for that resting body consists of a face full of crap for breakfast, does it? no, you have to transition into that face full of crap (;
see, our bodies are like cars. when you wake up in the morning, you don't start your car and immediately rev it up to drive 60 mph (maybe you do, but guess what? you are not taking the best care of your car possible). you warm it up a little, ease into driving, and hopefully come to 60 mph at a reasonable and safe pace.
our bodies are the same upon waking.
drinking room temperature lemon water is the best jumpstart for our digestive system. it's like a little hello to our insides, letting them know we are awake and it's time to start the processes inside. following the lemon water is a cup of green tea. again, it works the same way- slowly revving up the digestive system without overloading it. plus, who doesnt love a good shot of healthy antioxidants int he morning?
now that the body has been warmed up, it's about time for some healthy green juice. since the body has been warmed up with water and tea, the digestive system should be good to go as far as juicing/smoothies. so load up on the greens!
my normal morning usually looks like this:
- fill up my nalgene bottle with water and the juice (and fruit) of one lemon. i usually sip this for a few hours, as i'm not at all hungry in the morning. and it tastes delicious!
- once i've had at least half a nalgene (it usually ends up being all of it, though), i'l consider making green tea. i usually wait until i get that pleasant hunger feeling in the back of my mouth and throat (because that's where hunger truly originates. hunger does not come from the stomach guys!) before making tea.
- once i've had my tea, i let my body rest a little before making my smoothie. by this time, it's roughly 11 or 12 in the afternoon, and i have yet to actually "eat" anything. but, again, i haven't been hungry... so why eat if i'm not hungry? but now it's lunch time and now i AM hungry and ready for a healthy meal. i blend up a green smoothie and sip all 32+ oz of that bad boy down. YUM!
what's your morning eating routine like?
how much do you eat before lunch?
does this plan sound impossible for you or something you could easily do?
all photos from Girl on Raw
8 comments:
Interesting! Ill have to try this. I'm just so lazy about making things before work. I've been bringing yogurt. An apple and a banana and then eat again atnoon...usually subway or a salad from the grocery store.
I think I could do this. I'm not usually hungry until around 11, so that's when I eat breakfast (unless I'm leaving earlier than that). But this sounds like a good solution to that. I don't know if I can drink green tea or not, but if I just did the lemon water (since I'm not up as early as you anyways) would that be ok? And then the smoothie for lunch.
Interestingly enough having lemon in hot/warm water removes all the benefits of having lemon there in the first place. The flavor is still there which is a good motivator to drink more water but the active ingredients/benefits from the lemon are destroyed when you heat them up. It's actually better for you to drink cool water with lemon and hot tea for the warmth factor. Just thought I'd share because most people don't know.
very interesting. I will definitely try this instead of shocking myself with caffeine every day. you're soooo wise!
A shot of espresso in my hot chocolate is how i start my day. and then i drink a crap ton of water until lunch at noon.
BUT i've been more and more hungry now that i'm running again. I should throw a banana into my morning routine for good measure.
I get up early and don't eat until lunch too. I'm just not hungry. I prefer a big dinner...then after dinner I don't eat or snack.
I've never ever had a smoothie. Crazy right?
I actually love the idea behind this, but I'm not sure it's feasible for me. As a teacher, I only have a couple of opportunities to eat. I don't think it'd be much of a problem drinking my smoothie during the day, but it's a bit frowned upon "eating" around the kids when they aren't.
But you definitely have me thinking about eating when I'm actually hungry....
oh, I wake up starving! Maybe it is just a craving, but I get horrible headaches and feel sick if I don't eat within an hour. I start every day with a fruit/veg smoothie. It's a great jumpstart to the rest of my eating day. I need to start with the water-lemon thing....I used to do that, but got lazy :).
Loving the lemon water. So good for colds too! So much vitamin c right now (:
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