"Fasting" for Lent, Fit Mama Workout and Green Monster SUPER HEALTHY Smoothie!

As many of you may know, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season (which lasts for 40 days until Easter Sunday).  Lent is a time of sacrifice for Christians in which we should give up something dear to us or something that may be blocking our relationship with others and with God.  This is all in an effort to get closer to God in this season.  Last year, Mike and I gave up sweets (dessert).  It was really hard but I was glad we did it because I didn't realize how addictive sugar was until I broke my "habit".


 So, this year has been harder.  I have been examining my life and my heart to determine what thing(s) I could give up for Lent.  Here are a couple of the thoughts I had:

1.  Give up coffee?  Ummm...I thought long and hard about this but I decided not to give up coffee.  I enjoy it so much and I don't feel like it gets in the way of my relationship with God or others....actually it puts me in a pretty good mood!

2.  Give up TV or movies at night?  We debated about this one because we do like to watch our shows and redbox movies at night when Mike gets off work.  Instead, we could pray together and read our bible more!   This one is still not out the window...

3.  Give up meat?  As many of you probably know, this would NOT be hard for me!  Actually I would fully enjoy a vegetarian family menu.  On the other hand, it would be very hard for my husband.  So, we did decide to go vegetarian for the next 40 days for Lent.

4.  Give up alcohol?  Well, we don't drink very much at all.  So, I don't feel like this would be much of a sacrifice for either of us!

5.  Give up electronics at night?  In the evenings, after a long day, we both unwind with our iphones, ipad, and macbook.  We text, facebook, blog, play games, check our emails, etc.  So, this one is not out the window either..

6.  Go vegan?  This takes vegetarianism to a whole new level.  Giving up all dairy, eggs, and cheese.  This would be more of a sacrifice than vegetarian alone.  I don't drink milk at all but I do love cheese!  

So we for sure are giving up meat, but I feel like it is not really a sacrifice for me.  I'm willing to consider any of the above Lenten "fasts"!

Of course, I did just buy about 20 lbs of chicken before we decided to go vegetarian for Lent, so I guess it's all going in the freezer!  I do have 2 more meals that I purchased food for last week that I am going to use before we start our "fast".  So, it looks like we're starting Monday.  If you're a vegetarian or thinking about going vegetarian, I will have tons of family friendly recipes I will be trying out for you and show you how this works (or doesn't) for a family of 6! 

Ok enough about Lent.....So, today after I dropped my 4 y.o. off at day care, I got home and laid both babies down for a nap.  Woohoo!  I had 2 hours to myself!  So, first things first, I got my workout on.  I got on the treadmill for 20 minutes and here is my quick 20 minute treadmill workout:

Min	Incline	Speed
0-1	1	3.0
1-2	2	4.0
2-4	1	5.0
4-6	1	5.7
6-8	1	6.0
8-10	1	5.0
10-12	2	5.7
12-15	2	6.0
15-20 **COOLDOWN**	0	4.5

And directly after I finished the treadmill, I did:

• 10 real pushups (no girlie push ups)

• Plank 60 seconds

• Side plank 30 seconds

• Side plank other side 30 seconds

• Pilates Hundred

• 10 real pushups

• Plank 60 seconds

Then I stretched for about 5 minutes and I was done!  I made a big veggie salad for lunch and ate it outside on my back patio in the beautiful 70 degree sun!

My husband came home for lunch right when I was reading a blog with a green monster smoothie recipe.  I read over the ingredient list and realized that I had everything on hand.  He said he would be my guinea pig on a healthy smoothie so I went for it.

Well, it turned out AMAZING!  My husband LOVED it and literally gulped it down in less than 5 minutes!   I figured with a healthy green smoothie, he would have to choke it down, but this was not the case.  Here is the recipe:

Green Monster Smoothie (from ChatElaine.com):

1 cup organic light soy milk, or milk of choice
1 tbsp chia seeds or ground flax seed
1 tbsp nut butter (optional), but I used organic smooth PB
1 scoop of protein powder (optional)
2 handfuls organic raw spinach
1 ripe banana, preferably peeled and frozen (mine was fresh, not frozen and it still turned out good)
1-3 ice cubes (I used 3 to overcompensate for my banana not being frozen)

Directions:

1. In a high speed blender, add 1 cup of almond milk. Now add in the chia or flax and optional nut butter and protein powder. Next, add the spinach followed by the frozen banana on top. Blend until smooth.

2. Add in 1-3 ice cubes and blend again until smooth. Serve immediately and enjoy a burst of energy in the morning or anytime of the day.

This would be a great smoothie to drink after a hard workout!   Oh and it is SO healthy:  Spinach is a super food.  Not to mention the chia/flax seeds adding lots of antioxidants!

Thank you for reading, have a wonderful night!!