Hiatus Cleansing Smoothie

Well, since the holidays are now over I am more free to do all the other fun extras that I enjoy, like food blogging!  How were your holidays?  Mine were rather nice.  They culminated in a week long trip to NYC filled with irresponsible and decadent eating!  The nice thing is that even though I took that week off of my WeightWatchers lifestyle, I only gained 2.5 lbs.  I have already lost .5 and am sure to loose the other two sooner than later.  I love this program.  To date I have lost a total of 26 pounds (and that includes adding two pounds for the week of debauchery and overeating, I think I had 8 cupcakes in two days. . . ).

So this morning I decided to get back into another good habit (other than doing WeightWatchers), and that is making a green smoothie each morning.  Not only will it help to make me feel more healthy mentally, but hopefully physically too.  I am fighting a gross cold today... ugh.

So, WeightWatchers changed up their system recently to be even more healthy, which I find beautiful and exhilarating.  A week and a half after they updated the program I was able to break through a plateau I had been on for weeks and drop an additional 4 lbs!

One of the new additional changes to their plan is that all fruit and most veggies (excluding those obvious starchy ones) are now zero points.  That means that my smoothies are now really low in points.

So today's smoothie is blueberry focused.  Like I have said before on this blog, blueberries are great b/c they are very healthy and hide the green element of green smoothies from those who are more aesthetically sensitive.

Blueberry Num Yum Smoothie

1/2 C. Trop50 Blueberry Pomegranate Juice (1 point)
1/2 C. Skim Milk (1 point)
1/2 C. Frozen Wild Blueberries (0 points)
1 Frozen Banana (0 points)
1/2 C. Frozen Strawberries (0 points)
1 Cube Frozen Pureed Spinach, better to use fresh if you have it (0 points)
1 C. Filtered Water
1 Packet of Truvia (0 points), or you can just use a Tbsp. of Agave Nectar for 2 points.

Total Yield: A little more than 3 cups at 1 pt. per 1 1/2 cup serving.

Now... let's talk nutrients.  I choose to use the Trop50 juice simply because I had it in the fridge.  I grabbed it to try out.  It is decent and does have less sugar and half the points of regular apple juice. I found this article online and found it interesting:

http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/930-tropicana-trop50-pomegranate-blueberry-juice-class-action-

As for Truvia. Here is an interesting article analyzing it's safety and value as a "natural" calorie free sweetener.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-truth-on-truvia/

I used it today simply b/c I somehow found some in my pantry... no clue how it got there.  Usually I use agave nectar, but I am all out and too sickly to make the trek through the snow to procure some more, so Truvia it is this morning.

If you added 1 Tbsp. of Agave (a much more natural sweetener) to this smoothie, each serving would be 2 pts.  I personally think it is worth the extra point to avoid suspect sweeteners.  Having said that, I am not sure how often I'll use the Truvia.

This is a pretty tasty smoothie and it feels really good to know how many nutrients I am getting just sitting here sipping my drink!  For my WeightWatchers friends you can click off three servings of fruit and veggies, one serving of low fat dairy, and one serving of water.  Not bad!

Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things and start posting again on here!  I know that I have a very healthy (low points) cherry cake waiting in the back of my mind for posting.  I think I will wait until I feel less crappy to type that one up.  I am more eloquent when I am not wiping my nose every few seconds. 

So, here is to a new year full of healthier choices and more fulfilling living!!!