The BEST green smoothie is sweet, healthy and filling. Ingredients include bananas, yogurt, pineapple, mango and spinach (which you cannot taste!). If you’ve been looking for an easy, healthy green smoothie recipe, look no further. This is my absolute favorite smoothie recipe, and I’m so excited to share it with you!
Happy New Year! I don’t know about you, but I need to stop eating so much junk. I’m not just saying that because it’s a January cliche to eat healthy, or because I want you to make this smoothie.
Sure, I’d love for you to try it, but I’m also serious. If I don’t refocus, I stand to undo a lot of hard work from this past year.
I’ve been keeping a secret. Since I began blogging, I’ve written over time about my struggles with food, overeating, and especially sugar.
When I went back to culinary school and decided to make this a career, the weight began creeping on. I tried a variety of diets, and everything seemed to only have a negative rebound effect.
When I started writing my cookbook, I was absolutely crippled with fear that the weight was going to become even more of an issue. I finally decided to do something about it. This past year, I lost 30 pounds.
On the left: me and my mom at my brother’s December 2014 wedding. The photo on the right was taken in October 2015 (by the lovely Emily Goodstein). I’m happy where I’m at now, but if I can shave off another 7ish pounds I’ll be at my 2011 wedding weight. That would be… amazing.
There were many factors involved in losing the weight, but the main change was getting off the couch (which, sorry, truly is the hardest part). I HATE the gym, but I discovered I like classes at small studios.
I try to go to 4-5 classes per week at different locations. I get bored easily, so I mix things up. Cycling, barre, reformer pilates and hot yoga are my favorites (shoutout to Zengo Cycle, my home away from home).
Once I started moving, it was much easier to make other changes. The bottom line is: I like to eat.
I like desserts. Pizza is my favorite food. I will never be successful at counting calories for more than a couple weeks at a time. Exercise burns calories.
When you’re burning a lot of calories, the dietary changes don’t need to be nearly as dramatic, and that makes losing weight so much easier. I did not follow a diet or eliminate any foods.
I promise I’m not being paid to write this, but ClassPass has been my salvation. It makes all of these classes affordable for me, and the ability to alternate between a variety of workouts keeps me from getting bored.
For a monthly fee (it varies slightly by city), I can go to unlimited classes at participating studios as long as I don’t visit any studio more than 3 times per month. If you live in or near a city, it might be available to you.
It’s seriously a game changer. Again, I’m not being paid for this post. ClassPass has no idea who I am.
My relationship with food has changed, and I no longer live in a state of fear. That was the second biggest change after exercise.
Panicking around “treats” prevented me from enjoying any of the good stuff. I was constantly sent into shame spirals that led to binging.
As soon as I began exercising, I felt less guilty about going out to restaurants or having some ice cream. I allowed myself to enjoy treats without the negative self talk.
Once I began relaxing around food, it was easier to make other healthy changes, which mainly involved cutting back on portions.
Panic dieting is just not the answer. At least, it wasn’t for me. Change had to come from a calm place.
So, as I said in the beginning, it’s time to get back on track. The last few weeks were holiday madness, and I enjoyed every second of it. I’m still going to eat pizza, ice cream, and Korean fried chicken (my newest obsession).
But not, like, every other day. It’s back to focusing on foods that give me energy to get my work done- eggs, smoked salmon, chicken, vegetables, fruit, yogurt… this smoothie.
It’s an excellent energy booster. It’s sweet, filling, and I PROMISE you will not taste the spinach!
The BEST Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup coconut water
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 1/4 cup chopped ripe pineapple
- 1/4 cup chopped ripe mango
- 1 cup packed fresh baby spinach (regular spinach may be substituted)
Instructions
- Place the yogurt, coconut water, banana, pineapple, mango, and spinach in a blender.
- Turn the machine on low to begin chopping the ingredients, then slowly turn the speed up to high and puree until the spinach is completely smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes.
- Taste; adjust ingredients to taste if desired.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
I hate the gym too Jennifer and my struggles have been not with weight (I am lucky that I don’t have a tendency even as I watch what I eat like a hawk) but with opening the door to go out and move. When I worked full time I was exercising (jazzercise!) every single day but when I suddenly found myself at home those ‘i want to isolate myself’ tendencies took over. You must be so proud to have got off that couch. Bravo honestly. You look awesome! I feel so motivated to run out the door and go take a class! And that smoothie… oh that looks goood!!! :)
You look fantastic (you did before too!) Plus I’m loving the color of this smoothie. Gorgeous photos.
congratulations !!!! i admit loosing weight is a big headache, but you set the sail smoothly in loosing weight. cheers !!
I was always a couch potato but then I fell hard and fast for both running and CrossFit. When I hit my 40s my metabolism slowed down even more (sad face) but building strength and muscle has improved that immensely. Also, just listening to my body. If I am not hungry, I don’t eat. Or, if I have a huge craving, I give in and don’t feel guilty about it (of course, my version of giving in is still low carb…I just eat too much of it!).
Jennifer,
You’re so right, you’ve got to get up off the couch! I realized that weight crept up on me when I put on my pans as the weather turned cooler this Fall. I made the decision not to drive to the store for a gallon of milk. (My kids go thru a gallon about every 36 hrs so I was driving to pick up a single gallon very often as the fridge is filled with lots of other stuff). In addition to helping me move more, walking to buy milk has cut down significantly on impulse purchases. I know I’m lucky to live only a mile of sidewalked streets from a grocery store–but there are 2 ice cream shops that are closer! ;)
The smoothie looks yummy–I usually add PB to my spinach, banana, and yogurt but I’ll try other fruit.
Thanks!
This is awesome! I’ve actually been doing something very similar this year and it’s feeling great! Dance workouts and yoga classes are the best. I still think you look amazing in your before pic, but kudos all the same. :)
Jen, you look amazing!!!!! Congrats! I am so happy for you! I love that you wrote: “My relationship with food has changed, and I no longer live in a state of fear.” so much of it is mental and our attitude and what we allow ourselves. . I applaud you!!!! beautiful post and thanks for sharing!!!!
Great story Jen. Congratulations. It is a constant battle for all of us, but simple and little life changes make the trick, I guess.
This smoothie sounds great. Simple yet nutritious and super easy to make. <3