Banana-Berry Protein Smoothie

Happy Thursday, guys! Since it’s almost impossible to try and intertwine my points below, I’m just going to break down this post into a ‘Three Things Thursday’ kinda scene:

1) As a healthy living blogger, it’s no surprise that most of my blog content is geared towards wellness.  I usually discuss food but today wanted to kick things off with a chat on mental health.  When individuals embark on a healthy living journey, it often starts by cleaning up his/her eating habits.  Although unintentional, this harmless interest in nutrition ends up going a bit far.  Rather than approach our wellness holistically, we tend to fixate on only one area: our physical health.  Success becomes measured against achieving a certain physique, increasing fitness levels and preventing the onset of certain illnesses.  While those goals can certainly be an incredible force to propel us to take care of our diet, sometimes they do so at the risk of our mental health i.e. our relationship with food.  Obsession with food & an unnatural fixation on creating the perfect meal starts to develop. Food choices are guided by numbers rather than cravings and hunger levels. Fear of certain foods creeps in due to the risk of deviating from the so-called ‘perfect’ diet. If not addressed early enough, these behaviours eventually become the norm and can lead to fully-fledged eating disorders with long-lasting repercussions. Earlier this week, I wrote an article for the local newspaper Mumbai Mirror on how to make peace with food and wanted to share the online version with you guys: How to Make Friends with Food. As much as I love helping my K Weigh clients lose weight, it brings me even more joy to watch them heal their relationship with food and essentially their relationship with themselves.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this…

2) With April on the horizon, I’ve embarked on a pantry spring clean i.e. actually eat up all the random food items that I’ve bought in the past.  Between buckwheat groats, almond flour, coconut flour, an assortment of dark chocolate bars, rice cakes galore, and more nut butter that even I can get through, I have quite a bit to work with.  In attempt to make a dent into my stash, I made a breakfast smoothie on a whim which tasted delicious and surprisingly packed in a hefty amount of protein (about 15g).  

I say ‘surprisingly’ because this smoothie is completely vegan-friendly and doesn’t contain any protein powder.  It’s thick, creamy, filling and just the perfect level of sweetness so give it a shot: 

Banana-Berry Protein Smoothie – Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 medium ripe banana, frozen
• 2 tablespoons raw oats
• 2 tablespoons almond flour 
• 1 tablespoon hemp hearts + extra for garnish
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 

Combine the following ingredients in a blender and whizz until smooth:

3) Over the past 2 months, I’ve started a daily gratitude practice which I really feel has made a tremendous difference to my wellbeing.  Each night before I sleep (and after I’ve done my last round of social media 😉 ), I mentally list out 10 things that went well in my day and that I am grateful about…no matter how big or small.  Some days it can be as small as I’m grateful that I got a cab without waiting or I’m grateful that my day went well without any glitches.  Redirecting my energies towards the positive aspects of my day rather dwell on the negatives has almost instantly made me happier and undoubtedly helps me sleep better & more satisfied. Even on the worst of days, it’s still possible to acknowledge a little bit of goodness if we try.  I just thought I’d share as this ritual costs nothing, takes all of 2 minutes and saying Thanks can never be a bad thing. I truly believe that gratitude is the first step towards attracting abundance into our lives.

How would you rate your relationship with food?

What’s one healthy habit you’ve created over the past month?

Favourite smoothie combination?