The Last Straw

Today is the first day that I've felt like my normal self. Who knows what I had. Flu, cold, H1N172, I don't care what you call it; it was just pitiful.

So, when I woke up this morning and didn't feel like asking SH to shoot me in the head, I knew I was on the path to recovery. And what better way to recover than to start my first day of my green smoothie challenge? :)

Now, I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm not going to be able to do this like Sara really wanted us to. I can do the smoothies most mornings and I can stop drinking cokes (or pop if you're a Yank.) I will try my best to eat more greens, salads included but the whole no white sugar thing makes my head hurt. Yes, I know sugar is bad. Yes, I know it is one of the reasons I'm feeling so sluggish mid-day. But it's in bread, y'all! And I'm a bread addict. I can't help it. Baby steps.

I've decided not to set myself up for immediate failure and will begin trying to incorporate better things in my diet while leaving some of the bad stuff out. And I'll do it kicking and screaming with a smile.

My first smoothie this morning was not bad at all. It was quite yummy and I seriously drank the entire pitcher. But smoothies aren't too new for us...we've been drinking fruit ones for breakfast for a while now. The only difference is that instead of fat free milk, I'm using water and ice, and adding handfuls of spinach instead of this protein powder stuff that did nothing for me. (This morning, my fruits were strawberries, one banana, and some pineapple. Yummy!)

And now after reading this article, I of course want cuter straws. If you know me at all, you'll know that I drink pretty much everything through a straw. After buying a couple of hundred packs and going through them in a few months, I realized how irresponsible I was being. (We recycle of course, but I never knew what number those straws were so I always threw them away.)

So, I got a couple packs of those funny whistle straws. They work like a dream and are dishwasher safe. I keep them with my utensils so they are easily accessed. I've used them for about a year now and can't even fathom going back to the disposable kind. (I'm trying to get rid of all disposables in my house but that's another post.) I even bought a set for the trailer so I have no excuse not to use them when we're camping. Sure, it's a small step, but it adds up!

After looking around a bit, I came up a little disappointed. Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, BB&B didn't have sqaut. Grrr. I've seen the Oprah steel straws, but those don't look fun to me. They look quite serious, for straws. I saw these on etsy...still a little un-fun to me but you know how much I support hand made. Plus, they're made of glass, so that's another good thing. I'm thinking of getting these since they're glass and come in my fave shade! :)

Did anyone else start drinking the green smoothies? I know there were several people that wanted to start and I got some emails, too. If I didn't get back to you, I apologize. Blame H1N172.

Hope y'all are having amazing weeks so far! Happy to be back!

xoxo