Tropical Green Smoothie

by Brittany Mullins on May 23, 2013

The weather is starting to heat up here in Virginia. It’s officially time to start packing away my winter wardrobe, busting out the shorts and incorporating more warm weather foods, like overnight oats and smoothies, into my diet.

Tropical Green Smoothie // Eating Bird Food

I’m pretty sure you guys already know this, but I’m pretty much hooked on adding greens to all of my smoothies. If you haven’t tried my green lemonade smoothie, what are you waiting for? Just kidding, kind of. No, but really, it’s good and I do recommend trying it.

I’ve grown to like the “green” taste in my smoothies but the recipe I’m sharing today is perfect for those just getting hopping on-board the green smoothie train. It uses frozen banana and mango, both of which are super sweet and do a great job masking just about anything. Of course, it’s still a winner for those of us that have been drinking green smoothies for ages — you can’t really go wrong when combining banana, mango and coconut.

Tropical Green Smoothie

The recipe is actually inspired by one of my favorite smoothies from the Tone It Up Beach Babe edition: the Monkey’s Mango and Coconut Cream Smoothie. It has tropical flavors, which give me a reminder that after all the stress of planning a wedding, our day will be here (and be amazing!!) and then Isaac and I will be headed to the Caribbean to relax and soak up the sun while sipping tropical flavored drinks similar to this one, but with a splash or two of rum. ;)

Tropical Green Smoothie
 
 

Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • ½ frozen banana
  • ½ cup frozen mango
  • 1 cup Almondmilk Coconutmilk Almond Breeze
  • 1-2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 scoop brown rice protein powder
  • ½ Tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1 teaspoon unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients except the shredded coconut into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Sprinkle a few extra chia seeds and the unsweetened coconut on top. Enjoy!

Tropical Green Smoothie

I normally buy and use Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze but this week I decided to switch it up and buy the Unsweetened Almondmilk Coconutmilk blend. It’s perfect for this tropical smoothie but I also love the subtle coconut flavor it adds to my morning iced coffee. I’ve been enjoying it this week while day dreaming about laying on the beach with my toes in the sand. Can you tell I’m ready for our honeymoon?

Tropical Green Smoothie // Eating Bird Food What’s your favorite green smoothie combo?

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SoulCylce Wedding Weekend

by Brittany Mullins on May 20, 2013

Hey friends. I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was busy and fun — starting on Thursday with Isaac’s sisters’ college graduation in NOVA and ending on Sunday with a long drive home from a wedding in Long Island. 

Traveling and events always make it a little more difficult to stay on track with healthy eating and workout routines, but I tried my best. I have a few tips and tricks I use when traveling. Here’s my normal routine:

  • Pack my workout gear: one or two workout outfits, shoes, socks, head phones and my heart rate monitor
  • Pack healthy snacks. Y’all are probably going to think I’m crazy but as soon as I know I’m going on a trip, the first thing I usually start packing are my snacks. It’s kind of comical, but I’ve found that being prepared is way better than being hangry. And unless you’re going to a big city with lots of healthy options, it can often be a challenge to find nutritious options. 
  • Research. I always check out the place I’ll be staying to see if there’s a gym and then look at a map to see what’s nearby — cool workout studios, healthy restaurants, etc. I always look to see if there’s a Whole Foods nearby as well. :)

This weekend we were driving so I packed lots of snacks including hardboiled eggs, mini protein muffins, a grapefruit, apples, a baked sweet potato, a couple KIND Bars, protein powder, almond butter, almonds and sunflower seeds. 

Before our trip I emailed Erica and Adam (our lovely hosts that live in Brooklyn) to see if Erica would want to go to a SoulCycle, Bar Method or Physique 57 class with me. NYC has the best workout classes and I wanted to try at least one of them! Erica loves SoulCycle and was totally game so we made plans to attend a class at 7:30AM on Saturday morning. 

We went to the NoHo location on Lafayette and the class was, in one word, amazing!

soulcycle

I’m not sure if the bikes are nicer than the spin bikes at my gym or if wearing actual spin shoes made all the difference, but the ride seemed to be smoother and overall more comfortable and enjoyable than a regular spin class experience at my gym. The environment was awesome — around 50 bikes in a dimly lit room, the instructor’s bike on a little stage in the center with a few candles around it. Throughout the class upbeat music pumped through the speakers while the instructor energeticly led us in what we should be doing by calling out different positions and demonstrating. The rhythm of the music was timed perfectly with what were doing on the bike. And we weren’t just riding…oh no, we were working our whole body by turning up the bike’s resistance, jumping in and out of the saddle and doing pushups and crunches while pedaling.

At one point we even pulled out small weights for a track full of arm exercises. This part reminded me a lot of the arm exercises I’m used to doing in a barre class. Let me be the first to tell you that the 2 lb weights are quite deceiving. By the time the track was over, my biceps and triceps were on fire! Definitely feeling the bun. 

Another aspect I loved is that I could feel my core working the entire time. Because we were doing so many other things on the bike, I really had to focus on keeping my core engaged to make sure I stayed balanced. The class was 45 minutes and I burned around 460 calories, only a tiny bit less than what I would burn in a normal spin class, which is an additional 15 minutes long.

heart rate monitor

SoulCycle is definitely an effective cardio workout and it’s SUPER fun. I could easily see myself wanting to go a few times a week if I lived in New York. Alas, I guess I just have to wait for BoHo Cycle Studio to open in Richmond later this year. 

 After class I convinced Erica we needed to swing by NoHo Juice Bar. I got their signature green juice sans the celery…

green juice

Obviously I hated it. ;)

I also convinced Erica we should go to Whole Foods… because I needed more snacks. Obviously.

No but really, I do like to explore Whole Foods in different areas. They always have unique setups and fun local flair. The New York locations are always awesome and tend to have things we don’t have yet in Richmond (like the black label Classic GT Synergy Kombucha). I also found some tasty chili mango trail mix that I’ve never seen at our Whole Foods before. It’s already gone and I’m wishing I would have bought more.  

After that little adventure, we headed back to Brooklyn, woke up the boys and had breakfast at Maybelle’s Cafe before heading to Long Island for our friends’ wedding. 

egg whites omelette

My egg white omelette with spinach and mushrooms.

By the time the ceremony was about to begin the weather was a little rainy and cold so it had to be moved indoors Of course, everything was still beautiful and perfect. We had a great time celebrating our friends, Meghann and Rob. We drank a little, ate a little and danced a lot — as it should be.

rob and meghann

The lovely couple!

wine

Some fun details…

cilantro

This was the last wedding we’ll be attending before our wedding, which is now less than four weeks away! So much to do and so much excitement!!

wedding pic

Question for you: Have you ever taken a SoulCycle class or something similar? What did you think? 

{ 28 comments }

Bridal Portrait Prep – What I’m Eating

May 14, 2013
slimdown scramble

Hi friends. Sorry I left you all in the lurch for a few days — things have been crazy busy with wedding planning, work and the like. In addition, last weekend was Mother’s Day (Happy belated Mother’s Day to all my moms out there) and I took time away from the computer to hang out [...]

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Mini Strawberry Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins

May 8, 2013
Mini strawberry chocolate chip protein muffins

I hope you guys like muffins! Last weekend I bought two containers of strawberries from the farmers market. I was only going to get one but Isaac convinced me to get two, which is fine because I love fresh berries. They’re the perfect snack and also great as a topping for things like yogurt, salads, [...]

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Green Lemonade Smoothie

May 6, 2013
Green-Lemonade-Smoothie1.jpg

Happy Monday friends. I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was nice with tasty Indian food on Friday night (at the new spot in Carytown, Curry Craft) lots of wedding planning stuff, a trip to the farmer’s market, a visit from my mom and a little baking/cooking. Not too shabby. Some green goodness was [...]

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Wedding Update – Our Invitations

May 1, 2013
rustic wedding invitations

Only 45 days until the big day! I seriously can’t believe how fast the time has passed. It seems like just yesterday Isaac proposed. A few weeks ago I mentioned sending our invitations out and since everyone we’ve invited should have received them by now, I thought I would go ahead and share them with [...]

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