Why I stopped drinking Green Smoothies
I’ve been putting off writing this post for a long time now. As the inventor of the filling green smoothie, the ‘Green Thickie’, I’m ashamed to admit that I have not been drinking them at all myself for the last few months.
It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I had completed the 7 Day Green Thickie Challenge myself and had promoted it to the public encouraging you all to join me on your own 7 day challenge.
I had been planning to drink nothing but green thickies for 7 days as I had done the first time and had managed to get through one and a half days of drinking green thickies before I started to feel very ill.
I don’t really get ill these days as I eat carefully and try and look after myself so this was very strange for me. I thought I might have been going through a detox as I did last time but after just one day of being on the challenge it felt a bit early to be experiencing detox symptoms.
I felt really sick, so weak with absolutely no energy to do anything whatsoever and I was really struggling to look after my toddler.
The next day I felt worse and my appetite had completely gone which isn’t like me at all. I couldn’t face the thought of eating anything especially anything green, and the though of drinking a green thickie literally turned my stomach. I couldn’t understand what was going on, and then the thought crossed my mind… is there a chance I could be pregnant? After I did the test I was so shocked that it was actually positive but very happy about having another baby.
So for the first few months of my pregnancy I couldn’t drink my usual green thickies, in fact I can’t really eat leafy greens at all. This didn’t worry me too much as I had been healthy prior to getting pregnant and the same thing happened at the start of my last pregnancy. I couldn’t stomach any vegetables during my first trimester last pregnancy and I had tried juicing with disastrous results so I wasn’t going to be doing any juicing in a hurry this time.
So to ensure I have been getting my nutrients during this short time I’ve been taking these Raw Prenatal Vitamins. They are made from food, not synthetic so they are more easily absorbed by the body, and as you take them 3 times a day, it’s much easier for your body to cope with. I did feel a bit better once I started taking them so think they did really help.
I’ve really struggled with feeling sick this pregnancy which I didn’t experience last time, and totally went off all food which was also new. To start with the thought of eating any of my normal healthy foods made me feel so sick that I just resorted to eating very bland processed foods such as potato waffles and chips. This is hard for me to admit as I’m usually so healthy but I knew it wouldn’t last forever.
My theory is that my body was trying to put me on a fast at the start to prepare my body for the baby and direct my energy to the baby. But as I’ve discussed during my previous attempts to fast, I really struggle to fast while having to look after a baby as it wipes me out so much. So I had to force some food down even thought I didn’t feel like it at all. I think when you’re ill and run down it’s much easier to eat bland, processed or sugary foods because they go down much more easily. This may be because if your body is trying to fast due to illness it will reject real food, but it’s harder for the body to tell processed junk is food so it goes down well. Also some processed foods can be very comforting to us as they remind us of our childhoods and things we may have eaten when we’ve been ill in the past.
So this is the reason why I’ve not been posting very often on this website. I’ve not been feeling too well and I’ve had very limited energy. Also I’ve felt a bit like a fraud promoting green smoothies when I’m not drinking them myself. This is one of the reasons I invented the 4 Way Smoothie so that there are more options for people who may not be ready for the green drinks just at the moment.
But don’t despair, I still have my passion for green smoothies and green thickies and intend to get back on the green path of health very soon. I’ve got so many ideas that I can share with you that I think you’ll love so stay tuned.
Happy New Year to you too! I don’t usually make resolutions as I tend to change things as soon as I realise they need it, and as I’m pregnant this is not the time for me to be focusing on new beginnings. There will be plenty of those when my baby arrives, and I’m sure I’ll have some excess weight to lose again. I’ll be sharing exactly how I do it and what I eat with you at that stage too.
But I’m sure many of you will want to get healthy, fit and lose a few pounds at this time of year, so I would encourage you to Start Here if you are new to my website and perhaps think about taking the 7 Day Challenge yourself? There is also a Green Smoothie challenge currently being hosted by Real Food Runner which is worth checking out!
What are your goals for this coming year?
This post has been shared with these Fabulous blog hops.
Green Thickies also co-hosts a blog hop, Healthy Vegan Fridays so join us on Friday to find fabulous health related articles and healthy recipes..
The best type of blender to make Green Thickies is a Vitamix and you will get beautifully smooth Green Thickies, but you can use whatever type of blender you have or can afford. This blender
is reasonably priced and will easily make green thickies along with lots of other delicious food.
Comments always put a smile on my face, so please take a minute to say hello below. Many thanks.
If you have enjoyed this post please pin it to Pinterest, Tweet it or share it on facebook (below) so others can enjoy it. Many thanks.
Hi, I'm Katherine, thanks for stopping by. I healed myself of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and lost 56 pounds. I now have loads of energy for my baby girl and enjoy walks on the beach with my family. I am passionate about helping you improve your health and reach your ideal weight. I invented Green Thickies to provide a complete meal drink for busy people who care about their health.
Congratulations! :) I hope all goes well for you and you’re able get back to the way you love to eat soon! Take care and Happy New Year!
Thank you! I’m slowly returning to more healthy foods and I’m sure I’ll get there eventually. Happy new year!
Aww congratulations :-)
Thank you Emma.
Congratulations. It’s a shame that you’ve felt like a fraud. Thanks for being so honest and please take care.
Thank you! I’m a very honest person and always strive to be open and honest on my blog. I’ve struggled with this as we generally don’t go public with our pregnancies until after we’ve had the scan to tell us everything is OK. So I’m relieved I can finally talk about my pregnancy.
Happy New Year to you! Please don’t feel like a fraud, or ashamed about not drinking your smoothies/thickies! Circumstances are what they are, and you need to put your health and that of your unborn baby first. I found your website and subscribed to your newsletters about 2 months ago, and am enjoying green smoothies for the first time in my 50+ years! I want to thank you for all the great recipes and the detailed information on exactly how to make a great tasting and nutritious breakfast. I hope you’re feeling well and full of energy again soon!
Thank you so much Jennie. That’s very kind of you to say so and I’m so glad you’re enjoying green smoothies and have found my website useful. I’m sure I’ll be back to my normal diet very soon!
Congratulations. x
Thank you Kylie!
Awwww congratulations! I just started following your blog a few months ago thanks to Carrie on Vegan, and I have enjoyed each post. I love your honesty, with my pregnancy I could not even think of greens the first tri without feeling sick to my stomach – it was so rough! Hoping you feel more energetic and green-friendly within the next few weeks. Congrats again on the happy baby news!!
Nicole
Hi Nicole, thank you! I’m so glad you are enjoying my website. I always like to be honest but found it hard as I couldn’t reveal my pregnancy until my scan determined everything was OK. That’s good to know you were the same in your pregnancy. It’s strange isn’t it but I think we have to listen to our bodies! Thank you, I’m slowly feeling a lot better now thank you.
Congratulations and hang in there. Soon you will have another little cutie that will make your suffering now worth it!
Thank you Georgia. I know it’s so funny how quickly you forget your suffering when you’ve got your lovely newborn in front of you!
Sorry about Your State of Health.
Congrats!!!!!!!
Between I’ve released 40ilbs on smoothies thickies and raw generally.
Happy New Year Kath.
Thank you Ojay! and congratulations on your weight loss. That’s fantastic and so encouraging for me (and I’m sure other people) to hear. Keep up the good work!
The great thing about drinking green smoothies is its not a diet and we can always go back to it without shame or guilt. We can always “talk to the greens”. I appreciate your honesty and I do enjoy your recipes and mailers either way. Congrats to you as well! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much Constance. Yes you’re right it’s great not to have to follow a strict diet but after finding something that makes you feel so good, it’s sad not to be able to continue with it especially when I am most lacking in energy. But there must be a reason for it and I’m going to continue with my green smoothies as soon as I can stomach them again. Thank you!
Congratulations!
That’s totally understandable. Listen to your body and please keep us posted.
Thank you Marie. Yes I think it’s important to listen to your body. Now that I can talk openly about my pregnancy I’ll be posting more updates about it. Thank you!
Congratulations on being pregnant. That is so exciting!! Ironically, the same thing happened to me. I found your blog, started making green thickies like crazy, planned on doing the 7 day detox. Part way through, I couldn’t stand the thought of having any more and found out I was pregnant. I’ve always loved smoothies, but since I’ve been pregnant and can’t stomach the though, I haven’t had any. It’s really sad.
Hi Betsy. Thank you! Ha ha, that’s so funny that exactly the same thing happened to you! Congratulations! I think there’s definitely a reason why we can’t stomach greens at the start of our pregnancies. Our bodies are strongly trying to tell us something. I have many theories about this but who knows exactly why this happens. I’m sure we’ll be back to drinking them before long. In my last pregnancy I was drinking green smoothies again about half way through my second trimester too which I’m not far off. I’ve just read all your pregnancy posts which I’ve loved and am off to make a comment over at your blog now.
Yay!! Now I will give you my public congratulations :) So excited for you!
I hope you are able to get back into your healthy eating soon! I’m sure once you have your beautiful baby you’ll get your fill of smoothies- you’ll probably need lots of fast nutrition!
Thank you Gabby! I’m slowly returning to healthy eating and everything I eat at the moment is unprocessed and homemade but I still can’t get many greens down me and I’m still a bit fussy with my eating. I think around this stage in my last pregnancy I was able to start tolerating greens again so I’m hoping it will happen sooner rather than later. I hope you had a great Christmas!
Hi Katherine,
Wow, I didn’t know about green smoothies when I was pregnant 8 years ago – so I wonder if that would have happened to me too. All I remember is feeling nauseous and constantly hungry – I ate everything in sight an more! I didn’t have any specific aversions, but my diet wasn’t very healthy back then. All the best to you!
HI Joanna, I’m getting more and more people telling me they went off green smoothies and greens in general at the start of their pregnancies. It’s funny how just the colour of it turned my stomach so much when I’m so used to eating them. I could eat a bit of cooked greens in a soup or a pesto but it just felt wrong to put it in with my fruit all of a sudden. I’ve had a little bit of salad today and it went down fairly easily so I’m hoping I’ll gradually return to my bright green drinks, although I am really enjoying my orange juice and porridge at the moment!
Congratulations! Babies are always a blessing! Please don’t feel like a fraud. There are few things in life that are one size fits all. I don’t think that because you can’t stomach them at this stage in life that it means they aren’t still good and beneficial to others.
Thank you Jamie. It’s just so hard to know that I need nutrients for myself and my baby and not to be able to get them from food. There must be a good reason for it though as it’s so common. Thank you for your kind words.
A big congrats to you and expecting your new baby! I’m sure the green smoothies will come back after the pregnancy…we’ve had a Vitamix for years and LOVE ours for smoothies and other things. :)
Thank you, I’m already back on green smoothies, yay!
CONGRATULATIONS! As I was reading through your post I was guessing that you were pregnant before I got to your announcement! Yay! Take care of yourself and that little bean and don’t stress too much about deviating from your usual diet. Thanks for linking up to {Wheat-Free Wednesday}!!!!
Thank you, yes pregnancy is the only thing that can do such strange things to your body all of a sudden! Many thanks
What great news! Thanks for sharing it with us! Have you tried bone broth? Extremely, extremely nutritious and easily digestible. Also, barley water is very good for convalesing. Oh, and thanks for linking up to Wildcrafting Wednesday! :)
Thanks so much Kathy but I’m afraid I don’t eat meat and can’t tolerate gluten during my pregnancy either but thank you for your suggestions.
This might help too:
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/diet-for-pregnant-and-nursing-mothers
Good luck! :)
Thank you! There’s not much on the list that I could actually eat but I’m feeling much better now that I’m into the second trimester. Have a great day.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
As it turns out, I’ve just found out I’m pregnant as well. I’ll really be looking forward to your post-pregnancy posts to help me post-natal as well. :) I absolutely love your thickie recipes and was considering the 7-day challenge just before I found out I was pregnant. I feel you on the morning sickness though! Both mine were just terrible for 16 weeks and all I could get down was *shame* coca cola and toast. I’m hoping this third pregnancy lends me some grace and doesn’t make me as sick as the other two. :)
Oh Congratulations! What wonderful news! So many people say that they can’t tolerate real foods at the start of their pregnancies so I think it’s quite normal. Don’t worry so much about the start of the pregnancy, they’ll be time to get back to healthy eating again. I’ve just started to tolerate most of my healthy foods again now so feeling much better. I’m 22 weeks now. How far gone are you? I craved fizzy drinks with my first pregnancy but they gave me such bad heart burn. At the moment all I want to eat is watermelon which I’m much happier about!
I’m not sure yet how far along I am. I have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow. I’m guessing between 6 & 8 weeks. So, just in the beginning of the constant nausea and zombie-like fatigue. So glad that you’re past the worst of it, it gives me hope :)
Oh I hope it goes well! It’s horrible at the start isn’t it! It feels like it will never end but it does eventually thankfully. My midwife kept saying that the worse I felt the better the baby was but not sure if that’s just something they say to make you feel better. One thing I did start at 11 weeks was Oil pulling. I’m not sure if it was a coincidence but after 5 days of doing that my sickness totally went and I felt so much better. Might have just been a timing thing though but I did start sleeping so much better too.
Congrats!! I’m stopping by from Foodie Friday blog hop.
Thanks
Angie
godsgrowinggarden.com
Thank you Angie! What a lovey blog!
Congratulations on the Baby that is just awesome! We all have to do what is best for our bodies at the time and as we go along that changes and we have to change with the need. Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing your Post with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Thank you, hope you had a great weekend too!
Congratulations! I can relate to what you said about not being able to stomach real food when pregnant. For some reason, I could only handle processed foods, and I hated it because I wanted to be healthier. My little sweetie turned out great, and she got lots of great breast milk and homemade baby food when she was out and I was feeling better. Your little one will be the same way I’m sure!
I hope you’ll consider sharing your post on the Eoc Kids Link Up: http://organicaspirations.blogspot.com/2013/01/if-like-me-you-live-in-united-states.html
Thank you that makes me feel a lot better. Yes me first baby turned out very healthy too (although she’d going through a fussy phase) so hopefully the second baby will be fine too.
Yes I’d love to share on your link up. Is this a regular link up and if so what day of the week is it on? Many thanks
Eco Kids is every Tuesday. We would love to have you!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! :)
Congratulations!
I would love to have you share this and any of your other posts on Thursdays at Tasty Traditions: http://myculturedpalate.com/
Thank you, I’ll try and remember to come on over!
Congratulations! I couldn’t eat raw veggies at all during my pregnancy. It was very odd. Thanks for sharing on Natural Living Monday! You were one of our featured posts.
That’s so great to hear I’m not alone! Thank you so much for featuring my post!
Your blog is wonderful . It’s a great introduction eating healthier. I have smoothies for breakfast and lunch everday and I feel great! I don’t have health problems but I do get anxiety. Eating this way makes me feel calm and more relaxed. It’s a blessing. Thank you.
Thank you Brandy. That’s very kind of you. That’s great you are so healthy. I find sugar used to give me awful anxiety but when I fill myself up with whole foods and avoid sugar I no longer have anxiety either. Thank you for sharing that.
Congrats on your pregnancy! I can’t wait to follow the journey! :) Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)
Thanks for linking back to the Gluten Free Fridays post!
See you at the link up this week!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Thank you!
Congratulations, Katherine! It’s amazing how our bodies react to certain things – like pregnancy and sickness. I sure do hope you start feeling better soon. Much love to you and your growing little one!
Hugs,
Megan
Thank you so much Megan, that’s lovely of you!
This was the most popular submission on HVF by FAR this week! Congrats dear :)
Yay! Thank you Gabby, I’m so happy!
Congratulations!!! How exciting. PLEASE don’t ever feel guilty for listening to your body. Your site is amazing with amazing recipe, but you are human and have a right to give yourself a break. Yes, green smoothies are great, but I could not drink them everyday all day. You’re an inspiration for sure. But what I love most is your honesty. We all need a break!
I also have to laugh because I am a big salad girl. I really love salads…but during both my pregnancies you could not PAY me to choke down a salad…at least for the first 3 or 4 months. Things evened out, but I will always remember how funny that was to me. Do you know what I wanted every meal of every day? Mexican. Craved it like a crazy person – like off the charts. And there was a fast food place close to my house, a popular fast food “Mexican” place called Del Taco and I would crave their veggie burritos so bad I wanted to cry. I ate there many times…and would inhale them. It was during my second pregnancy I started making my own tortillas, refried beans, Spanish rice, etc. All I wanted to do was cook and eat Mexican. I still love it, but it’s so funny how those hormones make us crave certain foods and detest others.
Anyway, I wish you a great 2nd pregnancy. Stay true to your body and just give it what it needs. You have the rest of your life to drink your green thickies. Nothing wrong with a little break.
Hugs to you,
–Amber
Hi Amber, thank you so much, that’s lovely of you to say so. That’s really funny and so good to know I’m not alone in going off greens. I’m a big salad person too but couldn’t stomach them either. I’ve just got back to my greens now so I’m very thankful for that. That’s really funny as during my first pregnancy I craved mexican like crazy too. This time I’m still craving spicy foods but curries too. I’m especially craving orange juice and watermelon. When I see a chopped up watermelon in the fridge I start drooling and have to have it now and stuff it down like a woman possessed. I used to be like that with chocolate so I’m so glad it’s more of a healthy craving this time! Thank you!
Hi I am so happy that I found this page. I have started making green thickies and my boyfriend loves them but I find that I get very hungry fast, do you have any suggestions to make them more filling?