The Green Smoothie That Could

Can you believe this is my first green smoothie?

At first, I was a little iffy about adding in the spinach but guys, I'm absolutely in love. 

I'm definitely a little behind on the smoothie train since it is going to be winter, but why not?

Its so nice to have something nice and easy to settle in my stomach! Plus, with 23 grams of protein, you know you can't go wrong!

Green Pumpkin Protein Smoothie

by Alina Sin

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Keywords: breakfast smoothie protein powder spinach

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Ingredients (1 Serving)

• One handful of baby spinach
• 1/3 cup pumpkin
• 1/2 almond milk
• 1/2 water
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Sunwarrior!)
• Two spoonfuls of Greek Yogurt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 1 packet of Truvia (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients into blender and whir away!

2. Pour it in a large bowl and top with nut butter, granola, or more greek yogurt!

3. Devour.

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You can't taste the spinach one bit!
A great way to start any day :) 

Veggies For Breakfast

Hello loves! How is your Saturday going? 

During the school week, I lose a lot of sleep even though I try to hit the hay early. I either have to wake up early to study for a test or look over notes! Weekends are definitely my time to take a breather and relax. 

I had quite the agenda today and I knew a protein packed breakfast was the way to go. I was going to be on my feet the whole day so my body needed the fuel :) 

Enter the Green Pumpkin Protein Smoothie! 

Recipe coming tomorrow! This was super filling and it had the perfect amount of sweetness. 

I have a feeling smoothies are going to stick with me for a while :) This recipe has 2 different veggies in it! An awesome change from my usual sweet omelets.

After breakfast, I tried to knock out some homework because I knew I wouldn't have time later. 

The life of an IB student! 

I worked up quite an appetite and I wanted something satisfying to hold me over till lunch. 

The new obsession of mine? 

Sweet potato with almond butter<3 Seriously, match made in food heaven. 

I've been adding a lot of healthy carbs and fats to my diet and it is doing wonders! 

You're probably wondering where ice cream and pastries have gone in the blog. Upping my protein intake benefited me in the long run and I haven't eaten any sugary foods in over 3 weeks. Honestly, I don't miss them very much and if a sweet craving hits, I find myself turning to frozen grapes or greek yogurt and nut butter. This doesn't mean that I'll never eat dessert again but eating sugar in moderation has been helping my training and my stomach! 

I took a break and browsed my favorite foodie blogs. I'm talking to you, Kath<3 

Guys, Mama Smile has some legit cooking skills. I don't know how I'm going to live without her cooking in college! 

Soybean soup with crab!

Those are some Hugh Jass peppers.

I'm off to the Kid's Festival! 

This festival is sponsored by so many local businesses, it's free to everyone who comes. It's such a fun place to be with our family, especially on a beautiful day like this!

Children's Yoga! How cute!

Wellness center leading kids to dance for their health!

Local cheerleading group! If only I can do that...

Beautiful<3

The weather was the BEST today and it just made me even more excited for the season ahead. Oh, winter, come soon!

Those girls on stage gave me the motivation to shake my tail feather as well. I got home around 4 and was rearing to get my sweat on!

Workout

• 20 minutes of abs
• This circuit with dumbbells: 

• This circuit: 

Thank you Julie and Courtney for these workouts! I was definitely "scared" to try both of them ;)

• One mile run 
• 1200 jumps on weighted jumprope

My clothes were absolutely drenched with sweat at the end. 

UCK. I stunk. 

Workout, shower, eat. 

Oxtail soup. So comforting! 

Whew! What a lengthy post. I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that! 

One thing I'm not sorry about? 

Having a nice bed to sleep in :) 

Can't wait to show you some smoothie love tomorrow<3

Sleep well my friends! 

Food Favorites and Fall Fitness!

And it feels soooooo good :) 

I'm sorry for the lack of posts this week everyone. I've been moving from school work to working out to volunteering, back to back! 

I'm excited to share some of my favorite things and how I've been moving this past week. 

Since Fall is in full swing now, I am eating pumpkin everything. 

Get in my tummy<3

One of my favorite ways of enjoying this Fall gem in is my beloved yogurt messes!

 Naughtiest way of eating pumpkin? 

Can I get a loud YUUUUUUUM?

I'm telling you, it's ridic. 

Weirdest thing I've been craving lately? 

Salads, salads, salads!

For some peculiar reason, I've been loving my salads and veggies so much. I actually look forward to them and let the hummus do the talking ;) 

I'm super proud of myself for eating only home cooked meals this week! Sometimes it's difficult to prepare food at home, but honestly, it's much healthier and its nice on your wallet. 

I used some of my foodie skills and whipped up this delicious and nutritious dinner! My parents raved about it. 

I took a Cooking Light recipe (my favorite website for healthy eats!) and swapped out some things to make it my own. I used shrimp instead of sausage and used a crap load ton of different veggies to bulk it up! I sprinkled some feta cheese to finish and it went from amazing to hello Chef Alina :) 

I did I tell you? I'm digging my greens! 

On the exercise front, I've been trying to up my running a bit since I haven't been able to concentrate on my speed for a while. You would think that the weather would be getting nicer but it seems like every time I step outside, this happens...

Grrrr. 

Thankfully, my girl Zuzana got me covered! 

I had an awesome rest day yesterday and busted out a sweaty workout today. 

• 30 minute abs 
• ZWOW #37 (Side hops kill me) 
• ZWOW #31 (Basic moves but definitely efficient!) 

I enjoy her workouts so much because it's fast, intense and I don't have to think about the time. Since the moves change constantly, my body is being challenged everyday. 

Usually, at the end of my workouts, I top it off with the #plankchallenge! 

I went from this.

 To this.

To finally this!

Seriously, I can't believe I got this far! It isn't hard anymore to hold myself up for this long and I owe it to my core exercises. 

Whew, that was a mouthful of a post. 

I hope you stayed awake through it ;) 

I just want to say that always remember that we all have struggles and hardships. Everyday!

Not everything in the Smile house is picture perfect but I strive to become a better daughter, sister and friend through these experiences. Live to love and love to live, my friends<3

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;" 2 Corinthians 4:8-9