Super Blue Smoothie

July 25, 2014

A few weeks ago, I bought a juice from Vive Juicery (based in Salt Lake City) that had spirulina in it, and a little bit after that Nutrition Stripped (my favorite nutrition blogger) did a post on spirulina milk. I was so intrigued that I quickly went out and bought some spirulina and decided to experiment with it. For anyone who knows what spirulina is, they will know that it is not inexpensive. Luckily one of the Whole Foods at Salt Lake City had it in their bulk food section so that helped me save quite a lot of money as I didn’t need a whole tubful! And voila; this is how I came to create my super blue smoothie!

For all of you that DON’T know what spirulina is, no doubt you are wondering what it is and why I am experimenting with it!. Spirulina is a blue-green algae that is grown and harvested from alkaline water . It has a slightly nutty taste and has been said to have a variety of health benefits. These include protecting the liver, anti-inflammatory properties, and has even been said to help increase fat burning during exercise. Spirulina also has a ton of protein (57g of protein per 100g!), contains chlorophyll, iron and a ton of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.

Hopefully that has convinced you to at least give it a try! A lot of people call spirulina a ‘superfood’ but I am not particularly fond of that name because it suggests that it is an almost perfect food which will magically make you healthier .. which is of course not the case. There is no one perfect food, and we should try and include as many nutrient dense foods as possible in our diet to become healthier.

Which is why I wanted to throw spirulina into a smoothie! I really wanted to make a ‘blue’ smoothie that would of course include blueberries (high in nutrients and low in calories) and other tasty fruits. Although it turned out more blue-green than blue, it is tasty and filled with lots of fruit. It is very refreshing and a little milky so feel free to sweeten it up with honey, maple syrup, stevia or whatever other sweetener you desire.

Super Blue Smoothie

Alice Williams

A delicious and nutrient packed smoothie with spirulina, blueberries and banana!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup of milk of your choice almond, coconut, cow's milk
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas slice some bananas and pop in the freezer the night before
1 tablespoon of spirulina

Instructions

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Feel free to add any sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup if you wish.

If you make this super blue smoothie then please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about it! And please remember to subscribe to Honestly Fitness so that you are always kept up to date with healthy recipes, workouts and other health and wellness tips.

Honestly yours,
Alice xxx

Sunday Summary

Salt Lake City

July 6, 2014

I have officially been on holiday for a week now, and I am now in Salt Lake City, Utah! This is my first mini ‘holiday’ since going back to Thailand last summer, and it feels great to be somewhere new.

As most of my close friends already know, my boyfriend got accepted into the bioengineering PhD program at the University of Utah which therefore meant that he was going to move to Salt Lake City. I decided to tag along for the car trip and to stay with him in the city for a few weeks before going back to work and starting up classes again. The drive took us through Northern California (through Sacramento and Lake Tahoe area), across Nevada (the most amount of empty I have ever seen in my life), and then through the Utah salt flats. It was pretty rough though; my boyfriend drove the u-haul and I drove his car. It was a 10 hour drive overall (although we stayed overnight at a town called Elko in Nevada at the 7 hour mark) and I just cannot believe I did such a long drive, by myself effectively!

Driving through California – so pretty

Nevada during the afternoon

Nevada before sunset – same view several hundred miles later lol, but prettier now

Border of Nevada and Utah, finally!

Thoughts so far? IT’S SO HOT! Far hotter than the Bay Area, but about the same temperature as California’s central valley but quite a bit drier. I literally HAD to buy sunscreen because I was getting sunburnt from spending half an hour in the sun!! But hey, at least I finally get to tan, something which was so not going to happen in San Francisco. We went to a fun 4th of July celebration in Sugarhouse park and saw some beautiful fireworks.

I have been blown away so far by the range of cuisine available in Salt Lake City. I was kind of expecting 1 Thai and Chinese place to be honest haha. We have tried a few restaurants so far and they have all been really good. Red Iguana was an amazing Mexican restaurant with a whole range of mole’s, and Skewered Thai did a pretty good job of serving up relatively authentic and tasty Thai food. OMG and they have Rubio’s, yaaay!

I also didn’t realize this before but Salt Lake City has a really big focus on health and fitness, so happy!! We went to a farmer’s market in downtown Salt Lake City and it was honestly better than any farmer’s market I have been too in California. Although my one criticism would be that there wasn’t a big range of vegetables. There are tons of gyms, yoga and pilates studio’s around the city, and 3 Whole Foods!! There are also a few Lululemon’s here and so I attended one of their free yoga Sunday classes (which was awesome).

I think these next few weeks will be really fun and full of me exploring the city and doing fun and fit-related activities. Hopefully I can avoid holiday weight-gain 🙂

Have any of you ever been to Salt Lake City? Or do any of you live here? I would love some tips or suggestions on what to see or do!

Honestly yours,
Alice xxx

Fitness

Beginner’s Circuit Workout

July 3, 2014

What a treat I have in store for all of my readers who are new to, or at a beginner’s exercise level…a beginners circuit workout! My lovely friend Ben Coffin, who is a personal trainer, kindly shared a workout that is perfect for beginner’s. This workout will not only strengthen and tone your muscles, but because you will be performing them in a circuit style, you will get in cardio as well since your heart rate will be kept high. Ben is currently based in Newcastle in the UK so if you are looking for a personal trainer then do not hesistate to contact him at ben.g.coffin@hotmail.com 🙂

Beginners circuit workout

Circuit workouts are an extremely effective way of getting toned and fit fast because of their incorporation of fat burning cardio and muscle toning strength. Kayla Itsines workouts are all circuit based, and you can see how effective her workouts are (and her body shows it)! This beginner’s circuit workout works a whole range of muscles as opposed to just one or two. I am sure you will be feeling sore the day after you give this a go!

Always remember to do a 5 minute warm-up before you workout. This could be a brisk walk, some jump rope or even jumping jacks – something to get your heart rate up and to prepare your body for some hard work. For the workout, you will complete the full repetitions of each exercise, with no rest until you complete the circuit (if you must rest please limit it to a few seconds). Try and complete the exercises as quickly as you can with the CORRECT FORM. If you are unfamiliar with the exercises, do yourself a favor and youtube how to do them. Correct form is vital in ensuring you are engaging and working the correct muscles.

Once you complete the circuit, repeat it 2-3 times with a 1-2 minute rest between each set. Once you complete the circuit workout, please take 5-15 minutes to fully stretch out your muscles. If you fail to stretch properly after your workouts, you run the risk of injuring yourself during your next workout. Stretching helps promote flexibility and lengthens muscles that may have become very tight during your workout. You don’t want to end up with tight muscles that make you look stumpier or hunched do you?!

With all of that said and done (I hope you read it THOROUGHLY!), here is the workout! I realize that in the photo’s I am not using a weight, but that is purely because I did not have one to use during these photos. Please use a 5-10 pound weight if the exercise requires it 🙂

1. Shoulder presses with the resistance bands – 10 reps