There is just something about the first Blast of the day.
I used to be a sleepyhead with a hard time getting out of bed, but these days, I feel more energetic than ever. I could probably make my Blasts with my eyes closed, but my eyes are determined and focused.
I inspect my produce for any debris, insects, or bruises as I rinse them off under running water. As I reach for my favorite sharp knife, there’s no doubt: I’m wide awake this morning. I cut up my fruit, I add them to my cup and my eyes grow wider as I anticipate another yummy Blast. After adding some nuts, my superboost, and some liquid to the max line, my adrenaline is pumping. As I plug in the base and push down on the cup, my mouth starts salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs.
To me, veggies are the business of juicing. They’re the firm foundation for better health. Fruits are like veggies’ fun and exciting sidekicks. Nuts are the comic relief. I add water or any other liquid and I’m ready to Blast off. I can smell the aroma of the Blast and I can almost taste it. I feel as if I cannot wait another minute. I pour the contents into my cup and take my first sip. Ahh, bliss!
My brain reacts as if I had just had a cup of perfectly-blended coffee. My taste buds react as if I just consumed a piece of gourmet chocolate from my favorite chocolatier. Then, the endorphin-like feeling comes over me, as if I just finished running a mile or two. Incredible, isn’t it?
My morning Blast. What a way to fuel up.
-Delores McCarter
Eating your way out of a problem. Sounds like a bad idea, right? Late nights sitting with a container of ice cream on your chest and a bag of potato chips at your side is usually a recipe for weight gain and health issues. But consider this: choose to start the morning with fresh fruits and vegetables with whole grains and make your own nutrition-filled lunch to take to work with you. When you get home, having something super delicious and healthy for dinner is the finale of your day. Now THAT’S eating your way out of heart attack, stroke and even cancer.
November 2011, my New Year’s resolution was to eat only fruits, vegetables and whole grains. More than one year later, I am happy, healthy and most importantly, I do not worry about an early death. I did not want to go on medication for things I could eat my way out of, I did not want to die early as my parents had and I knew a quick fix (read: fad diet) would not help long-term for me.
Weight loss came along with my new life, which was great, but a lot of friends would tell me, “I’m eating like you now!” What they really meant was, “I’m trying to lose weight with a diet that emphasizes weight loss over health!” Eating like cavemen, for your blood type or like those in the lower part of Florida is hard. Simply eating healthy isn’t easy at first, but here’s the huge difference: there is no Week One, eliminate tomatoes; Week Two, no bread, except on Tuesday… it’s simply eat good food, forever.
It’s a choice and I choose to eat my way to health. The benefits are many, but it’s not simply weight loss, it’s less stress over my health worries, it’s a feeling of contentment, it’s knowing I’m in charge and it’s great to feel that my choices are not just habits, they are my life. I ate my way to happiness.
P.S. I have dessert. A lot.
-Suzanne Hetrick
I used to walk around hungry.
Not to say I wouldn’t eat, but now that I have the NutriBullet, I usually have a Blast for breakfast and it holds me over well into lunchtime. I no longer walk around hungry and I feel like I have plenty of delectable options to choose from. I can cook a great meal from home or grab a light meal while I’m out. No longer do I get the urge to pull into the nearest drive through restaurant and eat a fat-laden meal. This girl has options!
As a matter of fact, I eat a lot less meat than I used to and I still have more options than ever before. I can take a whole chicken and make about twenty meals out of it. Not twenty servings, but twenty actual meals – something I never would’ve imagined. My project this year has been to make real, homemade soup. So far, I’ve made chili, tortilla soup, vegetable soup, clam chowder, ham and potato soup, spring rolls, salad sandwiches, enchiladas, pot pies, and more, all with chicken. Imagine making so many entirely different meals from one ingredient!
Every three or four months, after making plenty of room in the freezer, I’ll buy a whole cooked chicken and shred it into pieces to freeze and serve as the base of a meal later. In no time, these bags fill my freezer up to capacity. Whenever I need to fix a recipe requiring chicken, I take out a bag and build a meal around it. This method can be time consuming, but it also provides me with plenty of options down the road. I can use the broth I make as a base for most of my soup recipes and it’s a lot cheaper than buying it from the store.
I’ve learned a lot of tricks recently and I’m proud about finding ways to avoid throwing out food. Whatever produce isn’t going into the NutriBullet is used as an ingredient for one of my culinary delights. I’m thankful that I’ve found exciting ways to prepare good food – I’m eating well, I’m spending less money and I feel better than ever. Who said all you discovered with the NutriBullet was how to make Blasts?
-Delores McCarter
Happy Earth Day! If you’re Blasting, that means you know the affect food has on your body and your health – but do you ever take a second to think about the effect your food has on the systems surrounding your body? From agriculture and farming methods, to how we dispose of our waste, everything we consume has consequences that reach far beyond our own bodies.
So what can you do to minimize your environmental footprint? Here are a few earth-friendly tips to get you started.
- Turn off your lights and water and unplug any technological device when not in use.
- Plant a garden to grown your own food.
- Pack leftovers in reusable containers and use these containers to transport your lunch to work.
- Purchase Earth-friendly cleaning supplies.
- Use Energy Star or other energy-saving appliances.
- Ditch the TV; those cable bills are outrageous, anyway!
- Research water filtration options instead of buying bottled beverages.
- Insulate your home in a way that helps reduce the need for air conditioning or heaters.
For activities in your area and more information about Earth Day, check out http://www.epa.gov/earthday/.
I have been a NutriBullet fan since September 2012, soon after I saw their first infomercial. So, needless to say, I was thrilled when I was contacted recently to write for them. Not only do I enjoy writing about something I love so much, but now I can take other NutriBullet fans along with me on my ride to better health!
I love my NutriBullet vegetable-fruit Blasts. I have at least one of those yummy drinks every day. I never would have imagined juicing fresh fruits and vegetables everyday and actually enjoying the process, but I do. I look forward to making one every morning. Imagine that!
Hearing the snap of fresh vegetables when I add them to the cup is refreshing and I keep a variety of fruit handy. Apples, bananas, pears, strawberries, blueberries and pineapple slices are just the regular lineup. There are so many options to choose from. The nuts are a funky twist that gives my blast the added “boost” I need to keep me full well until the lunch hour. I make sure that my inventory of nuts (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts) stays fully stocked. Then I add a little superboost on top. Sometimes I will add yogurt and sometimes I will add milk (coconut or almond) and sometimes I may even add some flavored tea (chilled of course), but most of the time I just add water to the max line and Blast for a few seconds.
As a result, my NutriBlasts are always fresh and exciting and my body loves them all. Sometimes, I have two blasts per day because it’s a fun and inexpensive way to have a quick meal that actually satisfies me. My body feels wonderfully energized, which is a great way to start the morning.
One day, I was in the kitchen making my NutriBlast and as I took my first sip, the song Emotions by Mariah Carey came on. I just stopped what I was doing and started dancing around the kitchen. The song described how I felt as I sipped my cool, delightfully flavored NutriBlast. I admit, it sounds a bit silly, but I never reacted this way eating breakfast before. Not even Mama’s home cooking would garner that reaction!
So on any given morning, I can be found dancing around my kitchen with a freshly made NutriBlast in my hands. No matter who faces me in the day ahead, this is my private time. For that moment, I’m experiencing total bliss.
-Delores McCarter
