Mainly Bridgette

Easy Fixes for Your Top Smoothie Fails

Smoothies. Five minutes. A world of options. And way too many chances for this simple dish to go completely off-the-rails. I’ve heard about your worst smoothie fails, because I’ve been there too. I’ve rounded up the top five most common fails and paired them with easy fixes to get your smoothie back on track.

Fail #1: Texture (Too Thick, Thin, or Gritty)

Like that little girl who ate the porridge and fell asleep in the bears’ house, you have to find the texture that’s juuuuust right. I recommend using one cup of water with your favorite Vega® shake but that’s a suggestion, not a rule.

How to Fix It

Too thick: Add more liquid. Keep in mind, the more you blend, the thinner it may get, so if it doesn’t seem thin enough try blending longer. Blend for 60 to 90 seconds and if your blender has levels, use ‘em. Start off slow and low, slowly increase the speed, pulse, then drop it back down before turning it off.

Too thin: Add more ice, or more frozen fruit.

Too gritty: If your smoothie is gritty, your powder just needs more blender time. If you’re sensitive to fibrous textures, stay away from fibrous veggies like banana and use ice or frozen berries instead.

It’s all about you, my friend. Start with one cup of liquid. If it’s too thin, add more ice or frozen fruit. If it’s too thick, add more liquid. Always add liquid first, then powder, give it a quick blend to combine, and then add ice and remaining ingredients (and more liquid if you want to thin it out).

Fail #2: Powder Sticks to the Blender

You’ve added all of your ingredients—liquid, powder, extra leafy greens (you health fan, you) and frozen fruit. As your blender whirls you realize what’s happened; the powder is stuck to the sides of the blender. Ugh! So you open the lid and try to push it off with your hand but ohhhh that is way too cold so you grab a spoon. The spoon only serves as a way to transfer the powder and cold sticky smoothie mix off the side blender and onto the spoon. So you grab a spatula to scrape the spoon and get that mixture back into the blender. Finally, when it’s back in its rightful spot, you blend until combined.

How to Fix It

Save yourself some dishes and frustration by blending your liquid and powder for a hot second first (make sure you add liquid then powder). Then add your remaining ingredients to avoid the frozen fruit or veggies from forcing the powder against the walls of the blender.

Fail #3: Too Sweet

You want your smoothie to be flavorful but you’re not after too much sweetness. If your smoothie base is fruit juice and you always add frozen fruit you may be experiencing sweetness overload. Like watching a cute kitten video, while playing with a dog, and getting a smile from a baby, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

How to Fix It

Try half water/half juice or swap your juice entirely for water or unsweetened almond milk. Since your Vega shake is sweetened with stevia, which is a sweet no calorie sweeteners, it can give you the sweet taste you’re looking for without added fruit or fruit juice. If you’re particularly sensitive to the taste of stevia, I recommend trying a splash of tart lemon juice or adding creamy avocado to your smoothie. They both offer a nice balance to the sweet taste of stevia.

Fail #4: Didn’t Drink It Fast Enough and Now it’s Sludgy

You brought your smoothie to work, to enjoy as you casually catch up on emails and ease into your day. But then as soon as you got to work, you were met with a situation that needed your master problem-solving power, STAT. Fast forward to two hours later and you’re finally ready to take a sip. Only now it’s sludgy, with a gel-like texture, and it’s warm. Depending what you mix your Vega shake with and which shake you choose, it can thicken as it sits.

How to Fix It

Always add ice or frozen fruit and/or veggies to your shake. Cold is best. I recommend that you enjoy your smoothie as fresh as possible, so blend, sip and enjoy. Sure, you can let your smoothie sit for an hour or two, sure you can blend at night, refrigerate and enjoy in the morning but if you’re going to do that we recommend giving it a refresh with ice and a quick blend.

Fail #5: Mixed with Dairy Milk

Your smoothie exploded when you mixed it with dairy milk or yogurt. (Kidding, that won’t happen.)

How to Fix It

Plants for the win. We recommend non-dairy beverages such as almond, hemp, coconut, or rice milk (to name a few). However, if you like dairy, go for it. Water, chilled tea, and 100% juice are also excellent options. Check out the smoothie section of the MyVega.com Recipe Center for some amazing plant-based smoothie recipes.

Happy Blending!

Tell me about a time you had a complete smoothie fail! How did you fix it (or not)?

Operation You Q&A

5 Worst Post-workout Nutrition Mistakes

Have you been on your worst behavior? Have you committed one of these post-workout nutrition mistakes? Take your post-workout gains way up by avoiding these post-workout nutrition mistakes, as originally posted on MyVega.com:

1. Water Sippin’

Own It: You’re not drinking enough

You went hard in your workout; you left a puddle of sweat on the floor and are currently wringing out your shirt like you ran through a sprinkler on the 4^th of July. In that sweat you lose more than water. Sweat is made up of water and electrolytes like sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium.

Elevate It: Get hydrated

Re-hydrating after your workout is crucial to recovery and sometimes water alone isn’t enough. You also need to replenish electrolytes, which play a role in everything from muscle function to heart efficiency. Let’s just say, if your skin is starting to look and feel like leather you may need to up your hydration game.

2. Whey vs. Plant-Based; Protein Game Strong

Own It: You’ve been using the same protein powder for years.

Having whey as your only protein option is like on fleek being the only way to say you’re looking good. It gets tired, fast. You’re strong and working on those gains but save the curls for the gym and put down that massive tub of whey protein. Instead, consider your options.

Elevate It: Vary your protein

There’s a world of protein options out there. We love plant-based protein because it has what you’re looking for – the amino acids you need to help build and repair muscles. In addition, plant-based protein can be more sustainable from growth to production than animal protein. At Vega, clean means plant-based gluten-free, made without dairy or soy ingredients, artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners.

Meet your new protein bullpen:

• Pea protein: Lactose-free, pea protein has sodium, helping to replenish what you left on the floor.
• Hemp protein: With its complete amino acid profile, hemp protein has all of the essential amino acids you need to get from your diet. This includes BCAAs (branched chain amino acids), which can help your body recover.

Get these proteins and in every scoop with Vega Clean Protein and get 25 grams protein, and 4 grams BCAAs.

3. Started From the Bottom of the Fuel Tank

Own It: You’re not eating enough

You want to make strength gains, change your body composition or just be ready for whatever life throws at you. Whatever your goal, don’t starve your muscles and deplete your energy by not eating enough.

Elevate It: Fuel the right way

Your body needs fuel for energy, strength and repair during recovery. Keep it real, get your macros (protein, fat, carbohydrates) from whole foods and give your body the nourishment it needs. Honor your hunger and make sure you are consuming enough throughout the day. Not sure exactly what that looks like? Talk with a registered dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition to determine your nutritional needs.

4. Takeout Bling

Own It: You waited too long to eat

Now you’re calling up you know who, for you know what. Takeout, pizza, whatever your go-to choice is, if you wait too long to eat you’re more inclined to make poor decisions when you’re starving later.

Elevate It: Eat within 20 minutes

Ignoring your hunger post-workout is like ignoring the flat on your bike. Sure, you can ride (or go without eating) for a while but it’ll catch up with you. Just like you don’t want to walk your bike, you want to avoid dialing up that takeout hotline and eating something that’s doesn’t support your goals. Within 20 minutes post-workout, look for easy to digest carbs paired with protein (think fruit with a few nuts) to help replenish muscle glycogen faster than carbs alone.

5. Overindulging; Because YOLO

Own It: You use the gym as excuse to eat anything you want

YOLO. Right? Wrong. Just because you hit the gym, hard, doesn’t mean you can eat and drink whatever, whenever, because the truth is you can’t out squat or out run a poor diet.

Elevate It: Eat nutrient dense foods

Your diet plays a role in how quickly you’ll reach your workout goals. Focus your diet around nutrient dense foods (clean protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and minerals) for fewer calories. Eat a balance of clean protein (like lentils and beans), fats (see: olive oil and avocado), fiber (hello veggies, whole grains and fruit) to be ready for whatever life throws at you.

With your post-workout fuel on point, your future workouts will be the best you ever had.

Show Yourself Some Love

Have you lost that lovin’ feeling? That feeling you get when your healthy habits are a part of your life, when YOU are a priority? That lovin’ feeling may need to be rekindled when you’re taking care of the people you love, putting everyone else’s needs first, and your needs start to slide to a far second.

Self-care is the everyday practice of making you a priority. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be something you’d do only if you had the time. By all means, treat yourself, but for most of us, spa days and all-out pampering aren’t practical in day-to-day life. Self-care can fit into any day. As originally posted on MyVega.com.

It’s All About You

Self-care is what you do, for you, that makes you feel happy and healthy. Self-care can include a wide variety of practices and activities. It could be:

• A walk after dinner
• Making a smoothie instead of going without breakfast
• Going to the grocery store without little ones in tow
• Getting to bed early because lunches were made at the same time as dinner
• Having 2 minutes just to yourself to breath—whether it’s an emergency stash of chocolate or behind a locked bathroom door

Whatever it is, show yourself some love. Love yourself, be proud of who you are and own it like you’re Beyoncé.

Start a Self-Care Wildfire

My Momma was my self-care role model because she didn’t just talk about it, she lived it. She made it her priority to do the things she loved. She spent time outdoors with friends and family, laughing, joking; soaking up the sun or mucking around in the rain with our dogs (we had at least 6 at all times). And trust me, her best life living, self-care good vibes were infectious.

Your healthy habits make a difference to not only to you but to those around you. What you do on the daily will (and does) inspire others. Have you ever done something so completely ridiculous, called up a friend, shared what happened and laughed like it was going out of style? Have you done something so amazing that you couldn’t wait to get home to tell your family? Those are the best moments, right? Leading by example is all about living your best life, taking care of yourself and sharing it with those around you. There’s no easier way to spread the self-care message than loving yourself and enjoying your life.

Get Social

Instagram star, Essena O’Neill, recently exposed the unhealthy way she stayed thin and brought to life the fact that what you see on social media isn’t always real life. Social media can be such a powerful tool, one that brings us together as a larger community. Instead of getting wrapped up in comparisons and unrealistic expectations, spread the self-care message by joining conversations about real life. There are so many ways to get in on the conversation, with campaigns like The Anti-Diet Project, Dove’s Self-Esteem Project and Real Body campaign. These conversations aren’t just for woman—campaigns like men’s clothing company Dressmann’s #JustTheWayYouAre and other conversations are for all of us.

At Vega, we celebrate self-care with Best Life Project. It’s all about sharing how you live your best life, encouraging your fellow life-explorers and getting motivation from this community of inspiring people, who are so sweet it’ll give you a toothache.

Spread Love, Volunteer

You’re showing yourself some love, and feeling recharged, you may want to help other people take better care of themselves. There are many body positive campaigns that are always looking for volunteers. Check out your local community center or reach out to organizations like HAES, which offers resources to help you find organizations in your area. Some examples worth checking out areGirls on the Run International, National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA), March Against Eating Disorders or if you’re in the Vancouver, BC area check out Sole Girl and iGirl.

It starts with you. How will you keep show yourself some love?