Fruits and Veggies Monday - A day for cleansing and energizing shake.

Re-energizing myself for 2018.

I have been away for awhile, but I am back to participating to one of my favorite challenges on Steemit led by amazing friend Lena. So today I will be sharing one of the cleansing recipes I use to clean my body when I feel like I have not been really sticking to my vegetarian-vegan diet. I am no nutritionist or a doctor of any kind and all I have is the experience from my body. This works for me, and I feel better after I drink it. Will it have the same effect on your body I don't know? Only you can find that out.

Ingredients

So let's get started. These are the ingredients you are going to need for this cleansing shake:

This is what I used today, but I change it up each time. But, some ingredients are always part of the recipe. With a plus sign next to it I use every time.

• Avocado - Great source of healthy fats.
• Orange + - Vitamin C
• Lemons + - Vitamin C
• Radishes - Amazing anti-oxidant
• Carrots + - Vitamins
• Goji berries + - Full of everything
• Chia Seeds + - Full of everything
• Flax seeds + - Amazing for cleaning intestinal tract
• Cinamon + - Anti-oxidant, Speeds up metabolism
• Pulverized or fresh Ginger + Amazing anti-inflammatory properties

Try to buy organic fruits and veggies. As you are eating raw ingredients.
You can add whatever you like: spinach, bananas( I use a lot), cabbage, kiwi, almonds(presoaked), coconut oil, strawberries...
Nutritional info is based on my own learning over the years. But you can do your own research.

The ingredients with plus sign are always in there. It is the base for every one of my shakes. It feeds my body with everything I need. The abundance of vitamins, and minerals, healthy fats, anti-oxidants, and protein. Plant power at its best. I remember how worried I was about protein intake when I became vegetarian. Everybody was saying I will lose weight and all my muscles. Only to realize plants have more than enough protein to maintain my muscles and supply me with enough energy to go through 2 basketball practices a day, and still have the energy to write some posts for Steemit. Plant power all the way. If I would get into other benefits I could write all day really. But, that is a subject for another post.

Preparation

• Cut the veggies and avocado into small pieces
• Squeeze the lemon and oranges
• Soak the flax, chia, and goji berries in the lemon and orange juice for 10-15min.
• Dump it all into to the blender.
• Add the cinnamon and ginger( watch the amount of ginger as too much can create intestinal discomfort.)
  < I go with 1/2 teaspoon of each.
• Add water to your liking.
• Turn on the blender. Mix about 3-4 min.

I have a cheap 20 E blender and it works great for me for this kind of shakes. No need for a few hundred euros or dollars blenders.

Finishing it up.

Once it is all blended up nicely you can store or in a shaker or a plastic bottle. The choice is yours. I use the 1.5l plastic bottle. Usually, I add enough water to fill the entire 2l or 1.5l bottle. This is the only thing I "eat-drink" all day. Plus I drink additional water. Don't drink all at once. I take sips everytime I feel hungry throughout the entire day. Spread it out. The first time you do this it will be challenging mentally, but it gets much easier each time because the benefits for me are amazing. And depending on the state of your body cleansing can create little intestinal discomfort. Which is normal. Perosnally my body is used to it and I have no problems whatsoever. I believe it all depends in what kind of a state your body is right now. But jet again I am not a doctor or nutritionist. Just speaking from my personal experiences.

I know.. I know.. It does not look so tasty.. lol But it is.. O well depending on your choice of ingredients. Not trying to discourage you here, but pick wisely. lol

This kind of mixture works wonders for me as I get lazy with cooking sometimes and I eat in restaurants or with my teammates. They eat a lot of bread and pasta in Italy. I mean a lot guys. Sometimes I think it is all they eat.lol It slows down my intestinal tract normal function and I can feel it. Plus I get sluggish and tired. So this is what I do to get me back on track. Even though I am pretty good at eating healthy, I do slip sometimes. But when I am consistent with my diet every morning I have a little veggie and fruit shake with main ingredients with a + sign. Of course, with less volume of ingredients. It is all about finding what works best for you.

So that is about it, my friends. I actually drank this today after the Christmas and New Year food feast here in Italy to clean my body, and take an energized step in 2018. Our second part of the basketball season starts with a home game on Sunday and I excited to start it back again. Again, guys, I am not a nutritionist. All I have is my 15-year experience of trying many diets and learning about nutrition on my own. As a professional basketball player nutrition plays a big part in my success on the court. No matter who you are and what you do in life having a proper diet plays a big part in having a good life. I will leave you with one of my original quotes:

"When your body fails you, it is usually to a fact you have failed your body first. Take care of your body, and your body will take care of you when you need it the most."

P.S I am not going to lie. You might end up going to the toilet couple of times in a day when the cleansing kicks in. lol

Thank you for reading, have an amazing day, much love,

dbjegovic