Eating healthily and staying on track with your weight and fitness goals is more easily acheived when you prepare your food and meals in advance. I plan out what I am going to have for the week when I go grocery shopping and I make my next days meals the night before. Since I purchased a new (amazing) cold-pressed juicer, a vegetable juice has become a regular feature to my morning meal routine, really increasing my nutritional intake, but some days, because I’m going to be really busy first thing in the morning at work, or I’m too busy to juice and make up some eggs and veggies the night before, this is my go to breakfast. It's my 2-in-1, the nutrition from my juice, with the eggs (protein) and veg part of my breakfast. It is so important to start the day right with a nutritious breakfast. Those who eat breakfast are more likely to lose weight than those that skip breakfast. My breakfast focus is to keep my blood sugar levels stable, to get in some protein and maximise my body's eagerness to absorb lots of nutrition due to fasting overnight.

Powerhouse Green Protein smoothie

• Lebanese cucumber
• celery
• silverbeet/spinach
• ginger root, fresh
• parsely
• 1/4 lemon
• scoop of Pea protein (I love to use Strawberry flavoured pea protein, but vanilla or unflavoured would be fine)
• green algae mix (maybe a combination of chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass, barley grass, or just any of these will be hugely beneficial)
• some herbs and spices. I like to add slippery elm powder, licorice, dandelion, and cinnamon.

I use a single serve ready-to-go bullet smoothie cup and fill it to the max fill line with diced cucumber, celery and the silverbeet. Add a dash of filtered water. Give this a whizz until it’s combined. Then add diced ginger root, lemon and parsley, giving it another whizz. When the vegetables are blended, add all the powders and whizz it on low until combined. I like mine pretty thick (I eat it with a spoon!), but add as much water (or coconut water if you have some) as you like to get to the consistency you like. Once it is blended, I add some coconut flakes or a few nuts/seeds. This is to encourage chewing which activates the digestive process (saliva and gastric juices). If you drink your smoothie like you do juice you might find your tummy feels a little uncomfortable. You need to prepare your tummy for digestion with the fibre and macro nutrition that you get when you blend fruit and vegetables instead of juicing.

Benefits

Nutritional powerhouse with lots of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and protein, to set you up for the day. It will keep you feeling full for hours. I add the lemon mainly because it is a natural preservative and I make my smoothies the night before, but it is also alkalizing and great source of Vitamin C. Algae are nutritional powerhouses full of vitamins and minerals, including Iron, vitamin A, Bs, C and K, essential amino acids and antioxidants. They help boost the immune system, aid digestion, increase energy, oxygenate the blood, and can be considered complete foods, though I find the taste much more pleasing in a smoothie, than on its own. A blend of chlorella, spirulina, wheatgrass and barley grass (both are gluten-free) is a great way of getting benefits from all of them. I like to add herbs and spices to everything I make. You should check with your doctor before adding any into your diet as some, like licorice and nutmeg, can cause problems with continued use and if you already have problems with blood pressures or you are pregnant. Just like reading labels and being aware of what is in packaged food, be sure to know what you are consuming. Some of my old faithfuls and some benefits they may have:

Slippery elm - good for digestion and is calming to your intestines and your throat.

Dandelion - purifies your blood, is good for digestion, and detoxes the liver and kidney.

Cinnamon - stabilises blood sugar, is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.

Licorice - anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, helps with digestion.

 (As I have never had whey protein, and out of dairy-free protein powders pea protein is my favourite, I'm not sure what other protein powders would be like, but if you have a favourite let me know how it goes)