Hansard Jen - Simple green smoothies : 100+ tasty recipes to lose weight, gain energy, and feel great in your body

To our lil rawkstars:

CLARE, JACKSON, AND ZOE

And the amazing dads who love themour rawkstar husbands:

RYAN AND GEORGE

Contents

Our Story

W ith every journey, theres always a beginning. Ours was at Woodbridge Park in Studio City, California. We spent most mornings with strollers and sippy cups and usually a coffee or tea, too. We were the Valley Moms Social Club, a group of about 20 first-time moms who banded together for advice, encouragement, friendship, and sanity. While our babies rolled and crawled around on an eclectic mix of blankets, we talked about poop and spit-up... and dreamed of sleep.

Over the years, we said good-bye to Los Angeles and the moms group and hello to new adventures thousands of miles apart. Jen had her second child and then moved to Tampa to start a church with her husband. Jadah moved to Kauai, Hawaii, to be closer to her mom and start a preschool. It was an exciting time for both of us but also a really scary time. We both were struggling financially and had no health insurance. Then our new church and preschool dreams began to unraveland both eventually closed down.

As we embraced the chaos, our meals got quicker and less nutritious. Drive-thru dinners, freezers stocked with frozen pizzas, and cupboards loaded with Goldfish crackers became the norm. As the days grew longer and the years grew shorter, our ability to juggle it all gracefully began to fall apart.

Many days, it felt like the energy had been sucked out of our bodies. We were exhausted and feeling constant stressand still trying to be the best moms we could be. We began to self-medicate with insane amounts of Starbucks coffee (Jen) and giant bowls of ice cream (Jadah). The more we consumed these things, the more we craved them. Yet even these things didnt give us the energy or reassurance we were really craving. So we kept searching for a solution.

In 2011, we made our first green smoothiesand fell in love at first sip. The fresh taste and instant energy buzz kept us blending day after day. Green smoothies became our healthy fast food. We began making them every single day and out went the coffee and endless bowls of ice cream. Our cravings and our bodies began to change. We went from feeling exhausted and defeated to energized and empowered. It blew our minds that one simple change could make such an impact in our lives. And thats just the beginning. Green smoothies have had a huge ripple effect on both of our lives. Together we have ditched the twice-daily runs to Starbucks, easily lost 32 pounds, and look and feel better than weve ever felt before.

Jens Story:

EXHAUSTED MAMA TO HALF-MARATHON RUNNER

When I was 16, I became the vegetarian who didnt eat vegetables. I survived on grilled cheese sandwiches, Lucky Charms, and bean-and-cheese burritos for 12 years. Sometimes Id buy a bag of spinach because it was the healthy thing to do, and then watch it rot away in the fridge because I didnt know what to do with it.

It wasnt until Ryan and I had our second child that I was stopped in my tracks. Having a toddler running around, a newborn who wouldnt stop crying, and a diet extremely low in any real nutrition was a recipe for utter exhaustion. I relied on double shots of espresso to get me out of bed in the morning and another double shot in the afternoon to keep me going until bedtime. Eventually, even that stopped working, and I felt defeated by my own body.

Then one day, Jadah mentioned that she had been drinking green smoothies and felt amazing. Her excitement was supercontagious, so I jotted down her recipe (loaded with spinach!) and made it with my whole family. We all loved the taste, including my young kids.

For me, green smoothies were the gateway drug to a healthier life. Within a few weeks of drinking them, I felt like a different person. I was eager to wake up in the morning (on my own), bike my son to preschool, and then head to the playground with my daughter. I even had energy to go runningand I completed a half-marathon in 2014, the first endurance event I had done in 5 years!

Jadahs Story:

SLIPPIN BACK INTO HONEYMOON JEANS

Ive battled with sugar and carb cravings all my life and tried every diet that was ever invented. Low carb, fasts, calorie counting, point-system basedyou name it, I did it. And nothing lasted. I wanted to thrive and not just deprive my body.

I was running out of ideas for what could be a sustainable, long-term solution. Every diet I tried felt restrictive, and Id always gain the weight back as soon as I stopped the plan. I was losing hope and feeling tired mentally and physically.

In the summer of 2011, I started one simple habit: drinking a green smoothie every day. I was visiting my Auntie Tutti, and she was raving about green smoothies. She promised weight loss, energy, and that I wouldnt actually taste the greens. Yeah, right!

My aunt blended my first green smoothie. I took a skeptical sip. Holy kale! It really tasted good! It was love at first sip.

Within just a few days of drinking green smoothies for breakfast, I was satisfied and didnt want to eat anything else until lunchtime. I had this sudden surge of energy to grocery shop and cook. (And I didnt even like cooking. Like, ever.) And, most surprisingly, the weight I gained from my pregnancy was finally coming off. Three months into drinking one green smoothie a day, I finally stepped on a scale and found I was 27 pounds lighter. Finally, six years later, I fit into my honeymoon jeans again!