Tropical fruit drink smoothie is a refresher that’s easy to make and healthy without all the calories…
Curious Tropical Fruits
Tropical fruits make for very unusual and refreshing summery drinks (great for balancing Vata and Pitta). Tropical and most fruits have Vitamin C plus their variety of vitamins and nutrients. The kiwifruit is a superfruit with amazingly high Vitamin C content.
Tropical fruits have strange exteriors, fascinating interiors, and unique colors. They can make you curious…
Like the kiwifruit with an egg-shaped, smooth coconut-looking exterior and the interior of a perfectly patterned seed.
And the dragon fruit, that’s one strange looking fruit with a fireball-exterior color/shape with artichoke-like stems, and contrasting oreo-cookie color polka-dotted interior… whew, that’s one long description…sorry, I tried my best here to describe it to you
What can I say?… it’s in a league of its own.
Then there’s the passion fruit with a soupy-mushy interior with contrasting peach orange and plant stem green colored seeds.
I have to admit passionfruit is not a taste I prefer. I’m passionate about fruit, but not the passionfruit… some people love the taste (calling all Pittas!), but it gives me a pucker face when I drink it because it’s too tart for my taste.
Me — I like pure sweet, but maybe that’s because I’m a Vata… so kiwi, pineapple, or strawberries are more my jam. Those are the sweetest fruits I know 😊.
The good news is, added sugar like the kind you find in a girly pink lemonade drink isn’t necessary as natural fructose sugar is enough.
Dreaming Up Your Drinks
In making my dream version of a perfect tropical fruit smoothie drink, I think I’d mix strawberry, basil, and coconut froth. To each her own.
In making your homemade drinks, you can always stick with the fruit basics if all of this is too exotic for you.
You can use strawberry, banana, and orange, but I-yyy think you can get a little more creative!
You could make a virgin pina colada smoothie with pineapple and coconut milk and then zhugh up with a dessert maraschino cherry (that’s lower in sugar than you think 😉).
…Can you tell I turn into my ‘lil girl self when I talk about the fruits?
Other fruits to consider are berries and watermelons — perfectly ripened in the summertime. Watermelons are refreshing and contain lycopene, an antioxidant that you often hear about in tomatoes. You can add mint or basil for a great refresher-balanced drink.
Cantaloupe is another good fruit choice, loaded with Vitamin A. And it’s fun to cut up. I like to cut in half, use a mini-scooper, and add the chunks back into the cantaloupe bowl. That’s a perfect environmentally-conscious way to take mixed fruit to a picnic 😉. But less waste is a whole ‘nother topic I’m passionate about besides fruit.
Vitamins can have a positive effect on your physical and mental health like sunscreen, where you’re better covered. For Vitamin A, it’s retinol for skin cell turnover and also a fat-soluble carotenoid that is needed for essential daily organ and body functions.
In appreciating our bodies, we can keep them nourished as nature intended. And we can make it fun with our eat from the rainbow food where we get nutrients like vitamins and minerals.
These days, deficiency in Vitamin D and iodine is common as we intake less cow’s milk and salt as we’re taught that they are harmful in large doses. Finding the right daily balance is not easy.
So then we learn the habits to cut out these foods and beverages.
And we end up with a deficiency that we can supplement. And it’s still complex to fine line balance as research findings are constantly evolving…
One day, one grocery item is on the good list. And the next, it has been replaced by another consumable item.
Vitamins Stay Constant
So then vitamins in powder, capsule, and gummies can be the supplement that fortifies and serve as a “just in case.” A multi-vitamin can be the catch all.
You may not think absorbed vitamins are helping as you don’t see immediate daily changes, but HOW I believe in them as a person that grew up with them, is as a backup to food nutrients that’s the primary source of vitamins.
I first learned about vitamin supplements when I was a child. We would take the generic brand Fred Flintstones candy vitamins that tasted like Pez candy. That’s similar to the gummy versions offered today.
Then when I was halfway through college, I took a semester off to learn more about high-absorption nutritional supplements through a health-conscious product company.
I volunteered for the American Cancer Society that was in my area backyard. “Eating Smart” promotional campaign posters were plastered around to get the word out about disease prevention.
Those experiences offered me the opportunity to learn deeper about health and free radicals (yeah, that was known for those interested in cutting-edge health trends and predictions)…
And so much so, I considered nutrition as a career major.
Back then the leading causes of death were heart disease and cancer (the same ones today). By taking antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E (ACE for short), you could prevent health issues down the road. Hey… not bad for pre-Millennial century knowledge.
Learning about the “good stuff” vitamins by default teaches you about placebo multivitamins having a low-to-no effect. They’re the inexpensive vitamins claiming A-Z still sitting on store shelves. They make us feel better about ourselves that improves mental health, but aren’t adding anything positive for our bodies.
So they are helping in some way no matter what.
You get to decide. And you are your best health advocate.
You get a sign you’ve taken a “placebo” vitamin if you have dark urine as an indicator that the pills weren’t absorbed by your body. So the quality of vitamins does make a difference. And liquid gel capsules are more absorbable than horse pill tablets.
Back then, I was drinking powdered supplement shakes before smoothies became a thing. We took a reusable plastic water bottle (yes, those existed!) with some water and shook the contents, which still works. Most of the shakes had a strong chalky taste, but they started a healthy breakfast drink movement.
Back then, the large Baby Boomer generations were the influencers like Millennials and Gen Z today. Predictions were found in books like Ken Dychtwald’s Age Wave.
Then the young to mid-adults helped to push the healthy eating movements today similar to fueling the healthy food shopping, plant-based, sustainable, and organic food movements. You can check out this page of 200 anti-inflammatory A-Z list of healthy foods.
Antioxidants were a known concept, but polyphenols today have made many live longer headlines. We drink more tea, coffee, and red wine for their polyphenols good health effects.
The fitness zeitgeist beliefs were precursors to cardio fitness and getting your heart rate up. Fitness teachers like Denise Austin taught through aerobic class tapes, a lot like how we create and watch YouTube videos today. Btw, she has been on interviews more recently and looks the exact same if not better!
These days, I would say you have to be more careful about what fitness channels you follow as anyone can teach a class. You can hurt yourself at any age, and even by doing simple stretching. Videos online don’t always show you the protective ways. And there’s not much discussion about post-workout regimens.
Cooling down and replenishing your body’s nutrients after a workout is important for recovery even if you’re only working out 10 minutes at a time.
You don’t hear much talk about minerals, but below I list a few that are vitally critical in a daily routine, and you may not be getting enough of in your life and diet…
McDonald’s breakfast menu items is something many of us grew up with as it was fast and filling on-the-go. And decades later, it’s still a part of my Happy Meal youth memories.
With whatever opinion you have of McDonald’s, the golden arches is popular because it’s fast, inexpensive, and fills you up quick! The McDonald’s breakfast menu hasn’t changed much over the years and the 760-calorie Big Breakfast hasn’t changed much over the decades.
Everyone in America grew up seeing the golden arches. It’s also an American icon around the world and a convenient and consistent option if you’re on the road.
I haven’t had a need to drive-thru one in ages…
But, the fast-food franchise provides food value to millions each year. You wonder how they would cover the cost of ingredients with a McDonald’s breakfast dollar menu if they didn’t serve millions each year.
At home, you’re smart to make your healthy breakfast every morning, and they do have some great ones modeled after McDonald’s popular breakfast menu… yes, healthy options!
If you want to have a low-sugar breakfast, you pretty much have to come up with your own prepared menu meals where convenience is your fridge and pantry cupboards.
…And here’s how you can create your healthy-inspired McDonald’s breakfast without much effort. You can choose from the following high-fiber options…
Egg McMuffin – Sautee potatoes and scramble eggs and serve on sprouted Ezekiel bread (optional: add cheese). I think this version is so much more delish as it’s homemade and sprouted bread is wholeness… more nutrish than an English Muffin. And if you want to give a ‘Lil French gourmet taste, add a sprinkle of tarragon — that’s the secret ingredient that upscale restaurants use.
Hot Cake and Sausage – Make whole wheat or buckwheat-based pancakes and then add a drizzle of honey. Add bananas, blueberries, or dark chocolate chips with 70% or more cocoa. Skip the heavy sausage patty and make a high fiber black bean cake that can be so tasty and make you feel lighter (and keeping your morning routine bathroom life regular).
Sausage Burrito – Black beans and rice burrito is the same concept, and instead of a high-calorie corn tortilla filler, use a piece of whole wheat pita bread you can easily bake at home when you’re tired (or sprouted wheat) sprouted wheat toast to gain energy and fiber.
Strawberry Banana Smoothie – This is a newer item on the McDonald’s breakfast menu as smoothies didn’t become popular until after the 21st century began. It was all about the high calorie milk shake.
To a smoothie, add a frozen or fresh strawberries depending if they’re in season Add a banana that has fiber, and almond milk or oat milk. Or substitute the vanilla, strawberry, chocolate shakes with your favorite protein powder. In any of these options, the experience is like night and day to your body and the taste is not that different from a sugary smoothie.
Orange juice – OJ skip, O-K! The added concentrated sugar you and I grew up with doesn’t help your day. Combined sugar and acidity are hard on the stomach. Opt for a gentler to your gut option. Make your own fruit juices using a whole orange with water that only takes a few minutes. You can also make your own lemonade or limeade with whole fruit.
The best part is you probably won’t even like sugary fruit juices after you make the switch. You re-train your tastes and that helps your health and your daily moods as you don’t have additional sugar sitting in your system.
If you’re debating whether to eat something for breakfast, and planning to have a beverage other than water or milk, it’s a good idea to cushion your stomach lining with food first.
A typical American drink breakfast with coffee and OJ together with a meal is bad news for your stomach.
Regular coffee has high acidity and espresso is a no-no for sensitive stomachs. Cold brew coffee is better because of the process leaving less acidic grinds. Your stomach also hasn’t had a meal in 8 or so hours, so a snack is usually in order.
If you’re in the habit to feeding sugar cravings for your breakfast morning, make yourself a quick smoothie or prepare no-added refined sugar granola to munch on so you get your sugary fix without all the sugars loaded in pastries.
And if you’re a Vata 🙋🏻♀️, then you’re likely to want to switch up your foods from time to time and daily. If you’re not sure if that’s you, you can better know by this preference alone as Kapha and Pittas don’t need to constantly change up preferences. It’s not an ADD disorder in case that’s a worry.
The Vata breed simply prefers to have variety. So you can have a few options available to feed your Vata preferences and don’t get in a rut.
To Dairy or Not?
You can find shelf-stable almond, oat, and coconut milk is a good staple to have in your pantry. I found that having non-shelf stable milk around (besides being an evolving dairy no-no) was stressful with an expiration date where he milk can go to waste.
Making a parfait with a Greek yogurt with probiotics (good bacteria) is also a good start.
Toasting the morning with yogurt parfaits.
It’s all a balance. And that’s with sugar too…
Low Sugar Breakfast Foods:
Create a yogurt parfait with lower sugar and granola– Chobani Complete or Fage are around 7 grams of sugar per cup compared to double that amount or more. Then add dry oatmeal. Or if you take a few extra minutes, you can toast Quaker Oats Old Fashioned in your oven with honey as the binder.
To make granola cereal clusters, simply bake one layer on a baking sheet in your low-heated oven and mix with your favorite dried fruits like raisins a few spoonfuls of honey, and a drizzle of vegetable or canola oil (less is more). This becomes healthy-ish compared to high sugar cereals.
Believe me, for a sweet tooth like me (…is that you too?), I could eat a baked good and feel sweet happiness, but then as the effect wore off I’d be feeling bad because of all the leftover empty calories and indulgent skin-crawling sensation. This awareness seems to happen more as you age.
Many of us experience this as part of sugar’s dire consequences, and we don’t always immediately associate it with the sugar in our lives. Eating sugar unaware, if we’re not careful, can become an unhealthy habit. The more we indulge, the more we want.
A small sugary taste can be all you need to satiate your sweet tooth, but skipping sugar is the better option.
Or you could bake orange scones with no-added sugar.
You can also remember to do a weekly healthy drink, like a green tea smoothie so you can add more plant-based and yes, veggies to breakfast. That’s one you won’t find on a McDonald’s breakfast menu.
Green tea has caffeine and polyphenols that are good for heart health. You can add a dash of lime juice and a handful of wild blueberries for a spritzer. Or enjoy a simple green smoothie with banana or yogurt to thicken in a few minutes. And that can prep you for your veggie start like this Easy Veggie Breakfast Frittata.
…where both your mind and body start the day happy (with your new breakfast happy meal)! 😊
Back to school healthy lunch ideas is always a good idea year-round. Like protein nuggets made with chicken (easy recipe below)… and that you can sub with chick peas for falafel nuggets like these:
And if you’re making lunches for an active agenda where you need lots of protein, chicken (nuggets) could be your efficient energy source. And included below are the steps… plus more ideas for healthy lunch ideas! Because lunch is still one of the most important meals of the day (so it shouldn’t be an afterthought).
When I was in highschool, I ate with the same Lunch Bunch (we called ourselves) everyday.
Until the school year ended… and then we hoped for the same lunch schedule the next school year. That didn’t always work out and brought in some anxiety the first week. You had to make new friends.
But lunch was comfort. It’s something I never skipped because I liked food (still do!) and needed the energy to get through the afternoon. Even though I didn’t have a prepared lunch, I had my menu choices in the school cafeteria.
School-bought lunches were for the most part served edible for younger tastes even if it was a cardboard-like cheese and sauce pizza or mystery meat chicken nuggets. And forgettable wimpy fries (…did those come from real potatoes?). This still blows my mind what is allowed to be fed in public schools.
Taking a McDonald’s field trip for a Happy Meal would’ve been healthier (and a tastier treat!).
I know in high school, I often opted for a soft, warm pretzel with yellow mustard for lunch over a “real meal.” It was at least warm (where sometimes the cafeteria food were served still a bit frozen).
In my teenage mind, a pretzel was a step up in gourmet junk food. And adding mustard was my “vegetable” to tie me over until dinner.
Back then, cafeteria lunch was not to Jamie Oliver’s standards.
School lunches weren’t consistent.
And today they’re still not…
…Maybe that’s why I chose a career in hotel catering management and restaurant food planning after my schooling. 💭
And that’s when I experientially learned there were much better food options. Now I know better.
And you know better.
So preparing your own back to school healthy lunch options is the better plan.
For growing and active individuals, carbs such as pasta early in the day helps provide that needed energy.
That way for dinner you can tone down on the carbs, or serve lesser complex carbs like rice or light bread that’s easier to digest later in the day. They’re okay on a BRAT (bread, rice, apple, toast) or a low FODMAP diet.
And then not be hungry to enjoy a plant-based dinner. That may have been missed earlier in the day.
And when you make your own lunches, you know exactly what you’re getting. These are some ideas of what you could make:
Back to School Healthy Lunch Ideas and Sides (Snacks):
Chickpeas, rice (good with slivered almonds), and cumin
Chicken, curry, and cucumbers
Chickpea, red lentil, spinach, veggie or whole-grain pasta
Tofu or chickpeas, spinach, and quinoa
Baked potato with tomato salsa
Sprouted Bread Gourmet Sandwich:
Salmon, avocado, and cayenne pepper
Smoky tuna melt with a slice of cheese, and turmeric
Prosciutto and brie
Tomato, mozzarella, basil with a drizzle of balsamic
Instead of accompanying lunch with fries or chips, how about a healthy side?…
Hummus.
Olives – green and black.
Pickles (or cornichons if you want to get fancy!)
Edamame.
Almonds.
Apples. Choose a variety.
Bell peppers.
Carrots.
Cheese and crackers.
Cherry Tomatoes.
Cucumbers.
Currants or raisins.
Beverage Ideas:
Lemon juice water (lemonade without sugar)
Sun or homemade iced tea
Sparkling water (check sugar content as they range)
A fun way to zhugh up a drink is to add some orange, lemon, or lime zest. You can make a batch, store in a cup with a lid in your refrigerator, and that way you have some available when you need to add a final touch.
And those beverages go well with chicken nuggets for back to school healthy lunch ideas.
Easy Chicken Nuggets Recipe
If you’re at home, rinse off a few raw chicken breasts with cool water. Pat dry. Add a little EVOO, salt, and pepper ontop the chicken. Add Panko bread crumbs ontop if you want to make breaded chicken nuggets.
Then bake your chicken breasts on 350°F/180°C oven for no less than 50-55 minutes in a glass baking pan (I’d suggest). Make sure you cook the chicken all the way through (no pink inside) to a safe 165°F/75°C.
After cooled, cut up chicken into strips or cube chunks. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and then when it’s time for a meal, heat up (medium heat) a portion on a stove-top with a skillet. Sautee or brown the chicken to your liking. Great with a salad, rice, or pasta.
Delish and simple… and then you have several meals for you and those you feed!
Easy Baked Protein Nuggets - Chicken or Chick peas Healthy Lunch
This is a versatile protein meal that you can make with chick peas or chicken. It's an easy to make meal that just needs baking time but very little preparation.
Course lunch
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 hourshours55 minutesminutes
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Instructions
Prepare the chicken: Rinse off a few raw chicken breasts with cool water. Pat dry. Add a little drizzle of EVOO, salt, and pepper ontop the chicken. Or for breaded protein nuggets, lightly coat with olive oil.
Add Panko bread crumbs ontop if you want to make breaded chicken nuggets. The Panko will stick to the olive oil.
Then bake your chicken breasts on 350°F/180°C oven for no less than 50-55 minutes in a glass baking pan or similar so the chicken doesn't dry out too much. Make sure you cook the chicken all the way through (no pink inside) to a safe consumption measurement that's 165°F/75°C. If you're substituting chick peas (instead of chicken), you can cook chick peas or mash canned/already cooked chick peas and make round nugget shapes, and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
After cooled, cut up chicken into strips or cube chunks. Tip: Adults cook the chicken and the kids make the nuggets after cooked.
When I was younger I wore contact lenses. For the first few weeks, I had a subconscious fear and phobia, and I struggled to get the soft contact on my eyeball.
When I would try, my eye would blink and my eyelashes would keep the contact out of my eye.
No-contact was what I should have called the daily event that seemed like taking half an hour every day.
Years later, I realized that the reason I couldn’t get the contacts in my eyes was that I had a subconscious fear of the contact (lens) making contact with my eye.
So the blinking was not controlled by me but a body reaction to what my mind was telling my eye (mind-body connection in full swing).
From this puzzling event, I recalled that years before as a child, my eyes would sting when I tried to open them in the pool water.
Some kids could open their eyes completely underwater (I noticed with my underwater goggled protected eyes wide open).
A-ha!… with that, I made the connection to my fear… the goggles acted as eye protection and a contact lens was an intruder like the chlorinated pool water, at least in my subconscious mind (that does most of the thinking).
Knowing that insight, allowed problem-solving consciousness to emerge.
With daily practice, I consistently calmed my mind disabling my protective shell in my brain and re-writing the new story narrative to my fear and phobia that had the bold headline: “contacts are safe.”
Then that mind message was reinforced daily as I went to a 20/20 daily vision world from a framed eyeglass world.
Those subconscious positive reinforcing thoughts cut down the time to insert a contact within seconds.
Wouldn’t that be great if we could reprogram our negative thinking minds in nanoseconds?
Making visible, hidden fears through your actions
Inserting contact lenses can be a frustrating experience for many in the beginning (like it was for me).
Similarly, for so many other starting out defeats, a hidden fear or phobia can be preventing the outcome from happening.
There’s a deeper root cause for your fears.
When you can find the reasons and ways to reprogram your subconscious mind, then you can get over your fear and phobia.
Insecurity is one of those subconscious fears that can show up regularly with a knee-jerk reaction from a fear-based thought.
Another is jealousy or criticism especially if you’ve been wounded or have reason to doubt.
And these get worse if you’re Vata imbalanced. If you’re naturally Vata dominant, anxiety is your natural way that can trigger fear.
Any non-loving thought is fear-based because it comes from the brain’s ego, and if left unattended, can spin wildly out of control.
We can rewrite those subconscious fear thoughts and shadow work can be the way.
Also, others can notice from the words, actions, and reactions that happen, but the person with the ego is often blind…
It’s natural and invisible to the person unless they witness and catch the self-defeating and manipulating thoughts.
So that’s why we all have to be careful and stay aware of our own egos.
At any weak moment, a humble spirit can turn into a prideful act.
The simple act of someone cutting you off on the road can change your calm state to a riled-up one. And that can show up in a myriad of undesirable outward expressions that are unhelpful to everyone involved.
Getting off your chest is healthy and productive after you have a chance to cool down in self-control and you have calmly thought about potential solutions.
Then when you are tested, or you’re cut off the road, you get to decide which road to take.
Choosing the higher road means letting go and that can seem weak to the ego-mind, but self-control is empowered strength.
If you’re conflicted or when you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything yet. Review so you can learn and have discernment next time.
Remember that tidbit of wisdom next time when you hesitate.
Because you can be certain you will be reminded again until the lesson is learned. Life is patient with us.
How To Change Your Deep Rooted Fear and Phobia
Fear and phobia is rooted in the small places we can operate from in limitation and sometimes ugliness.
We all can act saintly-kind if we choose, and the act allows good sides to birth. Love serves all.
With practice over time, ideally, we can even learn to let undesired “meant to protect you” entering thoughts just pass through without putting energy into them.
We don’t have to accept our thoughts as current truth such as an isolated traumatic experience.
We can just reject those non-helpful thoughts that don’t apply to our current situation and send them back to where they came from.
And we can connect the dots to our self-awareness for the next time. We can recognize our self-destructive patterns and question them.
Because when you realize and accept every thought isn’t yours, that’s when you can learn how to optimize and transform your life if you decide.
Maybe you do realize, but you haven’t accepted yet. Because to accept means you give up a part of your control.
Say Goodbye to Your Past Fear and Phobia!
Before my younger contact lens years, I had fear and phobia about the dark, lightning, thunder, and the deep waters just to name a few things.
They came from news stories I heard, scary movies I watched, and almost physically drowning in my backyard lake at 9 years old.
But first I had to get calm and lose the worry.
I conquered the drowning fear eventually by learning how to swim.
When you lose your deep fear, any surface panicking fear and phobia, you can learn to float as you become light and buoyant. And if you can float either on your back or your front, you can learn to swim and save yourself.
That summer I was able to enroll in swim lessons but didn’t successfully learn how to float.
Then one day I was in the shallow end of a neighborhood pool, and I was calm and tried to float. Something clicked and I learned how to float on my belly and my back in the pool water.
It wasn’t pretty as I just laid there like a piece of driftwood letting my feet slowly float from the bottom of the pool.
But that day gave me confidence as I repeated floating again and again until I unintentionally could convince and remind myself (and my mind) that I knew how to float.
Fast forward to my young adulthood… most of my childhood phobias had disappeared or I had learned to swim out of them.
I still had fear and worry about so many real-life situations.
One was I had learned to grow scared of sharing.
I didn’t grow in share vulnerability times so that re-enforced my being a private person.
Writing blog posts like this and sharing on the internet was not something I would have ever done back then.
But instead of letting the fear get to me and grow in me, I slowly one-small step at a time turned those moves into action and transformation.
Since I faced my fear, I got over the hump to the other side and then I could replace my old fears.
When I had the realization opportunity to cross the bridge into knowing there’s a divine source inside you decades later, there was an exchange into believing in more than my ability only.
There was new weightlessness like the thick clouds had lifted. I wasn’t the sole source for my success and I stopped believing in luck as coincidence without meaning.
I became a Believer that applied deeper insight to life, which did the heavy lifting to transform fear. In faith you know there’s another better life coming.
…What if this life were just a test?
And if you’re still wondering what this life is about, testing the waters in your quiet, thoughtful life is a good way to discover. What if there was more, and you were missing out?
This is an individual question, but when you seek, you will find.
“You become what you think about all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
How Faith Can Play a Solution Role
To take one step further, gaining faith can transform your beliefs and mental health, and especially if you have an anxiety disorder or a traumatic stress disorder.
When you believe that all things are possible in a larger context, then you can believe that fear is beyond you and your power.
Fear can feel like an uncontrollable problem. If you can problem-solve with from within then you have a powerful way.
Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking was a classic book published in the 1950s.
He was a motivational thinker so ahead of his time because he was already suggesting meditation and mind-body correlation in his works.
There’s a 10-step practical process in the book’s chapter “Power to Solve Personal Problems.”
It includes: believe for every problem there is an answer, pray about your problems, trust in your insight and intuition, and do creative spiritual thinking for amazing power answers.
If Mr. Peale were still alive today, he would be a great forward-thinking influencer with much to say.
