Green Body and Mind
In the first few days after my accident, it seriously hurt to laugh. It was bad enough that I had to hold on to my face when something was supposed to be funny. It was worse when I laughed inappropriately when my oral surgeon instructed me to restrict my physical activity. He was making some very kind assumptions about my lifestyle, but anyone who knows me well enough understands why it’s hilarious that I am under strict orders not to play tennis or go to the gym.
The truth is that I get most of my exercise from walking as much as possible (especially now that subway fares have gone up yet again), and I’m really missing out on one of my favorite things about summer in New York. I can make it the rest of this month without my typical five or six mile walks around the city, but at some point, I have to get back out in the world and get a little bit of exercise. While the main concern has been my nutrition, exercise is the other side of that coin, and a short walk and a few minutes of Wii Yoga, even if they feel exhausting right now, go a long way to preserve sanity and help in the healing process.
In the meantime, does it count that I’m reading about exercise?
My friend Kirsten is a marathon runner and fitness blogger extraordinaire (among many impressive things about her) and was kind enough to share some smoothie recipes that actually have useful nutrients. The Green Mile is touted on iRun.ca as perfect for a pre-workout energizer - in this case, the workout was reading about Kirsten trying different yoga studios around Toronto - and my version was green as can be, since the kale blends into a lovely color (off-putting if you don’t associate the color green with sweet, but this definitely has enough natural sugar) and because it came from our CSA.
The original recipe required a few modifications to meet my straw requirements and taste preferences. I hate papaya (and I spent a semester in college in Costa Rica, so trust me, I’ve tried to love it), so I swapped it for an extra helping of mango, and needed a few extra ounces of water to thin it out. I also left out the flax seed oil and chia seed (yes, the same thing used to sprout Chia Pets and now, Chia Obamas). Blend:
- 2 c. kale, washed and stems removed
- 1 banana
- 1 1/2 c. frozen mango cubes
- 8 oz. orange juice
- 12 oz. ice water
Finally, and most importantly, thorough blending alone will not cut it for a wired jaw. Tiny pieces of kale clogged up the works during my taste test and I ended up passing the entire batch through a fine strainer so that it became more juice than smoothie.
That process probably lost some nutrients, and the final product was much less pleasant looking, but it was the only hope for getting it through my teeth and wires.
