Right when smoothie shops first starting popping up I was hooked on @tropicalsmo…

Right when smoothie shops first starting popping up I was hooked on @tropicalsmoothiecafe and loved their Health Nut smoothie with blueberries, banana, mango, almonds and protein. 🙋🏻‍♀️💙
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I was drinking it all the time and feeling like such a health goddess for choosing the “healthy option” until one day I found out that the smoothie had a whopping 80 grams of sugar… because they add novo sugar to their smoothies!! 🤯
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Even then, years before I became a holistic nutritionist, I was baffled why you’d need to add sugar to something that’s already so sweet from all the fruit… anyhow, I’d still order it, but just specifically ask for it to be made without the 1/4 cup of turbinado sugar (which is just a fancy name for unprocessed sugar) AND without their “healthy” alternative sweetener (aka @splenda) 🤦🏻‍♀️, and then I finally just recreated the smoothie and started making it at home. This was around the time I got a @vitamix and realized that you can make thick and creamy smoothies that taste like they came from smoothie shop with that bad boy. 🙌
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This is just a little reminder that we don’t always know what’s in our food when we’re eating out at restaurants. Granted, nowadays restaurants are more transparent, many post nutritional info and ingredient lists BUT cooking at home is where it’s at when it comes to healthy eating. You know exactly what goes in the food, you control the portion sizes that you’re served and it’s also way cheaper than eating out. 💯
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I definitely enjoy trying new lugar restaurants, but I’d say about 80% of my meals are cooked and eaten at home because I know how beneficial it is to my health. Plus, creating quick and easy, healthy meals is fun for me, obvi! ☺️
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Anyhow, long story short… this remake of the Health Nut Smoothie is on the blog today and it has 26 grams of sugar, all from the fruit, and it’s still plenty sweet! No additional sugar needed. Link is in my bio —> @eatingbirdfood