Helen’s posts have been so popular that I’ve decided to have her keep coming back. If you missed her other posts on intermittent fasting, the body transformation of Naomie from Southern Charm, & how to get rid of the freshman 15 then you have to check them out.
Reading: best smoothies to break a fast
She’s such a badass, & I think she’s such a good example of a TSC reader who is crushing it!
Let me reintroduce Helen…
I met Helen through the beauty of social media & fell in love with her through her Blender Bombs. If you guys haven’t had them, let me tell you, they’re the most efficient way to make a smoothie. They’re full of all sorts of goodness & a great thing to throw in a blender when you don’t have time to add 6 million things into your concoction.
Blender Bombs are Omega-3 Rich Smoothie Boosters designed to make your smoothie the ultimate meal replacement! “Blend ’em” in your smoothie,”Break ’em” over your bowl, or “Bite ’em” for a snack. Hushup X Hustle built & approved.
& they’re sooooo good. I’m a huge fan of the Acai.
Anyway, a while ago we interviewed Patricia from Southern Charm ( you have to check out 10 things I’ve learned from her ) & we ran into Helen at a tiny hotel called Zero George Street Hotel. We sipped on skinny margs & talked about Naomie Olindo from Southern Charm & how she completely transformed her body through Blender Bombs & intermittent fasting. Helen told me that she also changed her life through intermittent fasting after she gained the ‘freshman 20.’ So I figured I HAD TO ask her to come on TSC to talk SPECIFICALLY about how her & Naomie tightened up.
So today Helen is back to share some fasting tips for the working woman who’s like always G2G & some smoothie recipes to help you break your intermittent fast. I’ll let Helen take it from here.
Intermittent Fasting ( IF ) is all the rage right now, & for good reason. It can be extremely beneficial to your overall health & yield amazing results. But getting into it can be hard — hard to get through, hard to understand, & hard to stick with. If you don’t know what IF even is, read this first. Then, check out the tips I’ve put together below on how to accomplish a successful day of IF when you’re a boss-ass B working 9 to 5 ( just like Dolly herself ).
Table of Contents
FASTING TIPS FOR THE WORKING WOMAN:
♡ First & probably most importantly: STAY. HYDRATED.
My biggest suggestion to combat dehydration while practicing IF is to start the day by drinking a large hot green tea or black coffee (if black coffee grosses you out, just add a small splash of nut milk! ). I usually start my day with warm lemon water & then make the hot tea in a 30 oz YETI cup & add some fresh lemon, which I sip on from about 9AM-11AM. If I don’t do this, sh*t will hit the fan. I will be out of whack. It’s a little #selfcaretip that puts me in a good mood & keeps me satisfied until it’s time to break the fast.
♡ My second biggest tip is to break your fast with a meal-replacement smoothie.
I like to break my fast around noon by drinking my Blender Bomb smoothie topped with ⅓ cup Granola So Bomb & then I fill up my YETI with water ( ice is optional ). Voila! This is the routine that works for me, & it’s also a great way to distract yourself from office temptations like leftover donuts, pastry crumbs, & often-sought-after-but-rarely-around kolaches. The KEY to staying full is to top your BB smoothie with granola because it adds that bit of “crunch” so you feel like you’re chewing something. You can check out some smoothie recipes here.
♡ And lastly, be patient with yourself
( Like, all the time, but especially when you’re attempting an IF lifestyle ).
You might experience some serious hanger the first week while your body adjusts to its new eating schedule, & that’s more than normal. Intermittent fasting is not something that is easy to implement overnight for everyone, so take it slow. If you’re used to eating breakfast at 8AM, try to wait until 8:30 or 9AM. The next week, you may not feel hungry until 9:30 or 10AM! Keep pushing the time back bit by bit until your body is hungry at a time you’re comfortable with.
Of course, if you feel starving or faint, EAT IMMEDIATELY. The point of IF is not to starve yourself to the point of illness. It’s simply a great way for some to heal their gut, feel less bloated, & lose some weight. Also, an important note: Ask your doctor if 16/8 or 5:2 intermittent fasting is okay for you. If you have struggled with disordered eating, or are currently struggling with it, fasting may not be for you. Please be honest with yourself & consult your doctor before starting to implement fasting.
BREAKING YOUR FAST
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There are endless ways to break your fast. I mean, after 16ish hours of no food, just about anything sounds good. Personally, I love breaking my fast with a Blender Bomb® Smoothie. Think about it… a smoothie is a bunch of fruits, veggies, nuts, & seeds all blended together making it SUPER easy to digest. A smoothie a day assures me that I’m getting a significant helping of fruits & veggies right off the bat & keeps me in a routine. I really don’t like to meal plan ( feels boring & stressful to me ), so knowing the first half of my day is going to be full of healthy practices allows me to feel like I’m in a good spot with my relationship with food.
Most days I break my fast with the Chocolate Cravings Smoothie®. I am not kidding when I say that if I go one week without this smoothie, I begin to CRAVE chocolate at night. Once a chocoholic, always a chocoholic. But some days I need something fruity that reminds me of relaxing on a beach in Mexico. And other days, like after a long trip or a big weekend, I’ll go for a veggie-full “detox” smoothie to get me back on track after a long weekend. There’s no telling what mood my taste buds will be in day-to-day!
Try some of my favorite go-to smoothie recipes below as a way to break your fast & see how you like it!
♡ Chocolate Cravings Smoothie®
¾ frozen banana
2 tbsp peanuts
⅓ cup riced cauliflower
1 Cacao & Peanut Butter Blender Bomb
1 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp Bomb Butter
1 cup water
BLEND 30 seconds & add ¾ x cup water ( more or less to reach desired consistency )
Optional: Top with ⅓ cup Granola So Bomb
♡ Vacation Mode Smoothie
½ cup frozen mango
½ cup frozen pineapple
1 tbsp coconut cream powder ( or 1 tbsp coconut cream from a can )
2 tbsp Bomb Butter
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1 Aloe & Collagen or Original Blender Bomb
¾ cup water ( more to reach desired consistency )
BLEND 30 seconds, add 1 cup ice, BLEND 30 seconds
Optional: Top with ⅓ cup Granola So Bomb
♡ Spicy Dicey Smoothie
½ inch fresh ginger
½ inch fresh turmeric
1 cup spinach (or ½ cup frozen spinach )
1 cup fresh cauliflower ( or ½ cup riced cauliflower )
2 tbsp Bomb Butter
1 x Goji, Coconut, Acai or Sunflower Seed & Coconut Blender Bomb
¾ cup water ( more or less to reach desired consistency )
BLEND 30 seconds, add 1 cup ice, BLEND 30 seconds
Optional: Top with ⅓ cup Granola So Bomb
Be sure to follow Helen on Instagram & check out her other posts on The Skinny Confidential ( 1, 2, & 3 ).
x, lauryn
+ check out my experience with intermittent fasting here.
++ if you like this post, you’ll love this post on tips for weight loss & healthy eating.
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