The perfect smoothie

Hey everyone,

Today we will talk about smoothies.. Mmmm.. So I've already posted some healthy green smoothie variants that you can try at home but of course there are a lot of different smoothies. What are smoothies exactly? The name comes from the smooth property of the emulsion) is a blended and sometimes sweetened beverage made from fresh fruit (fruit smoothie) and in special cases can contain chocolate or peanut butter. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or contain syrup and ice ingredients. They have a milkshake-like consistency that is thicker than slush drinks. They can also contain milk, yogurt or ice cream. Smoothies are often marketed to health-conscious people, and some restaurants offer add-ins such as soy milk, whey powder, green tea, herbal supplements, or nutritional supplement mixes. But of course we make our own smoothies at home because this is cheaper and you know exactly what's in your smoothie.

The last weeks I have posted a green smoothie every week. What are the benefits of green smoothies??

- It helps with weight loss
- It reduces cravings
- It helps you get the vitamins & fibers that you need
- It helps with a clear skin
- It helps with greater mental clarity and focus
- Green smoothies are high in antioxidants
- Gives you more energy

These are some of the most important benefits of drinking green smoothies. This is why I also choose green smoothies over other smoothies.

Here is a short video about green smoothies:

But what do you need to make the perfect smoothies? This is a basic guide you can use to make whatever smoothie you want. 

It contains 6 steps:

Step 1: Choose your base/liquid

Dairy Milk, coconut water, soy milk, almond milk, nut milk, coconut milk, fruit juices, tea, coffee, yogurt, fruit concentrates, filtered water, sherbet or frozen yogurt.

Step 2: Choose your fruit

Bananas, oranges, watermelon, pineapple, pears, melon, papayas, apples, kiwis, mangoes, avocados, grapes, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or pomegranates.

If you are not making a smoothie with vegetables you can choose another fruit at step 3. The banana and strawberry combination is my favorite.

Step 3: Choose your greens

Kale, spinach, celery, collards, dandelion, beet greens or swiss chard.  

Step 4: Choose your proteins or add extra flavor

Protein powder, chia seeds, sea moss, vanilla extract, maca, spirulina, moringa leaf powder, coconut shavings, ground flaxseed, raw cacao, cinnamon, nut butter, peanut butter, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, salt, almond extract or nutella. 

Step 5: Choose your sweetener

Plain sugar, chopped dates, raw agave, ripe bananas, honey, stevia, brown sugar, splenda, maple syrup and coconut palm sugar. 

Step 6: Mix/blend (add ice cubes if you want to) 

That's it! This is all you have to know to start making your own smoothies. Change the ingredients, try different things and tell me what's the best smoothie that you have tried. 

30 day challenge: December

Hey everyone,

I just finished making the 30 day challenge. I had to make two different challenges because I have noticed in the response of the survey that there was some difference in what body parts the females vs. the males wanted to work on. Overall, I had a great response on the survey, so thank you all.

Below you can find the 30 day challenge for both males and females. From the statistics of the survey it was concluded that most respondents are already active in the gym. This is why the level of this challenge is not for beginners. There are a lot of exercises (6 in total) and it's almost like a full body work out with the focus on the body parts which was found most important to work on by gender. But you are free to choose the version of your choice. You can also add weights to some of the exercises to make it more challenge. You know your body, do not make it to hard. I want you to be able to complete this whole challenge without injuring yourself. Beginners can adapt to this schedule by reducing the amount of exercises or by reducing the quantity per exercise. There are also warm ups, cooling downs and breaks included in the tables and this is because I noticed that people tend to forget about how important these are when working out. Also don't forget to keep breathing during the exercises and drink water!

For the females: the focus is on the abs, the legs and buttocks.
For the males: the focus is on the abs, the legs, the arms and body strength.

♀version 30 day challenge December:
I did day 1 today and it only took me 18 minutes to do everything (with 1 minute breaks).
P.S. 10 forward lunges and 10 high knees means 10 times each leg for each exercise ;) 

DAY	Warming up	Sit-ups & forward lunges	break	Plank & high knees	break	Crunches & squats	Cooling down
Day 1	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 10 forward lunges	1 min break	10 sec plank 10 high knees	1-2 min break	10 crunches 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 2	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 15 forward lunges	1 min break	12 sec plank 15 high knees	1-2 min break	15 crunches 40 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 3	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 10 forward lunges	1 min break	15 sec plank 20 high knees	1-2 min break	20 crunches 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 4	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 15 forward lunges	1 min break	10 sec plank 25 high knees	1-2 min break	10 crunches 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 5	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 20 forward lunges	1 min break	12 sec plank 20 high knees	1-2 min break	15 crunches 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 6	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 25 forward lunges	1 min break	15 sec plank 15 high knees	1-2 min break	20 crunches 40 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 7	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 20 forward lunges	1 min break	10 sec plank 10 high knees	1-2 min break	10 crunches 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 8	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 9	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 25 forward lunges	1 min break	15 sec plank 20 high knees	1-2 min break	20 crunches 70 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 10	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 30 forward lunges	1 min break	20 sec plank 25 high knees	1-2 min break	25 crunches 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 11	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 25 forward lunges	1 min break	25 sec plank 30 high knees	1-2 min break	30 crunches 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 12	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 20 forward lunges	1 min break	15 sec plank 25 high knees	1-2 min break	20 crunches 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 13	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 25 forward lunges	1 min break	20 sec plank 20 high knees	1-2 min break	25 crunches 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 14	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 30 forward lunges	1 min break	25 sec plank 25 high knees	1-2 min break	30 crunches 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 15	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	15 sec plank 30 high knees	1-2 min break	20 crunches 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 16	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 17	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	30 sec plank 30 high knees	1-2 min break	30 crunches 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 18	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 40 forward lunges	1 min break	40 sec plank 35 high knees	1-2 min break	40 crunches 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 19	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	50 sec plank 40 high knees	1-2 min break	50 crunches 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 20	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 30 forward lunges	1 min break	30 sec plank 35 high knees	1-2 min break	30 crunches 115 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 21	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 25 forward lunges	1 min break	40 sec plank 30 high knees	1-2 min break	40 crunches 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 22	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 30 forward lunges	1 min break	50 sec plank 35 high knees	1-2 min break	50 crunches 120 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 23	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	30 sec plank 40 high knees	1-2 min break	30 crunches 115 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 24	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 40 forward lunges	1 min break	40 sec plank 35 high knees	1-2 min break	40 crunches 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 25	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 26	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 45 forward lunges	1 min break	70 sec plank 40 high knees	1-2 min break	50 crunches 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 27	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 40 forward lunges	1 min break	50 sec plank 45 high knees	1-2 min break	60 crunches 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 28	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	90 sec plank 50 high knees	1-2 min break	70 crunches 120 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 29	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 30 forward lunges	1 min break	70 sec plank 45 high knees	1-2 min break	50 crunches 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 30	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 35 forward lunges	1 min break	50 sec plank 40 high knees	1-2 min break	60 crunches 100 squats	5 minute cool down

♂version 30 day challenge December:

I did day 1 today and it only took me 16 minutes to do everything (with 1 minute breaks).

DAY	Warming up	Sit-ups & burpees	break	Push-ups & crunches	break	Tricep dips & squats	Cooling down
Day 1	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 10 burpees	1-2 min break	5 push-ups 10 crunches	1-2 min break	5 tricep dips 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 2	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 15 burpees	1-2 min break	7 push-ups 15 crunches	1-2 min break	7 tricep dips 40 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 3	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 20 burpees	1-2 min break	9 push-ups 20 crunches	1-2 min break	9 tricep dips 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 4	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 10 burpees	1-2 min break	11 push-ups 10 crunches	1-2 min break	10 tricep dips 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 5	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 15 burpees	1-2 min break	13 push-ups 15 crunches	1-2 min break	12 tricep dips 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 6	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 20 burpees	1-2 min break	15 push-ups 20 crunches	1-2 min break	15 tricep dips 40 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 7	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 10 burpees	1-2 min break	17 push-ups 10 crunches	1-2 min break	17 tricep dips 60 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 8	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 9	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 20 burpees	1-2 min break	13 push-ups 20 crunches	1-2 min break	12 tricep dips 70 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 10	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 25 burpees	1-2 min break	15 push-ups 25 crunches	1-2 min break	15 tricep dips 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 11	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 30 burpees	1-2 min break	17 push-ups 30 crunches	1-2 min break	17 tricep dips 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 12	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 20 burpees	1-2 min break	19 push-ups 20 crunches	1-2 min break	20 tricep dips 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 13	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 25 burpees	1-2 min break	21 push-ups 25 crunches	1-2 min break	22 tricep dips 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 14	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 30 burpees	1-2 min break	23 push-ups 30 crunches	1-2 min break	25 tricep dips 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 15	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 20 burpees	1-2 min break	25 push-ups 20 crunches	1-2 min break	27 tricep dips 80 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 16	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 17	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 30 burpees	1-2 min break	21 push-ups 30 crunches	1-2 min break	22 tricep dips 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 18	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 35 burpees	1-2 min break	23 push-ups 40 crunches	1-2 min break	25 tricep dips 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 19	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 40 burpees	1-2 min break	25 push-ups 50 crunches	1-2 min break	27 tricep dips 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 20	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 30 burpees	1-2 min break	27 push-ups 30 crunches	1-2 min break	30 tricep dips 115 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 21	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 35 burpees	1-2 min break	29 push-ups 40 crunches	1-2 min break	32 tricep dips 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 22	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 40 burpees	1-2 min break	31 push-ups 50 crunches	1-2 min break	35 tricep dips 120 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 23	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 30 burpees	1-2 min break	33 push-ups 30 crunches	1-2 min break	37 tricep dips 115 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 24	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 35 burpees	1-2 min break	35 push-ups 40 crunches	1-2 min break	40 tricep dips 90 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 25	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY	REST DAY
Day 26	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 40 burpees	1-2 min break	31 push-ups 50 crunches	1-2 min break	35 tricep dips 100 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 27	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 45 burpees	1-2 min break	33 push-ups 60 crunches	1-2 min break	37 tricep dips 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 28	5 minute warm up	5 sit-ups 50 burpees	1-2 min break	35 push-ups 70 crunches	1-2 min break	40 tricep dips 120 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 29	5 minute warm up	10 sit-ups 40 burpees	1-2 min break	37 push-ups 50 crunches	1-2 min break	42 tricep dips 110 squats	5 minute cool down
Day 30	5 minute warm up	15 sit-ups 45 burpees	1-2 min break	40 push-ups 60 crunches	1-2 min break	45 tricep dips 100 squats	5 minute cool down

I hope the tables are clear and I will keep you guys updated about my progress. Good luck with the challenge!
Also, don't forget to take a picture today so you can compare it with a picture at the ending of the challenge on December 30th. We are starting this New Year in good shape!

Debby