“Here! Try this! It’s good for you!” Consider this series of statements. If it comes from a stranger, I’d wager only about one-in-ten of us reaches out a hand to take “this.” If it comes from someone we like and trust, that number maybe doubles. We all know that things that are good for us taste bad or hurt.
With that in mind.
I have a couple of smoothie recipes I like. The first one is about a quarter cup of unsalted, unroasted cashews, a half cup of frozen chopped spinach, some chocolate protein power, a whole banana, a handful of frozen strawberries, and the milk of your choice (I like unsweetened almond or cashew). Toss it all in, give it a whirl, and enjoy a delicious, protein-packed shake. The banana gives it that little bit of sweetness. The strawberries make it cold, which I like. The spinach disappears. That’s free vitamins, and the cashews provide a thickness and toothiness that might not be your bag, but I dig it.
The other one has slightly less quantifiable ingredients.
On Monday, I either run, a short one, 3-5 miles, or I ride, again, an easy one. On Tuesday, I do random fitness work, calisthenics, maybe some sprinting, kettlebell nonsense, resistance training, what have you. On Wednesday, I ride, ideally 2-3 hours. On Thursday, fitness work again. Friday is another ride or run, not too long. Saturday is rest day, unless I get invited to ride with someone. Then it isn’t. Sunday is reserved for a long ride or run, depending on what events I might have coming up.
So that’s the recipe. It’s loose. It’s fluid. Often a plan doesn’t come off, and I bank another rest day. As I said, if I have an event, activities will skew toward preparing for whatever that is. I am seldom ever doing just one thing. I have been through whole years devoted to one thing. I can be maniacal sometimes. Usually that leads to injury.
The older I get, the more variety seems to be key to not breaking down (as much). I’m not a huge fan of doing fitness work just for the sake of gaining fitness, for example, but my core and upper body are stronger and more stable because I invest the time. This is maybe the spinach in the smoothie.
I like to run and ride. Those are the chocolate bits, the strawberries, the banana. But it doesn’t make sense to parse it out. It’s a whole. It’s a smoothie.
So it all goes in the blender by the handful. Very little is measured. Not much is planned in advance. A lot of what comes out is delicious. Sometimes not though. Regardless, I drink it. It’s probably good for me. You should try it.