I've now joined the Spinach Smoothie craze!!!! A friend of mine at work gave me a Dark Chocolate pudding mix and I used that, about 3/4 full blender of spinach, bottle of very cold water (17oz) 1 packet of splenda. Lunch time!

Thanks everyone for this awesome information. And to the OP, way to go.

I too have been reading about the spinach smoothie and been reluctant to try it, but I am going to do it. I have a Chocolate Peanut Butter protein shake, so I am going to add it to that.

I have started having spinach shakes for breakfast, usually with the chocolate drink or the cappuccino drink. I usually put in a big handful of it.

What I am curious about is why everyone counts it towards their 4 cups of veggies. I was told that we should have 4 cups of veggies plus unlimited lettuce. My coach encouraged me to have lettuce at lunch and dinner. Because I usually don't want a salad at both lunch and dinner I will sub one salad by having my spinach in the morning.

Why does it count towards the 4 cups? Is spinach not considered lettuce? I was told all varieties counted so I just want to be sure I'm not overloading on the veggies.

Thanks all!

Nolegirl - My coach says lettuce means iceberg or romaine. Spinach is more nutrient rich and counts as a veggie.

Thanks, Lizzy! Good to know!

If you look at the Phase 1 sheet Spinach is explicitely listed under the Select Veggies list. A link to the latest is below:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/atta...05-02-2012.pdf

zucchini works great too
 

I like zucchini in my shakes . In fact better than spinach because it doesn't color it "green"! I cut up 1 c. and blend it really well so there are no chucks. I also like adding WF choc. syrup and WF peanut butter. I put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes or so and it makes it cold and delicious!

Thanks! My coach had said any variety of leaves/greens for salad so I took her too seriously I guess. It looks like field greens are also considered a vegetable (rather than lettuce) so I need to be counting that too. Glad I have this forum to get information! :)

Yes, i made the 'spinach as lettuce' mistake early in my IP career as well! There are several leafy greens on the Select Veggies that are counted in the 4cups and not lettuce (kale, spinach, mustard greens, etc).

:idea:Today I tried the spinach in my protein drink and it was great, going to be doing that every morning before work.

Excited for WI # 4 tomorrow.

WI 1: -7.8
WI 2: -3.5
WI 3: -1.8