Do you experience mid day slumps? Does three o’clock hit you like a brick wall nearly every day? I've always been told, “oh, you have young children, you’re supposed to be tired!” Well, I no longer accept that. I now know my mid day (mid morning, mid evening…) slumps were (and sometimes still are) a direct result of the food I put into my body.

Speaking of which, I had some serious motivation issues this weekend; both with my smoothies and with life in general. It still takes me by surprise to realize just how much the food we eat affects the rest of our lives. After the pizza incident, I made fajitas for dinner the following night and I did not serve a salad with it. Two dinners in a row with no raw foods and heavy on the white bread and boy was my body pissed! Friday I got up early and took the kids to the pool in a futile attempt to get in some sort of a workout, but the rest of the day I was useless and cranky, exhausted and lethargic. I didn’t even make my smoothie until after the kids went to bed that evening. I snacked on processed junk all day and just felt like crap. Saturday was more of the same. The boys and I were invited to a friend’s house for dinner and I knew the menu would be lasagna and salad. I took marinated cucumbers and filled my plate to near over flowing with salad and cucumbers and then had just a half a piece of lasagna. I drank water most of the evening and finally Sunday morning I was beginning to feel human again. I nourished my body with lots of healthy, raw foods throughout the day yesterday and spent some time outside at the park to soak up some needed vitamin D from the sun’s rays. By the end of the day I was feeling much better and ready to tackle this hectic chaos that my family calls Monday. I woke up a little, um, puffy this morning but otherwise feeling so much better.

When I’m feeling a little sluggish, I no longer reach for the coffee pot. My vitamix is my new “dealer” and green smoothies are my drug of choice! So the next time you find yourself reaching for a cup o’ joe in the middle of the day, why not reach for a green smoothie instead? If you don’t find your energy rebounding, I’ll buy you your next cup of coffee (j/k, sort of.)