"That girl" glow: up your smoothie game

We've had it all: PB+Banana, Whey protein mixes and “detox 100% complete clean-out skinny juice”. Now alons-y! - time to move onto something actually fuelling!

For a lifestyle to be sustainable, extremes are a no-go. Sure, there has to be a set of habits you try to stick to most of the time, but a weekend off (the rails even) is as much a reason to try to reverse a pizza-and-caramel spree by “detoxifying” as it is to abandon it all just because you cannot always “be good”. Both lead to the same outcome: drinking celery juice for 3 days is merely apt to destroy your appetite patterns so that when you do get back into a normal routine, it will be harder to eat normally again. Just like with working out: not working out for a day, then running a marathon to compensate for it - imagine how exhausted, unwilling to ever get back on track it will make you.

So striving for perfection every waking hour? - admirable, but not sustainable.

Instead of punishing yourself after a fallout, the best thing to do is go on with the initial plan and fuel your body according to its needs. In general, don't set such goals for the week if you wouldn't do just that for the next couple decades.

There are many decent players in the food scene that have fallen prey to a diet culture stigma over the last 20 years or so, smoothie being one of them. A shame! It can be a fantastic way to squeeze in tons of veggies otherwise unthinkable in such quantities: think spinach, kale or beetroot.

Here, we have come up with some inspiration to up your smoothie game with vitamins and toppings, all gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free. Turn it into a full-fledged meal: filling, delicious, and juicy enough to make you come back for more. (And make your engineering flatmates ask for a tutorial, according to our copywriter Anna).

Toppings for an instagrammable smoothie your tummy will be a fan of:

• Cacao nibs
• Coconut flakes
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Hemp seeds (shelled for smooth(ie)ness, unshelled for a crunch)
• Puffed quinoa or amaranth
• Dried raspberries. strawberries or mango
• Raw fruit, berries in particular

Mix-ins for happy gut, tons of energy and glowing skin:

• Spirulina
• Rose hips powder
• Ashwagandha
• Lemongrass powder
• Hemp protein
• Acai powder