Eat Better. Feel Better.

“You are what you eat” is another way to think about Tropical Smoothie Café’s motto, “Eat Better. Feel Better.” With summer fast approaching, we’re all thinking about eating healthy in order to get into beach body shape. But good nutrition and a healthy diet don’t just factor in to how we look, but also how we feel. When we eat healthy, we feel so much better than those times when we chow down on a big greasy burger and fries, which can leave us feeling bloated and weighed down. When we eat fresh fruit and vegetables we are providing our bodies with critical nutrients that provide energy or “fuel” for the day rather than putting empty or excessive calories into it.

Smoothies Offer A Healthy Option

Including more fresh fruits in our diet is important for balanced nutrition. Fruit is loaded with vitamins and minerals that keep the cells and tissues in our body working as they should.

For example, oranges are a good source of vitamin C and apples are great for getting in your vitamin A (great for the eyes). Bananas are chock full of potassium and other nutrients. Nutritional guidelines say we should eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, but many people find it hard to keep fresh fruit on hand with busy schedules that have us all on the go. The fresh fruit smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Café (like the Acai Berry Boost) offer a convenient and tasty way to get in those servings each day. We even have a veggie smoothie that is quickly becoming a customer favorite. You won’t find it on our regular menu, but ask us for a “Gimme 5” carrot smoothie and your taste buds will be very happy. Yes – eating healthy can taste good!

And for more healthy goodness, add a supplement to your smoothie like stress defense to give your body that extra advantage.

Creating a B-A-L-A-N-C-E-D Diet

While smoothies are an easy way to get in your daily fruit servings, a balanced diet also includes lean protein (like turkey and chicken), the “good” fats (like avocado) and whole grain. Fast food fries and burgers are fried and seeping in the “bad” (artery-clogging) fats so those should be limited or avoided altogether. It’s all about making smart daily choices and soon you’ll find that you have a new bounce in your step, your skin and hair improve, and you are building muscle and losing the fat. Stop in to our Café after your workout and take home a sandwich, wrap or flatbread to keep that “eat better” trend going. Our Baja Chicken Flatbread is mouth-watering yummy! If you don’t see exactly what you want on our menu, you can mix and match ingredients for a more personalized sandwich. Have fun trying different combinations! Yes – eating healthy can include a variety and not be boring!
We eat for fuel. But grabbing a handful of chips, cookies or french fries isn’t going to get you very far. Those are processed foods full of sugar and/or salt and the type of fats that over time will lead to heart disease or diabetes. They’re the bad carbs that may settle a temporary craving, but they’ll leave you more tired, less energetic and back to craving the same thing that won’t give you the nutrients that is the real fuel your body wants and needs. Your diet determines not just how you look, but how you sleep, how you concentrate, if you’ll make it through the work day without hitting the 3:00pm wall, how your skin and nails look – everything having to do with your living, breathing, functioning body.

Getting Enough Calories

When we talk about diet, we’re talking about your daily nutritious meals, not dieting. Many people go on very restrictive diets, taking in dangerously few calories. Your body needs calories for energy and for the brain to function and when you go below the number of calories that your body needs, it will think it’s starving, the metabolism will slow down and the next time you eat, it will hold on to every calorie that it can rather than burning it. When you eat healthy foods, you can munch on them throughout the day to keep your metabolism up, feel satisfied and not worry about empty calories that will lead to a crash in blood sugar levels 30 minutes later. Have you noticed that it’s usually when you’re eating healthy foods throughout the day and feel like you’re eating way more than you do when dieting, that’s when you lose the weight? Here’s a website to help you figure out what your daily caloric intake should be – LiveStrong.com. Yes – eating healthy means you get to eat plenty of satisfying foods and still lose weight if that’s your goal!

What Is Your “Why?”

Have you thought about why you want to eat healthy? Is it to lose weight? Does diabetes or heart disease run in your family? Do you want to focus on strength and energy to compete in athletic events or just keep your strength up since we loose muscle mass as we age? Just as with anything worthwhile, you’re more likely to succeed if you focus on your “why,” the reason that will keep you on track and motivate you to start … or more importantly, continue. This is about the long-haul, not one beach body summer that will come and go.

Maybe if you could see your future self after a steady diet of fatty, processed foods versus your future self who enjoyed fresh berries, romaine, broccoli and more of a nutritional diet, you would have your “why.” If this way of eating is new to you, or you’ve done it before but weren’t consistent, it doesn’t have to be hard, especially when you have a Tropical Smoothie Café in your neighborhood.

“Eat Better. Feel Better.” It’s all about developing a lifestyle that helps you be the best version of you that you can be. It can be done conveniently and it can be a pretty tasty way to live. We’re here to help you with both goals. We’ve got the “eat better” covered, and when you don’t want to cook but know that Tropical Smoothie Café has just what you need, then you instantly feel better too! We also help you feel better just by coming into the café and experiencing the warm hospitality of our team. You have a partner in your health goals. Let us know how you’re doing!