What people are saying
Feel Incredible
I have learned so much from the 12 Steps to Whole Foods program! I have learned to go back to the basics, what God intended us to eat. So many people ask me, “Well what do you eat then?” There is an abundance of food to eat! It is aggravating because so many people are so ignorant about good nutrition. I am more aware of all the advertisements promoting good nutrition in certain products just to make a sale, when they are really so far from good nutrition.
I tell so many people about the 12 Step program! It is very obvious that I do not eat the ways of the world. I stand out like a sore thumb when I don’t eat the food at a party and I bring my own snacks.
I have given countless number people the links and a CD full of information. I have inspired many people to start making green smoothies, four of whom have bought a BlendTec. They too have experienced the benefits with just the smoothies.
I was at dinner a few months ago and one of them was a pharmacist. He was giving me a hard time about why I eat the way I do. He asked, “Why do you eat like that?” I said, “To put you out of business one day.” He said, “Well, what about when you get diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol?” I told him I wouldn’t get those diseases because of the way I eat and the things I do. People don’t get how important food is, not just live but to live a healthy, full life and stay out of the doctor’s office. I have not gotten sick since being on the program. I am a runner and feel better than I did before.
I have a degree in Exercise Science and have taken many nutrition classes. A whole food program makes the most sense, since it is what our bodies were designed to have. I have a friend that is getting her masters in nutrition and snubs me for the way I eat because of her education in nutrition. She thinks it is bogus, but then wonders why she can’t lose 20 pounds. This program has no comparison to other nutrition. This one makes sense and it is easy, very easy!
I wish I could give a book to all my friends and family and have them change their lives. Or even just have them start drinking green smoothies!
I absolutely LOVE the recipes in 12 Steps to Whole Foods! I make my shopping list from the book. I printed off all of the pages and made it into a book so I can keep it in the kitchen. My three year old loves the food in there as well. The salads are my favorite! Well, and the treats too.
I feel incredible since I have been on the program. I enjoy the fresh food. It is easier than most people think. I love being in the kitchen and then eating the good, wonderful food! My friends and family have been my guinea pigs. I haven’t had too many complaints.
The benefits are countless. The extra time in the kitchen and the extra money spent is more than worth it. It is like putting money into savings because I won’t spend it on my bad health in the future. I look forward to the day where I can have a garden and just walk outside to pick ingredients for dinner.
I will continue on the journey for myself and telling others about the program. It is time to reverse the way we eat. It will only help us. Thank you!
— Meghan Meredith
Green smoothies have saved my life!
I have spent all my adulthood overweight and miserable. My weight went from 135 to 280 during that time. Most of the time I had skewed ideas that I was either too fat (when I weighed 135) and not that fat (when I weighed 280). My perception was always off. But I did know that I just didn’t feel good.
I have been on Weight Watchers, the soup diet, hard boiled egg diet, Chinese tea, and every diet that came in magazines. I finally found that Atkins worked for me–three times! Funny that I would go off after several months and the weight would come back on, with its 30.-lb. friend! I realized that if I kept dieting that way I would completely ruin my health. I was so afraid to start another diet, so I decided to never diet again and just accept myself as I was.
I remarried at 210 lbs. and within 3 years had put on 70 lbs. with careless eating, primarily fast food. Then my DH was diagnosed with cancer (digestive related) and I found GreenSmoothieGirl.com. It was an answer to prayer because this is a LIFESTYLE–not a diet. In the last 9 mos. I have lost 40 lbs., my skin glows, I am nearly off the medications I was taking for high blood pressure, arthritic aches and pains, and mucus. My wrinkles also are going away!
I will NEVER diet again because I can eat everything I want and truly enjoy it (even chocolate). I am never hungry because I have God’s fast food with me all the time (fruits). I have found that the more raw I eat, the faster I lose weight. I am no longer fanatical about it and believe that my body will end up the weight I am supposed to be, not the way society says it should be. I just wish I had been able to learn this earlier in life.
Sorry about the long blog, but I feel that finding GreenSmoothieGirl.com and Robyn’s blog has saved my life! Thanks, Robyn and every one else!
*results may vary
— Karen L.
You Won’t Believe Your Energy Level!
My budget wouldn’t allow for the full detox program as I am saving for the 12 Steps to Whole Foods program after the detox. But I would like to share how I am doing. I started the program early and decided to keep doing the first 4 days again so I would be with you guys for the rest. I have about 20 lbs. that I haven’t been able to get off forever, no matter what I have done.
And I am here to testify that after day 4, I have dropped 5 lbs. I feel great. What was amazing was I was so satisfied and without cravings for those days. Repeating them wasn’t a hard decision.
If I had to do it over again I would have done the complete program with support, as I feel kind of like a lone wolf out here. But going by the way I feel (which is wonderful—so much energy!), I will carry on. LOL! Thank you so much for this program. Also for those who like me were wondering if the manual is worth it—it’s packed full of information and so worth the money. We wouldn’t think twice about paying that for a bottle of diet pills which, in the long run, do nothing. This is healthy and you won’t believe your energy level.
*results may vary
— Joann B.
I am so in love with green smoothies!
I am so in love with green smoothies! I am a 31 yr. old mother of four children. I am very into fitness/weight lifting to build muscle in my body. I started green smoothies just after I had been referred to GreenSmoothieGirl.com by my zoning lady for chronic headaches and muscle tension in my neck that would not go away. Soon after I started drinking green smoothies daily, the headaches and muscle tension left! I have not had the problem since.
I drink green smoothies for breakfast along with a whey protein shake every morning, and also for my snacks during the day, I make a full pitcher of green smoothie every 2-3 days and keep it in my fridge when I need a snack. It is quick and easy and very healthy! It keeps me on track for my ideal weight goals! I have converted many friends and family to green smoothies! I recommend them to everyone I meet! When someone asks me what I am doing to look so good, I just give them my personal green smoothie recipe and some fitness tips!
I would like to thank Robyn for this AWESOME idea and for taking the steps to get the information on her website to help others who so desperately need a nutritious lifestyle!
— LaDawn Doxey, Syracuse , UT
Green smoothies are now a permanent fixture in my family’s diet
I began drinking a quart of green smoothie daily when I was about eight months pregnant. I felt so healthy for the remainder of the pregnancy, regained my strength quickly after a long labor, and shed my pregnancy weight in less than six weeks. Now, more than a year later, I have lost an additional 30 lbs. and feel great.* I firmly believe that anyone who is seriously trying to lose weight in a healthy way should be drinking green smoothies. Green smoothies are now a permanent fixture in my family’s diet. We drink them for breakfast, for snacks, and with our occasional breakfast-for-dinner meals. My older child enjoys sharing them with playmates, and we’ve even brought a full pitcher of smoothie to a potluck with a breakfast theme. I’ve yet to meet a person who tries a green smoothie and doesn’t enjoy it.
— Tina H.
Green smoothies are here to stay!
Green smoothies have saved my life! I had been in a state of depression for the past 4 years. I was put on depression medicine but it never helped. I discovered green smoothies in December of 2008 and decided to give it a try in January 2009. It has been two months since I started making a green smoothie everyday and I feel AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and FULL OF LIFE. I have not felt this good in a long time. I have had tons of energy, I can fall asleep faster at night and feel rested when I wake up, I don’t feel the need to take daily naps, I have had less cravings for sweets and processed foods, my motivation is back, and I have lost 8 pounds in 2 months. Green smoothies are here to stay!
*results may vary
— AB, IL
I will not ever go back to eating the way I used to!
I started drinking green smoothies and doing about 80% to 95% raw to help improve my migraine headaches. I lost 51 pounds in six months and I feel great. I am 47 years old, and I teach at an alternative high school. It can be very stressful working with at-risk youth. I have seen my mood and attitude improve so much since I started adding green smoothies as my breakfast.
My favorite is 2 bananas, 1 large apple, 2 kale leaves, 6-8 dandelion greens, 2 large handfuls fresh spinach, some wheatgrass juice, 2 cups water and 1 cup of ice. Blend and I have breakfast and my afternoon snack. This great stuff and I will not ever go back to eating the way I used to with fast and processed foods.
*results may vary
— Carol N.
Cholesterol Dropped 50 Points! Discovered a Food Sensitivity and Dropped 12 lbs!
During the Detox I lost 12 pounds and my “tummy!” I stopped having gas and feeling bloated and discovered a major food sensitivity causing it! My cholesterol dropped from 204 to 154 and is now in the normal range! My doctor is amazed!
I discovered I have sensitivity to gluten—with that knowledge, my sinus headaches and phlegm in the back of my throat in the morning are gone! I have more energy, my color and skin look healthy, and I feel great.
I am not going to tell you the program was easy because it wasn’t. You have to be determined, but following the suggestions in the book really helped, especially BEING PREPARED. Shopping and preparing in advance and having several days of food prepared made ALL THE DIFFERENCE. I took my food with me when I could.
If I was in a situation where we were eating out, I just told the waiter I needed their help as I was on a “special eating program” and what individual items from their menu I could eat and they were always more than cooperative in making me a “meal.”
I learned a lot about how to prepare and plan a healthy eating program and I will continue to feed my body a healthy diet to achieve these marvelous benefits for the rest of my life. THANK YOU Green Smoothie Girl!!!
*results may vary
— Cheryl F., Corona del Mar, California
Neither of My School Kids Have Had a Sick Day!
I started 12 Steps during the busiest time of my life, when my fourth baby was 6 weeks old. My other little ones were 2, 5, and 6. It was three days before school started and everyone was sick with a cold but me. I was sick with an inflamed gallbladder and scheduled for surgery at age 33! We had been sick more than 50% of the last 365 days.
“Enough is enough!” I thought, “I know what I should be eating, I’ve been studying this since I was pregnant with my first, but I can’t figure out how to apply what I know. It overwhelms me. I want my family to be healthy, especially my son who is sick the most. Maybe Robyn’s program can teach me something I don’t already know. I trust Robyn’s nutritional philosophy more than any other author out there.” (Sorry I was skeptical at first, but the beauty of 12 Steps I now see, is putting the transition into a do-able order and adding one thing at a time.)
We started 12 Steps on the first day of school. An awesome time to start because fruit and veggies are abundant in the garden and cheap at the store, and the beginning of the school year is a time of transition anyway! I had paid for school lunch, but we started 12 Steps just in time. None of my kids will ever have school lunch (they serve corn dogs every single day; I hurt for the other kids).
The first week curriculum for first grade was “health and nutrition.” At dinner I remarked on the coincidence that I was taking a health and nutrition class too. My kids already know to expect fallacious nutritional information from school, so we compared notes on what we were learning each night at dinner. My kids loved that I was going “back to school” too.
I call “12 Steps” my online class and I always say “my teacher says . . .” Rather than being on a crazy diet, in my family’s eyes, I am taking a university-level, highly prestigious, nutrition course and I will “graduate” in a year (you never really graduate, though, do you?). In my eyes, it’s even better than that. Each month as my kids start new units of study, they are excited to hear about my new unit of study.
During the first month, my goal was to drink 8+ glasses of water a day instead of 3 or 4. I had been perpetually dehydrated since I got pregnant, and nursing was making it worse. That was a hard goal because I was so insanely busy I didn’t even have time to get a drink until 10 in the morning some days.
More than once, due to kid distractions, a green smoothie took three days to make. Water in the blender the first day, wash produce the next, chop stuff up and blend it the third. Getting hydrated was wonderful and I had green drinks on days when I couldn’t get a smoothie made. A ginormous burden of guilt (that I didn’t even know I had) lifted off my shoulders about my family’s nutrition. That gave me an emotional boost. The water made me feel physically so much better. I cancelled my gallbladder removal surgery and I don’t recall when it happened, but all of a sudden I had an extra 30 minutes to make green smoothie every day (it takes longer holding a baby or toddler or both while you do it).
Organic ready-to-eat salads just happened to be on sale for $.99 a box when we hit month two. That would convince anyone to love salad, no work and so tasty. When the sale ended two weeks later, I found again that I magically had the extra time to wash piles of romaine, spinach, and other lettuces. Another huge burden lifted off my shoulders, because I didn’t have to think of what to have for dinner anymore, it was always salad. We had main dishes too, but they were way simpler, just side dishes really. Salad was fun. My kids love picking out toppings for the salad and my picky eater has a passion for making her salad pretty. She also loves that dinner every night is a salad bar. Dinner battles at our house almost disappeared. As the quality of our meals went up, there was less to complain about.
The third month was my birthday. I got a beet cake, a salad spinner, and the “okay” to order almonds in the GreenSmoothieGirl.com annual group buy. I have been substituting almonds, apples, and raisins for chips and pretzels (just a few per snack) since we started 12 Steps. I reverse engineered our favorite store salad dressings using high quality ingredients. It was fun.
Where did I get the time to sit around reverse engineering salad dressing recipes? It is a mystery to me. I am getting salad making down to a science. I love buying it. I love being the lady who fills her cart up with lettuce and practically nothing else every few days at the grocery store.
Instead of fruit snacks, my toddler hugs the bags of romaine and skips the complimentary Laffy Taffy at the check-out. (Toddlers transition so much faster than the rest of us). I took salad to the family potluck, and impressed my relatives when 2 of my 3 kids took big servings of it before eating anything else.
My husband won’t touch green smoothies, but he has enjoyed the improvement in the family menu and the unanticipated weight loss from having salads for dinner every day.
Wow, now we are into November and neither of my school kids have had a sick day! My toddler has been sick every other week like usual (and my husband too). Even the daily green smoothie can’t save her at age 2, I guess. With one kid and one parent sick a lot though, it is miraculous that no one else is getting it, as they got everything last year. And my son went off asthma medicine without a hitch. In the past, running out of medicine meant he would be sick in the next day or two, but so far so good! Thanks!
*results may vary
— Regina Slaugh
Green smoothies have helped me tremendously!
I have had an iron deficiency most of my life and the green smoothies have helped tremendously! I am losing less hair in the shower as a result. My daughters (age 6, 7, and 10) love the green smoothies! They even ask for them now and love watching me make them. It is so good to be able to give them a way to get good veggies in their diet without fighting with them. Thank you for changing our way of life.
— JoAnn Y., Denver, CO
Something is working!
I started doing smoothies twice a day (breakfast and lunch), July 14, 2008. At the time, I had no idea what to expect, as I was just trying this on a whim. After about two weeks, I noticed I lost about 5 pounds. I decided to continue this process, and switching up my dinners to be cooked, mostly vegetarian. Another 2-3 weeks passed by and I lost another 5 pounds. Something was working… I suspect it was the combination of green smoothies and going mostly vegetarian.
Well, along my journey, I started seeing books about raw food and 80-10-10, and just a whole bunch of information. I decided to try doing raw, and for the most part I have been able to maintain about 90-95% raw since I started doing this. Every week that passed I noticed I kept losing 2.5 pounds a week, for an eventual total loss so far of about 47 pounds. About 3 months into my journey, I read 80-10-10 Diet by Douglas Graham, and have implemented a lot of his concepts in my daily routines, so most of my daily intake consists of fruits and vegetables, with very small amounts of nuts/seeds. I noticed that with gourmet raw using high content fat (ie. nuts and seeds), I would do alright but I truly thrived doing 80-10-10.
As far as exercise goes, even before I started smoothies, I was doing twice a week at the gym doing a cycle/spin class, and I would occasionally do some light weights at home. I have noticed that my cycle/spin classes, I have been able to maintain extreme high energy levels and not gas out when on 80-10-10. I also noticed that when doing raw-gourmet (with higher fat), that I would not be as energized. Another thing I should note, my muscle recovery times have improved dramatically with 80-10-10– gone are the days of recovery, instead my muscle recovery occurs in about 15-20 hours, ready to hit up more exercise the next day.
I used to have a sinus headache about once a week. Those are all gone. I sleep much better, and noticed that I can go on my day with less sleep and still have a ton of energy. My daily diet still consists of two smoothies a day (one breakfast and one lunch) and my typical dinner meal varies, but it is typically in line with 80-10-10. It took me about 6 months to lose nearly 50 pounds, but the whole process was pretty easy. It is just a matter of committing your mind, and making great habits and breaking the bad ones.
*results may vary
— Eddie Yee
My pain is disappearing!
I had pain in both knees for about 20 years and after drinking the green smoothie for 30 days, I can now walk down a hill or downstairs without as much pain. Also the pain that I had from fibromyalgia is disappearing.*
— Jackie H.
