What people are saying
I am a totally different person!
Green Smoothies have impacted my life in so many ways. I had gained 65 pounds from my first pregnancy on my “organic” processed-food diet. My self-esteem and confidence was crumbling around me. My energy levels ran on low even though I am only in my twenties. I remember when I was introduced to the concept of green smoothies at a health food store. A lady was handing out free samples. I used to work at a smoothie bar and the thought of adding greens to smoothies had never occurred to me.
It was two years ago when I discovered this amazing drink, and I have had one every day since. People started to comment on how radiant” my skin looked and asked how I was losing weight only 2-3 months after starting green smoothies. Soon, I had to make a printout of recipes and tips to give out to friends and family to make explaining the “Green Smoothie” easier and not as redundant. Not long after that, I started teaching health classes. There are probably more families at my church making smoothies than those that are not. We have all seen a difference in our health. I do not crave salty and sweet things like I used to. I feel like the chains of my cravings were released with the key of smoothies.
I have lost over 40 pounds and gained soaring levels of energy. I have a better outlook on life. I prefer to go for a walk instead of watching TV with a bag of chips by my side. My passion has grown so much for this simple concept that I am working on a website called www.smoothie-handbook.com. I want others to feel the freedom that I am experiencing.
In February of ‘09, I had my second son. Thank goodness I can say that I didn’t gain 65 pounds this time around–only 16! I lost all of that on delivery day. Even though I didn’t gain a lot of weight, my 9-pound newborn was not lacking in that area. By 6 weeks post-partum, I was 6 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight! I was not starving myself either. The green smoothies give me so many different nutrients that my body doesn’t crave the junk.
I am so glad that there are people like Robyn out there promoting such a wonderful concept. Because of people like her, I am a totally different person. Thank you!
*results may vary
— DaNae Johnson
I love the recipes!
I love them, I love green smoothies anyway, and I love your recipes the best. It is so good to have mainly greens and a few fruits instead of the other way around as I was previously doing. I love them and my kids do also. They crave them as I do.
— Anonymous
Clearer, Softer Skin, More Energy, Lost 10 lbs—EVERYONE Should Do This!
I would totally recommend to others! I have clearer skin and softer skin, my hubby noticed that right away. Skin issues on my elbows are gone completely! I also am putting coconut oil every night on skin spots and doTERRA Clear Skin. Rotating them and it’s working great. No more expensive prescription creams and lotions. No nausea or upset stomach. No gurgling stomach or pains.
Food tastes better and more enjoyable. Never thought I would love a sweet potato/or even regular one with only Flax Oil and green onion/chives. Delish! It’s fun to just eat food now to see what it REALLY tastes like without salt, butter, etc. Hair is growing super fast and my nails are hard for the first time in a long time. Joint pain almost gone except for one shoulder, but again, only a matter of time eating like this and it will be gone too. Passed gallstones and sludge during oil therapy. And menstrual cycle so much easier, less cramps and NO cravings (still don’t have cravings for junk which is still shocking to me) and PMS was lighter and easier.
I did it for immune reasons for skin and Lyme toxins, but a perk was losing approx 10 pounds. Energy coming back to take longer walk/hikes with no pain or struggling to breathe! I also feel happier and have a better outlook on my health. I finally have hope and actually believe things are going to get better and better, something no doctor in 8 years could do for me, but green smoothies and detox foods did!!! EVERYONE should do this!
*results may vary
— Jennifer P., Brecksville, Ohio
The green smoothie has lived up to the expectations I had
I tried the green smoothie after juicing for several years. Juicing was expensive and demanded a lot of time and work extracting the juice from the fiber and cleaning the juicer. Blended raw foods made a lot of sense and I did not need to be converted on the idea.
When I began drinking the green smoothie I weighed 285 lbs. One year later I weigh 240 lbs. Daily workouts have contributed as much to my weight loss as any other factor. However, the benefits of the green smoothie as I experienced them are as follows:
1. Drinking the green smoothie changed my bowel movement habits, which are now frequent (2-3 times a day) and regular.
2. The green smoothie is my pre-workout, first thing in the morning food. I have been surprised at the energy it sustains throughout my workout.
3. The green smoothie fills me up without slowing me down. It satisfies my hunger and cravings till early in the afternoon. It has curbed my overall appetite thus decreasing the overall calories I consume in a day.
4. I find that the green smoothie helps my digestion, especially with the foods that do not digest well. I eat a lot of lean meat and I feel the organic raw food in my gut facilitates digestion and elimination of meat.
5. Beginning my day with green smoothie drinks and working out provides me the momentum, nutrition, and motivation to eat a strict lean diet throughout the rest of the day.
The green smoothie has lived up to the expectations I had. Several of the above benefits caught me totally by surprise. I have been drinking green smoothies every morning for the past year. They have served me well. Now that I have lost the weight I needed, I have significantly increased my strength and energy. My new goals are not to lose any more weight but to increase my overall lean muscle mass. My idea is to begin drinking green smoothies twice a day rather than just once in the morning.
*results may vary
— Gregg L.
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 changed my life
Green smoothies have changed my life. Not only have I converted my family members, but also the people I work with. My 15 month old son loves the green smoothies and always asks for more. I feel better, look better, and love that I was able to spread the word about green smoothie goodness!
— Jamie Stavinaha
Lost 10 lbs and Found the Simplest Foods Are Delicious—I Feel Like a Totally Different Person!
I am 32-year-old mother of three and have always been very active in sports and enjoy working out: college basketball, Zumba, and more. I was still within my BMI index for my height, but at the high end.
I have a bachelor’s degree in health and fitness and like learning about different aspects of health-related topics. I knew that in order to get better results in losing weight (I wanted to lose about 10 lbs.), I needed to eat better. Just working out alone was obviously not the solution.
I purchased 12 Steps to Whole Foods from GSG about 2.5 years ago (after I had my 3rd baby) and it helped me to lose my baby weight. Then I got out of the habit and couldn’t seem to cut out sugar and chips!
So when I saw Robyn’s video on the detox, I got really excited. Everything she said made so much sense. I wanted to try for it—I wasn’t sure if it would work. I thought I have to at least try, and do what she tells me to do, so I know for myself if this is the reason I’m not able to get rid of this extra fat around my midsection.
Well the first 4 days were very hard. But after that, I knew I wanted to keep doing it because I felt such a feeling of accomplishment (seriously, it had been years since I could say no to sugar for more than one day!). And each day did get better. And, crazy thing: I started seeing results in days of just eating right, rather than weeks of working out!! I LOST ALL 10 LBS!
Plus I appreciated the simplest foods I never thought could be so delicious. The first few days were the hardest. I told my husband, “If I didn’t have a buddy, and if I hadn’t paid my money for this, I would quit!”
Getting over the sugar addiction was what made me a crazy woman for a couple days. But after that, addiction was out of my body! I felt like a totally different person! It was a wonderful feeling and I wanted to continue to have it.
The Quick Start Guide and the Manual are amazing! It lays everything out for me—what I need to do, while educating me so much at the same time. Some days when I’d lose sight of my goal and want to cheat, I’d read the email or listen to the video for that day again. Or, I’d get on the forum and see what others had to say about the recipes.
It was SO helpful to have several different resources to turn to and help keep me on track. I loved it so much I am upgrading to lifetime membership!!! Thank you!!
*results may vary
— Nikisha A., Orem, Utah
Profound Feelings of Gratitude
My son was in one of Robyn’s university classes last year, and she had the class members over to her home for green smoothies. He thought it was fabulous and phoned me and wanted me to sign up for 12 Steps to Whole Foods. We were already not eating soda, caffeine, white flour or sugar, etc. and made our own salad dressing, ate meat and dairy sparingly, and ate salad and vegetables daily.
We began drinking smoothies immediately, both green (Ch. 1) and hot pink (Ch. 10), and it has been over a year now and we continue to do this on a daily basis. I always have spinach and vary the greens, such as kale; red, green, or rainbow chard; different types of kale; or collard greens. I also vary the fruits seasonally.
My husband and I immediately felt as if we had more energy and many days I have a green smoothie for breakfast and a pink smoothie for lunch.
I have passed the information to many friends and family members and was especially interested in the program to help educate our children and grandchildren. Many are following the program, having purchased blenders and have green smoothies on a daily basis. As Robyn states, people are healthier, sickness is avoided, meals are easy to prepare, and family members are happy and satisfied. My friends who have children who are gluten intolerant have really been appreciative of the information that has been passed on to them — they feel that it is very hard to come up with food choices that are satisfying. Some are college students and one mother said that the smoothies would be such a blessing during this busy time of their lives.
From 12 Steps, I learned about not eating soy — we were drinking soy milk and having tofu occasionally and have eliminated it completely. I also was unaware of coconut water, coconut oil, and flax oil, which we purchase and store and use daily. Per Robyn’s blog, I use it as a moisturizer on face and skin. I also learned about alkaline water and hope to have a system soon. We were using filtered water but now see the benefit of making more changes. I also learned about kefir and use goat’s milk kefir since cow’s milk is very mucous forming to me.
I like all of the recipes I have tried and have learned that by looking at Robyn’s, I can easily adapt many of my own recipes and make them healthier.
I am impressed and grateful for Robyn’s careful research and study on health matters. She gives the sources so that we can do further study and continue the learning process and I have read many of the books on her recommended list. I feel that from her passionate desire to share her information and educate mothers in the proper way to nourish their families, she has gained the confidence and respect of those who hearken to her counsel
The chapter on gardening is wonderful to help us expand our abilities and be self sufficient through home production and storage. We often have house guests and many take Robyn’s book, The Green Smoothies Diet, as they retire to their room.
I always have requests of “Could we have that for breakfast?” This weekend a professor is here from a university who will be speaking at a management society meeting and he already has heard of green smoothies and is eager to take it to his wife who only prepares organic foods for her family. He asked for the website and wants to learn of this new aspect of nutrition.
I cannot end without expressing gratitude. Many years ago my little brother who was 8 at the time gave me a small calendar with beautiful quotes for Christmas. One was a Chinese proverb that GRATITUDE has three forms: a feeling in the heart, an expression in words, and a giving in return.
Please know of the profound feelings of gratitude, Robyn, for all that you have done and continue to do, and know that words cannot properly express my gratitude for the gift you have given to so many, and may we extend our gift of friendship, support to you, and prayers as you continue to expand our horizons.
— Jody M.
Chance Encounter
Robyn Openshaw’s 12 Steps to Whole Foods is by far the most comprehensive, must-read, nutritional material out there! Our family has spent years reading the latest raw-food books/plans and struggled with contradicting information. We found most recipes to be too time consuming, complicated, and expensive for our large family. And we still had questions—if we are to eat “every seed bearing thing,” why aren’t grains widely used in raw food recipes? What about good qualities of dairy, such as probiotics in yogurt, etc.? Most importantly, how can a mom of four with a limited budget possibly make it all work?
I found Robyn’s site by chance—and all of a sudden the answers (plus more!) we’d been searching for were right in front of our eyes. Robyn has covered pretty much every topic in the nutrition field with a simple, doable approach. We are excited to finally have found a way to make nutrition work for our family!
— Jennifer Bartlett
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.
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.
Prediabetic No More
I am at my ideal weight (have never been anywhere near overweight), and I run or lift weights six days a week, and eat a healthy diet. Imagine my shock when I went to a clinic and was told I was prediabetic, that it was just a matter of time before I had full-blown diabetes. I burst out laughing when the nurse practitioner told me her recommendation was to cut out sugar, since I eat so little of it already. Robyn taught me about green smoothies, and I began making them daily for my family, as well as teaching others about them. I just went back to the clinic after several months of my new green smoothie habit, and they said all signs of the prediabetic condition were gone. The only thing I changed was adding green smoothies to my diet!
*results may vary
— Laura B., Utah
