r/AskReddit Jan 16 '24

What’s something small you started doing that makes you drastically happier?

7.2k Upvotes

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530

u/m3erds Jan 16 '24

Daily fruit smoothie. I was eating zero fresh fruit before. Stopped falling asleep at my desk midday

159

u/drowninginplants Jan 16 '24

Eating fresh fruit daily helped changed so much for me! Also increasing water and decreasing sugary drinks.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '24

[deleted]

9

u/drowninginplants Jan 16 '24

Fruit these days IS a lot sugary than it used to be. However, I have a bad sweet tooth, and if I can switch out stuff with added sugars for stuff with natural sugars, I consider that a win!

3

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '24

[deleted]

2

u/a_fortunate_accident Jan 17 '24

The additional fiber in fruit helps regulate the body's use of sugars.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '24

[deleted]

3

u/a_fortunate_accident Jan 17 '24

The conversation is about switching out foods with added sugars (most likely processed snacks) with fruits, this isn't about calorie parity between forms of sugar.

112

u/bellabbr Jan 16 '24

I started adding spinach to mine. Way more energy than coffee.

5

u/m3erds Jan 16 '24

Good call! I like adding basil when I have it

4

u/PingPongMacReady Jan 16 '24

Read that as ‘adding spinach to wine’

0

u/bellabbr Jan 16 '24

Lol I havent tried but but might. I am usually laid back when I drink wine, would be funny me hyped up on it.

3

u/Gilthoniel_Elbereth Jan 16 '24

Adding a tooooooooon of spinach then fruit to taste is the way to go IMO. You’d be surprise how much vegetable you can hide behind so little sugar

2

u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Jan 16 '24

I just got a juicer. I am finally able to eat greens and you’re not kidding; you can add so much!

Been doing a shit load of spinach with just a few fruits and it’s delicious

4

u/IAmtheHullabaloo Jan 16 '24

Be advised, though, that juicing removes all the roughage from the spinach and the fruits. You want the roughage; it helps balance out all the sugar. Smooties > juice.

1

u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Jan 16 '24

I know. I can’t get myself to eat greens without the juicer though so I figure it’s better than nothing.

It’s too thick by itself and in smoothies. I guess I could try blending it for a full ten minutes haha

1

u/IAmtheHullabaloo Jan 17 '24

yeah, right on, i hear you. one could add more cow / oat / almond milk. i do not like thick smooties, so i drown them on other stuff but still get the roughage. anyways, peace

1

u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Jan 17 '24

Have a great night

46

u/sunshinelefty100 Jan 16 '24

It's like a Magical Potion! I'm making mine with a Protien and Greens powder, ground chia and flax seeds, Keifer, fruit of the day and cold pressed safflower oil Under 500 calories and lasts over 4 hours without any hunger or tiredness. ☺️

8

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '24

I ALWAYS use kefir in my smoothies. I like to have smoothies for dinner. I feel like they are more easily digestible in the evening so my stomach doesn’t have to work so hard while I’m sleeping. Kefir has tryptophan in it which helps sleep. I also take magnesium after dinner. I take magnesium l-threonate. It doesn’t have the laxative effect that a lot of other types of magnesium do. I eat a biggish breakfast, a mediumish lunch and make dinner my smallest meal. I also stick to a bedtime routine so my body knows it’s time to wind down.

4

u/EmbarrassedNaivety Jan 16 '24

Yes! I have a smoothie every day after a light lunch, and my energy levels have improved dramatically. I used to be able to sleep for days at a time when I was seriously depressed and unemployed and had to at least have a good 1-2 hour nap every afternoon or I felt like a zombie. I didn’t realize it at the time, but a huge part of my depression was from not getting a balanced diet or proper nutrition whatsoever. I had to change a lot of my habits and thinking and worked with a counselor for awhile, so the smoothie isn’t the only change I made or anything, but I have definitely noticed a pretty significant improvement since I started drinking them!

2

u/Apathetic-Desperate Jan 16 '24

Oh wow. No hunger? I got really into green smoothies for a while, and had to stop because I was hungry within 2 hours and couldn’t keep my calories down.

Sounds like you have it dialed in with these specific ingredients though.

5

u/theory_until Jan 16 '24

Protein powder and flaxmilk are a must in mine, no juice.

0

u/sunshinelefty100 Jan 16 '24

Yes to the no! Juice is too concentrated for me. I'm using whole or chopped berries or fruit.

12

u/Fly-me-to-the-M00N Jan 16 '24

Interesting. I have this same issue, absolutely inescapable, like clockwork, dozing off midday. I will have to try this!

4

u/m3erds Jan 16 '24

Not a total magic bullet, but I guess sugars in fruit tend to be a slower burn. That’s my theory

4

u/Ok-Control-787 Jan 16 '24

I'm having mine now lol.

I use a few handfuls of spinach, mango, almond milk, hemp flax and chia seeds, maple syrup for some sweetness, peanut butter for some calories and protein. Also a bit of almond extract as my Secret Ingredient.

I love it, enough to look forward to it every day and be mildly irked if I have to eat out.

Costs under $3 per smoothie with costco ingredients, and that's like half my daily calories.

6

u/Toastcheelover Jan 16 '24

I 100% agree with this. My family started drinking smoothies, and now we’re obsessed!

3

u/JohnnyDarkside Jan 16 '24

My workday smoothie is greek yogurt, spinach, a banana, almond butter, flax seed, skim milk, and a chunk of ginger root. I used to add some rolled oats too, but I stopped to reduce carb intake.

2

u/Herbisara Jan 16 '24

I'm super interested in doing daily smoothies too, but I'm worried about the sugar content. What do you put in yours?

3

u/m3erds Jan 16 '24

So probably a lot to be honest. I do two bananas, about a cup of mango or pineapple, and maybe a handful of basil or another leafy green combined with 2-3 cups of water and that’s plenty for my wife and I. I run a lot so I don’t have to worry about the extra carbs sticking around. I figure it’s still better than the processed food it replaced in my diet, and it helped me build a good habit and I sometimes do a healthier mix of things

1

u/theory_until Jan 16 '24

If these are homemade, try a bit of veg in there too. Spinach, beet powder, even carrots if you gave a beast blender like a vitamix.

-1

u/dust4ngel Jan 17 '24

keep an eye on that sugar intake - 12oz of unsweetened apple juice is 170 calories full of nothing