The only thing that’s been on my mind this week is: sleep.

It’s funny how when you don’t have something, you find yourself wanting (and appreciating) it more than ever before. This week, I had this experience with sleep- as I found myself extremely sleep deprived and craving nothing more than a few hours catching a couple of Z’s.

With a pounding headache and dark purple circles under my eyes, I finally learned the importance of balance: after all, if you put school before everything (including your well-being), you’re bound to slip up somewhere. And for me, that meant getting sick.

So today after school, I decided to come home and get as much Vitamin C, fruits, and veggies into my body as possible. While I was craving a green smoothie, I couldn’t avoid thinking about the few times I had added too much spinach to my smoothie, and ended up with a snack that tasted more like grass than fresh fruit. Deciding to balance the greens not only with tropical fruit, but with the addition of yogurt, I was luckily able to create a thick, refreshing smoothie with the perfect hints of mango, coconut, and banana.

Then, deciding to treat myself, I poured the smoothie into a bowl and topped it with my favorite smoothie bowl add-ons: chia seeds, granola, coconut, and more fresh fruit! As this recipe calls for frozen fruit, the final product is thick and cold… the perfect thing to enjoy after a long, tiring day!

Upon finishing my smoothie bowl, I proceeded to treat myself to a nice long nap.

It’s all about balance, people. And while increasing the amount of fresh produce in your diet may hold off sickness a little longer, without sleep it’ll all eventually catch up with you.

So give yourself a break and go catch a few Z’s yourself!

Green Smoothie Bowl

Smoothie Bowl

• 1 c frozen tropical fruit
• 1 c raw spinach leaves
• 1 1/2 tbs vanilla lowfat yogurt (or dairy-free alternative)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 c coconut milk

Toppings

• 1/2 tbs chia seeds
• 1/2 tbs unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tbs granola of choice (I used Kind cinnamon oat clusters)
• handful of raspberries

Add tropical fruit, spinach, yogurt, banana, and coconut milk to a blender and blend for 30 seconds-1 minute, or until smooth. (You may have to stop the blender and mix the smoothie with a spoon a few times if it’s too thick.) Pour into a bowl and top with chia seeds, coconut flakes, granola, and raspberries (or other toppings of choice). Enjoy!

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 241

Fat: 4g

Carbs: 49g

Protein: 6g

(Yields 1 serving)

Nutritional information calculated including the toppings. If you choose not to include, they read as follows: 161 calories, 0g fat, 41g carbs, 4g protein.