I’m no stranger to green smoothies, but I always make them with spinach. I’ve never tried using kale in my smoothies, but after seeing Brittany’s recipe for a green lemonade smoothie, I knew it was time to give it a go.
I was immediately intrigued when I saw that her recipe just required a blender since most beverage recipes I’ve seen that include kale require a juicer and I don’t have one.
I followed Brittany’s recipe exactly and while I thought it was good, I added half of an apple and the juice of the remaining half of a lemon I had on hand for a little extra oomph.
It was energizing and delicious and I will definitely make it again. I’d love to play around with other flavor combinations and think that adding ginger to Brittany’s recipe would be a fabulous addition as well.
On the side I had a microwavable quesadilla made with shredded cheese a whole wheat tortilla.
Ridiculously easy!
After lunch today, I spent some time reading.
I recently registered for AFAA’s group exercise certification and my exam is coming up soon. One of the trainers at my gym is lending me her text book from several years ago so I didn’t have to buy the new one and I’m hoping the older edition will suffice. If any of you out there have your group exercise certification through AFAA and have any words of wisdom to share, I’m all ears!
Of Possible Interest
- Total Body At-Home Medicine Ball Workout (WomensHealthMag.com)
- White Bean Egg Salad (LisaFine.org)
- Healthy and Portable Snack: Roasted Edamame (FitSugar.com)
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I can’t believe you never tried kale in a smoothie! Glad you liked it!
Good luck on your test 🙂
That smoothie sounds so good! I just use a blender to make smoothies with kale too.
i like to mix baby kale and spinach (took me forever to find baby kale..finally at target of all places!) in my smoothies. blender does so well with it all. i’ve tried lots of fruity smoothies but honestly, i just prefer a good ole’ chocolate milkshake with the greens thrown in to health-ify it!
Your smoothie looks lush. I’ve tried kale in my smoothies but found it a little bittier than spinach. \I prefer a smoother smoothie.
After your pt exam AFAA will be a piece of cake. I’ve taken both and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Good luck!
Mmm, I love a kale smoothie. Being allergic to spinach, I have always used kale as a base in my smoothies. With a good quality blender, (or a little extra love with a lower quality blender) I think kale gets a bad rap for being intimidating. I hope you like it!
I’ve always just used spinach too. I love that whatever other ingredients you add mask the leafy taste of the spinach. Could you taste the kale in that smoothie? I might have to give it a try!
I actually just finished the AFAA Primary Group Exercise certification this weekend! My advice: do the study guide and review it a couple times in the days leading up to the test, but don’t stress too much. They’ll go over everything you need to know on the day of the training. It will definitely be easier than the personal training certification you just went through! Good luck 🙂
thanks so much for the advice, jess!
I MUST purchase myself I new blender…My old one died and I have yet to find one that I really like.
The smoothie looks delish!! Definitely adding it to my must-try kale recipes list!
As far as your AFAA GEX cert test goes, I had the textbook, study guide, and did a one-day prep session with an instructor. Of all of these, the most useful was the study guide! I absolutely recommend it to anyone so you can get a feel for what the questions will be looking for. With your NASM PT though, a lot of the content may be similar when it comes to physiology and muscle movement!
Good luck!!! What classes are you looking to teach when you have your certification?!
I’d love to teach boot camp and functional fitness classes. Strength and circuit workout classes really appeal to me!
I’m studying (well, should be studying) for my group ex. cert, too! I have to take the test in less than a month. Good luck! 🙂
I agree with the others, after your other exam, the AFAA one will be a breeze. They go over everything you need to know the day of the exam. You will be fine! I started teaching group classes over 10 years ago when I was in college way back in the day when step was all the rage. I love it!
That kale smoothie looks really nice and refreshing! They’ve only just brought out Kale to supermarkets here in Australia so I’ve only just got onto it 🙂
Kale smoothie?! Sounds intriguing! I’ve only ever tried kale chips. Good luck with the group exercise certification exam!
Uhm– that looks freaking delicious! I’m really bad at getting kale down, but maybe something like this will help!
Good luck on your exam! 🙂
Hello! I’m an AFAA certified group exercise instructor and ACSM personal trainer. I think since you just finished preparing for the NASM exam, the AFAA exam will be a piece of cake! Just be sure to look at recommendations for music tempo for all different types of exercise classes 🙂 Good luck!
I love smoothies and lemonade. Can’t wait to try this!
I love smoothies—well, I did before I got pregnant. Hah. I don’t mind kale in them–and yours looks so pretty!
Now that you’ve taken & passed your PT exam, this AFAA exam with be a breeze. Promise. You’ll rock it!
Your kale smoothie turned out so beautifully green! I added kale to my smoothie yesterday, but the color of it, along with my other fruits/soy milk turned it into a sludge-looking color. It was yummy, but the color was a huge turnoff! Good luck with your exam!
YUM!! I love kale and just started using it in smoothies too!
I like putting kale in my smoothies too although I find spinach is a little less bitter. This one sounds refreshing, I’ll have to try it sometime!
Hey Julie!
Good looking smoothie!
I recently started blogging and have spent many, many hours trying to figure out how to add a drop-down menu (something that seems so simple!) Do you have any advice or posts that may explain better how to do that? Thanks so much! Love your blog!
I actually just finished teaching the AFAA Group Fitness Instructor Training program to a bunch of undergraduates at my university. I have a bunch of materials I could send to you. And if you have any questions, you can always feel free to ask me! I have the practice exam on hand in case they didn’t give it to you. Let me know!
Now that is a vibrant smoothie!
Yum, I love Kale! I buy a huge bunch every week and do everything from putting it in my smoothies, to making kale chips, or just making a salad out of it. I love the chewiness! (is that even a word?) haha!
I love green smoothies! I make them all the time!
I’ve never tried kale in my smoothies either. I love spinach since you 100% can’t taste it, could you taste the kale?
I love kale in smoothies. They give me so much energy. I’m actually growing four kale plants in my garden. I hope they do well for JUST this purpose!
I love kale in my smoothies! I try and switch it up- a couple of weeks using spinach and then a couple with kale
I love the green color from this! Sounds interesting!!
I always do spinach smoothies too. haha I really only like kale when it’s dehydrated in some kale chips!
I was just talking to a friend about kale in smoothies. She said she does kale and pineapple and that I had to try it.
That does look good!! I’m kale obsessed but haven’t liked it in smoothies.. but maybe I should give this a try! I usually create my own smoothies, I might just be mixing flavors wrong.. who knows 🙂
Like you I took my AFAA Group fit cert a few months after passing NASM. The written exam isn’t too tricky, especially compared to NASM. Don’t be too worried about presentation part, the entire day will be a huge review session of what you will be tested on later in the day. As long as you know your basic muscles and exercises for each muscle group it should be a piece of cake!
Hey Julie!
I am an AFAA certified Group Fitness instructor, and my biggest piece of advice is to know the study guide front and back. If you know the study guide, you will be GOLDEN! 🙂 The exam day is a workshop where the facilitator teaches the important things that you need to know for the test. The day will have you moving your body to learn exercises for specific muscle groups and the “routine” that you have to come up with is VERY basic!! Please feel free to e-mail me. I have done this workshop twice. One time when I was in college, and the second time a couple of months ago! I let the certification from college expire…so the second time around I was super prepared! You will do great!!
Thanks for posting this recipe link. I want the good benefits of kale, but I don’t enjoy kale chips. This might be better.
Love this idea! I, too, have never tried a green smoothie with Kale – I’m going to try it out tomorrow. I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now, and finally got the courage to make my own (I followed a lot of your pointers on here)! My blog is:
http://eatsandfastfeets.wordpress.com/
Thanks for your inspiration 🙂 P.S- I’m a KD too!
Hooray for trying kale in smoothies! I’m glad you liked the green lemonade and I love the idea of adding ginger to it. That would give it nice kick. 🙂
I did my AFAA Group Ex cert back in 2007. It’s not too bad. I can email you my study guide if you would like (I still have pdf). I’m away for a few days, but I’ll forward it Friday 🙂 You will do great!
I used kale only once in a smoothie and it was a total chunk fest. Spinach seems to react much more nicely with my blender.
Also, can you please post the recipe for your cheese quesadilla!?? hahah just joking. But it is most certainly an easy idea that I have never thought of before 🙂
Yumm! I love green smoothies! I’ll have to give this one a try!
I use kale in my smoothies every morning and love it! I have a cuisinart blender but hope to upgrade someday to a Vitamix! 🙂
Hey Julie, I also want to get certified in group exercise. What made you choose AFAA as opposed to other organizations? Just curious.
I am AFAA Group Fit Certified and it is a piece of cake! If you did well on your personal training cert then you will be fine. It is a lot of similar information but instead of based on one client you have to apply those rules to a group of diverse people. They also have EXCELLENT facilitators who want you to succeed. During the workshop you will go through the study guide and get all of the information that you will need! Don’t sweat it!
I did the AFAA group ex exam a year ago and then the AFAA Kickboxing exam this past February. The written exam was pretty hard, but if you passed the personal trainer exam, you should be fine! As far as the demo’s… dumb them down. a lot! Don’t try to impress the examiner as it creates too much chance for something to go wrong. They want to see BASIC stuff, which is so hard for people like us who workout and love a challange. Let me know if you have other questions!
That’s great about the AFAA group fitness cert! I’m doing mine in a week and I’m so excited! I’m toying with the idea of leaving by boring coporate job to get serious about my interest in the fitness industry! I did my CPR/AED training last night and there were so many other fitness professionals in the room it was inspiring.
Do you have any recommendations on how to stay more relevant in the field? News you follow, things to read, etc.?
Still haven’t given kale a go… I need to do it!!!
Do you leave the peel on the apple?
My favortite smoothie is with Kale, Almond Butter, Almond Milk, Frozen Banana, & Honey. I also sometimes add a few strawberries. It is soo good!!! 🙂
I am AFAA group fitness certified for a little over a year now! Don’t stress too much over this exam, as long as you do the study guide and pay attention during the course you will ace it. The instructors of the course go through everything and make it very simple to learn. Plus, since you’ve already done the personal training part you will know more than enough!