Instagram stories are a great way to grow your following they say. It will build brand awareness. Drive traffic to your site. Even increase e-commerce sales!

They’ve been saying this since the feature came out last summer and I’m finally starting to embrace it more and more as I begin putting myself in those stories. What a novel concept, huh? Featuring yourself in your own stories.

Well, I’ve been reluctant to do so for several reasons. First, I strongly dislike (mom always said hate was a strong word) having my picture taken so it would follow that I also strongly dislike being on camera. Second, it’s been painfully obvious how uncomfortable I do look in these situations. Lastly, I struggle to believe that what I put out there will actually be of interest to anyone. I mean don’t you have to be wading in gorgeous turquoise waters, walking rooftops in faraway cities or eating perfectly styled açai bowls if others are going to want to watch?

But I do want to grow my following on Instagram because I love writing about food and if I need to talk about it on camera in order to help my stories reach a wider audience, then that’s just what I’ll have to do. Never one to take pictures once either, it surprises me when I realize how my photography skills have evolved since the blog started. (Yup, you could scroll through to the last page of posts to see some real gems.) We do get better with practice. Here’s to hoping that’s always the case!

And so, for the past few mornings, I have been sharing some of my ideas for breakfasts on Instagram stories. I’ve seen follower growth increase by .07% and since I’m not selling anything, I guess I won’t worry about impact on sales. Let’s also hope that they’re will be more pick-up with time.

The inspiration for the series comes from reading Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? by Dr. Mark Hyman. I’ve always been interested in the connection between food and the social sciences, but this turn towards nutrition is a bit of a deviation. And one that isn’t all that surprising given I do make an effort to eat a balanced diet though I haven’t spent the time to fully understand how we can best fuel our bodies.

Breakfast was the easiest place to start putting some of my new knowledge into action given my biggest takeaways from the book involved the notion that fat doesn’t necessarily equal fat, grass-fed meat and dairy deliver more nutrition than their conventionally processed counterparts and greens really are queen!

Fat doesn’t equal fat. I understood the concept between good and bad fats, or at least thought I did, but this book has blown my mind in the way it has deconstructed the argument that saturated fat leads to heart disease. Grass-fed steak is good . High-calorie coconut milk isn’t something to avoid and nuts are an excellent source of calories.

Coconut is most definitely not a low-calorie food. A half-cup—what I use for a smoothie—is 210 calories. That’s a lot more than the 20 calories you would get from your unsweetened almond milk and the 40 calories you would get from your skim milk. Whole milk is only 75 calories per half-cup!

So why opt for saturated-fat laden coconut milk? Well, aside from the fact that there are no scientific studies connecting saturated fat with heart disease, though there have been some that prove the exact opposite—that saturated fat is good for heart health—the fat in coconut is largely comprised of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) which are absorbed by the body differently than other kinds of fat. (There are something like 30 different kinds of saturated fats.) MCTs go straight from the digestive tract to the liver, where they are used for energy. Other kinds of fat get stored in our cells for energy use later when more readily expendable calories—from carbs—aren’t available. Coconut isn’t stored as fat, but rather offers a readily available source of energy.

Furthermore coconut oil has been shown to raise good cholesterol (HDL) which lowers total cholesterol-to HDL ratio, a better indicator of heart disease than LDL levels. It been shown to boost metabolism, reverse insulin resistance and improve cognitive function. So while high in calories, it’s also high in many other benefits.

So why would you not want to try this blueberry coconut smoothie now! I love the addition of the mint, but if you don’t have any on hand don’t worry about it. I usually do have some herbs in the freezer because rather than throw out the rest of the bunch that I bought for a particular recipe, I’ll pop it in there to use in soups and smoothies.

Blueberry Coconut Smoothie
Makes 1

1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 T creamy peanut or almond butter
2 handfuls spinach
3-4 mint leave, frozen or fresh
Ice, if desired

Blend all ingredients, save spinach and mint, together until smooth. Add spinach and mint and blend until well combined and no flecks of green from the spinach remain.