There I was, minding my own business in Common Ground, when I was caught out with my hand in a bag of potato chips. I should have known better than to eat something so horribly un-nutritious in public, but there you go. In my defence I was waiting for my super-healthy chicken salad and had just downed a shot of wheat grass juice from Down to Earth, yet nevertheless, slapped wrists for me.

Although it can be slightly unnerving having total strangers comment on your dietary intake, it does help to keep me on the straight and narrow.

I love healthy food, but I also have two major weaknesses — potato chips and chocolate (not together, yet) — and living somewhere as small as Bermuda certainly enforces the need to practice what I preach.

The shameful Potato Chip Incident did make me do a quick assessment of my diet though — you see it's easy even for nutritionists to slide down the slippery slope into unhealthy habits. Of course, the odd bag of potato chips isn't really a major drama, but it's simple for unhealthy foods to creep back into your life when you are tired, busy or just not concentrating.

One of the areas I find hardest to keep healthy is breakfast. I'm relentlessly over-optimistic about what I can achieve in a small space of time and always find myself in a tailspin at 8 a.m., trying to cram some breakfast down my throat before leaving for work.

This means I've often gone to work hungry, only to rush out and buy something less than perfect at 10 a.m. out of sheer desperation.

So, on my mission to be a perfect example of healthy living, I've reinstated the blender on our kitchen counter.

Making breakfast smoothies can sound like a pain, but the recipe I use is super-simple. There's only five ingredients and one of those is ice-cubes, so it honestly takes 2 minutes to make, 30 seconds to rinse the blender, 10 seconds to transfer to a cup, and then it's off to work I go.

But are all smoothies healthy?

Absolutely not. Some are laden with so much sugar you might as well just sprinkle it onto your thighs.

If the smoothie option is attractive to you, then read on to make sure you get it right.

Question of the week: Is there anything in the smoothies I make that will cause an imbalance to my diet? — Nigel Chaterjee, Paget

OK, this was quite possibly the longest e-mail question I have ever had ¿ including a food diary, a recipe and a request not to be told to give up chocolate (have no fear, this is me you are talking to).

I can't address everything, but I think essentially Nigel was asking me if the smoothies he makes are healthy and balanced.

In essence, yes. Nigel uses a little orange juice, low fat yoghurt, Gensoy vanilla protein powder, frozen berries, banana and ice cubes to make daily smoothies.

He is also sensible about the overall quantity he has at one time, ensuring that the sugar content is not too high.

Further, the combination of protein and carbohydrate (from the juice/fruit) helps to moderate the release of glucose into his bloodstream.

If I were to change one thing, it would be this.

Whilst protein powders have their place, the protein tends to come from soy protein isolate, rather than the whole soybean. This means that the powders are often heavily processed, lacking the nutritional value of a wholefood.

Therefore, where possible, I try to make smoothies with a 100 percent natural source of protein — and my favourite way to do this is to add almond butter into the mix.

Almond butter is just like peanut butter, but made with almonds.

Also, as it's currently only made by health food manufacturers, there's no added sugar.

Almond butter is rich in good fats and very low in bad fat.

The combination of protein and good fat is especially good for slowing down the release of glucose from fruit, so the overall effect is a smoothie that is filling and easy on the blood sugar (diabetics however would still need to count their carb options carefully).

For those of you that think it sounds odd to add nut butter to a smoothie — just try it!

I don't tend to like odd combinations but I love this recipe below.

Down to Earth also do almond butter as an "add-in" to their smoothies, so if you don't get a chance to make your own, try adding almond butter to their "very berry" smoothie — it's delicious!

Quick and easy banana smoothie (serves 2):

1 large, ripe banana (preferably frozen — peel and freeze in a ziplock)

¼ cup apple juice

¾ cup plain Silk soy milk (red carton)

1 dessert spoon almond butter (I like the Once Again brand from Lindo's, DV)

4 ice cubes

Blend for approx. 45 seconds till smooth!

For extra antioxidants, replace ½ the banana with ½ cup frozen berries.

The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist. She can be contacted at 291 4725 or clinicalnutrition@gmail.com.