Made My First Smoothie!

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nicolepburgess91
nicolepburgess91 Posts: 82 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It was great. Nonfat plain greek yogurt, blueberries strawberries and banana. SO GOOD. Pretty dang proud of myself.
But with that being said. If I were to add some raw spinach to it, could it be breakfast? Does anyone do smoothies as one meal a day? Is it beneficial? Is it healthy?

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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Why would adding spinach make it breakfast?
    If I were going to add anything to it, it would be fat - but I don't drink smoothies as they don't satisfy or satiate me and I'd prefer to eat a bowl of fruit with yoghurt.

    Healthy is irrelevant out of context of your whole diet. Is a smoothie adding in fruit/vegies you wouldn't ordinarily eat? Would you normally eat that many serves of fruit in a day? Does it satisfy you and stop you eating other things? Does it keep you within your calorie goal or make you go over?
  • Marandawalker92
    Marandawalker92 Posts: 6 Member
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    I think adding spinach still makes it breakfast! Just like how people eat spinach in omlettes..I think it's good to get your greens in when you can, so if you can sneak it in your smoothie- I say good job :)
    When adding spinach it does tend to make it an unappealing color..but from personal experience when mixing with banana & peanut butter you can't taste the spinich at all, it's just green in color..
    I drink smoothies as two of my meals each day, because eating 5 times a day seem like a lot of food for what I'm used to. I just try to watch how much fruit and yogurt I use, by measuring it out. I weigh 150 and 1 cup of fruit is recommended for my weight. I do find it that it quickly raises your sugar intake, and you just have to watch your amounts, and play with the numbers in your food diary.
    Hope this helps a little more than the first reply :)
  • issiahs
    issiahs Posts: 55 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I make a smoothie every morning with basically all your ingredients plus kale, spinach, and chia seeds. I also add vanilla protein powder. I love it as a breakfast because I'm never too hungry in the morning anyways. It keeps me energized too, which is nice. I notice a lot of people don't like shakes much because they aren't filling, but I've found it to be a nice and healthy breakfast.
  • Marandawalker92
    Marandawalker92 Posts: 6 Member
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    Also I guess I should add...My knowledge, from researching weight lose says- for breakfast to eat protein (which would be your yogurt) fruit (because it boosts your metabolism first thing in the a.m) and a carb/fat (to keep you full) ...So I personally do yogurt, fruit , and either old fashioned oats, p.b, or unsweetned coconut flakes blended.
  • officials
    officials Posts: 33 Member
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    I love shakes! Especially with powders but I've only tried one so far. They're also fun to be creative with and they fill me up just fine.

    I'd say it's still breakfast, whether you add spinach or not. To me, the ingredients don't define whether it fits the traditional meal aspect. I'd eat steak for breakfast if I wanted to and would have no problem calling it breakfast.
  • Enjcg5
    Enjcg5 Posts: 389 Member
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    I have a smoothie as a "meal" but it has to include a cup of greek yogurt (protein) 1c of fruit (carbs) and 2T of flaxseed (fat). Nice balanced meal on the go about 300 calories
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    Why in earth would you ruin a perfectly good fruit smoothie with spinach?
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Just had a spinach and egg white omelette, so I'd say spinach definitely qualifies for breakfast food!
    I make my own yogurt smoothies sometimes in the mornings or as snacks, kinda like drinking a milkshake or something for breakfast. They don't do anything magical for weight loss or metabolism, but they do have lots of nice nutrients so I guess that qualifies as "healthy".
  • nicolepburgess91
    nicolepburgess91 Posts: 82 Member
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    Lol for the record, I mentioned adding the spinach because it has protein and it was lacking from the nutrition of just fruit. I tend to struggle to get the appropriate amount of protein so I've started putting spinach with everything. (I hate peanut butter and my favorite meats are fried. It's been too windy to grill so I've been lacking)
    Thanks for all the input. I think I've decided to do smoothies for lunch instead. I prefer a heavier breakfast, but a very light lunch. So I think it will replace that meal better for me.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    nicolepburgess91 wrote: »
    Lol for the record, I mentioned adding the spinach because it has protein and it was lacking from the nutrition of just fruit. I tend to struggle to get the appropriate amount of protein so I've started putting spinach with everything. (I hate peanut butter and my favorite meats are fried. It's been too windy to grill so I've been lacking)
    Thanks for all the input. I think I've decided to do smoothies for lunch instead. I prefer a heavier breakfast, but a very light lunch. So I think it will replace that meal better for me.

    The protein in spinach is minimal. You'd be better off adding a protein powder, or more yoghurt.

    Pb is predominantly a fat source, not something you eat for protein.

    Perhaps consider hard boiling some eggs for easy protein...
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    nicolepburgess91 wrote: »
    It was great. Nonfat plain greek yogurt, blueberries strawberries and banana. SO GOOD. Pretty dang proud of myself.
    But with that being said. If I were to add some raw spinach to it, could it be breakfast? Does anyone do smoothies as one meal a day? Is it beneficial? Is it healthy?
    nicolepburgess91 wrote: »
    Lol for the record, I mentioned adding the spinach because it has protein and it was lacking from the nutrition of just fruit. I tend to struggle to get the appropriate amount of protein so I've started putting spinach with everything. (I hate peanut butter and my favorite meats are fried. It's been too windy to grill so I've been lacking)
    Thanks for all the input. I think I've decided to do smoothies for lunch instead. I prefer a heavier breakfast, but a very light lunch. So I think it will replace that meal better for me.

    Eat or drink what you want any time of day. I find it more satisfying to chew food than blend it but some people like shakes and smoothies.
    Green peas have more protein than spinach. You could blend in some tofu. Or add some protein powder.
    http://allrecipes.com/recipes/138/drinks/smoothies/
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
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    Anything you want can be breakfast. If you want the nutrition from spinach, it's fine, but fruit and yogurt is fine too. I'm not always a breakfast eater and sometimes my breakfast is coffee and a cookie.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
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    I'm a big fan of smoothies. They satisfy my sweet tooth and it's an easy way to get my veggies in as I always add a chard, kale, spinach, carrot blend to mine. I often have them as a meal. The main protein I use in them is powder or Greek yogurt.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    cmtigger wrote: »
    Anything you want can be breakfast. If you want the nutrition from spinach, it's fine, but fruit and yogurt is fine too. I'm not always a breakfast eater and sometimes my breakfast is coffee and a cookie.

    Yup, I quite like leftover dinner as breakfast, and went through a stage where I was having salad with protein for breakfast.

    If you think your smoothies are filling, they are a fine breakfast. I sometimes have smoothies for breakfast in the summer, as they are cold and refreshing. I make sure to make them more vegetable than fruit and to have a decent amount of protein, since that's what I like in breakfast, and because I tend to prefer getting most of my fruit calories in non blended form, but it really depends on what you enjoy, OP. Experiment and see
  • LVNF04
    LVNF04 Posts: 2,607 Member
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    I do a almond milk/blue berries or strawberry with frozen banana.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    tomteboda wrote: »
    Why in earth would you ruin a perfectly good fruit smoothie with spinach?

    Not ruining it--adding nutrition. Depends on what flavors you like and what ones you're putting in. I often add veggies to fruit in a smoothie. Still tastes great (to me).
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    I like them for the convenience, esp. at work (and when commuting to work). Can't be eating yogurt and fruit in a meeting. But I can discreetly drink it all up.

    I prefer to add protein powder and some flax seed (healthy fat) or some avocado. Play around a little, though the calories can add up quickly. One reason many avoid them is smoothies just add to their daily calories because folks don't find drinking calories satisfying.

    You do you.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 657 Member
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    Love adding in spinach! Now I want a smoothie. :)

    I aim for a smoothie as a snack, but I leave enough calories for my snacks to be like a small meal, so sounds good.

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