Smoothie lovers

jasminediver25

Hey guys. Just wanted to hear some of your favorite simple, easy healthy smoothie recipes.
I’m new to this, and wanting smoothies to be my main source of breakfast or snack every single day. Trying to lose weight. 80+ pounds. Tips? Advice? Thanks in advance.

enyagoboom

Hi Jasmine, there are a lot of different smoothie recipes on the boards and on the internet. Be careful with smoothies as the ingredient list can pack a whollop of calories (I avoid anything that adds juice, yogurt, and sweetners). Using a base like coconut water or Almond milk reduces calories. Often, I find it best to make the recipe in MFP to check the calorie count.

If you go the green smoothie route, remember to change up your greens (don't just do one type, like spinach for a week straight) to avoid alkaloid buildup. Adding things like ground flax, chia seeds, hemp seeds, will help increase nutritional benefits.

Smoothies can be a great way to begin any nutrional change in ones overall diet as it gives a quick blast of veggies and fruits, but it has to be done with other solids too. It looks like you're just looking for breakfast and a snack so you should be good there. The first few days I would recommend finding other low calorie but fiberous/filling foods to help ease your hunger.

Finally, I did a lot of smoothies to start and ended up wasting a lot of decent fruits and veggies because I couldn't go through them fast enough. I use Daily Harvest now - not cheap, but compared to what I was throwing out? it evens out. Good luck!

JosiahMama15

I make my breakfast smoothies all the same and place them in a mason jar and grab them in the mornings and go.

Unsweetened almond or cashew milk
Banana
Spinach or kale
Chia seeds
Almond butter (healthier than peanut butter)
And sometimes strawberries

psuLemon

My smoothies are:

Heavy cream (30g)
1 Scoop of Protein Powder
2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa
4 oz of almond milk

lemurcat2

Today's: cucumber, fennel, kale, cashews, peaches, and strawberries, plus tofu.

bookstitch

Hey! I have been having the same smoothie breakfast for a few years now. I love it! And it's easy to change up depending on what the rest of your day looks like. This is my go to:

1 cup frozen mixed berries
3 handfuls of greens (kale, lettuce, spring mix, spinach -- whatever I have on hand)
1.25 cups unsweetened original almond milk
2 scoops pea protein powder (whey upsets my stomach)
1.5 tbsp of ground flax seed
1 tbsp of MCT oil

Depending on my day, i.e. yoga in the morning, I will add a banana.

Friend me if you'd like! I have a first step goal of 30lbs before my wedding in March. I love motivating, helping and sharing advice.

dulinh

Here's a couple of my go-to's that keep me full for awhile although I eat them as a snack, not a meal.
Berry (around 225 cals):
1/2c unsweetened soymilk
3/4c crushed ice
1/2 banana, frozen and chopped
2 scoop vanilla protein powder
50g frozen berries

Chocolate Chip Banana (around 260 cals):
3/4c crushed ice
2 scoop chocolate protein powder
1/2 banana, frozen and chopped
1/2c unsweetened soymilk
1T mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter (around 320 cal):
3/4c crushed ice
2 scoop chocolate protein powder
1/2 banana, frozen and chopped
1/2c unsweetened soymilk or coconut milk
1T peanut butter
1T flaxmeal (optional)

As you can see my base is pretty much the same ice, frozen banana, protein powder and a milk (almond is a good choice too). I start from there and then do my add-ins depending on my calorie goal for the day.

Hope this helps!

RelCanonical

Here my current fav smoothie:

1. 1 large banana (about 140-150g), frozen
2. 90g spinach, frozen
3. 1tsp cinnamon
4. 1tsp cocoa powder
5. 1cup unsweetened almond milk

Put into a blender and blend. Important that both the banana and spinach be frozen, otherwise it's pretty thin. I normally buy fresh and then freeze so I can use some of the spinach fresh for other things, but you could experiment with buy pre-frozen spinach. Under 200 calories - fits a large cup, so probably about 15-16oz.

DWBalboa

Oh my bad I thought that the topic was "Smooth Lovers".

Well since I'm here anyway.

1 cup fresh peach slices You can use frozen as well.
1 cup packed kale
1/2 banana
3/4 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon honey


Combine all ingredients in a blender.
Blend on high until very smooth. Pour into 2 glasses; serve with straws.

DWBalboa

Another one that's on my to try list is Carrot cake smoothie. That's right I said carrot cake, don't you judge me!

1 medium banana, peeled, diced and frozen
1 cup diced carrots* (about 2 medium-sized carrots), peeled if you’d like
2/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons maple syrup (or your desired sweetener)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground nutmeg
optional toppings: extra grated carrots, toasted coconut, toasted walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse for 30-60 seconds until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, add an extra 1/4 cup of almond milk to thin it out.

yogalouis1

I'm a big fan of the smoothie bowl. My favorite is berry with some fibrous, crunchy toppings sprinkled on top:

Smoothie:
1 frozen banana
70g frozen mixed berries
6 oz unsweetened almond milk (adjust as needed to achieve your desired consistency)
3g acai powder
1 handful of spinach

Blend until smooth, then pour into your favorite cereal bowl.

Toppings:
20g shredded coconut (unsweetened)
10g chia seeds
28g sliced almonds

Calories: 450 --- Fat: 27 --- Carbs: 47 --- Protein: 12* --- Fiber: 16 --- Sugar: 17

*Add protein powder for a protein boost if desired

This is my breakfast Mon-Fri. I never tire of it, it keeps me full and energized until lunch, and it fits nicely into my 1500 calorie/day target. Bear in mind it is relatively high in fat and carbs, which might matter if you watch your macros.

You could also vary the toppings by adding fruit, granola, etc.

RelCanonical

DWBalboa wrote: »

Another one that's on my to try list is Carrot cake smoothie. That's right I said carrot cake, don't you judge me!

1 medium banana, peeled, diced and frozen
1 cup diced carrots* (about 2 medium-sized carrots), peeled if you’d like
2/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons maple syrup (or your desired sweetener)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground nutmeg
optional toppings: extra grated carrots, toasted coconut, toasted walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse for 30-60 seconds until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, add an extra 1/4 cup of almond milk to thin it out.

Whaaaa I love this. I've made something similar that uses pumpkin puree in place of the carrots for a "pumpkin pie" smoothie. So good.

aokoye

DWBalboa wrote: »

Oh my bad I thought that the topic was "Smooth Lovers".

Well since I'm here anyway.

1 cup fresh peach slices You can use frozen as well.
1 cup packed kale
1/2 banana
3/4 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon honey


Combine all ingredients in a blender.
Blend on high until very smooth. Pour into 2 glasses; serve with straws.

Hmm...I might omit the kale and the coconut water (unless I happen to have some on hand) but otherwise that sounds amazing! I love peaches in smoothies and I bet adding some cherries would also be good in that.

DWBalboa

aokoye wrote: »

DWBalboa wrote: »

Oh my bad I thought that the topic was "Smooth Lovers".

Well since I'm here anyway.

1 cup fresh peach slices You can use frozen as well.
1 cup packed kale
1/2 banana
3/4 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon honey


Combine all ingredients in a blender.
Blend on high until very smooth. Pour into 2 glasses; serve with straws.

Hmm...I might omit the kale and the coconut water (unless I happen to have some on hand) but otherwise that sounds amazing! I love peaches in smoothies and I bet adding some cherries would also be good in that.

Peaches are simply my Fav. Especially fresh grown, nothing better.

seltzermint555

So I am definitely gonna try the carrot cake smoothie mentioned above.

I like to keep it really simple and fairly low calorie. This is partly because I drink (every beverage) really super fast for whatever reason and just don't find smoothies satisfying as a meal (not even breakfast). I'm also not too into green smoothies. I like adding all types of veggies into sauces that I blend but not so much into smoothies. Ick.

Anyway, my usual smoothie is a side for lunch or a dessert, and just:

unsweetened original almond milk
vanilla extract
hemp protein powder
bananas or frozen banana chunks
ice (didn't have much success with this w/o Vitamix but love it now)

Sometimes I add other fruit (strawberries, pineapple), a little cinnamon, or cocoa powder for a "chocolate shake" type of thing. That's my husband's favorite, especially with a veggie burger. We have added nut butters or PB2 but of course that ups the calories a lot.

Ducks47

Frozen mixed berries and maybe some frozen banana if I have it, a lot of spinach, protein power (I use vanilla or chocolate), unsweetened almond (or some other) milk, a bit of cocoa and cinnamon, powdered peanut butter, maybe some dates..

Sooooo good. Chocolatey, refreshing, peanut buttery...