don't yell... just asking (about smoothies)

amfmmama

The nutria ninja was delivered to my door yesterday. I was so excited. Then I started reading all the negative stuff about smoothies and I am wondering if I should just return the thing. I did do a search on here for smoothies, but one thread has taken over and it is almost impossible to weed through it and find anything helpful. So... should it stay or should it go!?!?!?

nutmegoreo

I have a nutribullet that I use to make smoothies/protein shakes with. I use it to supplement my diet, not to use it instead of real food. I add some spinach and a fruit of some sort, and then either protein powder, or some nuts and flax/chia seeds. I have one per day which helps boost my fruit and fibre intake. It really depends on what your hopes are for using it, and what you expect to get in return.

amfmmama

Thanks for answering. I am looking to lose weight. I am a teacher and during the school year, I drink a slimfast in the morning. I thought that this might be a more filling and healthier option. I do not have time to cook a real breakfast in the am and I am ok with drinking it. I just don't want to waste the money if I am not going to really benefit.

gingersd

I think it depends on what you put in the smoothie. I received a book with my nutra bullet if you stick with those recipes or similar recipes. I think it is fine to do smoothies, but not for every meal, you will notice they use water instead of juice or milk for the liquid. and half of most of the smoothies are green leaf vegetables. I use spinach it is less bitter than others. also if you are using frozen fruit be sure there isn't added sugar. I also use ground flax seed its a good source for omega 3

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karbar75

I have a vitamix that I love. As for smoothies, I think if you're using them as a supplement to an already healthy diet and you're adding lots of healthy veggies that you wouldn't have eaten otherwise, and not adding in lots of calorie laden other ingredients, it's a great thing!

nutmegoreo

Thanks for answering. I am looking to lose weight. I am a teacher and during the school year, I drink a slimfast in the morning. I thought that this might be a more filling and healthier option. I do not have time to cook a real breakfast in the am and I am ok with drinking it. I just don't want to waste the money if I am not going to really benefit.

You're welcome. I usually have mine when I first get up too, it has enough protein and fibre to keep me full for a few hours, and usually has 300-350 calories. I meal plan the night before and have my work food figured out and logged. Personally, I would toss the slimfast considering the cost versus nutritional benefits, in my books it wouldn't be worth it. I place the cup on my scale, zero it, add each ingredient, zero in between each, write it down, and log it as I am drinking it. It's become a nice little morning ritual.

kau533

I went on a smoothie kick for a while, used to bring them to school for a little afternoon snack. I have a ninja blender but I didnt feel like it got the vegetables quite as smooth as I wanted but it wasnt awful. I would use spinach, cucumber, and one fruit, like an apple or some frozen mango. Now I switched over and just use the blender for my protein shakes

GibbsGirl13072

If you like smoothies and shakes, keep the bullet and do what makes you happy. There are so many different opinions on here, you just have to do what works for you. :bigsmile:

kgeyser

I'm not a smoothie person myself, but the one thing you need to watch if you are using them as a meal replacement is that you get enough protein and fat. Otherwise you're going to end up hungry again pretty quickly.

Also, not sure how many calories you are looking to eat in the morning, but there are a lot of recipes you can make at the beginning of the week and just pop-in the microwave for a quick breakfast. I make scrambled egg muffins (egg, egg whites, sausage, cheese, and seasoning) every Sunday for my husband to take with him to work during the week, because he hits the gym on the way to his office and eats after his workout. You could do something like that to break up smoothie monotony or have them with a fruit/veggie smoothie for a complete meal.

amfmmama

Thank you for all of the thoughtful responses. I am not looking to go on a liquid diet.... been there did that with Oprah in the 80's!! So not good. I am just looking for tasty, easy ways to incorporate healthy foods in my diet.

lemurcat12

Thanks for answering. I am looking to lose weight. I am a teacher and during the school year, I drink a slimfast in the morning. I thought that this might be a more filling and healthier option. I do not have time to cook a real breakfast in the am and I am ok with drinking it. I just don't want to waste the money if I am not going to really benefit.

I think it's great for that purpose. I don't do smoothies because I have time in the morning for a more leisurely breakfast and tend to eat a big one, but if I were rushed I might.

I do sometimes supplement a meal with a protein shake, and would just agree with those who recommend finding a way to incorporate protein and some fat, as it will be a healthier and more filling meal that way. There are lots of good smoothie recipes to try.

Also, I don't buy into the smoothie criticism--I just think of them as like eating whatever are in them in some other form. It's juicing where you lose all the fiber that I'm skeptical of, especially when people cut out other foods.

SKME2013

I bought a blender at the beginning of this year and I believe this was one of the best investments I could do. It completely depends on what you put into your blender though and you can create low calorie smoothies but easily also high caloric ones...

I use about 250g of spinach, some left over veggies such as asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts and so forth and combine it with some lower sugar fruits such as a handful of blueberries and some low sugar almond milk. This way I get all of my micro nutrients in one go and it is filling enough for me to regularly skip lunch.

Yes...I know...a lot of people say they prefer to EAT their food, but frankly there is no way I would eat 250g of spinach every day.

I could not exist without mine anymore!
Stef.

nicsflyingcircus

I make smoothies out of fruit and yogurt, haven't progressed to trying to make a protein smoothie yet but will probably get there. I just like the change of drinking my yogurt/fruit snack vs eating it with a spoon, lol. Nothing fancy. I also used my blender the other morning to pulverize what I call my protein mocha, and it was super frothy and delicious.

Enjoy!

Athijade

Use smoothies to supplement, not to replace. That's what I would do and it worked well for me. In the mornings, after my workout, I would make a smoothies with fruit, yogurt or peanut butter, protein powder, spinach, and a liquid. I changed the flavors around all the time depending on what I had on hand. They were usually around 300 calories a piece (some higher, some lower based off of ingredients obviously).