Advice on how to log smoothies?

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SpyridonGR
SpyridonGR Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
My boss at work is very excited about my dieting and taking walks during my lunch break.

He has started making me homemade smoothies every day with his Vitamix. It's very generous, and delicious, and keeps me fuller throughout the day. The problem is, he changes the ingredients slightly every day, I don't always know exactly what will be in the smoothie. I know they are healthy, but I don't know if they are right for weight loss, and I don't know how to log it in my diary accurately (or at least fairly).

Here are some common ingredients that he uses: Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Banana, Flax Seed, Avocado, Honey, Yogurt

I believe he is light on the avocado, maybe a half. Also light on the honey. This is for a very large blender cup, must be about 60 oz. I drink about two 12 oz glasses of this per day.

Any ideas or advice on this? Is this going to hold me back in my dieting? How should I log this to be somewhat accurate? I tried other "Homemade fruit smoothies" in my log and 24 oz has added up to 500+ calories, could this be right considering the ingredients I mentioned?!

Replies

  • SpyridonGR
    SpyridonGR Posts: 17
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    Anybody?
  • zagbee
    zagbee Posts: 40 Member
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    If you feel comfortable with it, I think the best thing to do would be to ask him exactly what he puts in it and let him know you are logging everything you eat. If you can get him to tell you then you can input each thing individually. I can't personally think of another way to to it since a smoothie can have so many different things in it. Sounds like you have a very generous boss and it's great that he is so invested in your health! :smile:
  • frodopuppy
    frodopuppy Posts: 75
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    I'd log it around 400 cal. that's my guess and I'm sticking to it, each 12 oz glass
  • SpyridonGR
    SpyridonGR Posts: 17
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    I'd log it around 400 cal. that's my guess and I'm sticking to it, each 12 oz glass

    So you'd aim for 800 cal for the 24 oz serving I have?

    Even some of the highest cal fruit smoothies I've found in the database put me around 564 cal for 24 oz.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    I second the recommendation to ask him. Even if he doesn't measure his ingredients, he can tell you - oh I use about half an avocado, a heaping spoonful of yogurt, just a drizzle of honey and a handful each of raspberries and blueberries. Then you can estimate the portions from there.

    I know a lot of people are big on weighing and measuring but if you're having these regularly, you will realize it if you severely over- or underlog them because you will be losing weight at a certain rate.
  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
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    Wow your boss makes you smoothies? Does that seem weird to anyone else or is it just me?

    Maybe ask him to weigh and write down every ingredient he puts in it so you can log it or otherwise overestimate the calorie amounts. Most of my smoothies come to around 350 - 400 cals for 300ml or so.
  • Cath_Taylor
    Cath_Taylor Posts: 104 Member
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    Wow your boss makes you smoothies? Does that seem weird to anyone else or is it just me?

    Haha! Nope I thought it was me too!

    Seriously OP if he's kind enough to make smoothies for you, I'm sure he won't mind you asking what's in them!
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    so a quick add calories for maybe 700 for the full amount - my smoothies with flax seed plus protein powder are hardly ever over 400 and it's probably about 10 oz

    mine usually have about 120-150 g of fruit
    30 g spinach
    1 tblsp of flax or hemp seed (or a tsp of both)
    coconut water
    tsp flax oil

    he likely only uses about a tbsp of honey
    but I would check on the yogurt amount and the fat content to be sure

    When I put 30 g of protein powder in mine they cals jump about 150 cals so if there is no protein powder it's likely not that high
  • waterwing
    waterwing Posts: 214 Member
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    My smoothies end up being anywhere from 300-450 calories and are either 8 or 12oz.. Better to over estimate than under estimate.

    24oz is pretty big!
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    I really agree with the other posters that it would be best to ask your boss. If he is supportive of your dieting, he will likely not take offence to your asking more about what he puts in the smoothies, as it will show that you are taking things seriously by accurately logging your calorie intake. The reason I feel it is so important for you to ask is because the calorie content of smoothies can very so dramatically depending on what is used as the blending liquid (water, almond milk, coconut water, coconut milk, varying fat content's of cow's milks and yogurts). My smoothies usually fall under 200 calories per 16 oz serving, but I use unsweetened almond milk which is very low in calories (40 cal per cup) whereas a cup of 2% cow's milk or soy milk has 122-127 cal (3 times as much as unsweetened almond milk), and a cup of coconut milk (not the flavoured blends they sell in cartons, but canned pulp from coconut flesh) is a whopping 445 cal.

    Your boss sounds like a generous man, so changes are if he's bringing you smoothies (and, more importantly, is willing to take the time to make them for you) and you ask him what is in them, they'll start coming with a little note of ingredients taped to the side.
  • SpyridonGR
    SpyridonGR Posts: 17
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    Wow, those are some very high calorie estimates though. I had cut out fast food for lunch and replaced it with some veggies to lower my calorie intake as I need to lose a lot of weight. If the smoothies throw 600-800 calories into my day, that can't possibly help me lose weight, can it?

    I'm thinking maybe I should politely turn down the smoothies. They are not replacing my breakfast, and I'm not ready to give up breakfast for a smoothie.
  • waterwing
    waterwing Posts: 214 Member
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    I think that's probably a great idea. You can eat a LOT of breakfast instead of one smoothie. When I have them, they are my only breakfast and that's only on days that I can handle eating lots of calories.
    Smoothies are deceiving because they seem so gosh-darn-healthy but are very calorie packed. Healthy but high calorie. You can eat a lot of egg whites in place of one :)
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I think you've mentioned some low calorie items but then bananas, honey and yogurt jump into the mix. When I make my smoothies I try to minimize apples and bananas (use them for flavoring) and go heavy on celery and such. Even this yields about 280 calories per 16 oz glass - I guess I do add protein powder or peanut/almond butter to mine as well.

    Anyway, for me the cat's meow in this case would be if your boss signs up for an account basically just for you, logs the details of each smoothie in a recipe, modifying quantities as needed each day , and you can just copy the entries from his diary. I log my smoothie recipe this way - add all the items to a recipe , and if I don't use a certain ingredient on a certain day, enter quantity of 0 for that ingredients. For the others, place the blender directly on the food scale , and Tare prior to adding each ingredient so you can get its weight. Otherwise I'd say yes, log the 400 calories per smoothie and call it good.

    Anything can help you lose weight - you just have to stay overall in a caloric deficit , but, unfortunately it can be a bit hard to do that when you do not know exactly what you are eating. Being satisfied so you're not reaching for foods you don't really need all the time is also key. It seems the smoothies may be helping you do that.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Aaaaaaand I just re-read your post about politely turning down the smoothies. That's probably best. I had to cut out some "healthy" items from my diet to achieve a deficit. Delicious and couldn't eat just one, sound like anything you know? Hmmmmm :smile:

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