Smoothies - Am I doing them right?
kmab1985
Posts: 295 Member
Hi All
About 4 weeks ago I got into making my own smoothies for breakfast but wanted to make sure the ingredients I use is OK.
Here are some examples:
Today: 1x small avacado, 1 kiwi, strawberries, tbsp of sunflower seeds, 3 teasp of organic peanut butter
Banana, spinach, blueberries, grapes, sunflower seeds, coconut water
Avacado, kale, coconut water, kiwi, sunflower seeds
strawberries, kale, banana, blueberries, almond milk
I alternate between almond milk, water and coconut water. I tend to add sunflower seeds everyday but wanted to make sure I'm not having to much peanut butter or avacados as I know these are higher in fat, I add these because I work out every lunch time so I like to have a filling smoothie!
Any other recommendations would be fabulous though!
About 4 weeks ago I got into making my own smoothies for breakfast but wanted to make sure the ingredients I use is OK.
Here are some examples:
Today: 1x small avacado, 1 kiwi, strawberries, tbsp of sunflower seeds, 3 teasp of organic peanut butter
Banana, spinach, blueberries, grapes, sunflower seeds, coconut water
Avacado, kale, coconut water, kiwi, sunflower seeds
strawberries, kale, banana, blueberries, almond milk
I alternate between almond milk, water and coconut water. I tend to add sunflower seeds everyday but wanted to make sure I'm not having to much peanut butter or avacados as I know these are higher in fat, I add these because I work out every lunch time so I like to have a filling smoothie!
Any other recommendations would be fabulous though!
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Replies
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Are the peanut butter and avocados causing you to go over your calorie goals? I'm not sure why else it would be "wrong."0
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Hi
No, they don't actually but I only started using myfitness pal today but I don't have peanut butter and avacados everyday (I'll make sure)....
Before I joined the gym I did weightwatchers but got fed up of working out the propoints for everything plus someone advised me that counting calories was much better as you get more as opposed to propointing and I was fedup of having to propoint all my "healthy" foods such as avacados, nuts, seeds etc because they are sooo high in points which would then make me go for the low points stuff but thats just full of sugar!
Still getting used to all this healthy fats, high protein, good carbs stuff, I only joined the gym after xmas and have been doing lots of reading on what foods are good and not good etc....
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Today: 1x small avacado, 1 kiwi, strawberries, tbsp of sunflower seeds, 3 teasp of organic peanut butter
Banana, spinach, blueberries, grapes, sunflower seeds, coconut water
Avacado, kale, coconut water, kiwi, sunflower seeds
strawberries, kale, banana, blueberries, almond milk
The only problem I see is that you're not accurately measuring your food (at least, here). 3 tbsp of peanut butter is going to be around 300 calories. If you're not using a food scale, you could be overserving yourself. Same with the sunflower seeds, avocado, etc other high calorie foods. It's not as critical to be 100% accurate with the lower calorie foods (like kale), but I still weigh them.
1x small avacado: What is small? I'm going to round down from the avg: 230 calories
1 kiwi: 42 calories:
strawberries: You didn't say how many, so let's say 100 grams: 33 calories
tbsp of sunflower seeds: 50 calories
3 teasp of organic peanut butter: 300 calories
coconut water: 46 cal/cup (you didnt say how much, or if the first recipe is with coconut water or almond milk).
= 701 calories.
Now, that might be right for what your goals are. I don't know. You didn't give us enough information. For me, that's too much for breakfast. That's almost half of my calories for the day, and I prefer to have lunch and a big dinner, plus snacks.0 -
Put whatever you want in your smoothie but be sure to log the correct quantity of each ingredient.0
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ah yeah I see what you mean, I must admit I didnt weigh anything but I am going to get some digital weighing scales this evening! Oooops!
I can definately see how easy it is to get to 701 calories!!!
Thanks
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I started using pb2 as a sub for peanut butter recently- all the fiber, flavor and protein, none of the fat. Makes a big difference to my calorie counts! I would also recommend adding a little protein to it- either yogurt or some kind of milk. I use a whey protein powder, Greek yogurt and almond milk, and it makes the smoothie waaaaaay more filling.0
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Yeah, most people don't realize how calorie heavy their smoothies are. Just because they are loaded with fruit and "healthy" foods, doesn't mean they will help you lose weight. You need to account for every item you put into the smoothie by weighing/measuring it and logging it. I suspect once you get the hang of counting calories you will be adjusting your smoothie recipes....
Best of luck!0 -
Yeah, most people don't realize how calorie heavy their smoothies are. Just because they are loaded with fruit and "healthy" foods, doesn't mean they will help you lose weight. You need to account for every item you put into the smoothie by weighing/measuring it and logging it. I suspect once you get the hang of counting calories you will be adjusting your smoothie recipes....
Best of luck!
This is so true! I make a big smoothie every morning and depending on the ingredients, it's 500-600 calories. I either split it with someone else in the house, or save half for later.
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Yeah this is the first time I've ever tried calorie counting so is going to take a bit of getting used to, I get married in August so thats my incentive, I've already lost 25lb's on Weightwatchers and 8 inches since just before xmas but wanted to try calorie counting instead because as you can see although I think I'm eating healthy, it looks like I'm consuming way to many calories in my smoothies!
Thanks everyone!0 -
Yeah this is the first time I've ever tried calorie counting so is going to take a bit of getting used to, I get married in August so thats my incentive, I've already lost 25lb's on Weightwatchers and 8 inches since just before xmas but wanted to try calorie counting instead because as you can see although I think I'm eating healthy, it looks like I'm consuming way to many calories in my smoothies!
Thanks everyone!
I love smoothies, but use way fewer ingredients.
100 g banana + 1 cup soy milk + 1 serving PB2 + ice.
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This one is my favorite - I drink a version of it every morning. It's a version of the Dr Hyman's Whole Food protein shake. It's right around 300 calories:
Ingredients:
1c Frozen Cranberries
1c Frozen Strawberries
1/2 tsp Cacao Nibs
1 handful greens (chard, spinach, kale)
1 tsp Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 oz Tofu - Firm
1/2 tbsp - Chia Seeds,
2-3 halves - Walnuts
1 tsp - Nutiva - Hemp Seed Raw
1 tbsp - Ginger root - Raw
1/4 Lemon - Raw, with peel
8 oz - Zico - Coconut Water Original
1-2 ice cubes
Blend. I prefer mine chunky, but that's just because it seems more like a meal to me.0 -
Fast_Track wrote: »This one is my favorite - I drink a version of it every morning. It's a version of the Dr Hyman's Whole Food protein shake. It's right around 300 calories:
Ingredients:
1c Frozen Cranberries
1c Frozen Strawberries
1/2 tsp Cacao Nibs
1 handful greens (chard, spinach, kale)
1 tsp Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 oz Tofu - Firm
1/2 tbsp - Chia Seeds,
2-3 halves - Walnuts
1 tsp - Nutiva - Hemp Seed Raw
1 tbsp - Ginger root - Raw
1/4 Lemon - Raw, with peel
8 oz - Zico - Coconut Water Original
1-2 ice cubes
Blend. I prefer mine chunky, but that's just because it seems more like a meal to me.
This sounds SO GOOD!!! Minus the cacao nibs for me, but I'm the type that likes fruit OR chocolate and not mixing the two. My mouth is watering just thinking about this.0 -
yum those sound good! i love smoothies. i typically use malted milk powder for a bit of flavor, too.
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Does anyone have any tips/tricks for filtering out the seeds from fresh fruit from their smoothies? I love blackberries with kiwi, but the little seeds are so annoying! I may resort to picking them out before adding the fruit.
This morning's smoothie:
1 cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt
75 g blackberries
80 g kiwi
50 g banana
4 oz Almond Milk
for 274 calories, 26 g of protein and 25 g of sugar (I eat most of my carbs at breakfast and over 125 g of protein a day)0 -
I use 1/4 to 1/3 of an avocado in my smoothies, which is considered by most sources to be one serving. That or 1/2 of a banana makes the meal creamy enough for me without adding too many calories from fat and sugar respectively. I enjoy eating throughout the day, so aim for about 300-350 calories in my breakfast smoothie; that way I don't blow 1/3 of my calories in 1 meal. Without knowing your goals/specs, if you eat fewer, larger meals then have a more calorie-dense and filling smoothie In the end it's all about what works for you!
Also, I told myself I'd never use protein powder, but finally caved and bought some on Saturday. I use 1/2-2/3 of a scoop and in only 3 days i've realized it's been keeping me full for hours on all the extra protein.0 -
Hi
No, they don't actually but I only started using myfitness pal today but I don't have peanut butter and avacados everyday (I'll make sure)....
Before I joined the gym I did weightwatchers but got fed up of working out the propoints for everything plus someone advised me that counting calories was much better as you get more as opposed to propointing and I was fedup of having to propoint all my "healthy" foods such as avacados, nuts, seeds etc because they are sooo high in points which would then make me go for the low points stuff but thats just full of sugar!
Still getting used to all this healthy fats, high protein, good carbs stuff, I only joined the gym after xmas and have been doing lots of reading on what foods are good and not good etc....
x
I just ditched WW for this reason as well. It was infuriating to me that I could eat something fake for lesser points rather than something real.
My smoothie this morning was:
1 cup spinach
1/4 cup plain kefir
1/4 cup coconut water
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp chia seeds
1 cup frozen berry medley (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
added water when I needed to
This is usually what I do because I am making it as I run out the door. Sometimes I add bananas, orange tastes really great blended, PB 2 instead of peanut butter.
This was only about 127 calories & 4 grams of protein; so I had a hard boiled egg and one slice of whole grain light bread to round out breakfast.0 -
emelinerenz wrote: »Does anyone have any tips/tricks for filtering out the seeds from fresh fruit from their smoothies? I love blackberries with kiwi, but the little seeds are so annoying! I may resort to picking them out before adding the fruit.
This morning's smoothie:
1 cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt
75 g blackberries
80 g kiwi
50 g banana
4 oz Almond Milk
for 274 calories, 26 g of protein and 25 g of sugar (I eat most of my carbs at breakfast and over 125 g of protein a day)
The only way I've found is to pulverize into oblivion with a high-power blender. I have a ninja, which works well enough, but it doesn't get those seeds either! Try blending for longer?
I know from experience that the vita-mix blender (read: holy grail of blenders) grinds the seeds into nothing. Why don't I own one, you ask? Expensive.0 -
I use an unflavored, unsweetened protein powder. I switch up my fruit depending on what is cheap and in season at the store. Peaches are coming soon.0
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Kefir, Greek yogurt, Pb2, and chia seeds are all ways of giving your smoothie more protein, which can help with how filling it is.
Also, yes, 3 tablespoons will be very high in calories for a smoothie, but if it's 3 teaspoons like I think you may have meant, that's totally different and likely very appropriate!0 -
just a suggestion about the kefir - start off with maybe 1/8 of a cup and work up - it is TART. More so than plain Greek Yogurt. I added 2 tsp of honey when I started with the kefir to tone it down, but eventually I didn't need it anymore.0
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kmsoucy457 wrote: »emelinerenz wrote: »Does anyone have any tips/tricks for filtering out the seeds from fresh fruit from their smoothies? I love blackberries with kiwi, but the little seeds are so annoying! I may resort to picking them out before adding the fruit.
This morning's smoothie:
1 cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt
75 g blackberries
80 g kiwi
50 g banana
4 oz Almond Milk
for 274 calories, 26 g of protein and 25 g of sugar (I eat most of my carbs at breakfast and over 125 g of protein a day)
The only way I've found is to pulverize into oblivion with a high-power blender. I have a ninja, which works well enough, but it doesn't get those seeds either! Try blending for longer?
I know from experience that the vita-mix blender (read: holy grail of blenders) grinds the seeds into nothing. Why don't I own one, you ask? Expensive.
Yep, I have a vitamix and it gets rid of all the pesky seeds. Very expensive, I got mine from QVC on easy pays otherwise I'd have never been able to afford it.0 -
I have a smoothie everyday for lunch, I'm totally addicted and look forward to it everyday. My diary is open, too many ingredients to list here! It does come in at 700-800 calories, but it keeps me full till dinner and is so delicious! !0
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The only comment I would add is that you might want to consider adding more protein as it'll keep you feeling full. Whey protein powders are an awesome easy cheap way to do that. As others have said, weigh and log them and make sure they fit within your calorie allowance and macros and there's really no wrong way to do a smoothie as long as you like the taste0
This discussion has been closed.
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