Weight Loss Tips

One of the benefits of including smoothies, especially green smoothies, into your daily routine is weight loss. My wife and I both lost 30 pounds each after including one to two green smoothies each day for a few months. We weren’t even dieting either! Now we both maintain a normal, ideal weight with little effort and no counting calories or points. We’re not the only ones reporting weight loss with green smoothies. Just about everyone I have talked to who regularly drink green smoothies with a sensible diet has reported weight loss as one of the many health benefits gained through their new-found smoothie habit!

How Smoothies Help You Lose Weight

Smoothies, especially green smoothies, help you lose weight for a variety of reasons. First of all, they contain all of the vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients you need to lose weight fast, safely and easily without feeling like you are starving or on a liquid diet. Secondly, they help reduce your craving for sugary junk foods. Your sweet tooth is satisfied by all of the delicious, nutritious fruit you put in there while your calorie intake is kept in check because fruit and vegetables are much lower in calories, fat and sugars than any processed junk food you can splurge on.

After including two green smoothies to my diet each day for about 6 months, I started gravitating toward more salads meals and raw, whole foods because that was what I was craving. Yes, I was craving spinach and celery! Don’t believe me? Start drinking your banana-strawberry green smoothies and we’ll talk in a couple months when you’re snacking on carrot sticks instead of potato chips!

Weight Loss Smoothie Tips

1 – Drink A Smoothie For Breakfast. I start my day, every day with a filling green smoothie using fruit, leafy greens, a scoop of protein powder and a tablespoon or two of ground flax and/or sesame seeds. I might add a couple cherry tomatoes or a stalk of celery to the mix and I’m good to go until lunchtime! You will want to make sure you add enough to your green smoothies to reach your calorie-intake goals. This might mean fortifying your shake with higher-calorie fruits or having a second green smoothie mid-morning.

2 – Drink A Smoothie For A Snack. Green smoothies make excellent snacks. Instead of milk and cookies, how about a blueberry-banana or coconut-pineapple shake. You’ll get fewer calories and it will be just as sweet! You’ll also get much more nutrition than milk and cookies could ever provide.

3 – Make Your Smoothie A Meal. Some of our smoothies are lower in calories than others. You can browse our smoothie recipes for healthy shakes that match your target, per-meal calorie intake or increase the calories in your smoothie by adding protein powder, ground nuts, seeds, avocado or additional, high-calorie fruits such as mango, grapes or bananas. With a complete package of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, a rich, creamy green smoothie can make a tasty, satisfying weight loss meal!

4 – Don’t Use Milk or Yogurt In Your Smoothies. Despite what the dairy industry advertises, cows milk is simply not a natural food for adult humans. Studies also suggest that drinking 3 or more glasses of milk each day might actually contribute to obesity, especially among children! Milk and yogurt add unnecessary fat and calories and have other possible negative health consequences that could undermine your health and weight loss goals. If you are concerned about calcium, most of our smoothie recipes contain at least 10% of your daily value of calcium and most contain over 15%. Using sesame seeds or coconut in your smoothies can provide up to 30% of your daily recommended value of calcium per recipe!

5 – Eat More Whole Foods. Eating whole foods means moving away from prepackaged, artificial foods that are loaded with sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, sodium and other preservatives, dyes and artificial flavorings as well as high fat and calorie content. The secret to losing weight and keeping it off is to shift your diet to foods that you buy along the perimeter of the grocery store. Buy the bulk of your foods from the produce section, then head to the meat aisle (if you are not vegetarian) and finish off in the organic section for breads or cereal.

6 – Exercise Every Day. It doesn’t take much exercise to lose weight and maintain a lean body. Thirty minutes each day with a mix of light cardio and free weights can go a long way, especially if you add a brisk, 30 minute walk in the evenings or during your lunch break. While green smoothies and a healthy diet can help shed the pounds, exercise helps tone the body and boost your metabolism.

7 – Stop With The Fad Diets, Potions and Pills. There are some crazy fad diets out there and they all simply do not work. What does work is a sensible approach to your diet and lifestyle. Instead of depriving yourself of foods you love, use moderation. Adding green smoothies is a good start. Replace breakfast or lunch with a green smoothie and have a salad with dinner. Over time, you might find yourself gravitating toward healthier food choices like my wife and I did. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is to permanently change your lifestyle. That is why temporary fad diets do not work. Once you stop dieting, you put the pounds back on and then some. Green smoothies are not a sacrifice. They are a healthy addition to a meal or even a meal replacement. They are a lifestyle choice that you’ll enjoy every day. Read more about smoothie diets.

8 – Get A Support System. It is extremely difficult to make a lifestyle change on your own, especially if your spouse or partner isn’t on board with your decision to cut back on fast food, pizza and ice cream. It is important to bring others on board with your weight loss or health goals and hold each other accountable. It can be hard eat a salad when others around you are eating pizza. Try to get your spouse, partner or friend to help you lose weight and make the lifestyle decision together.

Do you have a great weight loss tip or smoothie recipe? We’d like to know!

Find some healthy green smoothie recipes that will help you lose weight.