Drink Green Smoothies All Day and Lose Weight
You could literally drink green smoothies till you’re full, all day long, and still lose weight.
If you drank TWO GALLONS a day (that’s 8 quarts), you would get only 1500 calories. That 100 fewer calories than someone my height and weight needs, even if I don’t exercise, daily!
I’ve been accidentally saying the wrong thing in my classes. A quart of green smoothie doesn’t have 400 calories–it has 200! (Hot Pink smoothie from Ch. 10 of 12 Steps has 400 calories, perfect for breakfast.)
A quart of GS will fill up your stomach. I often get emails saying, “I can’t drink a quart in one sitting! How do you do it?”
Well, first, I’m just used to it. I burn 400-600 calories working out every morning so I’m really hungry at lunch time. Sometimes I save some of my quart for late in the afternoon, but often I drink it all at once–and I always have something else, too.) And sometimes when I have an extra pint in the fridge, I have another GS for dinner!
I also get this a lot: “I am hungry an hour or two after drinking my quart of GS. What’s up with that?” Well, what’s up with that is that it’s less than 200 calories.
I was filing stuff and found this DietPower breakdown of a quart of green smoothie:
¼ lb. spinach
¼ lb. chard
½ banana
¾ cup mixed berries
1 peach
Here’s what you get (with 1 ½ cups water and a pinch of stevia):
188 calories
84% carbs, protein 12%, fat 4% (That is a BEAUTIFUL macronutrient breakdown, by the way! If someone told you 20% protein is necessary, it ISN’T.)
Because this is the highest-nutrition, lowest-calorie thing you can eat, I outline a Detox plan (3 days) and a weight loss plan (30 days) in my book, The Green Smoothies Diet.
You also get, from this recipe:
More than 50% of your daily requirements of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, magnesium, copper, manganese.
Very significant amounts of fiber (31% of daily allowance), as well as niacin, Vita E, iron, calcium, potassium, and sodium.
p.s. I do recommend adding 60-100 cals. of flaxseed to your diet, and a GS is one easy way to do that. I buy sprouted flax on Amazon. It’s live and it absorbs less water in the smoothie since it’s already been soaked (and dried).
Posted in: Green Smoothies, Healthy Weight, Tools & Products
I drink a quart every morning as well. Could not live without it. Thank you for the info!
The thing is that the spinach and chard (Green Leafys) do have complete amino acids which create protein in the body. That is why it is very important to include green leafys as the biggest portion of your smoothie. No root veg (as carrots, beets, etc.) as they have too much nature sugar and cause gas.
Robyn, can you add the link to the sprouted flax you recommend? Thanks!
Randy, here’s what I’ve bought:
http://www.amazon.com/Sprout-Revolution-Nutrablue-Sprouted-Blueberries/dp/B001EQ5O3M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1282970685&sr=8-1
have you ever heard of the new line amazing grass? what do you think of it?
LOVE the new ‘You might like’ feature! As far as calories, I put 1/8 cup of Trader Joes coconut milk in my morning smoothie because the taste is so fantastic and helps me get the broccoli (which I hate with a red hot hatred) past my taste buds without them knowing it’s there. Is that a bad thing?
mgm, that’s not a bad thing! (I am not a fan of the broccoli, either, which makes it into my smoothie only occasionally and in small amounts . . . )
Mmmmm, sounds delicious. I think I am going to try it this week…shoot, I just left the grocery store.
Robyn, do your publications include the nutritional and macronutrient content of ALL the smoothies/recipies you have? That would very exciting and marvelous if they did.
Carrie, they don’t. There’s a chart showing the micronutrient and macronutrient info for various greens, however, in The Green Smoothies Diet.
I work a pretty physically challenging and active job, and I find my morning quart of green smoothie just is not enough to get me through until my lunch break, so I have started adding Garden of Life’s RAW protein powder, which is mix of sprouted, dehydrated, and ground beans, grains, and seeds. It’s pretty new on the market (at least in my area). It has a pretty neutral taste and dissolves easily in the smoothie. 1 scoop adds about 80 calories; I usually add 2 for a full quart.
I highly recommend it! The only down side is that it is pretty pricey!
i was so excited about the coconut milk powder in your store… until i saw sodium caseinate listed as an ingredient… isn’t that another term for the dreaded brain cell killing, proven obesity and diabetes causing MSG?
Andie, no, sodium caseinate has nothing to do with MSG and is not a neurotoxin.
Just tried the recipe above with my regular (old fashioned blender that I got for @ 3 bucks) and it was so good! I did change it a little. I used all spinach instead of chard, cherrys instead of berries. my cherrys and peaches were frozen so it was like having sorbet mmmm!
I get the broccoli in by using broccoli sprouts. Can’t taste it at all so it goes well with neutral greens a small amount of fruit and stevia for a low cal high nutrition great tasting smoothie.
I don’t have a scale at home :/ I was wondering on the greens, what the cup equivalent is to a 1/4 pound? and are the greens packed into the cup measurement? I wouldn’t think that they would be loosely measured. Thank You!!
What is a basic green smoothie recipe ? I like my green smoothies green…..I’m looking for one that I can drink all throughout day BLD and have crunchy veggies, nuts as needed throughout day. I am liking the GSC ideas by JJ smith- but I am finding some of the smoothies unpalatable and want to make my own recipe?