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Troubleshooting Green Smoothies: Why Do I Feel Worse, Get Constipated, or Not Lose Weight?


Robyn Openshaw - Updated: March 21, 2024 - - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


Green smoothies can be a healthy (and delicious) way to lose weight. But for some people, transitioning to a plant-based, whole foods diet isn’t a walk in the park.

What can you do if you aren’t seeing the weight loss results and health benefits you’d hoped for? What about constipation or gas?

In this article:

There’s no need to worry--and most of these reactions are part of a temporary cleanse period as your body adjusts to a new (and improved) diet. In this post, we’ll troubleshoot some of the most common questions and concerns people have after adopting green smoothies!

Can Green Smoothies Make Me Feel WORSE?

If you’ve recently made the leap to better nutrition with green smoothies and are wondering if its normal to feel WORSE than you did before, the answer is absolutely yes (for a little while anyway, more on that below!). While some people (most, actually) won’t experience cleansing reactions, some people will. Take them for what they are: a signal that your body is making a big, desperately needed adjustment.

As a rule of thumb, the more dramatic the diet change, the more likely you are to experience some cleansing symptoms. Why? There are two very common reasons:

Your Digestive Tract Is in Poor Shape

If you’re transitioning from the SAD diet (standard American diet) of highly processed, dead foods to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, your digestive tract is likely in pretty poor repair with limited biodiversity in your gut flora.1 Suddenly add a whole lot of fiber, nutrients, and biodiversity to your gunked up, leaky digestive tract, and things can get funky and uncomfortable for a little while.

The Toxins You’ve Stored in Your Fat Are Being Released

When you put a dangerous substance into your body (which, if you’ve been eating a lot of processed foods you have been!) your body tucks those toxins into your fat,2 where they can’t damage your organs. This is part of the reason your body is so resistant to parting with those fat stores, if you’ve been eating a crummy diet. However, give your body a lot of good fuel, and you’ll see those fat stores and toxins start to flush — but not without consequences. Part of the reason you may feel bad during an introduction to a healthier diet is that those stored toxins are being flushed from your system.

Understanding What the Fiber in Green Smoothies Does in Your Body

Think of the fiber in green smoothies as a broom: It works by sweeping out the intestines and colon. That’s a good thing! But, as we’ve mentioned, that stuff it’s sweeping out can cause some problems on its way out the door (your colon).

Depending on how much “dust” the fiber broom kicks up, your colon can get backed up and become sluggish.3 Same goes for your kidneys, liver (ever seen anyone whose eyeballs are yellow?), lymph system (bulging, painful nodes in your neck), tonsils, heart and arteries, and even your skin (four letters: Z-I-T-S).

Photo of fiber rich plants from "Why Do I Get Constipated Or Not Lose Weight On Green Smoothies?" at Green Smoothie Girl.

Fiber rich foods, like the ones you put in green smoothies, help clean out your colon.

The toxic fuel you’ve been eating is 90% of the reason why every single one of these organs gets weak and sluggish. Then, when the miracle happens that you change fuels to a high fiber, nutrient-dense, plant-based diet,4 they get backed up for a while.

How Common Are Green Smoothie Cleansing Reactions, and How Long Will They Last?

First, the good news. Out of the 175 people who participated in my initial green smoothie study (and radically changed their nutrition!) with the green smoothie habit, only 18% experienced very uncomfortable cleansing reactions (also known as Herxheimer reactions). That said, everyone (including myself, more on that next) is bound to experience some mild cleansing reactions whenever diet significantly changes or improves.

These cleansing reactions are most common during the first two weeks of adopting green smoothies into your diet. However, they can also happen two months or six months or even six years later as your body goes through new transformations. Remember: If you’re like most people, you’ve been eating processed, dead foods for far longer than two weeks. It’s going to take you longer than two weeks to truly “clean house!” Again, the longer you’ve been eating the SAD diet, and the weaker your inherited constitution, the more likely you are to have rough detoxing.

My Personal Experience with Cleansing Reactions

If you’re dealing with intestinal issues, it may give you some comfort to know that the Green Smoothie Girl herself has been in your shoes.

Every day for two months, I drank 4 oz of wheatgrass juice (very potent and medicinal, and 4 oz is a lot, like a pound of wheatgrass). During the second week, I noticed my skin breaking out (a very common detox reaction). A couple of weeks later, I got a brain fog and a slight headache. (I never get headaches!) My brain fog was mild and lasted about an hour. (The skin breakout lasted a few days.)

Was it fun? Absolutely not. But it did help me to recognize that these symptoms were my neurological system trying to process a lot of elimination, since it had some new power fuel to work with. My point in sharing this personal experience is that everyone has the potential for detox symptoms--even if you’re eating a very healthy diet. We breathe polluted air, we experience stress—both of which have physical byproducts in the body.5

Common Cleansing Reactions From Green Smoothies

If you’re experiencing any of the following cleansing reactions, there’s no need to panic — or heaven forbid, take it as a sign that you should stop incorporating more fiber, bioavailable nutrients, and plant food into your diet!

Stay the course, and know that “this too shall pass!”

Headache

If you’ve been eating foods that contain aspartame or monosodium glutamate (it’s everywhere, in potato chips for example!) you’ve been getting a steady dose of neurotoxins. When you switch to a healthier, nutrient-dense diet your body works to flush these stored chemicals--and headache is a very common symptom. You may also notice a headache as part of withdrawals from sugar or caffeine.6

Inflammation and Skin Breakouts

Similar to headache, you may notice inflammation flaring up in your joints, muscles, and skin as different toxins make their way out of your body and pass through your system in the blood, tissues, and neurological pathways.

Fatigue or Feeling Cold

As your body works toward a healthier “new normal,” a lot of different processes are going on beneath the surface of your skin. Your system is using its new wealth of nutrients to clear out bacteria, mold, and damaged cells. And your cells are rebalancing their concentration of salt, water, and potassium. This intensive repair work, combined with shifting electrolyte levels can cause temporary muscle fatigue, or feeling cold at different times.

Photo of cold woman from "Why Do I Get Constipated Or Not Lose Weight On Green Smoothies?" at Green Smoothie Girl.

When you radically change your diet, you might end up feeling sick while your body adjusts.

Gastrointestinal Symptoms (Gas, Bloating, Nausea, Cramping)

“Leaky gut syndrome” can develop when a low-fiber, low-nutrient, highly processed diet wreaks havoc on your digestive tract over time and triggers an autoimmune response. This syndrome can actually cause tiny holes to develop in your intestinal tract, as your body struggles to determine friend from foe,7 while digesting your food without the fuel it actually needs.

When you suddenly add a lot of fiber and nutrients to a digestive tract in poor repair, symptoms like gas, bloating, nausea, and cramping can be the temporary price of healing.

Constipation

Suddenly adding a lot of extra fiber to your diet can temporarily cause some roadblocks (literally) for a digestive tract that isn’t in prime condition. If you’re dealing with constipation, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water. You can also try a coffee enema or a colon massage to help unclog things!

Stalled Weight Loss

Like we talked about earlier, if you’ve been eating a less-than-healthy diet for a while now, your body has been tucking toxins and chemicals into your adipose tissue to protect your organs from damage. It’s no wonder your body is reluctant to release them back into your system! It’s also possible that your hormone levels aren’t in good shape, or that you have food sensitivities. Keep reading to learn more about how to help your body through this detoxifying process and shed those unwanted pounds (and chemicals!).

Recognizing Possible Food Sensitivities

If a Herxheimer cleansing reaction to green smoothies lasts longer than 2 weeks, you may have a food sensitivity. And if you think “Oh, I’m not one of those people!” think again. Food sensitivities are now epidemic8 because of the numerous ways we degenerate the gut.

Genetically modified grains and spraying Roundup on crops (even on already harvested wheat) has led to an explosion in gluten intolerances. And the a standard American diet that includes far too much animal protein and too little plant fiber has created an epidemic of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, leaky gut, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Epstein Barr syndrome, and other fatigue and degenerative gut issues.

What to Do If You Suspect Food Sensitivities

So, what should you do if you suspect food sensitivities? There’s no need to immediately schedule a panel of expensive blood tests. I’ve personally taken a handful of these tests. And every single time, my “food sensitivities” are totally different.9 My friend Alan Christianson, who has sometimes sent the same bloodwork from the same patient to two different labs, gets different results 80% of the time — not much better than random chance.

So, again, what SHOULD you do? If you can identify a pattern of which foods are causing you grief, feel free to back off them as you continue to do the work of helping your gut and organs heal, eliminate chemicals and frankenfoods from your diet, and fill your pancreas, thyroid, digestive tract, kidneys, liver, heart, and blood pathways with real foods and nutrients. Many people are shocked to discover that what they thought was a gluten intolerance was actually an intolerance to Roundup10 — and that once they have significantly improved their diet (and stopped eating genetically modified, sprayed wheat) that intolerance goes away.

Green Smoothies and Weight Loss

I get a few messages along these lines:

Dear GreenSmoothieGirl, I’m drinking green smoothies, and you said they were low calorie and high in nutrition! Why have I gained two pounds in the last two weeks?

Photo of woman measuring her waist from "Why Do I Get Constipated Or Not Lose Weight On Green Smoothies?" at Green Smoothie Girl.

A great benefit of drinking green smoothies, is the weight loss, however, sometimes it doesn't work out that way.

Here’s the short answer: Most people quickly lose weight on green smoothies, and most people’s digestion quickly improves (discussed in depth in The Green Smoothies Diet). Which makes sense, since drinking a high volume of low calorie, high fiber food (only about 200-400 calories per quart) bumps out other foods that are invariably higher in calories, and significantly improves digestion. So, what are a few reasons you might not be seeing weight loss like you’d hoped?

You’re Self-Sabotaging with Treats

Keeping all other things constant, simple physics demand you are increasing your metabolism in many ways — you are burning fat, and you will lose weight. Note that the sentence began, “keeping all other things constant.”

However, if you’re increasing your consumption of junk food because you feel your new green smoothie habit justifies it, that could be one reason why you’re not losing weight. It’s easy to justify extra treats with “Because I’ve been so ‘good’ all day!” but avoid the temptation — especially because, calories aside, that junk will only continue to gunk up your digestive tract!

Your Colon Is Backed Up

If you’re feeling plugged up — and you’re not losing weight to boot — it may be that your body is trying to process so much debris (after a heavily processed diet) that your colon is getting backed up. Before you get out of bed in the morning, deeply massage your transverse colon (preferably with a tennis ball, but your hands will work), starting lower right in your pelvis, straight up to the level of your navel, across to a couple inches inside the left hip bone, and down.

Your Hormone Levels Aren’t in Striking Range

If you’re still not losing weight after a few weeks, you should consider a full blood panel workup at a hormone clinic specializing in bioidentical hormones (rather than synthetic) to determine the health of your endocrine system, especially your thyroid.

If your thyroid isn’t working, with its complex interplay of hormones, you can’t metabolize food effectively and lose weight.11 In fact, I’ve written a whole post on using particular ingredients in green smoothies to support your thyroid and even quiet Hashimoto’s symptoms.

You should know that even if your doctor told you that your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was in the “normal” range, you may need a broader spectrum blood test. Get both the tests for thyroid antibodies. If you’re a woman over 40, ask your practitioner about balancing progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Test your vitamin D levels,12 too!

Your Body Is Protecting Your Fat Stores

Like we talked about earlier, your body may be protecting your fat stores — because there’s some bad stuff hidden away in there. Make sure you’re getting plenty of rest and drinking LOTS of water to help give your body a way to actually flush these toxins from your body.

You can also check out my video on permanently lowering your weight setpoint – it’s video number 2 in this masterclass series of 6 videos that you can access for free right now. Learn why your body protects fat, especially if you’re a woman and especially around the middle. And learn what to do about it!

You Need More Time

At the end of the day, you may need to grin and bear the confusing weight plateau for a little while, knowing that your body is doing good, necessary work. You are burning fat, despite what the scale says temporarily, and the discomfort or plateau in weight loss is temporary.

Graphic of fat cells from "Why Do I Get Constipated Or Not Lose Weight On Green Smoothies?" at Green Smoothie Girl.

Fat cells are tricky and hard to get rid of. Give your body time to replace them with muscle.

Keep in mind that water retention (as your fat cells fill up with water to “hold the place” of fat you’re losing in case you want to replenish those stores) can make the numbers on the scale look worse before they look better. So can gaining muscle (which weighs more than fat). Give it time, and pay attention to how you feel — more than what the scale says.

TLDR: Green Smoothies, Weight Loss, Constipation, and Other “Bad” Reactions

While it’s easy to take unexpected or “negative” reactions to changing your nutrition as a sign that you should stop, stay the course! These cleansing reactions aren’t pleasant, but they are a strong indicator that your body desperately needed this change, and is working hard at cleaning house with a new supply of clean food and fiber.

Thankfully, reactions like constipation, nausea, headaches, skin breakouts, and stalled weight loss generally last two weeks or less. Remember that this, too, shall pass. It is an immutable law that when you replace high-calorie foods with low-calorie, high-nutrition foods (green smoothies!), weight loss and overall health will follow.

Did you experience a cleansing reaction or stalled weight loss when you started drinking green smoothies? What was your experience? Share in the comments section!

Read next: A Review of John Robbins’ Epic Work, The Food Revolution

Photograph of Robyn Openshaw, founder of Green Smoothie GirlRobyn Openshaw, MSW, is the bestselling author of The Green Smoothies Diet, 12 Steps to Whole Foods, and 2017’s #1 Amazon Bestseller and USA Today Bestseller, Vibe. Learn more about how to make the journey painless, from the nutrient-scarce Standard American Diet, to a whole-foods diet, in her free video masterclass 12 Steps to Whole Foods.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that help support the GSG mission without costing you extra. I recommend only companies and products that I use myself.

Why Do I Get Constipated Or Not Lose Weight On Green Smoothies?

Resources

  1. Wu GD, Chen J, Hoffmann C, et al. Linking long-term dietary patterns with gut microbial enterotypes. Science. 2011;334(6052):105–108. doi:10.1126/science.1208344s
  2. Jackson E, Shoemaker R, Larian N, Cassis L. Adipose Tissue as a Site of Toxin Accumulation [published correction appears in Compr Physiol. 2018 June 18;8(3):1251]. Compr Physiol. 2017;7(4):1085–1135. Published 2017 Sep 12. doi:10.1002/cphy.c160038
  3. Sarna SK. Colonic Motility: From Bench Side to Bedside. San Rafael (CA): Morgan & Claypool Life Sciences; 2010. Colonic Motility Dysfunction. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53473/
  4. Skerrett PJ, Willett WC. Essentials of healthy eating: a guide. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2010;55(6):492–501. doi:10.1016/j.jmwh.2010.06.019
  5. Antioxidant activities and oxidative stress byproducts in human hypertension. Josep Redón, Maria R. Oliva, Carmen Tormos, Vicente Giner, Javier Chaves, Antonio Iradi, Guillermo T. Sáez. Hypertension. 2003 May; 41(5): 1096–1101. Published online 2003 Apr 21
  6. Schulte EM, Smeal JK, Lewis J, Gearhardt AN. Development of the Highly Processed Food Withdrawal Scale. Appetite. 2018 Dec 1;131:148-154. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.09.013. Epub 2018 Sep 15. PubMed PMID: 30227182.
  7. Mu Q, Kirby J, Reilly CM, Luo XM. Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases. Front Immunol. 2017;8:598. Published 2017 May 23. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2017.00598
  8. Hadley C. Food allergies on the rise? Determining the prevalence of food allergies, and how quickly it is increasing, is the first step in tackling the problem. EMBO Rep. 2006;7(11):1080–1083. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400846
  9. Hammond C, Lieberman JA. Unproven Diagnostic Tests for Food Allergy. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2018 Feb;38(1):153-163.
  10. Samsel A, Seneff S. Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013;6(4):159–184. doi:10.2478/intox-2013-0026
  11. Sanyal D, Raychaudhuri M. Hypothyroidism and obesity: An intriguing link. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2016;20(4):554–557. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.183454
  12. Khosravi ZS, Kafeshani M, Tavasoli P, Zadeh AH, Entezari MH. Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Weight Loss, Glycemic Indices, and Lipid Profile in Obese and Overweight Women: A Clinical Trial Study. Int J Prev Med. 2018;9:63. Published 2018 Jul 20. doi:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_329_15

Posted in: Green Smoothies

28 thoughts on “Troubleshooting Green Smoothies: Why Do I Feel Worse, Get Constipated, or Not Lose Weight?”

Leave a Comment
  1. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for this article!

    I have just re-started green smoothies and my face is breaking out horribly. It’s something I have had trouble with before, though I am in my 30s, but it has gotten worse since restarting my smoothies.

    Now I know why!

    Thanks for the reassurance. 🙂

  2. Anonymous says:

    I’m asking this question to help a friend of mine. I was so excited about green smoothies that I got her into them, but now she’s thinking that maybe her body is “different” and they’re not good for her. She drinks smoothie in the morning (just 16 oz or so) and the rest of the day feels so bloated that she’s not hungry. And she probably only puts about a quarter pound (or less, just starting out) of greens in her blender. She’s at the point now where she feels like this most of the time no matter what she eats. She had a colonoscopy done about a year ago, only to be told she’s fine. Does anyone know how long it could take for her body to not be “backed up”? Do you think she just needs to do a cleanse? If so, which one? I’ve heard of some that are shorter term and affordable. Thanks for the help, I don’t want her to give up on green smoothies!!!

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Britni, it’s common to have that detox reaction. She needs some pretty significant education; give her my starter book, The Green Smoothies Diet? She may have a more significant problem of some food sensitivities, which will just get worse until she starts addressing the nutrition her body needs. Unfortunately, people don’t always do it just because we want them to!

      1. Terry Blue says:

        If it’s food sensitivities, and it likely is, then it will get worse until she figures out what they are and remove them from the diet or find another way of prepping it that won’t cause constipation/symptoms. Simply addressing nutrition will not overcome this. There are food intolerances to just about every food imaginable, including nutritious foods like cruciferous vegetables.
        Some people can’t eat raw veggies and that includes those in smoothies.

        Oatmeal is a very severe food intolerance for me, even when it’s steel cut oats and cooked with prunes, doesn’t matter what I cook it with or how long I cooked it, it always constipated me. And I tried different kinds of oats. Turns out I have selective grain sensitivities and nothing, AND I MEAN NOTHING, NOT EVEN CLEAN EATING, NOT EVEN COLONICS (and I’ve been to 3 hydrotherapy clinics), works for as long as I’m eating simmered grains. I only began to see relief when I stopped eating oatmeal, millet, etc.

        Finally, everybody’s body is different and there are bodies that just won’t respond well to smoothies even if they did everything right.

        To work out which foods are causing symptoms, I recommend food to symptom tracker apps. The best apps to date I found for this are MySymptoms and Symple-Symptoms. I’m using MySymptoms myself.

        1. Terry Blue says:

          No correlation with gluten and MY symptoms as WW bread doesn’t constipate me, just simmered grains and beans.

        2. Robyn says:

          true that food sensitivities are an issue for many. not true that addressing diet, over a significant period of time, can’t turn food sensitivities (to good foods) around. in fact, for many, those food sensitivities are constantly shifting. and, rebuilding gut is key to the body NOT attacking itself once it is healed. being reactive to good foods (like simmered non-gluten grains) is indicative of needing some gut healing….we always suggest learning cultured foods, like in our 12 steps to whole foods course, step 8, trying several of those habits from around the world. everything changed when i rebuilt the healthy flora in my gut. avoiding antibiotics, avoid gmo and processed foods and allergens, while getting lots of good nutrition and especially eating homemade cultured foods, really does work. the body is not meant to be highly reactive to whole foods and this, as well as many diseases and symptoms, the body DOES know how to heal from. we aren’t teaching that “smoothies” are what heals us…..we’re teaching a far broader message than that. GREEN smoothies are just one way to get a lot of greens, superfoods, even a cultured-foods base, in the diet, pretty easily.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Some people cannot lose weight because of thyroid problems. It doesn’t matter what you even if you eat a raw diet. I struggle. With hoshimotos disease Which causes my thyroid to fluctuate from exteme high to lows. If you can’t lose the weight and are.eating as you should. You might get want to get your thyroid levels checked.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Robyn,

    I just watched your video of all the rejections you got for the green smoothie at the SLC airport. You need to package it differently. I wouldn’t take a drink of something that someone else had drank out of and had their straw in the bottle. But I would take a drink if something were poured from a bottle into a little cup (and the person giving it to me poured some in a separate cup and drank first 🙂 We live in a suspicious world. I like green smoothies and drink them all the time. But I have to say I also would have rejected your offer at the airport even though I know what green smoothies are all about. Just saying…..

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      K-Jo…..I know. 😉 We were just having fun.

  5. I have been doing green smoothies for 8 months now. Total diet change, but, of course, I do eat other solids of healthy foods.

    But, I am totally discouraged, and confused, I went in excited to have a cholestrol check on the new diet, and to my amazement, my total cholesterol is HIGHER than it has ever been.

    What is your thinking on this? Is there a specific combination of fruits/veggies that I should be doing, rather than just random combinations?

    Thanks for your input.

    Rita

  6. Anonymous says:

    I’ve gotten bloated by drinking a smoothie too fast. I have to slow down and then it’s not a problem.

    I add a little bit of Udo oil, essential omega 3/6/& 9. No constipation & I’m getting “essential oils”.

    1. Terry Blue says:

      Omega 9 and not an essential oil and omega 6 is plentiful in the food supply. The only useful oil supplement is fish oil.

  7. Anonymous says:

    hi Robyn:

    My question to you is that I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Won’t green smoothies aggravate my condition because of all the raw greens? Any info you can give me would be great.

    thanks,

    Yvonne

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Yvonne, I can’t advise people about specific medical conditions. I was hypothyroid and greens did very well for me. Many compounds in greens are NURTURING to the thyroid. You will have to consult with your practitioner; hopefully you have one who understands the complex interplay of systems in the body, rather than an M.D. specialist who operates exclusively in drug approaches that don’t heal anything.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn,

    I have been on green smoothies and 70% raw food, vegetarian diet for over 2 years now. I am on gluten, casein and eggs free diet as well due to sensitivities. I feel very good overall and many health issues I have had are gone or improved tremendously. There is one thing however that I have difficulty managing and that is my blood iron. My Ferrum was at 16 in April and dropped down to 6 this month. My GP prescribed me FaraMax 150 that is not supposed to cause constipation and I take it every other day. Constipation and hemorrhoids, the problem I had since childhood, is a reoccurring issue and I am wondering if and how this might be impacting my iron absorption. I am often constipated even if I don’t take iron supplements; I have 1 bowel movement per day. Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.

    Alexandra

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Alexandra, I’m always a fan of getting iron from foods rather than pills that aren’t very bioavailable and can in fact be harmful. Prunes, greens, whole grains, etc. are rich sources of iron; however, you should also convert to a whole-foods diet in general to improve, over time, your mineral absorption overall. You can get it all but if your body isn’t using it, it does you little good.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn,

    Thank you for your reply; I have been on whole foods for over 2 years. As a matter of fact I mostly use recipes from your 12 Steps Book when I am preparing a cooked meal. I had gastroscopy done and I don’t have Celiac disease nor allergy to gluten, but I don’t eat gluten or wheat because I have heartburn afterwards.

    Alexandra

  10. Anonymous says:

    It’s probably a lot more likely that green smoothies make you constipated due to their abundance in spinach.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Their abundance in spinach and therefor their abundance in iron

  12. Anonymous says:

    When increasing your fiber consumption, you have to also remember to increase your water intake, or else constipation will definitely be an issue. This is especially the case if fiber is increased heavily in a short amount of time. Good luck!

  13. Anonymous says:

    I am curious why I could add to my smoothie that will help me with not being constipated. I am really enjoying the green smoothie but have completely lost my urge to go to the bathroom at all. Thanks for any help!

  14. Ryan Healey says:

    I am searching the web for reasons I have gained at least 5-7 pounds since starting green smoothies. I started drinking two green smoothies a day about two MONTHS ago. Neither have much fruit in them. One has unsweetened almond milk (morning) and the other water. The bulk of both smoothies is kale, spinach, tomato (one small), carrots, cucumber, brussel sprouts, etc. I do add wheatgrass powder, and sometimes chia and flax seed. I eat a mid-morning mean of raw cashews and a banana (not a ton of cashews either), my lunch is light and often vegetable based. I do not keep sweets in my home so snacks are egg whites, etc. I workout twice a day most days now for 20-30 minutes. However, while I am eating the most nutritious diet of my LIFETIME and working out more than ever (I always worked out, but not like this) I feel bloated, some of my work clothes feel tight and the scale shows a 5-7 pound gain. Now, I have not gained more in the last 3 weeks but no matter what I do I can’t get the scale to head in reverse. I’m not heavy by any means, but I should see my body firming up and NOT gaining weight. Also, I am not speaking muscle. My belly feel bigger and I feel heavier so while maybe a pound of two is new muscle, something is not right.

    1. Carol says:

      This is a late reply I know but I might have an answer for you. Are you obese or really overweight? At first your body will be resistant to losing, when you cut back you mau notice the scale increase a few pounds. It’s your body trying to hold on to fat, it can be stubborn,even up to 3 months but you keep up and it will kick in. Trust me. Once you reach your ideal weight, losing a few pounds will be easier.

      1. Eileen says:

        Also a very late reply-don’t rely on the scale. If you are working out that much,you are no doubt putting on muscle. You may weigh the same, or even gain, but your clothes should be getting looser, as muscle takes up much less volume than fat.

    2. Carol says:

      It may fluctuate!

    3. Carol says:

      I didn’t read your whole post…sorry. cardio, at least hour a day, hard will up the fat melting. My opinion is if your trying to lose watch out eating nuts, alot of high calorie seeds. That’s just how I lost weight. Whenever I put nuts ..peanut butter or any…I gained! Best of luck!

  15. Jessie says:

    This may sound silly but when drinking green smoothie for weight loss, is it replacing a meal or on top of the meals? I drink about 1.5 litres of green smoothie (sipping throughout the day) with no added sugar and little fruits and homemade kombucha, I am putting on weight so quickly!

    1. Julie says:

      I use them as a meal replacement, never with a meal. I did lose weight with this as part of my diet.

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