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Weight Loss Exercise

Smoothies for Weight Loss



Trying to lose weight can be very difficult for many people. When you’re on a diet, you have to watch what and how much you eat. People often find it hard to prepare a meal that provides the right nutrition without going overboard in terms of calories. If you want to incorporate good nutrition into your diet, smoothies for weight loss can provide a healthy and balanced diet without unneeded calories.

How Does a Smoothie for Weight Loss Work?

Smoothies for Weight Loss

Smoothies for Weight Loss

To get the most weight loss benefit, start your day with a smoothie breakfast. We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A good breakfast jump starts the metabolism and helps your body burn more calories throughout the day. Many people make the mistake of eating a breakfast that is high in quick burning carbohydrates. This leads to hunger pangs and snacking very early in the day. The right breakfast smoothie recipe will curb hunger pangs while providing the body with the ideal amount of fat, proteins, fiber, and carbohydrates.

A smoothie recipe for weight loss contains the right balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. The recipe should include whole fruits, yogurt and whey protein. Fiber from fruit helps to fill you up while eliminating the extra calories. With the right balance of nutrition, carbohydrates are metabolized more slowly to prevent a sugar rush followed by a sugar crash.

A healthy smoothie for breakfast is important because it sets the stage for the day. If you make healthy food choices at the start of the day, you are more likely to eat healthy the rest of the day.

Fruit Smoothies for Weight Loss

Smoothies are often made with a combination of fruits. High in fiber but low in calories, fruits are ideal for weight-loss smoothies. If you want to add fruit juices to your smoothie, make sure it has no added sugar. You may want to mix yogurt or tofu to give a creamy consistency. The protein and small amount of fat in yogurt and tofu also make you feel full longer.

There are many different fruits that you can add to your smoothie, including mangoes, berries and bananas. A banana and strawberry smoothie tastes delicious. You can also try other fruit combinations. Experiment with different fruit smoothie recipes and you’ll never get tired of the same diet foods.

Green Smoothies

One of the best smoothies for weight loss is a green smoothie. A green smoothie may not be everyone’s favorite drink but it is amazingly nutritious and has a very low calorie count. You may want to consider mixing leafy greens with a fruit smoothie if you are trying to lose weight. Spinach or kale can be combined with bananas and berries to make a good-tasting smoothie for weight loss. If you are not a fan of green smoothies, combine them with a strong-tasting fruit to mask the taste of the greens.

How to Make a Healthier Smoothie

Green smoothies and fruit smoothies are the most popular choices for weight loss. You can make your smoothies more nutritious by adding fat-free milk or unsweetened fruit juice. Smoothies are rich in many different nutrients and fiber but are much lower in calories, fats and sugar.

  • Smoothies for Weight Loss


Smoothies for Weight Loss

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General Weight Loss Tips

Dear April

My last entry accidentally got deleted. This has happened maybe twice since I started blogging four years ago and I think it happened when the server updated and it got lost. So I apologize for that, it wasn’t intentional, especially since it took me forever to write and now I have no interest in writing it again.

It’s April! I have so many plans and goals for this month that I’m very excited about. But first, I have some updates:

No Sugar. It’s been three months without sugar. I loosely say no sugar. I eat sugar in other forms such as fruit, natural sugars (I’ve added honey back in), and I will add sugar to a Vietnamese or Thai dish if it calls for it. It has been hard…some days harder than others. Right now I have cake and cookies in my house. I plan to give them away. It’s nice to not have them haunt me. I have sugar in the house, and I still bake. My treats are in the form of my glucosamine “candies”, Izze drinks, all natural fruit jam on toast/oatmeal/yogurt, and fruit smoothies. I’ve been hesitant to tell people I’m not eating sugar, in fact, if you don’t read this blog you probably don’t know.

I don’t want to be watched and I don’t want “sugar-free” to be confused with carb-free or have people think “oh she says no to ice cream, but yes to pizza! bah!” indeed so. This sugar-free thing is for cakes, cookies, ice cream…obvious sugar. It’s not a dietary guideline, it’s just me trying to get rid of something I have a hard time not overeating. I like rules.

No TV. I have to admit I’ve gone almost five weeks without my regular rotation of TV watching and will confess I’ve been watching Mad Men on DVD this past week (season four just came out). Not a ton, and not like before when I get obsessed and watch five in one sitting. But, considerably less. I’ve noticed that I don’t miss TV in the mindless sort of way of passing time or procrastinating- I can always find ways to fill my time with work. However- I’ve come to realize that watching an episode of a good show with Josh is a treat for a days worth of work. We both work from home and it’s a nice way to turn off from work and relax together.

Strength Training. Can I just say that I love strength training? I’ve been doing it off and on for almost five years now and it’s very rewarding. We picked it back up in January and I’m lifting weights that are 10-30 pounds heavier than I was then. We make notes during each session- can we increase the weight or stay the same. On February 3rd I could only do 80lbs. on the pull down machine (for arms, back and shoulders) and said I couldn’t do more.

Today I was able to pull down 120 lbs. That’s a 40 lb. increase in strength, meaning that I’m gaining muscle. This is the same for almost all of the machines I do. Did you know that for every pound of muscle you gain, your body burns 50 extra resting calories? Gaining 10 lbs. of muscle is 500 extra calories burned a day! I love that and I can tell that it is one reason that I’ve not gained any weight since January.

Insanity. This week marks the 12th week of Insanity! I’ve lost 12-15lbs (it’s goes up and down) so far. I just can’t believe we’ve stuck with it for so long. We are already in our second rotation. I will admit that the past couple of weeks have been harder, we’ve done at least three workouts a week instead of our usual six. So we are getting back on track with six workouts this week.

April plans and goals:

The next two months (and most of summer) are going to be pretty hectic. I really need to step up my organization and will need continued exercise and eating well if I’m going to stay on top of everything. Spring marks the beginning of  of jewelry shows and my freelance design business is growing so I can use all the energy I can get.

I’m stepping up my game this month. I’m dedicated to counting calories and keeping a food journal. My goal it to lose 10-12 pounds this month with continued exercise and food tracking. I have no interest (as usual) in doing this by eating “diet” food, my method is to eat less, control portions, eat from home as much as possible and enjoy the food I’m eating.

Continuing with 5 days of the Insanity Workout with one day of strength. We may add yoga and running back in if the spirits moves us. And speaking of us… Josh is wearing all of his jeans now. All of the jeans that just a month ago would too tight. I am still steadily wearing a size 24/22. I’d love to be in a 20/18 by mid to late summer.

What are your April goals?

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