Warning:
**If the pain of being overweight isn't greater than the perceived benefit of losing weight, green protein smoothies will not be worth the cost. KEEP YOUR GOALS/REASONS/WHY WITHIN VIEW.
**Green protein smoothies do not taste like a milk shake or pizza. In fact you might think they taste horrible. Although you can make them so they taste better. The more fruit, honey, sweetener, the better smoothies taste but the less healthy.
Ok. What is the difference between a smoothie and juicing? Juicing takes the pulp out. Smoothies leave the pulp/fiber in. Since the pulp is in you will feel fuller and will not have as much of a spike in your blood sugar (BS).
I have blended over 1200 smoothies. I have lost over 100 lbs overall. & 60 pounds since I've added smoothies to my weight loss weapon arsenal.
A couple years back I felt horrible! Energy level GONE! I ate a whole bottle of gummy vitamins. My stomach was a mess, but I did feel better. I was malnourished. Pizza/candy bars do not have many/any nutrients. It is mostly empty calories. I decided to buy a blendtec blender. On a very good sale, you can find a refurbished one for about $200. I have the Blendtec total Blender. On Amazon they are about $350. You can buy a $20 blender and make it work, but it will be CHUNKY and you can not make as much in one go. The blendtec spins at 29,000 RPMs. It will heat soup just from the friction of spinning so fast. I have also used a ninja 1200 that my parents bought so when I fly to their place I can keep doing my smoothies. I think the ninja 1200 was about $60. The debate can go on and on of which blender is best. The two top end are Vitamix and Blendtec. Humorous Saturday night live skit about Vitamix.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/vitamix/2816873
--------------
Here is an example easy smoothie recipe that probably would taste fairly good.
1/2 cup Banana
Honey
4 cups Almond milk
Chocolate protein powder
Spinach
1/2 cup frozen strawberries.
--------------
Here is an example that has lots of healthy nutrients but probably would not taste that good:
| Big Brown - Makes 8 CUPS | ||||
| Amount | Name | Calories | Carbs | Protein |
| 0.5 | 1/2 Banana | 55 | 15 | 1 |
| 1 stick | Celery | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| 0.5 | 1/2 Apple | 55 | 15 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup | Cashews | 170 | 9 | 5 |
| 1 Bar | Dark Chocolate | 160 | 9 | 3 |
| 2 Scoops | Protein Chocolate Fudge (1 serving) | 150 | 13 | 21 |
| ¼ cup | Sunflower Seeds | 180 | 7 | 6 |
| 1/5 pack | Carrots | 35 | 8 | 1 |
| ¼ cup | Walnuts | 200 | 4 | 5 |
| 40 pieces | Peanuts | 160 | 6 | 7 |
| 1/3 cup | Pecans | 210 | 4 | 3 |
| 1 cup | Cucumber | 16 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 cups | Almond Milk (4 servings) | 120 | 16 | 1 |
| 3 cups | Spinach | 20 | 3 | 2 |
| 1 cup | Blueberries | 60 | 18 | 0 |
| 1 cup | Grapes | 104 | 27 | 1 |
| Totals | 1703 | 159 | 58 |
----------
In the Blendtec it is important to put the ingredients into the blender in a certain order so the blade can get traction. Normally banana or honey go on very bottom by the blade. Then the frozen fruit goes on the very top. Soft on bottom to hard on top.
My older sister was getting close to being diabetic. Her BS was elevated. I got her started on smoothies. Her BS went down. I will blend in all kinds of stuff like even asparagus. Not for the faint of heart! I normally eyeball the ingredients. My sister likes to count out 40 peanuts.
There are lots of recipes out there.
I would suggest a 7 day smoothie ONLY diet. Everyone I know has gotten unbelievable results when they start out. Like a pound a day weight loss. Water loss I'm sure because very very little sodium. Additionaly their energy level has not suffered too badly.
The ingredients in a smoothie are fairly pricey. If you don't eat out while doing smoothies, it probably is break even. A bag of chips is much cheaper than a bag of nuts. It takes me about 35 minutes to make one. I'm probably kind of slow. BUT, it's ALL the food I eat for the day. So it's the only time prepping food. Keep all the produce fresh around the house can take some work/time though. You can freeze some of it before it goes bad.
Logistics. I put mine in two thermoses. Each thermos holds 4 cups so a total of 8 cups. 32 ounces = 4 cups. 8 ounces per cup. I bought my two thermoses at Goodwill. My sister bought her thermoses off Amazon. This is an easy way to carry to work. Although, some people at work look at me and go what is that when I'm pouring it into my cup. I tell them it's my meth lab. Also, I use a plastic cup. The smoothies seem to leave a residue on glasses.
Happy smoothieing. Health and weight aren't necessarily synonomous. But there is a strong correlation. Don't put your calories too low. I used MFP to figure out where my calories should be. If you go too low your body will go into starvation. I would use what MFP says to lose 1 lb to 1.5 lbs. Weight loss takes time. GL