Many are convinced that smoothies are a drink because they are usually served in a glass or mug. In fact, this colorful and nutritious blend is a complete meal, albeit low in calories. Smoothie recipes for weight loss include a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and dairy products. It can be used instead of one of the meals, as a snack. Therefore, the cocktail is successfully used to lose weight or to satisfy hunger.
What a mixture
Let's see what exactly a smoothie is. The name of the cocktail comes from the English word smooth - sweet, sweet. You can prepare it from a wide variety of whipped ingredients with a blender. Most often, vegetables and fruits are used in combination with milk, kefir, yogurt, but sometimes oatmeal, cottage cheese and other components are added to the mass.
The advantages of a smoothie for weight loss lie in its saturation with dietary fiber, which gives a feeling of fullness, but at the same time is low in calories. Thanks to the cocktail, you can improve the work of the intestines, stomach, cleanse the body and normalize the metabolism.
The dish is perfectly digested without leaving any heaviness in the stomach. In addition, the body is saturated with useful substances, the water balance is normalized. Therefore, it can be used in place of any meal for weight loss, satisfying hunger for a few hours. It is recommended to eat it with a spoon to be better satiated.
As evidenced by the reviews of those who have lost weight, you can lose several pounds of smoothies in a week, but if you follow a strict diet, the weight disappears more intensely. True, you can only sit on them for a week, because they do not provide the body with all the necessary nutrients.
You can use a cocktail for fasting days or just find a place for it in your daily diet. At the same time, it is important to make a low-calorie menu, drink enough water, preferably without gas.
How to cook
Fruits and vegetables for smoothies should first be washed well, peeled from seeds and peels and cut into slices. For cooking, it is recommended to take fruits of different density in equal quantities: strawberries with an apple, a banana with an orange. Remember, you can't add sugar or sugar substitutes to your shake.
Which products to use?
- All fresh vegetables, herbs.
- Berries. It is better to use gooseberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries.
- All fresh or frozen vegetables, especially citrus fruits.
- Low-fat dairy products: kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese.
- Freshly squeezed juice.
- Natural fat burners like ginger root, turmeric, cinnamon.
- Oatmeal or buckwheat.
By combining these ingredients, you can make completely different healthy smoothies. Imagine, take your recipes.
Helpful Tips
So that the cooked dish will delight with taste, consistency, take into account the following tips:
- Add more fruit to make the mixture thick enough.
- Mix in sweet and sour fruit for a rich flavor.
- Use yogurt, kefir, any natural juice as a base.
- If you want to make a sweet mixture, add honey to it.
- Pour a few chopped nuts into the finished cocktail poured into glasses.
- Avoid high calorie ingredients like ice cream, cream, sherbet.
Cocktail diet
A variety of weight loss recipes include a smoothie diet. There are several varieties. First of all, it is a strict diet, which consists of eating only cocktails.
It is recommended to consume 250 g (one glass) of smoothie 4 to 5 times a day for a week. The break between doses is approximately 2 hours.
To switch to diet smoothies for weight loss, you need to properly prepare for the new diet. To do this, gradually reduce the calorie content of the menu, the volume of portions and increase the consumption of water. They start to eat a little every 2 to 2. 5 hours.
The diet should be dominated by cereals, fresh fruit, lean meat. Alcohol, semi-finished products, smoked meats, preserves, spicy, fried, too fatty and salty foods are excluded. Products containing sugar are replaced by dried fruits and sweetened fresh fruits.
At the end of the diet, you also need to come out of it correctly and gradually. The time to return to normal eating is two weeks. During this time, solid foods are gradually introduced into the diet, the calorie content of dishes is increased to 1500 units.
There is also a three-day diet, which is considered milder. When you eat 4-5 times a day, three servings are needed to replace the smoothie. The rest can be basic in the form of cereals, vegetables, meat, kefir.
- So, for the first breakfast, oatmeal in water and a glass of apple juice are recommended.
- For the second - 250 g of smoothies.
- Lunch consists of chicken fillet and 250 g of broth.
- We will have a cocktail again.
- You can dine with a pumpkin vegetable smoothie for weight loss, with the addition of herbs and a teaspoon of olive oil.
The only thing is that it is contraindicated to follow such a diet for pregnant women, as well as for people with certain diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. But they can include a cocktail in their diet for more variety.
benefits
Creamy consistency, huge amount of nutrients, low in calories - all of these make smoothies a perfect way to lose weight. It gives energy, is easily absorbed, cleanses the body. The advantages of such a diet:
- well tolerated by the body;
- a wide choice of ingredients for cooking;
- the diet is saturated with nutrients;
- maximum digestibility;
- cleaning;
- health support;
- rapid weight loss;
- no stress when losing weight;
- long lasting effect.
The latter is achieved by the fact that with the help of such a system, the habit of eating correctly develops, which helps the stomach to get used to small portions, enriches the diet with fresh fruit.
Receipts
There are many recipes for making weight loss smoothies in a blender. Most often, we prepare berry and fruit cocktails, since these fruits are offered to us all year round, fresh or frozen. They are made from one or more types. The recipe depends only on your imagination.
Let us point out the most popular.
Banana strawberry
It can be eaten in place of dinner or breakfast, as bananas are a high calorie fruit. For a cocktail you need a tablespoon of fat-free cottage cheese, 250 g of kefir or yogurt, the same amount of strawberries, half a banana. It is important to mix the ingredients in the correct order: first a banana with strawberries, then kefir, and at the very end - cottage cheese with several cubes of crushed ice. The latter can be discarded if frozen berries are used.
Banana-apple
This shake will require an apple, banana, yogurt, and orange juice. First of all, the fruits are poured into a blender for chopping, when they turn into a homogeneous mass, add the liquid ingredients and beat. The mass is poured into glasses and a few ice cubes are thrown away. To make it more lush, the banana is kept in the refrigerator for a while before use.
Citrus
It is valued for its richness in vitamin C, which not only prevents colds, but also speeds up the metabolism. For a smoothie, prepare a grapefruit, an apple, half a lemon and a banana, and an orange. The fruits should be peeled, seeded and cut into quarters. Pour everything into a blender and mix well. Pour the mixture into glasses and add a little ice.
Vegetable smoothies are great for shedding those extra pounds. They are rich in trace elements, low in calories, cleanse the intestinal tract, improve its peristalsis.
Children are encouraged to make a pumpkin smoothie, as the vegetable is easily absorbed by the body and provides a huge amount of nutrients. Ditto for broccoli, spinach.
Broccoli
To make a cocktail made from this vegetable, you will need 150 g of broccoli, herbs and a glass of kefir. Cabbage is pre-boiled, chopped with a knife with herbs and poured into a blender. Then pour in the kefir or ayran and beat well. It is recommended to drink this cocktail lukewarm.
Fruit and vegetable
A healthy smoothie is made from any fruit you like. Better to try their composition: 60 g of spinach, a tablespoon of seaweed, pear, kiwi, 100 g of white cabbage, 2 tbsp. l of light cream, 200 ml of water. Fruits should be peeled, seeded, chopped and put in a blender. Add the chopped cabbage and spinach. When the solid ingredients are crushed, add the beef and cream to the mixture and beat well again.
Invigorating drink
This is one of the recipes for cleaning "green cocktails" that help normalize metabolism and digestive processes.
To prepare it, you will need a bunch of spinach, a kiwi and half a banana.
The fruit should be peeled and cut into quarters, and the spinach should be chopped. All of this folds up in a blender bowl and whips well.
A little water can be added if necessary. The mixture is poured into glasses and decorated with a slice of kiwi.
Smoothie is a delicious and healthy product that will become an ideal tool for smooth weight loss. It is suitable for diet food and for those who just want to form a healthy and complete diet.