With so many fad diets on the market, a girl can get really confused. The tricky part with selecting a diet is that, many of them do actually help you lose weight. Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to lose your muffin top and thunder thigh . However, the one thing that is consistent in most of the popular diets of today is one simple fact…REDUCED SUGAR. Research as shown that sugar makes you fat. When I say sugar, I am not referring to only cookies, cupcakes, and other sweet desserts, of course those do make you gain weight. I am; however, referring to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are sugar and consuming significant amounts will lead to weight gain. The DASH Diet (voted America’s Best Diet by US & News World Report), the Paleo Diet, low carb diet, Atkins, etc., all are low sugar diets. Low sugar means low carbohydrates. If you are looking to lose weight, you cannot go wrong with any low carb, low sugar diet. They work like a charm!
Now that you know which type of diets/ eating regimes are best, I would like to give you 7 awesome low carb smoothie recipes. Smoothies are great because they are ultra-convenient! They are also an easy way to consume vegetables. Many of us are busy working women and moms and we just don’t have time to prepare veggies every day for ourselves and our families. Smoothies are excellent for solving this problem. Also, smoothies are lower calorie meal replacements. Substituting a low carb smoothie for your typical eggs and bacon breakfast or your bran muffin (I hope you aren’t eating bran muffins for breakfast if you are looking to lose weight), is a great way to give your weight loss an early morning boost.
Use the recipes below as a starting point to begin to inject smoothies into your weight loss meal planning. As you become more familiar with how to make the best smoothies relative to your preference and the foods you enjoy, you can create your own low carb smoothie recipes.
Strawberry Goodness
½ cup cottage cheese low-fat
¼ cup cream cheese
½ cup strawberries
¼ cup Soy Milk, unsweetened
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup ice cubes
Instructions:
1. Mix ingredients in a blender. Pulse them until you achieve a smooth texture.
2. If it becomes too thick, add more ice cubes and pulse the ingredients again. Adjust to the desired consistency.
3. Pour in a glass and enjoy.
Longevity Juice
10 leaves romaine lettuce
1 cup cantaloupe, sliced
1 cup strawberries
Stevia, to taste
6 ice cubes
Instructions:
1. Freeze strawberries first.
2. Mix romaine lettuce, cantaloupe, frozen strawberries and ice cubes together in a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Adjust sweetness by adding Stevia.
4. Pour in a glass and enjoy.
Berry Good For You
½ cup raspberries
½ cup strawberries
½ cup blackberries
1 cup almond milk
Ice cubes
Instructions:
1. In a blender, mix raspberries, strawberries and blackberries together. Add milk and blend until they become smooth in texture.
2. Adjust the consistency of the smoothie by adding some ice cubes and blending them together with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour in a glass and enjoy.
Protein Power
1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
1 serving whey protein
½ cup strawberries
¼ cup walnut, chopped
Vanilla extract, to taste
Stevia, to taste
Ice cubes
Instructions:
1. Mix coconut milk, whey protein, strawberries, walnut and vanilla extract in a blender.
2. Blend everything until you achieve a smooth texture.
3. Adjust taste by adding Stevia.
4. Transfer to a glass. Garnish with walnuts and add ice cubes for a refreshing effect.
5. Serve and enjoy!
French Toast Smoothie
½ cup cottage cheese, non-fat
3-4 tablespoons protein powder, vanilla-flavored
1 teaspoon maple extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice, to taste
Stevia, to taste
½-1 cup water
5-10 Ice cubes
Instructions:
1. Mix cottage cheese, protein powder, maple extract, cinnamon, water and ice cubes in a blender.
2. Blend everything together until they become smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add more water and ice cubes. Blend again.
3. Pour in a glass, serve and enjoy while cold.
Loco for Coco
½ cup coconut cream
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup coconut milk
¼ cup berry mix
1 teaspoon Stevia
Instructions:
1. Mix coconut cream, heavy cream, coconut milk and berries in a blender. Blend together until smooth.
2. Adjust taste by adding Stevia. Blend again.
3. Pour in a glass, serve cold and enjoy!
If you have always wanted to taste a “Chocolate Man,” try this smoothie.
Sweet Creamy Chocolate Man
1 cup almond milk
1/8 banana
3 dates or 1 tablespoon honey
½ avocado
2 tablespoons raw cacao
2 tablespoons almond butter
1½ teaspoon golden flaxseed
½ cup ice, crushed
Instructions:
1. Remove pit of avocado and scoop out flesh from skin.
2. In a blender, add avocado flesh with almond milk, banana, dates, cacao, almond butter, flaxseed and ice.
3. Blend everything together thoroughly until you have a smooth texture.
4. Pour in a glass, serve cold and enjoy.
There you have 7 easy low carb smoothie recipes to give your weight loss a boost. Try them out and let me know what you think. Also, if you have other delicious low carb smoothie recipes you would like to share, please leave them in the comments section.
Till next time…
Melinda