Fruit smoothies

[Anonymous]

I think you are using too much fruit. Just do one serving on one fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you the guidance Weight Watchers gives me, which makes a lot of sense.

On WW, all fruits are "free" -- don't have to count them and they are unlimited. They don't affect weight loss.

BUT

You can't drink your fruit. You have to count smoothies. They have tons of points. The fruit smoothie you make in the morning would probably take up almost a full days points. Why? Because when you blend up fruit like that and drink it instead of eating it and getting the fiber and going through the act of eating and filling your belly with the fruit and digesting and satiating, you are giving yourself a huge blood sugar high with really no long term nutritional and satiety payoff for your body. Very little bang for your buck. In other words, eat two bananas -- stay full for the morning. That's why they are free. Blend two bananas into a smoothie? Stay full for 20 minutes. Pay the points.

I came here just to write this ^^

+1

[Anonymous]

You’re still getting the fiber - it doesn’t go anywhere when you blend the fruit. Weight Watchers is not a strong authority in my book.

[Anonymous]

Better than donuts, but still a lot of sugar. I bet you can come up with a lower sugar smoothie. My favorite is:

Banana
Unsweetened almond milk
Almond butter
Crushed ice
Pure (unsweetened) cocoa powder

It tastes indulgent and the only ingredient with significant sugar is the banana.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you the guidance Weight Watchers gives me, which makes a lot of sense.

On WW, all fruits are "free" -- don't have to count them and they are unlimited. They don't affect weight loss.

BUT

You can't drink your fruit. You have to count smoothies. They have tons of points. The fruit smoothie you make in the morning would probably take up almost a full days points. Why? Because when you blend up fruit like that and drink it instead of eating it and getting the fiber and going through the act of eating and filling your belly with the fruit and digesting and satiating, you are giving yourself a huge blood sugar high with really no long term nutritional and satiety payoff for your body. Very little bang for your buck. In other words, eat two bananas -- stay full for the morning. That's why they are free. Blend two bananas into a smoothie? Stay full for 20 minutes. Pay the points.

I came here just to write this ^^

+1

Yep, this is why I don't drink smoothies, no matter how "green" or "healthy". They do NOTHING to make me full even though they have a ton of calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re still getting the fiber - it doesn’t go anywhere when you blend the fruit. Weight Watchers is not a strong authority in my book.

Yeah, that made me wonder. Sticking a fruit in the blender doesn't eliminate the fiber. Juicing a fruit does, but blending does not. I do think that a smoothie allows you to consume food mindlessly and more quickly, and you probably eat more fruit than you would if you ate the whole fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cut down on the fruit (I limit mine to one cup of frozen mango, half a banana, and some berries) and throw in leafy greens plus some more healthy fat like ground flax, flax oil, avocado, cashews, or nut butter.

This. My smoothies are usually frozen fruit, half a bag of baby kale or frozen greens, full fat plain yogurt, 1/4 cup chia seeds (soak first or they're chewy), and water to blend. Sometimes some peanut butter powder or cocoa powder. I don't measure the amounts, so ratios vary. Self, DH, and toddler have it a few times per week and it certainly keeps us full until lunch.

[Anonymous]

Use half portions of fruits and add veggies. I use yellow squash, spinach, kale, beet powder along with a mix of fruits

[Anonymous]

Weight Watchers doesn’t say the fiber disappears when you blend. It does say the act of drinking your fruit rather than chewing makes it a different experience for weight loss and satiety.

[Anonymous]

My wife is 30 years old and still in really good shape. She was a D-I college swimmer and she still swims 4 times a week.

She has about 40 oz a day, 20 oz in the morning for breakfast and 20 oz in the afternoon for snack. I drink about 12 oz in the afternoon snack. Here is the recipe:

- 3 organic avocado
- 3 organic bananas
- 12 organic strawberries
- 1/3 organic pineapple
- 4 serving of organic blue and rasberries,
- 3 tea spoons of Stonyfeld non-fat plain yogurt
- two tea spoons of local farm raw honey
- Water
- 1 apple

Put everything into a high-end Vitamix blender and blend them for about 60 seconds.

She drinks 20 oz in the morning along with some Quiona and boiled egg for breakfast. The smoothies are loaded with "good" calories. After having two kids, her figure looks exactly the same as when she was in college.