Smoothie 101
What is a Smoothie?
A smoothie is a thick beverage made from blended raw fruits and/or vegetables. Based on the ingredients, it can be an excellent low calorie, convenient and easy-to-prepare meal substitute or snack.
How to make a smoothie
Raspberry banana smoothie from bakerbynature.com
Start with a liquid base of 1 cup of water, coconut water, fruit juice, milk or milk alternative such as soy, almond or coconut milk.
Next, add 3/4 cup of one or two of your favorite fruits/veggies (fresh or frozen). Banana, mango, peach, and pear add great flavor and a creamy texture. Berries, plums, dates, nectarines and water melon are also good choices.
Apples, spinach, kale and celery are excellent ingredients in cleansing and detox smoothies.
Men can add a handful of shelled pumpkin seeds to improve prostate health.
Add spices like cinnamon and ginger for extra flavor.
Blueberry mango smoothie from munchyy.com
Boost the energy content of your smoothie with chia seeds, coconut oil, avocado slices, flax seed oil or ground flax seed, maca, spirulina or wheat grass powder.
The nutritional value can be increased by adding protein as whey powder.
If desired, you can sweeten your smoothie with honey, maple syrup or agave syrup. Add a handful of ice for a cold, frosty taste.
The beauty of making your own smoothie is that you have complete control over the ingredients and can therefore tailor it to your specifications in order to achieve your goal, whether it be weight loss, cleanse and detox or meal substitution.
Experiment with different ingredients until you find a few that you like, then have a different one each day.
Summary
Smoothie Composition. Adapted from superskinnyme.com
Here are some common smoothie ingredients and their caloric values
Common Smoothie Ingredients and Caloric Values by POPSUGAR
Try a healthy green smoothie for breakfast as part of your weight loss regime.
Green Smoothie from the glowingfridge.com
These books are full of delicious smoothie recipes. You’ll never run out of options.
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Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle
Getting Started
We all have busy schedules that leave little or no time to focus on our health. A healthy lifestyle starts with a balanced diet, portion controlled meal plans and regular exercise.
Sadly, most people only try to adopt a healthy lifestyle after chronic illnesses begin to manifest themselves.
A recent study done on adults aged 53 – 73 showed that those who adopted and maintained a healthy lifestyle in the early stages of life had the lowest incidence of chronic ailments.
In contrast, those who made this change later in life were more vulnerable to chronic illnesses. Regular exercise plays the greatest role in adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Many of us struggle with weight gain, especially after age thirty when our metabolism starts to slow down. Life events such as pregnancy or illness can also alter your metabolic rate and make you prone to weight gain and obesity.
Poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle directly contributes to chronic ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Benefits of Regular Exercise
It has been medically proven that regular exercise reduces the risks of coronary artery disease and strokes, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, osteoarthritis and early death.
Fitness programs involving weight lifting and resistance training promote good circulation and improve muscle strength and endurance.
Intense physical activity burns calories, boosts ‘good’ cholesterol and reduces unhealthy triglycerides. It also prevents excessive weight gain, as well as helps you to achieve and maintain weight loss.
People who exercise are generally happier and suffer from less stress, depression and dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Whether you exercise in a gym or in the comfort of your home, choose an activity that you enjoy and that challenges you. This will keep boredom at bay and increase the ‘stick-to-it’ factor.
Healthy Eating Habits
A healthy diet consists of a meal plan high in fruits, vegetables and proteins with moderate amounts of complex carbohydrates like whole grains, peas, beans and ground provisions such as sweet potato, and is low in refined foods and sugars.
But, we could have the best meal plan in the world and it would not be effective without portion control.
Here are some helpful tips in maintaining control over what goes into our bodies:
- Eat slowly.
- Have your salad first.
- Stop eating when you feel full.
- Avoid emotional eating.
- Reduce consumption of high calorie, highly processed, sugary /salty snacks. .
Staying Motivated
Studies show that 45 % of individuals who make New Year’s Resolutions quit by the end of the first month and 70% give up after six months. Staying motivated is one of our biggest challenges.
So, how do we do it?
- Make exercise a priority like any other important activity. Put it at the top of the ‘To do’ list.
- Choose an activity you enjoy
- Set aside a specific time of day to exercise and stick to it.
- Set realistic goals and chunk it down into do-able portions eg. I want to tone up and loose 5 -10 lbs. this month.
- Exercise with a personal trainer, a friend, family member or join a support group if you have difficulty working out alone.
- Eat regularly and with awareness. Do not starve yourself.
- Track your progress in real time with free helpful apps. Bodbot and Lose It for android phone users and Fitocracy for iphone users.
- Take lots of before, during and after pics to boost self-esteem.
Start Here!
The Fat Diminisher System
The Fat Diminisher System by Wesley Virgin is a comprehensive, exciting and highly motivating program, full of nutritious, easy-to-follow meal plans and 7 minute exercise routines guaranteed to help you loose weight and shape up in a hurry! It is also a lifestyle change, so you will keep the weight off. Even the busiest people among us can fit this into their schedules.
The book contains a few bonuses, including an entire section on how to rev up your sex drive using natural supplements. It is formatted as a convenient e-book so you can download it and start right away!
Get On Track Today!
Bonuses!
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