How To Get The Most Out Of Weight Loss Smoothies

Did the stress eating gradually land you in muffin-top land? Have you never lost those postpartum pounds? Has a fast food lifestyle caused you to look less than buff? Are you the victim of "always gain more than you lost" yo-yo dieting? No matter how you got here, you've now decided you're gonna do something about it — and of course, you'd like those extra pounds off pronto. 

Get Help From The New SteadyHealth Weight Loss Smoothies App!

Are you tired of putting your own smoothie recipes together? (I get it: some of them taste real bad!) Do you not want to spend hours on Pinterest each day trying to weed out a new smoothie recipe gem? If you are going to be successful at losing weight with the help of green smoothies, you will need a nearly endless supply of healthy smoothie recipes for weight loss. 

It's a good thing the new SteadyHealth smoothie recipe app is here to help you out! It's nothing fancy, really — "only" a ginormous collection of smoothie recipes that you can access online and offline, whenever you need to piece together a tasty weight-loss boosting smoothie. Because users can search the app's recipe library by ingredient, you'll have access to recipes that match whatever's sitting on your kitchen counter or whatever looks so great at the store. You're fully in control of what you blend, and you can bet that the over 400 smoothie recipes the app has on offer actually taste good. 

There's bad news and good news: losing weight is gonna take a while, and it can be permanent. 

Research has shown, time and time again, that the sustainable path to weight loss involves dropping a pound or two a week. We also know that permanent weight loss requires permanent lifestyle changes. Forget about multi-week "diet programs", shoot for something more — shoot for a new eating plan that's uber-healthy and that you actually enjoy. Incorporate regular exercise, and make sure you burn more calories than you eat while you're trying to lose weight, and remember that even a small weight loss offers big benefits. (Lower blood pressure, fitting into your favorite clothes again, a lowered risk of chronic diseases if you're obese, being able to run faster, more energy, take your pick!)

Why Smoothies Are Awesome For Weight Loss

If you've ever been on any kind of weight loss diet before, you're probably all too familiar with how boring that can be. You might stick it out till the end of the diet, but what happens the minute your X-week super fast weight loss diet is finished? Yeah, that happened to me, too. You may also be familiar with the "not so healthy" variety of weight loss diet. Basically starving yourself, or alternatively saying no to whole major food groups, isn't going to set you up with that fresh start you are really after. 

Enter smoothies. True, (green) smoothies, for taste, health, and weight loss, are nothing new, but there's a reason people are still talking about them and enjoying them. Let's take a look:

• Smoothies give you the chance to enjoy plenty of fruit and veg, essentially making it impossible to miss your "five a day" if you own a blender. 
• Unlike juices, smoothies, blended fruits and veg, offer you lots of soluble and insoluble fiber — the stuff that keeps your digestive system running, excuse the pun, smoothly. 
• After a good-sized smoothie, you totally don't feel like eating any more. 
• It's possible to get all the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you need from smoothies. 
• You still get access to fats, but the good ones, not the bad ones. 
• All that fruity goodness means that you'll experience a boost in energy. 
• Oops, did I forget to mention they taste awesome?

Healthy Smoothies For Weight Loss? Just Keep These Things In Mind!

There's little that's easier than sticking some fruit, veg, and perhaps add-ons in a blender, turning that blender on, and drinking the resulting goodness, right? Well, yes — that's just one reason why using smoothies for weight loss is such a good idea, actually. Convenience matters. Mind you, what you throw in that blender does matter. Not all smoothies are healthy, and not all encourage weight loss. How much you drink matters, too. If you want to make smoothies work for you and against your excess belly flab, keep these things in mind, and put them into practice. 

Weight Loss Smoothie Pro Tips

You can safely replace a meal a day, or even two (so long as you pick your ingredients wisely) with a smoothie. And if you were a snacker? Smoothies are perfect for that too. You'll still need to count your calories, exercise, and all that stuff, but hey, give me a taste bomb over a single steamed egg with a tiny side of cottage cheese any day. 

If you are going to be replacing some of your meals with smoothies, you'll want to make sure you are getting your daily protein. Adults should get between 10 and 35 percent of their daily calories from proteins. Now of course, that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "smoothie", but make no mistake: you have lots of options. You can add soy milk, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, peanut butter, or whole hazelnuts.

Give the fiber some love, too. Avocado, berries, kale, kiwi, pear, and chia seeds are awesome for that. For maximum weight loss, opt for greener smoothies over ones that are laden with fruit most of the time. It's good sugar, people, but it's still sugar!

Don't Make These Blending Mistakes

Right, let's see. Be cautious of protein powder, because some protein powders make you fat. Read the ingredients list! Don't add commercial fruit juice to your smoothies. That one might seem obvious, but some people do exactly that. Did we mention not to go top-heavy on the fruits? Oh yeah, we did, but it's really important so we'll say it again. Also, ice cream, frozen yogurt, or even Oreo cookies, might taste nice, but if you add them to a smoothie, you're not going to maximize your weight loss. No matter how healthy your smoothies are, if you're drinking three or four in addition to eating three meals a day, you will also not be saying goodbye to your extra pounds.

If, however, you do your research, count your calories, make sure you're getting plenty of exercise, and have a great source of smoothie recipe inspiration, don't think for a moment that the fact you're not hungry after drinking a green smoothie means you're not going to be losing weight. Rather, be amazed that smoothies are more than a ticket to weight loss — they can continue to play tasty part in a healthy diet even after you reach your target weight!