Hey, been a minute. I have been travelling and extremely busy this past week and it has been quite some work to just write. So here I am at the airport and blogging away finally, as I wait for my flight to be called. Missed this space. By the way, this is my tenth post till date! Wow! I can officially claim to be a blogger…LOL! Thanks to those who read my posts and give feedback, it makes it all worthwhile.

I thought to focus on something that has taken the fitness world by storm in the last few years – “Smoothie”. I wonder how the name came about though, but I remember a time when almost every one invested in a smoothie maker, and all people talked about was the next smoothie recipe. I suspect they came from Milk shakes and then Fruit shakes and so on. Almost every food selling joint in my neighbourhood now has smoothies for those who don’t want cocktails, mocktails or just fruit juice. At exorbitant prices too, of course! Turns out that smoothies can play a significant role in the weight loss journey too. It’s however not rocket science as your smoothie is essentially different fruits blended together into a fine mix which you can drink during the day. This is not your typical juice because the smoothie includes the fiber from the fruits as well.

Some time in 2015, as I tried, in one of many failed attempts, to lose weight, I embarked on a fruits-only diet for a week. I ate mangoes, bananas, oranges, apples and water melon everyday for a week. It was not a fun thing to do at all, but I lost 4kgs by the end of that week. However, it was nearly impossible to continue, so I reverted back to my old feeding ways. Before nko? Who wants to die, eating just fruits when I am not homo sapiens? But what I realized at the time was that taking a break from all the heavy foods and eating fruits can support the weight loss process.

Fast forward to 2016, we decided to have smoothie diets at home. We often alternate smoothie days/weeks. Some days, you just drink your smoothie as your meal for the day. Depending on how thick the mix is, it can be quite filling, and depending on the quality of the fruits, it can also be very sweet and tasty. Smoothie diets have their own health benefits especially if you can do it for an extended period like up to a week. Some of the health benefits include:

1. They provide essential vitamins and minerals that the body needs – A good smoothie is one that is nutrient-dense with vitamins and oils needed for good nutrition. You get the vitamins and minerals directly from natural sources and your daily smoothie can provide what your body needs in sufficient quantities.
2. Smoothies keep you hydrated – Fruits have a lot of water in them and all of this goes into your thick shake. This helps to quench thirst and ensures that you have sufficient water for your body cells. The water will provide your body with fluid that is necessary for metabolism of food and transportation of nutrients.
3. Helps control blood sugar levels – The fiber found in fruits is soluble and very good for aiding digestion. It also helps control blood sugar and lower cholesterol levels.
4. Decreases production of cortisol – Fiber is also known to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.
5. Aid muscle growth – Some dietitians believe that the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables in smoothies help reduce inflammation and reduce soreness especially for athletes thereby reducing recovery time. This is partly due to the high level of anti-oxidants mainly found in plant-based foods which make up the smoothie. Read more here. Anti-oxidants from natural sources are definitely better than from supplements.
6. Great for detoxifying the body – Vegetables like Kale are great for detox. Adding these to your smoothies can help cleanse your system and give your digestive system the break it needs from all the chemicals and toxins we are bombarded with daily. Fiber also helps to remove toxins from the body and is one of the easiest ways to prevent disease.

For weight loss or control it is advisable not to take smoothies as an addition to your food, but rather as a replacement meal. Be careful not to have too much though, as the fruits also contain sugars which have calories, and due to the lower satiety value, you may tend to get hungrier more and overdose on the smoothie thereby taking in more calories than required daily.

There are different types of smoothies and tonnes of materials to read on recipes for smoothies. The easiest way to know what to take is to make the smoothie yourself. Essentially, all you need is a blender (with very powerful blades), fruits, water or juice, milk or yoghurt (optional, I don’t add these to mine) and vegetables if you want to make a green smoothie. Making your own smoothie also comes cheap, and you can prevent your fruits from going to waste compared to if you had to keep the fruits in the refrigerator for an extended period of time. I usually just stop by the fruit market on my way home and buy some fruits which I will pack into my smoothie.

Last weekend, I made a very simple smoothie with the following ingredients:

1 mango – NGN200.00, 1/5 of a watermelon – NGN100.00, I basket oranges to make orange juice – NGN350.00, 2 slices of pineapple – NGN200.00, 1/3 pawpaw – NGN100.00.

Total cost – NGN950.00. 

It might have been cheaper had I bought the whole fruits, but I am lazy like that so I just bought the ones pre-cut by the Mallams jare! Washed them very well when I got home…hehehehe! All na food. If it runs belle, even better, I will lose the weight faster (please don’t mind me…I’m just doing my own thing).

My smoothie filled 6 small Eva water bottles which I have frozen and plan to take one a day from tomorrow, Friday, through next week. Considering the economic situation in the country at the moment, I can do with some cost-savings on my food…LOL!

 

 

Ultimately, smoothies are really fun to make and an easy way to get all your daily requirements of fruits, vegetables and nutrients all at once.So I encourage you to try some smoothies from time to time as you work on losing weight.