help with diet plan?

Question

I have recently purchased a smoothie maker and am for the first time in years serious about losing the weight that is making me so miserable. Could anyone give me any ideas of how to implement my new buy into my new found determination????

Answer 1

I just went to a nutritionist on December 8th and have already lost 12 pounds. Like the other person said don't think of it as a diet. Make smoothies but don't over do it on the fruits because they have too much sugar, and always use skim milk. Visit www.mypyramid.gov for the new food pyramid and great tips. Good luck.

Answer 2

A blender would have been slightly more versitle. However, I used one in the past to help me gain weight. The principle is the same, The foods are different, use skim milk, any fruits (no sugar added) except bananas or avacados which are the only high calorie fruits and don't drive anywhere.

Building some muscle will also speed weight loss as muscle is what does the calorie burning. (the reason men find it easier to lose weight than woman)

Rough guide based on weight of 150 lbs. One mile travelled on foot equals 100 calories. 1 lb equals roughly 3000 calories so 30 miles is one pound or each mile a day is a pound a month. Not nearly as hard as it sounds. Also if you weigh more a little more will come off.

The smoothies contain a lot of air which is filling but calorie free. Crushed Ice is also calorie free. Don't get discouraged but plan on taking the weight off over a long time. Also look for signs of improved health other than the scale or tape measure, blood presure, heart rate, general well being, improved sleep, mental alertness etc. Maybe keep a journal and figure out your own way to track all these things.

A 2 mile a day increase in walking (volunteering to walk an elderly person's dog can work wonders) plus reducing your daily caloric intake by an average of 300 calories works out to 5 pounds a month or up to 60 pounds a year.

Try to keep a positive attitude and good luck

Answer 3

Try not to think of it as a diet - this will test your enthusiasm and make it a labour for you.

Think of it as a positive life change...

Just get into a routine - have one every morning at first, then gradually build up the amount you have throughout the weeks.

Dont deny yourself the things you want - just limit then a little.
Fancy some chocolate cake? Well buy small individual ones instead of larger ones. Or even better make your own. This way you can regulate how much of the stuff thats not so good for you goes into them.

This honestly works!

Make it a habit and it will last - call it a 'diet' and you'll soon feel depressed by the amount of things you dont think you should have.

Answer 4

babylou,

I'm glad that you have come to this point. I'm sorry that you had to, but you're making exactly the right decision. What you're about to do will make your life so much better.

Well, about smoothies--they can be deceptive if you're not careful. Happily, you will make your own and not rely on premade ones form the store which almost always have too much sugar in them.

Here are a couple of smoothie recipes that I like:

Green Tea Goddess Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 frozen bananas
1/4 cup soymilk
2 teaspoons Matcha Green Tea powder

(note: "Matcha" tea is a Japanese type of tea that is "thick." It's used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and it's quite good once you get used to it. You might have to find it in specialty shops, Japanese markets, or online.)

(oh: you might notice that I am partial to soy milk. That's because of the calcium in real milk. Recent research has shown a link between high calcium intake and prostate cancer. You might not have to worry about prostate cancer, huh? So just use regular milk)

and

Avocado Smoothie

1 large avocado
1 frozen banana
2 cups soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons Splenda

I like my smoothies a bit on the thick side. You might want to thin yours down a bit.

I also use Splenda and Stevia (in that order) quite a bit. While they don't have the feel and effect of sugar--sugar actually releases "endogenous opiates," that is, opium-like compounds that your body makes itself, which cause a dopamine release which makes us feel good. So sugar is a kind of mild drug--and Splenda has just a hint of an aftertaste, still they make them taste rather good and don't add on the calories.

And please don't worry about artificial sweetners. They have been tested extensively--Splenda has been around since 1976, and the amount needed to provoke any kind of immune response is something on the order of 5000 packets of it per day for a month--other sweetners have been around longer than that adn have been proven safe. The only exception to this is for those people who have had allergic reactions to them. But then, some people are allergic to peanuts, some to milk, and some to wheat.

Anyway, look around on the 'Net for smoothie recipes, especially on vegetarian websites like Vegsource and Vegweb. They will have many more low-fat recipes than most other places.

And you really should eat low-fat, and what carbs you eat should be complex and whole-grain. Low-fat is kind to your heart as well as to your waistline, and whole-grain will not raise your blood sugar like, well, sugar. It will also have fiber in it, which is good for your digestive tract.

Try this one, too:

1/2 cup of your favorite fruit, such as peaches, bananas, pineapples, strawberries, or mangos.
3/4 cup of yogurt
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon sweetener


Can a smoothie maker be used for other things as well? I think so, given that they are usually more powerful than blenders. So you can use it to make frozen yogurt (you'll have to freeze the yogurt afterward to make it...frozen. You can also use it to make sorbets, like :

Low-Sugar Strawberry Sorbet

1 lb Strawberries
1 c Splenda
1/4 c Light Corn Syrup
1 c Filtered Water
4 t Lemon Juice

Heat water, Splenda and corn syrup in a medium sauce pan until corn syrup dissolves. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.

Combine strawberries and lemon juice in your smootie maker and process until the strawberries are completely pureed and smooth.

Press the puree through a fine strainer to remove all the seeds. This can take time. Combine the puree with the cooled sweetened liquid. Chill at least 1 hour. You want your base to be cold.

Now, for those with an ice cream maker, process the sorbet in it until it is "soft freeze" texture. If you wan t a firmer texture, let it chill in the freezer for about 45 minutes.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you'll have to watch it carefully and stir it every so often while it chills or else it'll get pretty hard pretty fast.

However, you can make blackberry, raspberry, just about any kind of berry sorbet this way.

Try this one:

Sugar-Free Blueberry Sorbet (this is from a friend of mine, a good cook, too):

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2/3 to 3/4 cup Splenda
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice


Use the same directions as in the above recipe.

I hope that this is of some help to you. Those who said that you must treat this, not as a diet to lose weight but as an entire lifestyle change are right. Only if it is that to you will it become an adventure, and fun, and permanent. That means that your good health will become an adventure, and fun, and permanent, too.

And that will be a joy to you. Ask me how I know.

Good luck and good health to you.

Answer 5

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