Hi sweetheart, welcome to my blog.
If you are reading this, chances are high that you are a woman. ('cause guys think that smoothies are for fags).
I normally write for guys but I felt the obligations to write this post because I had enough of the impostors out there making tons of money with smoothie diets.
(should you be a dude, don't be offended, you're very welcome to read this too!)
Excuse my language but I swear a lot. It comes with the Italian background. If you don't like it, you are free to click on the X button up there, next to tab this is open in.
If instead, you bear my language, I will tell you why going on a smoothie diet is really a bad idea.
#1 You're Gonna Get Fat Again Anyway
The problems with "diets" is that they are temporary.
Sure, they make you lose fat (and a lot of water). Awesome for the "guru" that can then say: "you see, my diet works!".
But you know what happens when you finish your smoothie diet?
You're gonna get back eating the same amount of calories that made you fat in the first place.
Actually, you are gonna be hungry
That's why diets don't work.
You need to make healthy eating a lifestyle. You need to introduce changes in your way of eating and living that will ensure that you will not get fat in the first place.
And I'm not saying that you should make drinking smoothies be your lifestyle. That is completely unhealthy and dangerous in the long term, as you are going to find out in the rest of this post.
Practical Tips
- Change your lifestyle, do not embark on fad diets.
In my free ebook you will find out what are the best foods to eat to lose weight while being healthy (check the section called "Best Foods For Cutting"). - Start working out and lifting weights.
Seriously. That's the fastest way to lose fat and not being miserable because you have to chug down smoothies all day. And yes, women can lift weights (that's me in the video btw).
#2 Where Are My Oreos?
Having an entire diet based on liquid food is the highway to hunger and cravings.
Put this in a context of a low-calorie diet and there you have the easiest way to crankiness (best case scenario) or diet-cheating (worst case scenario).
When you eat liquid foods, your body will not do much to process it. Therefore your smoothie will stay in your stomach for a short time and rapidly absorbed.
Guess who's gonna be hungry in the next hour?
Practical Tips
- Dilute your smoothie with carbonated water which will make it more filling.
- Use fruit and vegetables with high fullness factor and low calories: strawberries, oranges, carrots, grapefruit, watermelon, kale.
- Add supplemental fibers as, for instance, psyllium husk.
- Make use of appetite suppressants as chili powder, coffee, and tea.
#3 This If You Don't Want To Lose Muscles
A common problem with smoothies is that you go very low in protein.
"But I add nuts! Nuts are proteins!"
No darling, nuts are fat. And a lot of them. Sure they have proteins more than other plants but they carry a lot of fat hence extra calories that you don't want to add.
Why going low-protein is bad for you?
- Proteins are satiating, especially in the form of thick yogurts like the Greek variety.
- Proteins are used to keep your muscles alive and strong and to make new ones if you workout (which we saw already that you should).
You might say: "I don't care, I don't want to have muscles anyway!".
Let me tell you what happens if you lose muscles.
Your metabolism will slow down dramatically.
This means that your fat loss will be even harder to achieve!
You see, muscles are active furnaces of your body. To keep them there, your body needs to burn a lot of calories. And this happens also while you sleep! This is why people that start building muscles can get away eating a ton of food and still be lean!
No, running/jogging/HIIT don't count. You will burn calories in that moment and that's it.
By lifting weights you invest in "passive fat burn" because the muscle you build will burn fat for you even when you are not working out.
What a big return of investment for 3 hours per week effort!
Practical tip: add some lean source of protein to your smoothie. This can be low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat Greek Yogurt, low-fat quark, whey protein, casein protein, soy protein. This will not only keep your muscles but also make you feel fuller.
Practical Tip
- Add some lean source of protein to your smoothie. This can be low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat Greek yogurt, low-fat quark, whey protein, casein protein, soy protein.
This will not only keep your muscles but also make you feel fuller.
#4 I Could Have Made A Bad Joke For This One
By drinking only smoothies you are not getting enough vitamin D (you see the joke here).
But also vitamin B12, creatine, sodium, iodine, calcium, iron, and zinc.
Some people might tell you that you can get enough calcium and iron from plants.
Calcium, maybe, if you eat 700 g of kale or 1.1 kg of spinach.
For the iron is more difficult since plants contain non-heme iron which is very difficult for the body to absorb.
Also, plants contain phytic acid that makes the absorption of iron even more challenging. If you are a woman, because of your monthly menstruation you already are at risk of low iron levels.
Practical Tip
- Add a pinch of salt to every smoothie, supplement with a multi-vitamin.
- For iodine, you can add some Kelp to your smoothie.
#5 You Might Actually Get Fat
Being on a smoothie diets might, for some, be a free for all excuse to put in there everything.
Nuts, raisins, dates, coconut, coconut milk, dried fruits, avocados and I don't even know what you foods-perv out there like to put in these things.
Beware that not all the vegetables and fruits are created equal.
Being healthy it doesn't necessarily mean low-calorie.
Even though you might have all the best of intentions, foods as the one mentioned above might easily add 300-400 kcal to your smoothie and you might then wonder why aren't you losing weight.
Practical Tip
- Avoid calorie-dense foods as nuts, dried fruits, high-calorie fruits (e.g. bananas, avocados, figs, dates, raisins, prunes, and coconuts).
Conclusions
Smoothie diets are a good snake oil.
I'm sorry to bring this down to you.
They are easy to make and seem healthy af. Making a book or a course on how to make smoothies is also easy to do and even easier for self professed "nutrition-guru" to rip you off.
Don't believe the fad, there's no magical pill.
Sure, they will maybe inspire you in improving your health and start your fitness journey but surely they are not the solution.
Focus instead on adopting a healthier lifestyle and start lifting weights. You'll thank me for it.
In my free ebook, you will find how to optimize your food choices to be able to eat delicious food while staying lean. Click here to download it then jump to the section "Best Foods For Cutting".
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Are you ready to take action and become superhuman?
P.S. If you want to be coached by me and you are badass, committed