Five Breakfast Smoothie Recipes To Help You Reach Your Weight Loss Goals

To give you a better idea of what we should be putting in our smoothies, I have gone ahead and collected a few great recipes from health and food writers and bloggers for you to try out. The recipes provided especially target people looking to lose weight by using ingredients that encourage a faster metabolism and lower calorie absorption.

What should be going into our weight loss smoothies?

There are a few ingredients which are sure to add much needed nutrients to your smoothie rather than provide you with empty calories!

The fruit:

To make sure you stay fuller for longer after your smoothie, there are certain types of fruit you should aim to include in your recipes which are high in protein, fibrous and sweet. Just some great fruit to try and incorporate include:

• Strawberries
• Mangoes
• Bananas
• Passionfruit
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Kiwifruit
• Melons
• Avocados

Fats:

Don’t be afraid of fats! A good smoothie should contain a small amount of healthy fat from ingredients such as nut butter or avocado. This will ensure you don’t get hungry again within the next few hours.

Sugar:

What’s a good smoothie without a bit of sweetness? The trick is to make sure you are using natural sugars from the fruit itself, rather than adding excess processed sugars from juice, flavoured yoghurt or other sweeteners.

Fibre:

Make sure you are including a small amount of fibrous ingredients such as chia seeds, hemp seeds & oats to help with the quick digestion of your smoothie. Like most things though, too much of a good thing can be detrimental, so make sure you are only using small amounts of each ingredient.

Protein:

It’s way too easy to slip a couple of tablespoons of protein into your next smoothie. Protein powders are designed for health seekers and contain plenty of good protein and a low amount of sugar and calories. As good as these proteins are for you, nutritionists recommend that you monitor how much you are using because you can easily go overboard on the calories.

Tips:

There are plenty of great tips to help you make the perfect smoothie outside of the nutrient guidelines. For example, to increase the volume of your smoothie, try adding a handful of ice which will help with both density and volume.

For more flavour, try throwing in a little ginger or sprinkling some cinnamon on the top of your smoothie and instead of using juice, try replacing the liquid with a less sugary option like coconut water or some type of plant-based milk for a protein boost.

Each of these nutrients can help contribute to your weight loss goals if consumed in healthy amounts. If you haven’t tried it before, research has proven that replacing your regular brekkie with a well-balanced smoothie can be hugely successful at helping you to meet those difficult weight loss goals, as long as you are prioritising the nutrients.

Recipes        

Green Avocado-Peach Smoothie by US based dietitian, Amber Ketchum

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of avocado (don’t go overboard – avos are high in fat!)
• ¾ cup of coconut water
• 1 cup of frozen peaches (or fresh dependent on how you like the consistency)
• 1 tbsp of fresh lime juice
• 2 or more ice cubes

Apple Pi from Zero Belly Smoothies! – 273 calories

Ingredients:

• ¼ frozen bananas
• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ Pink Lady apple with the peel (no seeds & chopped into quarters)
• 1 tsp flaxseed oil
• A medium sized pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (plant-based)
• Water for consistency (optional)

Peanut Banana Cinnamon Smoothie from The Spruce Eats   

Ingredients:  

• 1 cup of vanilla soy milk
• 1 large frozen banana (in chunks)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• ½ tsp cinnamon (and a pinch to garnish)
• 1 tsp of honey (optional)
• 3 ice cubes

Mango Chia Seed Smoothie by the Beaming Baker 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 medium sliced & frozen bananas
• 1 ½ cups of unsweetened almond milk (separated)
• 2 cups of frozen mango

Method:

1. Add the chia seeds and ½ cup of unsweetened almond milk into a small bowl. Whisk thoroughly, cover and set aside in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Put the remaining almond milk and bananas into a blender and mix until smooth.
3. Add the mangos and blend again until smooth.
4. Remove the chia seed mix from the fridge. When removed from the fridge, the chia seed mix should have a similar consistency to jelly. Whisk and scrape the mixture into the blender and blend.
5. Pour it up and enjoy!

Banana Berry Kale Protein Smoothie from Smiles and Sandwich

Ingredients:  

• ½ banana (frozen)
• 1 handful of fresh or frozen kale
• ½ cup of mixed berries (frozen)
• 1 serving of vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• Chia seeds or flax seeds (small amount)
• 2 tbsp of water

Method:

1. Place the kale in a blender with a couple of tbsp of water and blend on high until smooth.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender & mix again until smooth. If the consistency of the mixture is not to your liking, simply add more almond milk until you reach the desired consistency.

So there you have it, five simple and healthy smoothie recipes to get you started! Once you’ve tried your hand at a couple of recipes, don’t be afraid to get inventive and throw together your own recipe. Just make sure to watch the amount of fruit you’re using, along with the amount of fibre, fats and proteins to ensure a healthy, well-balanced smoothie to help you reach your 2021 weight-loss goals!