Is your smoothie making you fat?

Often we’ll see recipes for smoothies created by our fave Fitfluenecers and not even give the number of liquid calories we’re consuming a second thought.

Most smoothie recipes are packed full of fruit, nut butters, milks, and yogurt. This can all add up and when you’re trying to lose weight, those extra 500 calories could be the reason the scale isn’t dropping.

Here are 5 common mistakes you’re making when blending up a quick smoothie!

Adding in extra sugars and sweeteners

A common mistake people make when whipping up a smoothie is adding in extra sugars and sweeteners. When you have sugars from fruit and fruit juice already, just one extra tablespoon of honey can definitely drive the caloric value of a smoothie up! Rather stick to a small amount of fruit to add sweetness to your smoothie. Berries are perfect for smoothies as they add some sweetness while still being lower in calories.

Mixing in too many dairy products

Adding yogurt and milk to your smoothie can definitely drive the calories up.  Opt for adding in plant-based milks such as unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. It’ll still give your smoothie a creamy texture while keeping the calories lower.

Adding too much fruit

Many people drink smoothies as an easy way to get their daily fruit and vegetables in, but when you’re adding pineapples, peaches, and mango’s to make them more palatable, these all have a high glycemic index and drive up the caloric value of a smoothie. While all these fruits contain lots of essential fiber that help balance out their sugar content, when you add in too much you’re left with a quickly metabolized smoothie that’ll leave you hungry in less than an hour. Instead, opt for low glycemic fruits, like berries and citrus, but always remember to still keep the amounts to a minimum!

Not making sure that your smoothie is well balanced.

A well-balanced healthy smoothie includes protein, carbs, and healthy fats, which means it’s important to ensure you’re adding in the correct ingredients. Carbs will provide you with quick energy, healthy fats will help reduce the risk of chronic disease, and protein will help contribute to the growth and repair of lean muscle mass in the body. Fiber will keep you full and satiated which is important in reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Portion control

As much as having a tall fruity smoothie is great, you could be having over 500 liquid calories which could end up putting you in a calorie surplus. It’s important to be weary of the size of smoothie you’re having and the number of ingredients you’re adding in. If you really enjoy a larger smoothie add in some ice to beef it up.

Here are some low-cal, well-balanced smoothie recipes for you!

Yum Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• Handful of blueberries, garnish

Method:

• Blend all ingredients together, and enjoy!

To increase the amount of protein, add a scoop of your fave protein powder!

PB and Jam smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Method:

• Blend all ingredients together, and enjoy!

To increase the amount of protein, add a scoop of your fave protein powder!

Green Matcha Tea

Ingredients:

• ½ cup baby spinach, loosely packed
• ½ frozen banana
• 1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 scoop vanilla plant-based protein powder
• Water to blend (optional)

Method:

• Blend all ingredients together, and enjoy!

Author: Logan Leigh Rix

Logan blends her passion and profession by working as a digital and social media marketer and content creator in the fitness, health and wellness industry. She’s also a personal trainer, former Face of Fitness finalist and Fitness Magazine featured athlete.