If you are looking for something to eat in the morning to get your day started, a smoothie can be a nutritious choice. Smoothies range from being loaded with fat and calories to low-fat healthy options that can really help boost your weight loss. Eating a healthy breakfast can help kick-start your day and give you the energy you need to get motivated.
Ingredients
While a homemade breakfast smoothie can include any ingredient you want; you should start off with a few basic ingredients that will act as the base for your smoothie mixture. This includes fresh or frozen fruit with no added sugar or sugar solution. Choose blend-able fruits such as berries and bananas. Other fruit options include kiwi, papaya, pomegranate, honeydew, lime and lemon. Slice and remove the skins and seeds if necessary. From there you can choose to add a dairy product such as low-fat milk, ice cream or frozen yogurt. You can substitute with a soy based milk, almond milk or lactose-free milk product if desired. You can add items such as flax seed for reducing your risk of heart disease and inflammatory bowel disease and protein or whey powders into the smoothie mixture that can help provide additional protein for energy and awareness.
Weight Loss
Breakfast smoothies are beneficial for weight loss as long as they are made with low-fat ingredients and are low in calories and sugar content. While you can easily get your daily serving of fruits and dairy with a smoothie or two, you should also incorporate other foods from the USDA My Pyramid in order to meet your nutritional needs. Choose foods such as vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated oils, lean meats and beans to equal out your 2,000 or less calorie a day diet. It is also important to incorporate 30 minutes of aerobic activity or exercise daily up to five days a week to help boost your weight loss in addition to your smoothie intake to see the best weight loss results.
Health Benefits
A breakfast smoothie offers a tasty and convenient way to consume nutritious fruits and vegetables quickly and tastefully. This simplifies weight loss and also offers other health benefits such as getting plenty of natural fiber, heightening your immune system receiving your daily dose of natural vitamins and anti-oxidants and staying hydrated. Natural smoothies are also very filling and can help curb your appetite. Don't be afraid to incorporate fresh vegetables into your fruit smoothie and add additional ingredients such as fresh vanilla, honey, natural granola or natural low-fat peanut butter for varied tastes and health benefits.
Convenience
If you are on a diet and trying to lose weight, convenience is an important aspect of any program. If you are unable to find something that is convenient -- especially in the morning hours, you may be more likely to slip up on your diet program. With homemade smoothies, you can buy all of the ingredients ahead of time and make more than one serving at a time. This allows you to refrigerate or store a day or two worth of smoothie shakes at home. There are also many store bought base kits that only require you to add milk or fruit -- this can also save time if you have a busy lifestyle.
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