anybody do a green smoothie diet?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I bought a Nutribullet a few months ago and never got around to using it. I used to have the Magic Bullet and I used it all the time, but it was pretty much only good for making basic fruit-based smoothies. It wasn't powerful enough to liquify vegetables, nuts and hard/thick fruits like avocados. So I bought the Nutribullet but, like I said, I never got around to using it. 

 

Anyway, about a month ago, my car broke down and I had it in the shop for a week. I started biking the whole 10 miles to school (and the 10 miles back). The new routine gave me energy and got me curious about that Nutribullet I had stashed in the closet, so I opened it up and put it to use. Well, I've been using it for a few weeks now and I like it. I was curious if anyone else is into green smoothies. 

 

I'm kinda broke so I try to spend about $10 a day on food. There's a bulk food store (kinda like a mini Costco) by my house where I can find 5 lb bags of frozen mixed berries for $15 and 5 lb bags of frozen mixed fruit (mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, and some other stuff) for $10. I think frozen fruit is good because you usually don't eat as much fruit in a day as you do vegetables. It's cheaper and a big bag can last you a week or two.

 

There's this discount supermarket by my house that I usually avoid because it's hella cheap and ghetto. They don't have a lot of variety of healthy foods. However, they do have good prices on bags of fresh leafy green vegetables. They have 2 lb bags of kale, collards, turnip greens and mustard greens all for $3 each, and they have 2 lb bags of spinach for $4.50. Then I usually get a 2 lb bag of fresh whole carrots and a 2 lb bag of fresh celery for $2 each. Those last a while in the fridge so you don't have to worry about using them all up at once. I usually go fresh when it comes to vegetables because I get small amounts and finish it in two or three days. 

 

I'll also rotate between almonds, pecans and walnuts and throw a few of them in from time to time. I also got this one-month supply of a 4-in-1 superfood powder by Nutribullet. It's $20 for a 30 day supply. It's a mixture of chia, goji, cacao and maca. I'll put a scoop on top of my smoothie usually once a day, usually for breakfast. 

 

Anyway, it's been working pretty good for me. I feel more energized. Only thing I've been eating aside from green smoothies is fresh fish. My roommate is a fisherman so we have a freezer full of months supplies of fish. I was getting fatigued with school and work. I barely sleep and my schedule is so out of wack. With smoothies I can consume a healthy meal quickly and get a burst of energy. I have about 4-5 smoothies a day and a pound or two of fish. Before I did this, it took so long to prepare food that it fatigued me even more. That or I would cheat and do drive thru or pick up somewhere. Not to mention, it was expensive. Now I eat for $10 a day. 

 

Has anyone else tried this? How do you do it? What seems to work for you? Share your stories. 

[child of 2]

you're ingesting smoothies for breakfast lunch and dinner?? good god man.

 

I understand the convenience of smoothies. I make one every morning using my cheapass and loud blender, with a banana and some berries and 1.5 scoops of whey protein. It keeps me energized until lunch. But I can't imagine donig that for all 3 meals. $10/day budget for food is $70/week. You should be able to get the food you need with that money, with some to spare for a subway every so often. Frozen veg/fruits are good, and actually healtier than most produce sections. Farmers market is the best though. Meat is more expensive, but not if you take advantage of discounts, buy in bulk and freeze. Just stay away from that $1.99 enhanced chicken breast - that shit's nasty.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Well, I just started. I'm still getting the hang of it. I kinda lost sense of how much food $10 can actually get you because I've been living so foolishly the past few years. Fortunately I have a high metabolism so it hasn't really come back to bite me. But I would go to restaurants on almost a daily basis. And my bar tabs would get ridiculously high. I'm not sure if I want to go vegan/vegetarian/fruitarian or what. I have no ethical ties. I'm just testing out what I like and seeing what will keep me feeling nourished and energized. As time goes on I'll probably incorporate new things into my diet.

[Lisa44201]

Spending $70/week on food for one person is not my definition of kinda broke - kinda broke is more like $20/week.. I can feed a family of four (plus two dogs) on $100/week - real, healthy food, not Kraft/Ramen/microwave-meals nonsense. Home-made bread for breakfast, fruit for a morning snack, salad for lunch, some sort of protein + veggies for an afternoon snack, then a balanced dinner. My husband and I are both students, so neither one of us have tons of free time, but it's worth it to spend 20 minutes or so in the kitchen to cook something that's healthy for us and our children. 

 

If your nutrition consists of smoothies and fish, you run serious risk of being deficient in several nutrients. The fact that you would get fatigued while cooking supports this idea; cooking is not that energy-intensive; to become tired while cooking suggests your resources were depleted to begin with (undernourished), or your cooking routine looks wildly different from mine.

[child of 2]

Spending $70/week on food for one person is not my definition of kinda broke - kinda broke is more like $20/week.. I can feed a family of four (plus two dogs) on $100/week - real, healthy food, not Kraft/Ramen/microwave-meals nonsense. Home-made bread for breakfast, fruit for a morning snack, salad for lunch, some sort of protein + veggies for an afternoon snack, then a balanced dinner. My husband and I are both students, so neither one of us have tons of free time, but it's worth it to spend 20 minutes or so in the kitchen to cook something that's healthy for us and our children. 

 

If your nutrition consists of smoothies and fish, you run serious risk of being deficient in several nutrients. The fact that you would get fatigued while cooking supports this idea; cooking is not that energy-intensive; to become tired while cooking suggests your resources were depleted to begin with (undernourished), or your cooking routine looks wildly different from mine.

*gasp*

insanity.

how do you feed a whole family on $100/week? What do you buy and cook that takes so little time?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

On 11/20/2013 at 2:06 PM, child of 2 said:

*gasp*

insanity.

how do you feed a whole family on $100/week? What do you buy and cook that takes so little time?

Yeah, I don't know what can take only 20 minutes. Even making a smoothie can take 5-10 minutes. Anything you bake/broil/grill/skewer/etc is gonna take some time. 

 

When I used to be real healthy (before I started college) I would spend about an hour in the kitchen every few days preparing food. Then I would store it in the fridge and reheat it when I would eat it.

[child of 2]

yea I consider myself rather efficient in the speed of my cooking, and I take at least 30 minutes on the stove to cook my meat. Although, I don't usually have leftovers. I should probably start cooking in bulk, like maybe for every 2 days at a time.

[RedPill]

Chia seed

Hemp seed

ground flaxseed meal

chocolate whey protein powder

almond milk or fat-free milk

forzen kale

frozen spinach

banana

frozen blueberries

ground cinnamon

ground ginger

 

 

blitz

[silver_lining]

If I ingest smoothies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner I would be the most difficult person to be around. 

[LittleDarlings]

Have you lost weight doing this? I'm looking for new ways to lose weight

[TheOnlyWayIKnow]

I think if you stick to just smoothies and fish you are doing your body a real disservice. The mercury in fish makes it a poor choice for daily consumption, especially with biological magnification. Simply put, heavy metals are not healthy, so limit your fish consumption to once or twice a week! I would try integrating some chicken and whole, gluten free grains into your diet like quinoa. As for almond milk, a lot of times it actually has more calcium than milk, and you can buy the unsweetened kind for no added sugar. It is fantastic in coffee! You really want to diversify what is in your diet to make sure you get the right kinds of vitamins and minerals going into your body, not just the same ones over and over and neglecting others. I think smoothies are a great way to get more fruits and veggies into your diet, but I would be careful of eating the same thing every day without much diversity within the composition of the smoothies. If you're using some frozen ingredients, you've got a long time to finish them, so you won't be wasting frozen fruit that you buy if you decide to use a different fruit for a bit.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

On 12/13/2013 at 1:24 PM, TheOnlyWayIKnow said:

I think if you stick to just smoothies and fish you are doing your body a real disservice. The mercury in fish makes it a poor choice for daily consumption, especially with biological magnification. Simply put, heavy metals are not healthy, so limit your fish consumption to once or twice a week! I would try integrating some chicken and whole, gluten free grains into your diet like quinoa. As for almond milk, a lot of times it actually has more calcium than milk, and you can buy the unsweetened kind for no added sugar. It is fantastic in coffee! You really want to diversify what is in your diet to make sure you get the right kinds of vitamins and minerals going into your body, not just the same ones over and over and neglecting others. I think smoothies are a great way to get more fruits and veggies into your diet, but I would be careful of eating the same thing every day without much diversity within the composition of the smoothies. If you're using some frozen ingredients, you've got a long time to finish them, so you won't be wasting frozen fruit that you buy if you decide to use a different fruit for a bit.

Good points. Yeah, I had to make some modifications along the way. I would get way too hungry just drinking smoothies. I switch up between fish and chicken and I'll throw in beans and nuts. Also, cereal is the perfect thing in the morning for me. Just a fruit smoothie doesn't seem to do the trick. Bruce Lee used to eat nothing but Frosted Mini Wheats (fun fact). I've been hearing the mercury in fish thing makes eating too much fish unhealthy for years now, but let me know if you've ever heard this before . . . I was reading that consuming the same types of vegetables every day can be bad for you (I think it was mainly referring to leafy green vegetables). I have to look it up but it has something in it. If you switch up your leafy greens every few days (I've heard) you will avoid this problem. So do spinach for a few days, then kale, then collards, etc, etc. Anyone heard that before? Vegetables are baaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LittleDarlings]

Ok so what is exactly in this smoothie and can I put stuff in it to make it sweet because if I drink something it has to taste good. 

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

On 12/15/2013 at 10:24 PM, Pinkster12 said:

Ok so what is exactly in this smoothie and can I put stuff in it to make it sweet because if I drink something it has to taste good. 

There are a lot of things you can do with smoothies. The "tastiest" usually involve fruits, milk product, and maybe nuts. I would recommend a banana, some type of melon, and some type of berries, fill it up with milk (cow, soy, almond, whatever), and top it off with nuts or seeds (chia seeds, walnuts, almonds). You can also have pure vegetable smoothies. Something green (spinach, kale, collards, broccoli) with some a little sweet (maybe carrots, even a fruit like tomatoes or avocados), and fill it up with water or even coconut water. There are millions of smoothie recipes online. 

[TheOnlyWayIKnow]

On 12/14/2013 at 2:26 PM, Gnome Chomsky said:

Good points. Yeah, I had to make some modifications along the way. I would get way too hungry just drinking smoothies. I switch up between fish and chicken and I'll throw in beans and nuts. Also, cereal is the perfect thing in the morning for me. Just a fruit smoothie doesn't seem to do the trick. Bruce Lee used to eat nothing but Frosted Mini Wheats (fun fact). I've been hearing the mercury in fish thing makes eating too much fish unhealthy for years now, but let me know if you've ever heard this before . . . I was reading that consuming the same types of vegetables every day can be bad for you (I think it was mainly referring to leafy green vegetables). I have to look it up but it has something in it. If you switch up your leafy greens every few days (I've heard) you will avoid this problem. So do spinach for a few days, then kale, then collards, etc, etc. Anyone heard that before? Vegetables are baaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I have absolutely heard that fish have tons of mercury and stuff in them, which is why it is unhealthy to eat it all the time. Farmed fish are also something you'll want to avoid.. The wild caught fish may be a dollar or two more, but they are absolutely worth it! The whole varying your veggies thing is very important because you get a wider range of nutrients that way. Also, some veggies and foods block your body's ability to absorb certain things. For example, kale is a veggie that is great in moderation, but can affect your thyroid through a few different mechanisms. I believe it decreases iodine absorption, but also there is another suspected mechanism that can work against your thyroid in high doses. I don't remember exactly what, you'll have to look into it further, but there are a whole list of veggies that can affect your thyroid in large amounts. The best thing is to just avoid too much of one thing and diversify!

[JustinBillingsley]

I have never done a green smoothie diet but I often supplement my vegan diet using fruit smoothies, mixed with vegetables and coconut milk. I have never had any problems using a traditional blender. I suggest getting one of those pre-mixed fruit and vegetable smoothie bags if you are having trouble with veggie smoothies, they usually taste better than anything you could conjure up yourself.

 

I detail more about this on my blog, if you wanted anymore tips: www.justinbillingsleyarizona.com/how-i-get-my-veggies-in/

[itsjoya]

I am not a fan of green smoothie, I prefer apple cider for diet. 

[sophiewilson0191]

I use Apple cider too.

Maybe I will try your smoothie.

[spectastic]

that's funny. child of 2 was my old account. haha.

i still do the green smoothie thing pretty regularly. I'll put in grapes, bananas, strawberries, or any berries I can get my hands on, and pack it down with 1-2 salads worth of vitamin/mineral rich greens. sometimes, I'll even put a piece of carrot in there. everything is prewashed, so the process of taking everything out of the frig all the way to nutrient in my stomach literally takes 5 minutes. super efficient.

It doesn't always taste the best. you can put brown sugar in there, but I personally don't care about the taste. I just want my nutrients, so that I can enjoy the steak guilt free