Looking to Tweak My Morning Smoothie page

[mc9000]

(FYI, after posting this, I realized it should probably go under 'Nutrtion')

Greetings. On January 1st of this year I was 5'9" and weighed 235 lbs. Of course, my New Year's resolution was to lose weight. And of course, I'd made this same resolution many times in the past and never stuck with it.

Luckily, this time I discovered Mark's books and site fairly early on, which made a huge difference for me. In an attempt to get more primal I even enrolled in a Krav Maga class, which has also helped immensely.

So, I've been sticking with my resolution and currently weigh 195 lbs with a goal weight of 170.

One of the things I've done this year that has helped a lot: having a smoothie every morning. However, I'd like to start tweaking things a bit and would like to fine-tune my morning smoothie.

I'm looking to hit my goal weight and increase my strength and cardio (I have a KM test later in the year). The following is my morning smoothie. Is there anything I should be changing?

My Morning Smoothie (Just about all of it is from Costco and Trader Joe's):

Portion -- Ingredient -- Calories -- Carbs -- Protein -- Sugar -- Fiber -- Fat
1 Tbsp -- Almond Butter -- 95 -- 3 -- 3.5 -- 1 -- 2 -- 8
4 oz -- Water -- 0
4 oz -- Banana -- 89 -- 23 -- 1 -- 12 -- 3 0
2 oz -- Avocado -- 100 -- 6 -- 2 -- 0 -- 2 -- 9
80 g -- Coconut Milk -- 150 -- 2 -- 2 -- 1 -- 0 -- 14
1 scoop -- Ground Flaxseed -- 70 -- 5 -- 3 -- 0 -- 4 -- 5
4 oz -- Ice -- 0
4 oz -- Kefir -- 85 -- 12.5 -- 7 -- 10.5 -- 1.5 -- 1
1 scoop -- Protein -- 161 -- 7 -- 25 -- 2 -- 0 -- 3.5
3 oz -- Spinach -- 20 -- 3 -- 2 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Totals:

Calories: 770
Carbs: 61.5
Protein: 45.5
Sugar: 26.5
Fiber: 14.5
Fat: 40.5

--

Thanks

[jqbancroft]

I would repost this under nutrition. I don't think anyone I'll care about double posting! I'm not as well versed on nutrition as many posters on here, so I hope someone else responds, but I know many people notice increased wring loss when eliminating dairy and limiting fruit. I also know Mark made a post about why chia seeds aren't the best, but not the worst (I believe it's a lot of omega 6's).

So, in light of this, maybe try cutting your banana to half or some days swap it for something else creamy (like canned pumpkin) and take out the dairy.

Also, if you're using whey protein, maybe you could try egg white protein powder instead? I don't know much about it--but if you're going to eliminate dairy it might be a good choice.

I hope I gave you some things to think about and I also hope you get the a dvi e you need!

[mc9000]

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely cutting down on the fruit and dairy. I'm also simplifying my recipe. Here's what I had this morning:

80 g Coconut Milk
1 scoop Ground Flaxseed
4 oz Ice
1 scoop Protein
3 oz (85 g) Spinach
4 oz Water

Calories: 401
Carbs: 17
Protein: 32g
Sugar: 3g
Fiber: 6g
Fat: 22.5g

I'll check on the protein I'm using.

[jqbancroft]

Way to go on simplifying it! I do find that simpler is sometimes much better. I'm sure you already thought of this--but you'll probably need to add something with your smoothie now (if you weren't already) since the calories dropped significantly!

[lil_earthmomma]

Wow, that's awesome that you were able to ditch the banana and still enjoy! I usually throw a handul of frozen berries into my smoothies, for flavor color and that nice ice creamy texture they lend.

[Darthash]

Add some raw egg and berries

[mc9000]

I'v got blueberries in the freezer. I'll probably add a small portion of a different fruit each morning. Along w/ the blueberries, I've got a couple of avocados, so that should be OK for the rest of the week.

I never thought of adding a raw egg. Does it affect the taste that much? I'm already thinking of that scene from Rocky where he downed a bunch of 'em.

[tbird]

Wow MC - your story is inspiring. I'm just starting out at this and haven't had a morning smoothie yet - but tomorrow I'm going to give it a try. I've got everything but the protein powder - so I'll have to do the egg. Perhaps my day will have other Stallone elements? I'm not big on guns....

[jqbancroft]

I love raw egg in my smoothies! I can't tell with the texture whatsoever and it is by far the most flavorless addition I have ever tried.

Unfortunately, in a previous thread someone told me our body can only absurd half the protein from an egg in a raw form I've yet to confirm it with research, but it's definitely something to look into!

[mc9000]

tbird: Thanks, and congrats on giving this primal thing a try. I had my physical in June and my results reinforced what I was already feeling: younger, more energetic, and healthier. For me, remembering the 80/20 rule was key. This helped me quickly get back on track whenever I strayed off course and found myself at the bottom of a bag of corn chips!