I am catching up on weeks of MTM’s and I have to say I’m a bit scared.

Scott - you mentioned that we need to look out for those smoothies even if they are made out of fruit (excess sugar converted into stored fat). The kind of smoothies I make are sugar free except for the natural sugars from fruit. A little ice, a little soy milk, a little sugar-free Torani syrup and fresh fruit equates to no more than 100 calories.

Am I ok? Anyone else make smoothies?

Ahhh… don’t be scared #1 groupie.

You’re a smart one who has figured out how to make a good smoothie that won’t pack on the pounds.  Good for you. 

I’m really talking about the kind you get at “Smoothie King” or one of the other stores.  They easily have 500 calories depending on what you order.  Add a few “suppliments” and they really get crazy.

I like smoothies too but some folks equate smoothies with something healthy - maybe… maybe not.  Make them yourself and be sure - if you’re going to buy them - make sure you check what’s in them and keep things under control - just like YOU always are.

Hi Scott and Carrie,

When I want a smoothie, I tend to go to Booster Juice.  (Keep in mind I don’t have a kitchen while I’m living in rez.) Their website has information and nutritional information about their smoothies.

Now, I know the calorie count on the nutritional information page seems high.  But here’s a secret: that information is for their regular sized, 24 oz. smoothies.  Who needs a 24 oz smoothie?!?  You can get a 12 oz. version of any of their smoothies, and thus cut the calories in half!  12 oz. is more than enough for a filling, tasty snack for me.  I tend to get the Original, which has 363 calories in the regular (ie: huge) size, and thus 181 calories in the “snack” (ie: smaller) size.

It’s still a bit high for a snack, but it’s nowhere near the 500 calories that some of the other ones rack up.

TTFN,
Julie

I worked at an ice cream/frozen yogurt shop for a little over a year, and without even trying, I lost about 20 pounds.  I thought for sure I would gain weight being surrounded by ice cream—and believe me, I had my share of ice cream and shakes.  I think a large part of that weight loss was having a smoothie for lunch or breakfast every day (depending on what time I worked).  Since I had access to every ingredient, I tried all kinds of combinations, mostly involving fat free vanilla frozen yogurt, fat free milk, and some kind of frozen fruit.  Man, I need to get myself a blender.

squeakykitty -

can you share any of your recipes? I am always lookin’ for new ones!

Well, I haven’t made any at home, just while I was working at that shop.  The ingredients we had available were chocolate or vanilla frozen yogurt, mango sorbet, raspberry sorbet, non-fat milk, apple juice, orange juice, grape juice, bananas, frozen mangos, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and strawberries.

Here are some of the combos I remember:

Non-fat chocolate frozen yogurt, non-fat milk, and [bananas][bananas and frozen raspberries][frozen raspberries]
Vanilla frozen yogurt, non-fat milk, and [bananas][bananas and strawberries][bananas and raspberries][raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cherries (or any combination of berries you like)][cherries]
Mango sorbet, orange juice, bananas, mangos, and strawberries
Raspberry sorbet, grape juice, and mixed berries

I was hoping I would be able to remember more than that, but it’s been a couple years.  The ones I usually made for myself revolved around bananas because I LOVE bananas.  I also didn’t use juice very often because I didn’t want the added sugar.  I hope this helps at least a little bit!