This is a “Green Smoothie” and how I lost 75 lbs.
So here is the deal. I ordered this blender off QVC last January.
They only offer about twice a year and it sold out the day I bought it. My wife thought I was nuts buying a $160 blender. I started making fruit smoothies for the kids mixed with a little bit of green vegetables…they didn’t notice. Worked great and we started having one every morning. I started losing a little weight and I thought maybe there is something to this so I started researching it. Turns out people make what they call “green smoothies” made primarily of non starchy green leafy vegetables…..kale, spinach, greens of any type. Stuff like that.
Here is a video of a “green smoothie” being made and similar to what I drink everyday for breakfast and sometimes lunch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXr8-jru1KE
My energy went up, my weight started falling off. I am down 75 pounds since January. I do ride my bicycle a lot but didn’t really start until April after I lost the first 25 lbs or so. I ride about 80 miles a week right now so that is helping but the main thing is eating right. My cholesterol levels were elevated but have returned to a better than normal level and i’m off high blood pressure meds for the first time in 7 years. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. We eat a lot better now and that helps but basically I am eating about a 50% raw food diet. Everything else is basically whatever I want within reason. We adopted “Meatless Mondays” and try to eat meat 3 to 4 times a week instead of every night like we used to.
I did not experience this b/c I gradually ramped into a green smoothie over a month or so but a lot of people complain of cramps, diarrhea, headaches and stuff like that when they just dive into the green smoothies. It’s a massive initial shock to the body to mass consume quantities of vegetables. If you do experience this it will only last about 5-7 from what I understand.
I highly recommend watching Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead. It’s a great movie with lots of great information. It’s more about juicing and not blending but the principles are the same. Juicing to me doesn’t make that much sense long term b/c you don’t get the fiber, juicers are expensive to operate and a mess to clean. You must watch the movie! I was so motivated I did a 5 day smoothie fast after watching the movie. It was tough but I got my mind right.
http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
As far as recipes go just Google green smoothies recipes. I experiment and have never measured anything. Our morning smoothie that my kids, wife and I drink is usually like this.
2 stalks of celery
1 carrot
2 cups of spinach/kale
quarter of a cucumber
1/2 a orange
a handful of frozen pineapple chunks (from costco)
a handful of a frozen berry mix (from costco)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
water
ice cubes
When I really got into it I really kept it simple and tried to limit the fruit. Just green veggies to maximize weight loss.
You have to buy all the green stuff…go home, wash it up and put it in a big Tupperware container. It’s defeating and a pain to have to wash right before you blend, best to get it out of the way. You don’t have to get a monster blender to start with but you will burn a $50 one out pretty quick blending vegetables. Cut into small pieces. Ours is in a noticeable decline. When it craps out I will buy a Vitamix. They are the best. Will last 10 years.
It took my wife a couple of months to buy in but once she saw my results she had to. She is down 25 lbs on the year and looks fantastic!
This is without a doubt the easiest weight I ever lost! I am totally addicted to drinking these things…if I don’t drink one I for the day I really feel like I am missing something. This does not happen overnight but it does happen, it takes some focus and commitment. I am addicted to my diet. Imagine that!!!! If you have questions, just ask me!
Here are some before and after pics.
Me at my heaviest, about 360 lbs a few years ago in NYC.
Right after Christmas dinner last year, about a month before I started drinking smoothies. I was about 350 lbs. Miserable.
This is about 3 months after starting. I had lost about 30 lbs. at this point. Feeling a lot better!
This was with my dad and son in August. About 60 lbs. lost at this point. Everything is baggy on me!
This was taken a couple of weeks ago. Down 75 lbs. I weigh about 275 lbs right now. I am still going! I want to get to down to about 25o and see how that feels. I am 6’8″ so for me that will be pretty skinny but I am ready to be “skinny” after living so long in the other direction.