The smoothie practice, a gentle intervention.

In my last post I wrote about some of the perils connected to dieting and excessive training, where radical changes may provoke the metabolism to react in a counter productive and sometimes even harmful way. My own practice is one of gentle intervention.

I don’t diet but have added the smoothie routine to my daily diet. I still eat a normal breakfast, but I drink the 300 ml. smoothie before or at breakfast. It makes me feel full and as a consequence I eat less. In the afternoon in stead of snacks I drink another 300 ml.  I also eat a normal lunch and dinner, only I eat slightly less than I used to.

One month after starting the routine I had gained 1 kg of weight, 3 months on I had lost 3 kg’s and now 18 months into the routine my weight is remarkably stable and I do not consider weight or appetite an issue any more.

This intervention in my diet has  boosted my fruit and vegetable intake to the recommended 800 g per day  and my intake of soluble fibers to 20 g / day.

I don’t stick to one smoothie recipe but experiment a little every week adjusting my purchases to what I think could be  interesting.

Here is a new recipe that my wife came up with, – it has incredible color and great taste :

• 150 g.  Beetroot, – great color, relative neutral taste, a field of health benefits including cholesterol lowering effect high content of soluble fibers. (2g/100g)
• 10 g Fresh turmeric, – taste, great color, high content of soluble fibers and a field of health benefits including being anti inflammatory and antidepressant
• 2 nectarines, – Taste and high content of soluble fibers (1,0g/100g)
• 350 g. Carrots, – Relatively high content of soluble fibers. (2g/100g)
• 20 g Ginger, – Taste and high content of soluble fibers. (2,5g/100g)
• 1 Grape fruit -, Taste and high content of soluble fibers. (2g/100g)
• 2 Apples, -Taste and high content of soluble fibers. (2g/100g)
• 1 Orange -, Taste and high content of soluble fibers. (2g/100g)
• 5-600 ml of water, to blend

Those not familiar with producing smoothies may benefit from watching my quick demo of the basic smoothie :

Stay healthy / Ole