If you are trying to lose weight, then one of the main things to watch out for is snacking. Everyone likes to have a delicious snack from time to time; however, most snacks are fully of sugar and empty calories. Even fat-free snacks are not healthy for you in excess. An alternative to unhealthy sugary snacks is making low calorie smoothies at home. All you really need is a blender or smoothie maker, fruit, yogurt, ice, and a bit of honey.
Low calorie smoothies can often be made using frozen fresh fruit. Smoothies of this nature are quite easy to make. You would first of all want to buy some of your favorite fruit-apples, bananas, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, plums- pretty much any fruit will do. You then need to cut the fruit into pieces about the size of an ice cube and freeze it ready for use. Freezing fruit beforehand makes it even quicker to whizz up a low calorie snack when you feel hungry.
Another important ingredient in low fat low calorie smoothies is plain low fat yogurt. This is yogurt that does not have any additional flavoring or sugar-check the ingredient list on the yogurt container to ensure that there are no added ingredients. This can be stored in your refrigerator or even frozen instead of the fruit.
The fruit and yogurt are then blended together. Many people add sugar to such a smoothie, but this is something that you should seriously consider avoiding. Most fruits are quite sweet on their own and you do not need much more sweetener added. If you do want to add sweetener, then often a bit of honey is a good option. Sugar and low or no fat sugar substitutes and sweeteners should be avoided; most are not good for your health.
Smoothies can be part of your healthy eating plan even if you are at your healthy weight and are not trying to diet. Homemade smoothies are not only delicious they are also much healthier than commercial snacks and ice creams. In this case, you can substitute the low fat plain yogurt with regular plain yogurt. You will still want to avoid adding too much unnecessary sweetener.
While the idea of a vegetable smoothie may sound gross, an avocado smoothie can actually be quite delicious. Avocado is actually technically a fruit; while it is not as sweet as most other fruits it can be turned into a delicious smoothie using a good recipe. Avocados are also full of important vitamins and minerals that are very good for your health.
You can make a smoothie using only one fruit, or you can experiment in combining two or more different fruits together to create new smoothie flavors. You will find that these low calorie smoothies are not only fun to make but will also help to boost your health. Drinking smoothies is an enjoyable way of making sure you get enough fruits in your diet. Since fruits and vegetables should actually make up around 60% of a person’s diet, you should feel free to indulge in these healthy snacks on a regular basis.
