Revving up your metabolism includes a good balance of diet and exercise. Regarding your nutrition, smoothies are a great tool when it comes to burning fat. They often include a small amount of fruit and lots of vegetables and other ingredients that help to give you energy and boost your metabolism. Give some of these smoothie recipes a try.
Mango Smoothie
If you like mango, then you will love this fun smoothie! It only uses a few simple ingredients and is very easy to make. Plus, it includes ingredients that help to burn fat, including the mango, lime juice, and avocado. Don’t worry; it won’t taste like a vegetable. The sweetness of the fruit far outweighs the flavor of the avocado. The avocado adds protein and some healthy fat to rev up your metabolism. Just get out your blender and add mango pieces (about 1/2 a cup), a mashed avocado, vanilla yogurt or almond milk, and lime juice. Finish it off with some ice, or you can use frozen mango.
Citrus Smoothie
You can also use your favorite citrus fruits and combine them with ice and your choice of dairy or non-dairy product to make a sweet, creamy smoothie that helps you to lose weight. Some citrus fruits that usually go well together are lemons, oranges, and grapefruit, but go ahead and use any combination of fruits you have at home. You want to make it creamy with a little bit of yogurt and some skim milk. You can use flavored yogurts like lemon IF they don’t add sugar, or just plain yogurt. Add some ice and a little flaxseed (ground) for added fat burning potential.
Flaxseed tip: buy them whole and refrigerate. Grind them up (I use a coffee grinder) just before use. Otherwise, they will go rancid quickly because of the delicate Omega 3 Fatty Acids they contain. I grind up flaxseed, put it in a glass container and store it in the freezer for convenience.
Berry Smoothie
Berries are at the top of the list of fruits that help to burn more fat and calories. Strawberries, in particular, contain a lot of antioxidants and are high in fiber, which allows you to increase your fat burning. You can make a simple smoothie with strawberries and other berries (just about 1/2 cup), with almond or hemp milk (about one cup), and flaxseed oil. For a thicker smoothie, add some chia seeds (for protein), oats (if not sensitive) or almond butter to it.
Blueberry Smoothie
Another version of the berry smoothie is one that contains blueberries. This provides a slightly different flavor, but the same health benefits of a strawberry or mixed berry smoothie. Plus, blueberries contain a lot of nutrients and antioxidants that make it a popular superfood. Blueberries taste great just with non-dairy milk or yogurt and ice.
The idea is to use a little bit of fruit and a lot of other nutritious ingredients. Fruit does contain sugar, so we want to keep the servings low.
In all of these recipes, I suggest you experiment with adding a handful or two of greens like spinach, kale or chard and add a very low sugar or unsweetened protein powder – grass-fed whey protein powder is great if you are not sensitive to dairy. Do this especially if you’re going to use the smoothie for a meal replacement. If you do use a smoothie as a meal replacement, you should also include a healthy fat like avocado, a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds, coconut oil, or MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil to keep you fuller longer (satiety) and for energy.
Try out your own combinations using these and other fruits and let me know in the comments below what you came up with!
