Smoothies Kill Diets

Walking down the tiled floor of the mall, you feel your stomach grumble even though you just ate lunch an hour ago. You make your way to the food court and rule out all the options until you spot a smoothie store. You probably think you are doing your waistline a favor by forgoing on the fatty pizza and french fries and getting the "healthy" option of a smoothie, but you'd be wrong.

Smoothies are a hidden calorie-buster. There are two different kinds of smoothies in the smoothie-world: fruit and yogurt based. In the book, Eat This Not That, smoothies at nationally-known vendors such as Smoothie King and Jamba Juice were found to have 1,200 calories or more per smoothie!

There are some good-for-you smoothies, you just have to know what you're looking for. Now, you've made the smart decision to consciously think about what you are eating by deciding on the so-called "healthy" option, the next step is to decipher the menu.

Here is what to AVOID:

• Peanut Butter (unless you are on a weight-gain diet plan, this ingredient has massive amounts of saturated fat)
• Chocolate (unless the added protein powder is chocolate flavored stay away from this high calorie, high sat. fat indulgence)
• Ice cream (this is a no-brainer: high calorie, high sugar, high fat = big waistline)
• Yogurt (believe it or not yogurt that are used in these corporate smoothie shops are the high fat, high calorie and high sugar type of yogurt that you AVOID in grocery stores)
• Whole milk (while there is less sugar in whole milk than skim, the fat content is unheard of since the majority of a smoothie is water or milk liquid-based)

Here is what to ADD:

• Low-calorie protein powder (ask the smoothie-maker for the nutrition facts on the protein powders, if there isn't one "available" then DO NOT get it)
• Fruit (sticking to fruit only rather than the "shots" of strawberry or banana-flavored additives are made with high-fructose corn syrup and therefore are jammed-packed with sugar. Look for fresh fruit to add)
• Water (H2O is the best way to go when starting a smoothie. Milk or yogurt are extra calories if you are already getting a protein shake)

It is strongly recommended that if you are hungry (use the 1-10 gauge to find out your hunger level: 1 is not hungry at all & I'm just thinking about food because it's here and 10 is I'm starving. Once you know if you are legitimately hungry then opt for the protein shake. As I said in my earlier blog about protein powder, protein of any sort takes longer to digest and therefore keeps you fuller, longer.

Jamba Juice puts their nutrition facts on their website and Starbucks just came out with a low-calorie protein shake that is worth looking at. Their website also lets you calculate any beverage you can think of that they sell to estimate the nutrtition information.

If you get any of the no-no smoothies, you might as well head down to Coldstone and get the full-fat milkshakes. Smoothies are deceiving and knowing what you're eating, or drinking, will help you make smart choices when hunger strikes.