We all love smoothies, either for breakfast or as an evening snack they are highly convenient to make and are filling too.
All you need are some of your favorite ingredients and a blender, and you have this delicious snack ready in minutes.
The trick to healthify your smoothie is to select the best ingredients to add.
Some smoothies are loaded with excessive sugar and calories but can be used in combination with a proper diet, rather than depending on them solely for weight loss.
If your smoothie is to be supportive of weight loss, then you must include at least one of these— as many as possible:
Key Components To Consider When Making A Weight Loss Smoothie
– Protein: Adding protein, such as powder, yogurt, or nut butter, to your smoothie makes you full and not ravishing, and therefore you eat less throughout the day. Protein also helps you with your weight loss, as it also helps you build lean muscle mass.
– Minimal added sugars: This is also important for weight loss, as added sugars are empty calories and provide no extra nutritional value. Instead, use natural sweaters, like a piece of fruit, to sweeten your smoothies up.
By adhering to those principles, you can create healthy and filling breakfast smoothie options that would further your weight loss journey.
Check out our 8 smoothie recipes, based on what you are looking to achieve with your diet, below.
1. Berry Cauliflower Smoothie
High in protein and fiber, it makes the perfect treat but without the sugar that comes along with other smoothie recipes (great for weight loss). Berry Cauliflower Smoothie
The smoothie base is thickened and made ultra-creamy using frozen cauliflower, which also packs the added benefit of being a good source of fiber and protein.
Loaded with the goodness of berries and chia seeds (for some added fiber), and paired with peanut butter (to bump up the protein and healthy fats) this smoothie is the perfect mix of nutritious and tasty.
Ingredients:
– 1 scoop Vanilla Tone It Up Protein
– 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
– 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower rice or whole pieces
– 1 tablespoon peanut butter
– 1/2 cup blueberries
– 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
Instructions:
Simply blend all the ingredients in Vitamix blender until smooth, and enjoy the goodness!
2. Plant-Based Pear Cardamom Oats Smoothie
For fans of fill-you-up smoothies that are plant-based enthusiasts, a good oats and oat milk smoothie is ideal and makes for a nice sweet option.
Pear, Cardamom & Oat… Pears, cardamom, and oats go well together, a great autumnal combination.
A spice often featured in sweets, cardamom traces its roots to the seeds of a ginger-like plant.
A sweet and spiced wood note with some anise/fennel helps to make everything smell like a lovely desert-only fragrance with this smoothie.
If you want a vegan-friendly option, you can replace honey with agave, or maple syrup.
Ingredients:
– 1/2 Bartlett pear
– 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
– 1 cup Pacific Foods Oat Original Plant-Based Beverage
– 2 tsp wildflower or clover honey
– 1/2 cup ice
– 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
Instructions:
- Combine all the ingredients in a blender.
- Blend on low, then switch to high speed for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth.
3. Raspbery Peach-Swirled Smoothie
OR You can easily pump up the protein in your smoothie by doing a quick hit of low-fat Greek yogurt other than the protein powder.
A light and tangy treat perfect for your weight loss program, raspberry banana peach ginger yogurt mix
Try the Raspberry Peach Swirled Smoothie recipe from above!
Nutrition: 353 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 53 mg sodium, 60 g sugar, 14 g protein, 7 g fiber
Ingredients:
– 1/2 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
– 1/3 cup orange juice
– 2 5.3-oz cartons nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
– 1 1/2 cups frozen peach slices
– 1 ripe banana, cut into 2-inch chunks and frozen for at least 2 hours
– 1 Tbsp honey
– 1/4 tsp ground ginger
– Fresh raspberries (optional)
How to Make It:
- In a blender, blend raspberries and orange juice until it gets smooth. Divide between two glasses.
- Rinse the blender. In the cleaned blender, blend yogurt, peaches, banana, honey, and ginger until smooth. Pour over raspberry mixture in glasses.
- Swirl with a spoon. Optionally, top with fresh raspberries. Serve immediately.
4. Key Lime Pie Smoothie
Key Lime Pie Smoothie -The sweet and tangy refreshment of key lime pie tastes even higher during this healthy key lime pie smoothie!
This version contains a heavy dose of limes, graham crackers, and a banana, and includes oat milk make it without all the extra added sugars that come in a traditional slice of the pie.
While this recipe may not be packed with protein or fiber, choosing this smoothie over any of the junk that we can usually eat the whole day, fits in well with our health goals.
We have selected vegan, honey-free Nabisco Graham Crackers to give the smoothie more of a pie-like experience while elevating the comforting “baked” quality.
Another regular guest star in my smoothies is baby spinach – ugly as sin, you might argue, but it tucks away into a smoothie so easily!
It adds bio-available nutrients and it also adds a nice green color and rounds out the flavor in a completely non-intrusive way.
Ingredients:
– 1 frozen banana, broken into chunks
– 1/2 cup baby spinach
– 1 cup Pacific Foods Organic Coconut Original Plant-Based Beverage
– Zest and juice of 1 lime
– 1 Nabisco Graham Cracker sheet
How to Make It:
- Combine all the ingredients in Vitamix blender. Blend on low, then finish on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until it gets smooth.
5. Low-Calorie Avocado-Lime Smoothie
To achieve weight loss, you need a calorific deficit. To veer without boundaries, but still be within the constraints, this recipe for a low-calorie smoothie makes sure you are burning more calories than you are drinking yet you are still drinking something tantalizingly filling!
Coconut, pear, avocado, and lime together in a way that makes both a highly dynamic and a somewhat challenging drink.
We like that this recipe uses several nutrient-dense ingredients without increasing the calorie count.
You make one of these avocado recipes or this yummy avocado-lime smoothie, and of course, you want to share it on Instagram.
The sad reality is, that avocados are Gods until they go brown. But fear not! But by using this one simple trick, you can enjoy avocados fresh and long enough to get a photo before their inevitable demise.
Here’s How To Prepare This Creamy, Low-calorie Avocado-lime Smoothie
Nutrition: 312 calories, 14 g fat (7 g saturated), 63 mg sodium, 5 g fiber, 38 g sugar, 3 g protein.
Ingredients:
– 1 cup ice
– 1/2 cup light coconut milk
– 1/3 cup chopped celery
– 1/3 cup chopped peeled pear
– 1/4 medium-size ripe avocado, seeded and peeled
– 2 Tbsp. honey
– 1/4 tsp. lime zest
– 1 Tbsp. lime juice
– Fresh mint and/or lime slice
How to Make It:
- Add ice, coconut milk, celery, pear, avocado, honey, lime zest, and lime juice to a blender.
- In a Vitamix blender, blend on high for about one minute or until smooth and set aside.
- Garnish with fresh mintor a lime slice.
6. Chocolate-Coconut-Banana Smoothie Recipe
If you have ever had this type of smoothie, you know that chocolate and banana are a classic combination for good reason.
When these flavors complement each other naturally, but you take the whole thing to the next level by adding coconut, vanilla, and a dollop of Greek yogurt with a little extra protein, what you end up with is one incredible smoothie that you just want to drink again and again.
And with the addition of yogurt, this smoothie has 9 grams of protein, you can almost call it a meal with the protein.
This shake does much more than fulfill your desire for some chocolatey and sugary goodness, as it supplies necessary nutrition.
When you make smoothies at home, you choose the ingredients and that way you can keep from becoming a sleepy mess ten minutes later due to a sugar crash.
Nutrition: 183 calories, 6 g fat (5 g saturated), 37 mg sodium, 19 g sugar, 9 g protein, 3 g fiber.
Ingredients:
– 1 5.3-ounce carton plain Greek yogurt
– 1 small banana, peeled, sliced, and frozen
– 1⁄2 cup ice
– 1⁄2 cup refrigerated unsweetened coconut milk
– 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1 Tbsp honey
– 1⁄2 tsp vanilla
– 1 Tbsp unsweetened flaked coconut, toasted
– 1 Tbsp finely chopped dark chocolate
How to Make It:
- In Vitamix blender, combine the first seven ingredients (through vanilla). Cover and blend until it gets smooth.
- Pour into tall glasses and top with toasted coconut and dark chocolate.
7. Paleo Smoothie with Yogurt and Granola
With a balance of smoothie and yogurt parfait goodness, this is a weight loss snack we can all agree on.
With its frozen banana, cashew milk, granola, chia seeds, and optional protein powder, it packs a protein-filled punch with the right amount of fiber. It is even paleo-friendly as well.
Layer the yogurt and granola the night before nod keep your paleo parfait smoothie in sealed Mason jars for a grab-and-go breakfast for the week.
You will want to keep the granola for your granola smoothies well-crunchy. Keep it separately in a small sealed container and put it in the smoothie when you are making the smoothie each morning so you have that crunchy satisfaction.
That simple tip will save you a few more precious minutes and give you a portable breakfast option.
Ingredients:
– 1/4 cup coconut yogurt
– 1/2 frozen banana, sliced, or 4 florets frozen cauliflower
– 1/2 Tbsp white chia seeds
– 1/4 to 1/2 cup cashew milk
– 1 tablespoon paleo vanilla or plain protein powder (optional)
– 1/4 cup paleo granola
How to Make It:
- In Vitamix blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth (use the full ½ cup cashew milk if needed).
- Pour half of the smoothie into a glass. Stir in 2 tablespoons granola, then cover with the remaining smoothie. Top with the remaining granola.
8. Cashew Butter and Raspberry Smoothie
That simple tip will save you a few more precious minutes and give you a portable breakfast option.
{Cashew Butter: swapping the good fat and fullness from a scoop of nut butter in for a scoop of nut butter offering equivalent protein levels but in moderation is always a welcomed base ingredient in any smoothie, in place of peanut or almond butter, added to a little bit of sweet}
Ingredients:
– 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
– 1/2 cup cottage cheese
– 1 tablespoon cashew butter
– 1 cup Pacific Foods Cashew Original Plant-Based Beverage
How to Make It:
- Combine all the ingredients in a Vitamix blender.
- Blend on low in Vitamix blender, then finish on high for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth.
Are Smoothies Effective for Weight Loss?
Smoothies can help with weight loss as long as you have the right ingredients and consume them in moderation.
An ideal breakfast shake can yield essential nutrients, satiate, regulate daily caloric intake, and satisfy sugar cravings.
Protein-packed items such as Greek yogurt in smoothies help limit untimely binging and prevent you from too many calories throughout the day.
Nonetheless, it is very important to be careful with the size of the parts and never to work with ingredients too high in calorie consumption, including sweetened yogurts or sugar.
Instead, you can rely on flavored versions of cocoa powder or chocolate protein powder to add flavor without additional calories.
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