Smoothies: Trimming Calories and Sugar

by She FIt on August 7, 2009

Smoothies are always a great choice during the summer when it’s hot outside and you want something healthy to cool off on. While most smoothies are loaded with rich antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals, beware, most fruit smoothies are loaded with sugar and calories. For instance, Jamba Juice’s Peanut Butter Moo’d is a dazzling 800 calories and 122g of sugar! While the Orange Dream Machine loaded with vitamin C is a whopping 70g of sugar.

The safest route for a healthy smoothie is to bust out that blender and make it yourself. Avoid ingredients like ice cream, whole milk, sugar and cream. There are the culprits in sabotaging your healthy smoothie. Pick ingredients like fat free milk, light yogurt, almond milk, fat free milk, and sugar-free fruit juice.

Unlike most healthy smoothies that are extremely watery and flavorless, adding in frozen fruit to your smoothies will create that creamy and thick texture. No fruit in your recipe? Freezing the liquids in your recipe will work as well, such as coffee, juice, and milk. Just pour them into an ice cube tray and you have several smoothies.

Add a little kick to your drink without the calories by adding in vanilla, almond, coconut, or lemon extracts.

Need a great guilt-free smoothie recipe?

This Orange Dream Machine is still loaded with vitamin C but no where near 70g of sugar and only 85 calories!

Orange Dream Machine

- 3 oz. Diet Orange Juice Concentrate

- 2-3 packets of Splenda

- 1/2 cup light soy milk (regular or vanilla)

- 1/2 cup water

- 4 ice cubes

- 1 tsp. vanilla

Citrus Berry Fruit Smoothie

- 1/2 frozen banana

- 1/4 cup peaches

- 1/4 cup blueberries

- 1/4 cup strawberries

- 1/4 cup Diet Orange Juice Concentrate

- A little bit of lime juice

Share with us some of your favorite healthy smoothie recipes?

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The Skinny Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

Tagged as: Blueberry, coffee, Drinks, Fruit, fruit smoothie, Healthy, healthy smoothie, jamba juice, pineapple, shakes, smoothie, smoothie recipes, strawberry, strawberry smoothie

{ 26 comments }

1 Robin August 7, 2009 at 8:25 am: I would LOVE to try the orange creme shake but I don’t like adding splenda to anything but my coffee, it just turns me off. I’d have to find another way of making it sweet or maybe the diet orange drink would be sweet enough.
2 brandi August 7, 2009 at 8:33 am: great smoothie ideas!
3 The Fat Dietitian August 7, 2009 at 8:46 am: I adore smoothies, but I cannot justify so many calories on a drink (I prefer to eat my calories). But a nice home made smoothie is definitely a summer treat and significantly fewer calories. Have you ever made a green monster smoothie?
4 Andrea@WellnessNotes August 7, 2009 at 8:54 am: Great recipes! I like using vanilla almond milk, ice & fruit (blueberries & strawberries are my favorite) in my smoothies. Quite basic but good…
5 Erica August 7, 2009 at 9:08 am: Hooray for homemade smoothies! Don’t forget green monsters too (as the fat dietitian mentioned!!). Spinach adds a whole new dimension.

Good luck with the unpacking
6 Alison August 7, 2009 at 9:48 am: Total smoothie girl here! I love putting spinach in mine to add a green punch of iron and calcium! And you can’t even taste it. But green smoothies are sweeping the blog world so this isn’t news to anyone. I’ll shut up now.
7 Kimberley August 7, 2009 at 10:55 am: My favourites are chocolate, cherry smoothies and pina colada smoothies.

1 c skim milk, 1 tsp cocoa powder, 20 cherries (remove pits), 1.5 c ff vanilla or plain yogurt, ice, whatever sweetener you choose…whiz and yum!

1 c skim milk, 1 cup drained or fresh pineapple, a couple of drops of coconut extract, 1.5 c ff vanilla or plain yogurt, ice, whatever sweetener you choose…whiz and yum!

My green monsters are usually purple as I add blueberries, cherries and berry pomegranate juice along with the spinach.
8 Faith August 7, 2009 at 11:00 am: I LOVE smoothies! Your orange dream smoothy sounds fabulous, I’ll definitely be trying that! For one of my favorite smoothies, I blend together 1/2 c of wilted spinach, 1 c frozen blueberries, 1/2 c yogurt, water, and a touch of honey…delicious!
9 kay (eating machine) August 7, 2009 at 11:02 am: I add a tablespoon or two of flax to mine-the fiber helps keep me full, and I think it helps bulk up the texture.
10 coco August 7, 2009 at 11:12 am: great recipes! I’ve became smoothie fans lately and always want to see new combos!
11 Meredith (Pursuing Balance) August 7, 2009 at 1:15 pm: Great post! I wrote a similar one for the virtual internship I’m doing with Mitzi Dulan, America’s Nutrition expert. I was shocked when doing research to find one small-size smoothie (either at Jamba Juice or Smoothie King, can’t remember) that was something like 600 calories and close to 100 grams of sugar — and was labeled as one of their “healthy options”!!!! Unbelievable!
12 Gina August 7, 2009 at 1:23 pm: Holy cow!! 800 calories in a smoothier? Yikes, I guess that’s because of all the peanut butter, makes sense. I love making my own smoothies at home, so thanks for the recipes!
13 The Fit Collegiate August 7, 2009 at 2:43 pm: Thanks for sharing those delicious recipes! I’ve been really into smoothies this summer, owing to all the beautiful ripe summer fruit we have laying around.
14 trialsoftraining August 7, 2009 at 2:43 pm: Ah, smoothies are THE BEST!! throw in some fresh fruit, yogurt, milk, and ice and I’m Happy! It’s so easy to get creative with them too, thats the best part great post!!
15 april August 7, 2009 at 4:13 pm: Smoothies and shakes are so yummy! But they never fill me up sadly
16 Jody - Fit at 51 August 7, 2009 at 4:26 pm: I know that many of the store bought smoothies are very high in calories & more if you are not careful BUT many people do not nor do they check the “stats”. Thx for sharing & for the recipes! April said they do not fill her up.. they stuff me BUT I do tend to make a big blender full! Not super high in calories if you do it right!
17 Kelly August 7, 2009 at 4:42 pm: Thanks for the support with my knee
That strawberry smoothie sounds delicious. I have been making mango and banana smoothies a lot this summer.
18 Sophia August 7, 2009 at 4:43 pm: I’m not much of a smoothie fan, to be honest. But I think I might have to rely on them for extra nutrition when I go to college and at times when I don’t have enough time to sit down for a proper meal. Thanks for the recipes! I particularly like the Orange Dream one!
19 Eat, Live, Love August 7, 2009 at 5:18 pm: Great post! CUTE blog by the way! Look forward to reading more;)
20 Maria August 7, 2009 at 5:45 pm: Wow 100+ grams of sugar??? Holy cow!

Freezing coffee, milk, or juice is a fantastic idea! I like to add frozen bananas, spinach, a scoop of amazing meal/grass, and a cup of almond/soy/coconut milk to my smoothies. Yummy! I have it every morning
21 Nicole August 7, 2009 at 6:11 pm: You are so right! Whenever I am craving something cold and sweet, I immediately think ‘ice cream’. But, then I rethink that and I go for a smoothie. I think I’m being ‘smart’ and saving all these calories when in reality, my smoothie is almost as bad as the ice cream (almost as bad) calories wise. Thanks for pointing that out and sharing those tasty recipes!
22 Balance for Mere August 7, 2009 at 6:18 pm: Thanks for posting all the recipes. I will have to try them out!
23 Diane, Fit to the Finish August 7, 2009 at 6:49 pm: I love smoothies, but don’t do them nearly enough to satisfy myself, or the family. These look really yummy!
24 Beth August 7, 2009 at 7:02 pm: I love smoothies, but am totally turned off by all the calories and added sugar. those recipes look great!
25 Kristen's Raw August 8, 2009 at 11:40 am: YAY for fresh smoothies… I love adding greens to mine, too. Yum!!!!

Cheers,
Kristen
26 Amy August 9, 2009 at 7:05 pm: ok.. i’m new to teh add spinach idea.. but also fairly new to the blog world. I love the idea of smoothies, but my blender is huge and cumbersome to wash – I need to get something better. these look way too delish.