My Daily Smoothie
If you know one thing about me, it’s that I have a smoothie or shake almost everyday.
When I first decided to take control of my health, I realized I was not getting enough vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or calories in my diet.
At first, my smoothies made up the majority of my diet. I loved how efficient it was to make a giant 2L smoothie, filled with everything I needed in the day and only eat solid food if I felt like it. Most people think this means my smoothies were low in calories, I assure you, they were not. Often my 2L smoothie had 1800-2200 calories. This was perfect for me at the time. My smoothie back then contained 8-12 bananas, all in one powder plus a protein powder, spinach or kale and sometimes I would switch it up with other fruits like cherries or berries. often times I would end the day with banana nice cream which also contained protein powder. Fast forward to 2017 and I decided it was time to eat more intact foods and to reduce the number of calories I obtained through my smoothie. I cut down the portion size to 1-1.5L and reduced the banana to 1-2 bananas depending on the size and my activity level for the day.
Todays smoothie looks like this:
1 scoop all-in-one powder
1 scoop protein powder or another all-in-one
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 banana
1 heaping tsp cacao powder
1 tsp chia seeds
Walter and ice
I switch it up a few days a month and add spinach, cherries, decaf coffee, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans or hemp seeds.
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Make your calories count!
This recipes contains almost 500 calories and almost 53 grams of protein. This is why I drink only 2/3 which is about 35 grams of protein for my breakfast and save the rest for a snack.
Keep in mind, if you use a different all in one powder, this will add more calories. This isn’t a bad thing, just something you should be aware of. Each all in one powder contains varying amounts of calories based on its ingredients. Vege-One for example contains 160 calories, 40 calories more per scoop. Remember, calories are not the enemy!
There is nothing wrong with having over 500 calories for breakfast and in fact, I encourage you to have a larger breakfast and a smaller dinner whenever possible.
Scroll down to take a better look at the macronutrient and micronutrient breakdown.
As for the powders I use, I like to switch it up but the only consistent powder I have been using since the beginning of my journey is Garden of Life’s Raw Meal because I feel it is the best quality powder on the market. With that being said, the chocolate is not chocolate-y enough for me so when I travel, I will usually premix it with another powder or cacao.
Here is a list of the all-in-one powders I use:
Garden of Life Raw Meal (chocolate - I use this one most often)
Good Protein (cookies and cream, chocolate)
Vega One (Mocha and chocolate)
Here is a list of the protein only powders I also use regularly
Lean Fit Plant Protein (I use this one most often)
Vega Sport (chocolate)
Garden of Life Sport (chocolate)
Epic Protein (the vanilla lucuma flavour is my favourite vanilla protein on the market)
Sun Warrior (chocolate)
As you can tell, I really like chocolate. Vega and Good protein have pretty good vanilla flavours but I am not your girl when it comes to berry tasting powders - I am not a fan and therefore can’t make a recommendation. My best friend however LOVES the berry Vega One so to each their own.
I often times drink 2/3 of this smoothie for breakfast and then 1/3 for a snack later on. I also usually have something solid shortly after my smoothie like a piece of toast or some fruit… sometimes left-overs.
Below is the nutritional breakdown for the smoothie described above.
My morning smoothie meets my daily minimum requirement for protein which is 0.4 grams per pound of ideal body weight/body weight. For me this is just under 50 grams.. By drinking this smoothie, I do not have to focus on where I get my protein from for the remainder of the day. I have rest easy knowing I have at least met my minimum.
And yes, this smoothie provides you with all the essential amino acids as do all plants.
Compare this to your average 2 egg breakfast omelette, with 1 slice of bacon(1 oz), 1/4 cup shredded cheese and 1/2 tbsp butter (most people use double that).
447 calories, only 30 grams of protein, 3 times as much fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, almost 490mg of cholesterol (way more than the daily upper limit which is 300 mg) and the worst part… zero grams of fibre!
Below is the nutritional breakdown for the 2 egg omelette described above.
As you can see, the smoothie is the healthier choice.
Keep in mind, your smoothies don’t have to replicate mine. You can switch up the protein or all-in-one- flavours, add different fruits, greens or seeds but the measurements should be about the same if you’re trying to keep the calories low and the protein high.
If you omit the soy milk, you’ll need to subtract 90 calories and 9 grams of protein and add however many calories comes from your other plant milk. Soy milk is my preferred plant milk for a number of reasons - you chan check out my post on WHY I CHOOSE SOY MILK here.
Hope you enjoy the smoothie!!