I have always loved V8 (the original blend) but having been put on a low sodium diet I can’t have it anymore (low sodium blend tastes bland) so I have invented my own.

Ingredients:

2 cups water
3 medium tomatoes
1 celery stalk
1/2 c spinach
1 small carrot (peeled)
1/4 c. diced beets
1/4 c. parsley
1/8 c. minced or diced sweet onion
1/4 garlic clove
salt to taste

Directions:

Wash all your veggies well.
Put water, garlic, onion, celery, and carrot into blender or food processor and spin until smooth.
Add tomatoes, spinach, beets, and parsley and spin again until smooth.

salt to taste

Ingredients:

1 banana
1/2 cup of blueberries
1/4 cup of apple juice
4 ice cubes
1 cup of spinach

Directions:

Put first 4 ingredients in blender until smooth, then add spinach and blend until smooth.

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp honey
1 cup almond milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 c ice

Directions:

Blend until smooth

Optional: I have been known to substitute powdered almonds for the extract and protein powder. About 2 tablespoons almonds and omit the extract and protein powder.

There are a lot of “fad” or “crash” diets out there that promise that you’ll find a way of losing 10 pounds easily.

I tried some of them and in my experience the weight always comes back as soon as you go off the diet some weight loss tips given are not something that will work with your body. One thing you do not want to do if you are truly serious about losing weight is to follow these fad diets and their ridiculous weight loss tips. After their ineffectiveness has been proven time and time again, people still want a quick fix, and head on the search for a new trend. Lets be honest, people are always searching for new weight loss tips because they want to lose pounds and they want immediate results, but this is just wishful thinking. If you use a crash diet, starvation diet, zero calorie diet, etc. not only will you be seriously compromising your health, but you have a 90% chance of regaining the weight you lost within a month and around a 70% of gaining more than you lost.

To lose weight permanently and effectively is a rather slow progress, according to your metabolic rate and how much you lose. However, there is evidence of proven weight loss tips to help in the process of losing weight, and I can familiarize you with them.

REMEMBER! If you’ve made no effort, the weight WILL come back eventually.

Weight Loss Tip 1
Do not skip breakfast. Whatever else you do or don’t do, you MUST follow this advice, because otherwise it is much more likely to be a factor in binging later in the day. Eating a good breakfast within 45 minutes of waking up sets your metabolism into overdrive all day. Even more so if you manage to get in 15 mins of cardio before you eat. Skipping breakfast moves your metabolism into sluggish mode so even if you eat a good lunch, you’re grazing/craving all late afternoon and evening.

Weight Loss Tip 2
Don’t consume food for 2 hours before going to bed. Anything you eat in this time will convert to body fat.

Weight Loss Tip 3
Do not snack while watching TV. It is acceptable to eat a meal while watching television, but it is never acceptable for snacking. Always snack where you can track what you are eating. If you absolutely must snack during tv watching, ONLY bring an acceptable amount of food. 1 apple, 1 cookie, etc. You should never consume more than around 200 calories for a snack (including your beverage).

Weight Loss Tip 4
Don’t eat sugar filled treats, eat fruits instead like; bananas, apples, watermelon, nectarines, peaches, cantaloupe, strawberries, and oranges.

Weight Loss Tip 5
Substitute honey for sugar and carob powder for chocolate in all recipes. These taste just as good if not better, when used correctly. Replacing white flour with wheat flour is a huge help too if you can.

Weight Loss Tip 6
Eat more vegetables. There are many many recipes using vegetables that can be found in cookbooks or on the internet. Sneak veggies into things where you wont notice. Add grated carrots, squash, or zucchini to spaghetti sauce for example. You wont even notice a flavor change.

Weight Loss Tip 7
Avoid foods high in calories. Instead try a nutrient rich, sweet tasting smoothie, or a salad not rich in calories, for example, try cottage cheese or yogurt to improve the taste of salads and take off the pounds.

Weight Loss Tip 8
Exercise for at least half an hour every day for four days a week. This doesn’t HAVE to be a solid half hour. You can break it into 10 or 15 minute increments. Biking on a stationery bike while reading is a great way to go, or put a tv in front of the treadmill, or walk with your e-Reader. In conclusion, there is nothing to prevent you from losing weight except yourself.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. orange juice
1/3 c. chopped beets
1 c. blueberries
1/2 c. vanilla yogurt
1 scoop protein powder
6 ice cubes (or use frozen berries and omit ice)

Directions:

Blend until smooth

Ingredients:

2 medium apples – cored, chopped, peeled (some people like this skin on but I find it’s a hassle getting the skin to mix properly.
1/4 c. unsweetended applesauce
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. ice

1 scoop protein powder if this is a meal replacement.

Directions:

Mix apples, milk, and cinnamon (and powder if using). Pay special attention for lumps if you decided not to peel.
Add applesauce and ice.
Blend on whip setting until smooth.

Optional: Note that you can replace the apples completely with around a 1/2 c. applesauce per apple but note that the calories will go up somewhat.

Ingredients:

1 c. warm water (milk works too) (not too hot if using a glass blender, as it could break)
1 medium banana (overripe if you have it)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger (I’ve also used nutmeg and omitted altogether)
1 T. ground walnut (optional)

I drink this as is, but hubby adds sugar to it so sweeten to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients until smooth and drink warm.

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen cranberries (you can substitute juice, around 1/2 – 3/4 cup but it adds a bunch of preservatives and crap)
1 medium orange, seeded, peeled and skinned, then divided into sections.
Zest of 1 medium orange
1 cup unsweetened orange juice
1/2 cup skim milk
small handful of fresh spinach leaves

Directions:

Combine spinach, cranberries, oranges, and orange juice.
Blend until thick but smooth. Add more juice by the tablespoon if needed to thin out the cranberries enough to blend.
Add remainder of ingredients and mix until smooth.

1 can frozen concentrated orange juice
1 cup lowfat milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 t. pure vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp of the imitation stuff)

Blend until smooth. If its too thick for you, increase water until you’re happy with it

Broccoli is very good for you, and good for the kids, but not everyone likes the taste. It’s just loaded with vitamins C and K, has alittle of almost everything else, and is a great form of fiber. So here we’re going to have our broccoli but hide the taste

Ingredients:

1 slightly overripe banana
6 strawberries (my sister says blueberries work too but haven’t tried it myself)
3 raw cauliflower florets
3 raw broccoli florets
2/3 c vanilla yogurt (strawberry flavor works too but will up the calorie content)
1/2 T smooth light peanut butter
1. T. honey (optional, for sweetness)
skim milk as needed

Directions:

Toss the broccoli and cauliflower and banana into the blender with a tablespoon or so of milk and whirl on low a bit until it’s smushy.
Add the peanut butter, berries, (honey if using) and yogurt and blend until smooth. Use more milk if needed to make it thinner if you like.

This smoothie has around 300 calories and comes out tasting sweet.

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk
1/2 large banana
3/4 cup frozen Mango or Papaya
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup cauliflower floretts
3/4 cup shredded cabbage
3 Tbsp. Vanilla Protein Powder
2 T. Flax seed (powdered, or you can use oil but oil wont add fiber). Optional, for Vitamin B, fiber, antioxidants, omega 3 benefits.

Directions:

Add milk, banana, and veggies to blender and whirl until chopped up well.
Add Yogurt and blend.
Add Mango and blend
Add Protein powder and flax seed and blend until smooth.

So it has come to my attention that one of our subscribers is suffering from some bone related health issues, so I promised to find her a smoothie good for bones and joints.

Orange-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice

Directions:

Mix in blender until smooth.

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For a veggie alternative try this one:

1 cup green grapes
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 frozen banana, sliced into chunks
1/2 cup pineapple chunks (packed in water not syrup)
1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice

spin the grapes, leaves and juice first to avoid lumps. Add everything else and blend until smooth. The yogurt hides the taste of the spinach

There are no fruits that contain vitamin D and the only veggie that does is a white mushroom so I suggest that unless you spend lots of time outdoors in the sun, pick up a bottle of vitamin d drops from your pharmacy or health food store. 1 drop a day is all you need and it’s tasteless