Smoothies - off limits?

[swinglifeaway 64]

I'm pre-op, and still wrapping my head around the things I should eat and shouldn't. I haven't really found too many things I'm going to miss too much, except smoothies. Are they frowned upon? Can anyone personally tolerate them? I always make green smoothies with berries and/or pineapple, etc. I never add sugar, so I'm hoping it wouldn't cause dumping.

[fernandfj 469]

i make a protein/fruit smoothie every morning and have been doing so since surgery. I use berries, bananas, whatever fruit I have handy or PB-2 and cacao powder and sweeten when needed with splenda. I swear by them. I also blend veggies sometimes for a drink in the afternoons. I have a sleeve and have never had a problem with them.

[Bufflehead 6,358]

smoothies tend to have a lot of sugar (not table sugar, sugar from fruit) and carbs, so they are basically just a way to mainline a lot of sugar, calories, and carbs into your system without even getting much satiety from them or even Fiber, since much of the fiber is destroyed in the blending process.

There is no way I could have had smoothies and still stayed within my daily limits for carbs and sugar during weightloss phase.

[DeletedMember 715]

My doctor actually recommends them - green smoothies that is. He is very anti-processed foods, so he does not really like the Protein shakes. He asks his patients to move off of them as quickly as possible post-surgery and go to a green smoothie with whey Protein Powder within 4-5 days (I'm one week post-op and having a banana, strawberry, blueberry, spinach, whey Protein One right now). Even the whey Protein Powder is not "real food", and wants us off that as well when we can consume enough food to get our Protein a more natural way.

His view on smoothies is that you still are getting the fiber from fruit (and he has no restrictions on fruit other than immediately post-op of course) so it slows the absorption of sugar and doesn't create a spike, unlike juicing which removes the fiber, which he is opposed to.

I should say, my doctor is much different that almost all of those on here. He does not require the high levels of protein most others require. He looks for 50g a day for females and 60g a day for males. He believes in a "veggie first" approach as opposed to a "protein first" approach. He is also not "anti-carb", he is anti-refined carb and processed anything. So, as long as you are getting your carbs from fruit, Beans, lentils, etc. he is fine with it.

He also does not promote fats at all other than through sources like nuts, avocados, etc. He allows a TBS of olive oil daily.

This can be a sensitive topic though, I would ultimately recommend you go with whatever your doctor recommends.

[Ronjohn 84]

I have a smoothie every morning. It contains greek yogurt, fairlife milk, 6 frozen strawberries and four packets of splenda. It has 18 grams of Protein, 18 grams of carbs, 0 grams of fat and 142 calories. I moved to this when I got off the Protein shakes. I am actually debating going back to the Protein Shakes as I seemed to lose more weight on them even though they had more calories. May have just been a coincidence...

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

Certainly not off limits. smoothies run the gamut from calorie and sugar bombs to a great source of a complete nutritional package. They are just like salads...they are as healthy or unhealthy as you choose to make them. They can be extremely useful for getting your Protein (via powder) during liquid stage of post-op, and they can also be great ways to restart weight loss after a stall.

[camry2016 78]

I drink one most mornings for breakfast: whey Protein, unflavored almond or coconut milk, frozen berries and spinach.

Sometimes I add PB2.

I am still pre-surgery, however my NUT signed off on me continuing with smoothies post surgery if I'm tolerating them well. She said the one I make meets the nutritional goals...as long as I don't add bananas or other high carb/sugar foods.

[catwoman7 10,870]

I still have them occasionally - but I make them differently than I did pre-surgery. Now I use less fruit and add Protein powder (if you use a fruit-flavored Protein powder, it makes up for some the loss of flavor you'd get from the extra (real) fruit). I also use unsweetened almond or cashew milk now instead of juice. I usually add plain Greek yogurt to boot - but I did that before surgery as well.

and of course I don't drink a giant size amount anymore, either.

[Valentina 2,642]

I just had a visit with my Nut. last Thurs.. She actually recommended that I ADD a greek yogurt/frozen fruit (no added sugar)/no sugar almond mild smoothie every day. She thinks my daily menu is lacking carbs.

Time will tell, but it sure does add a well appreciated flavor bomb to my taste buds.

Right now I'm taking a smoothie to bed with me instead of a Protein shake. I sip on it during night.

[Clementine Sky 707]

I never order smoothies when I'm out and about like I used to because they're often low in Protein and high in sugar, but I have them at home all the time. Trader Joe's Greek yogurt and Fage have around 22 grams of Protein per cup and make a good base for a smoothie. Siggi's is also low in carbs and high in protein. I add a cup of frozen berries or nectarines that have 20 carbs or less, fresh berries, or something like Del Monte's natural peach cups (sugar free is 12 carbs). I top it with a couple of tablespoons of Trader Joe's chia seeds for protein and fiber, and then some ice. I also enjoy smoothies I make using Fair Life milk and Trader Joe's frozen sweet potatoes (which are relatively low in carbs) with a little sugar free Torani pumpkin pie Syrup or pumpkin pie spice. I'll sometimes make smoothies using protein powder, milk, Pic's Peanut Butter (delicious and 1 gram of carb) or PB2.

[Dub 9,922]

Certainly not off limits. smoothies run the gamut from calorie and sugar bombs to a great source of a complete nutritional package. They are just like salads...they are as healthy or unhealthy as you choose to make them. They can be extremely useful for getting your Protein (via powder) during liquid stage of post-op, and they can also be great ways to restart weight loss after a stall.

Well said !!!!

There is a smoothie King in my gym and I've avoided it like the plague.....mainly due to ignorance over all the varieties they offer. A quick glance at the menu and I felt like it was a caloric minefield that I simply haven't been prepared to wade through.

St. Patrick's day found me waiting around an airport with a few hours to kill. I hadn't eaten that day....and walked around and looked at the options available to me......bar & grill foods, chicken spots and burger joints. Nothing really appealed to me.....then there was a Smoothie King.

I've been coached up by a good friend about some of their leaner, low carb options and I decided to give one of them a try. I believe it was called The Gladiator....could be wrong. It's a good thing I was coached prior as the girl running the Smoothie King professed to be clueless as to the nutritional info on anything on the menu. It was pretty decent, but my mistake was ordering a large version......sipped on that thing for two hours and tossed the rest in the trash.

That was my first smoothy since sleeve surgery. I"m sure it won't be my last, but it's just something that's not really on my desired eats right now. Protein shakes suffice. Once I reach my goal fighting weight.....then it may be a convenient way to get in desired macros.....protein and some veggies....small amount of fruit.....I can see where they'd be helpful to me then.

[Afrikanaaa 79]

I'm two-months out and just got the go ahead from my nutritionist to make my own green smoothies last week.

A green smoothie with Protein or hemp oil is good. -- I experienced some serious dumping when I tried an almond milk or Peanut Butter addition.

[jane13 2,256]

I agree with Sleevywonder - it depends on WHAT the smoothie/shake has for ingredients. I use the plain, NF greek yogurt as a base and water/ice or unsweetened almond/cashew milk and then add from there.

In general my smoothies/shakes always have powdered flavored Protein (30grams of protein).

I add to an unflavored powdered Protein (26 grams of protein) a small amount of fruit 1/4C, or a small cup of fruit flavored NF greek yogurt. Then I only add water/ice/almond/cashew milk.