Would fruit smoothies help me lose weight?

[Eesha]

I want to make a dent in my weight and was thinking of shakes as a quick go to, but then thought would a healthy smoothie do the job too? Any thoughts, just for a few days to kick start any weight loss?

No. They are classed as junk food. Loaded with calories and sugar. Might me natural fruit sugar but still sugar.

You are better off eating the actual fruit.

Do you mean just having smoothies instead of a meal?

Even so if it is fruit smoothie as a meal replacement I would imagine with the sugar hit you'll be hungry pretty quickly.

You'd be better off with protein or low gi food that will keep you full.

Yes, that's why they wouldn't be the same as a meal replacement drink. They don't contain a balance of proteins etc and would give you a sugar hit, a lot of calories and not much to actually fill you up.

You could try (very) low carb meals for 3 to 5 days, if you'd rather eat food than have just meal replacement shakes.

Smoothie is better than juice, as you still retain the whole of the fruit. But a glass of water and piece of fruit will still be better for you and satiate you for longer

What if she added some peanut butter? or an egg? (not sure I'd like the egg but I've seen it on here before)
and by sugar hit - do you mean the banana and berries?

I make them for my teens - a cup of milk, a banana and a handful of berries. Is that bad? I thought I was giving them their two fruits and a serve of dairy!

Absolutely full of sugar.
Vegetables/salads would be much better.

Do you have a juicer? Maybe try the Jason Vale 3 day detox as it's quite fruit based to get you used to it. His longer plans are more vegetable based. The apps are on offer at 99p at the moment.

I did the 3 day one, felt great and lost 4lbs which kick-started me to go on to lose a considerable amount of weight.

He also does a blending plan as well if it's definitely smoothies/blends you're after or you don't have a juicer - I think the average weight loss is about 7lbs in a week if you follow his recipes.

If you go heavy on the spinach and use water with a dash of almond milk (banana or chia to thicken) then yes!