I lost 10 pounds in two weeks

Below are some smoothies that I used but first a few tips and side notes. 

You can substitute ingredients in your smoothies. Just make sure you know the calories of each item.  Also, you do not have to use ice if your fruit is frozen.  Lastly, you can cut back on an ingredient if you prefer or remove completely. Just know this may change the calorie count. For example, I cut back on lime juice in my smoothies (which has no calories so this only changed the taste) or I have been using lime juice and not lemon.  I also added ginger or Cayenne to some, which only added 2-3 more calories.

This is what I did to lose ten pounds. I drank two smoothies a day (I made mine the night before as I’m not a morning person); I sipped on my first between breakfast and lunch (sometimes sooner).  I also had my morning coffee and then I drank my second smoothie for lunch.  Around three, if I was hungry, I had a LIGHT snack (cheese, apple, etc.).  At dinner, I ate a sensible portion dinner.  I always eat what my boys want for dinner!  I try to cook healthy but I did have pizza, and other things I enjoy (meaning, I did not cut out carbs).  Dessert was hard because my boys would eat cookies etc. but I started making my own ice cream.  To make this I used bananas.  I would put them in my blender and blend them until they were smooth. Then I added cocoa, chocolate chips, strawberries etc. to make different kinds.  Let me tell you they are amazing and refreshing.  The plus side is they kick that sweet tooth’s butt!  Now I would not have this every night, only when the desire was there. Now I did enjoy a S’more the other night (this was after 2 weeks of drinking green smoothies).  It was a nice night to use the fire pit!

All I did was take some smoothie recipes I found online and created a plan that worked for me.  So take mine and make your own :)  Also remember if you want A cookie one night, have A cookie. Just make sure this does not become a daily thing.  Try to make your own desserts (cookies) as well.  It gets you moving and, if you have kids, it can be a fun family activity.  Self-control is the biggest thing.  Do your research, lose the weight correctly and find something that you will stick with!

One last side note. I take all my fruit and greens and freeze them.  After lots of Googling, I have learned  to cut the fruit and place it on a cookie sheet, then put it in the freezer for a couple of hours before placing it in a plastic bag (I like Hefty Slide Zip, because I can squeeze most of the air out of the bags). Works great.  It keeps the fruit from freezing together making it easy to portion out.

Note: I did not create any of the smoothies. They are all found online and at Queen Letifah’s page.

I found this website very helpful to find new smoothies:  http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

I also used this site to help me find out calorie counts:  http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-fresh-or-dried-vegetables-celery-raw_f-ZmlkPTYzMzAw.html

I also got 3 or 4 recipes from a book called Super Shred: The Big Results Diet: 4 Weeks 20 Pounds Lose It Faster!  By: Ian K. Smith. My step-mom had this book and it was loaded with smoothie recipes and so much more. For those who really want to take off the pounds, I found 3 or 4 that I thought sounded good.

Avocado Supreme: 298 Calories

¼ cup Avocado

2 tsp Lime Juice

¾  cup Mango

1tsp honey

1 ½ cup crushed ice

Cedric Smoothie:  322 calories

1 ¼-cup mango chopped (about half a mango)

1 Cup Kale

2 Tbsp Lime Juice

¼ cup avocado (half of an avocado)

1-cup coconut water

Serengeti Smoothie (anti-aging):  292 calories

4 Dried Figs

1 ¼- cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 1/3- cup Banana (one and half bananas)

1 tsp. Raw cacao (I use cocoa, having trouble finding cacao)

Zazibar Smoothie(boosting skin brightness): 299 Calories

1-cup Pineapple

1-cup Banana (one whole banana)

¾ cup Cold Coconut water

1tsp. ginger peeled (about an inch of fresh ginger)

1tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. raw coconut nectar

1/8 tsp turmeric (also great to make a mask with for your face)

Caribbean Green Power: 200 Calories (2 servings)

1-cup Chopped Kale

1-cup Spinach

½ medium Gala Apple

1 ½ Tbsp. Lemon Juice

¾ cup water

1 tsp. ground ginger (I use fresh)

7 pieces frozen Pineapple chunks

Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Cucumber-Pear vitalizer: 178 calories

1 Cucumber

1 Green Pear

Pinch of ground ginger

The Boston Green Monster: 294 calories

1 cup Kale

1 med Cucumber

1 Green Apple

1 tsp. grated Ginger

1 ½ Tbsp. Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp sugar (I use the raw coconut nectar)

10 ice cubes

Peanut Butter and Banana: 350 calories

2 Tbsp Cocoa powder

2 Tbsp peanut Butter

1 banana

8 oz Greek Yogurt (if you are not a fan of tart use flavor Greek yogurt)

Cinnamon (sprinkled on top)

Ice ( I did use the ice for this one)

Not Easy Green:  278 calories

1 green apple

½ cup frozen spinach

1 in piece of ginger peeled

½ cup water

½ cup avocado (opt.)(I did add it to the cal. Count so if you take it subtract 170 cal.)

Strawberry Peach: 301 calories

 2 cups Bok Choy

2 cups Almond milk

2 cups Peaches

1 cup Strawberries

A Sweet Pear: 291 calories (2 servings)

 2 cups Spinach

2 cups unsweetened Almond Milk

4 Pears  ( I only used 2/ pears are 86 cal. Each)

1 Banana

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Chocolate Covered Cherry: 261 calories (2 servings)

2 cups spinach

2 cups unsweetened Almond Milk

2 Cups Cherries

2 Bananas

1 tsp. Cinnamon

3 Tbsp. Cocaca

Pinch of Cayenne (opt.)

A meal: 565 calories

2 cups coconut water  ( I used 1 cup Coconut water and ½ cup water, if you do you can take a way 21 cal. )
2 cups Spinach

2 cups Pineapple

1 avocado ( used ½ which was only 170 cal. Makes the cal count 395)

Celery time: 242 Calories

4 celery stalks

1 cucumber

½ green apple

½ lime (I used lime juice)

½ cup Almond milk

1 cup Pineapple