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Green smoothies not keeping me full

I'm noticing that when I have my green smoothies that I'm hungry about an hour later. Somedays I'm fine for hours but other days it just doesn't cut it. I have 2 a day and my husband is always teasing me about grazing because an hour later I'm in the kitchen looking around for something else.

Is there something a little heartier that I could put in to keep me full? I do spinach, kale, coconut water chia seeds sometimes and apples. The apples usually work but they don't all the time even if I put in a lot. I'm a little worried about calories too because I'm in England and I like to walk everywhere I go but its raining a lot and a lot of times its cold. So I don't want all of those calories and sugar that I don't burn off as much as if it were hot.

I got coconut oil today, would that help?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michelle on July 6, 2012 at 4:22pm

How many oz to you make? I typically make 44-50 oz of smoothie and the whole smoothie recipe gets me around 500 calories. I often use banana(s), mango, pineapple, whole lemons, always a lot of greens, and soaked chia seed. Coconut oil is delicious in smoothies too or you could use 1/2 avocado also. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Rayne on July 6, 2012 at 4:43pm

I make a 32 oz smoothie for a meal replacement. It keeps me full for hours.If I am really hungry, I eat a toasted peanut butter sandwich with it:)

Permalink Reply by Carrie Stoica on July 6, 2012 at 4:57pm

I have a big mason jar and usually I make too much to put it all in the jar so its a good amount. I'm afraid of all the fruit, I want to be able to burn it off. I'll try it though, maybe its not so bad.

Permalink Reply by Wendy Geesey on July 6, 2012 at 8:38pm

Fat is loaded with calories and is not an optimal fuel source for the body- not as nutritious as fruit either, which is the best fuel source for both body and brain. I'm an 811'er tho- so I'm not big on fat at all! Fat turns to fat- sugar is burned much easier. I suggest you either put bananas and/or dates in your smoothie or eat a few before you drink one. Dr. Graham wrote the book, The 80-10-10 Diet if you wanna read more on 811. If you aren't getting enough carbs your body is going to signal your brain that you're hungry. The difference in days could be glycogen storage- if you have enough you might not be as hungry, if you don't- you will be.

Permalink Reply by Supermom on July 7, 2012 at 11:05pm

Hi Carrie,

There seem to be very few calories in your smoothie. The suggestions here all sound good to me, particularly Wendy's 80/10/10 suggestions. You might also experiment with adding hemp seeds.

Have you used the free website cronometer.com to calculate your food intake/expenditure?

Permalink Reply by Alessandra on July 8, 2012 at 1:21am

You say you are afraid of fat, but honestly, if it is a vegetable fat, such as avocado, I don't see how it is bad. I am not an 80-10-10 person, but healthy fats are a necessary component of our diets, especially if you are very active, live in a cold environment, etc. I make my green smoothies with one banana, one orange, some strawberries...5-10, a kiwi perhaps, and then I put in a lot of greens. I generally make around 40 -44 ounces I think, it usually is more than 1 quart....and the greens I typically put in are kale and mixed baby greens/lettuces. Whichever greens you use, use alot. That will help keep you full. And also realize that just because you are feeling something in your stomach (the sensation we interpret as hunger) it isn't always hunger. It often is just our body cleansing, which starts in the stomach, and we think it is hunger as it stops when we eat something. This happens less the longer you are raw or on a clean diet. But I agree...you need more calories in your smoothies. Don't be afraid of the fruit or the greens....my goodness. It is all good...think of all of the 'muck' you aren't eating....no meat, no dairy, no pastries, etc. Don't stress over it all so much. When you are more into it you can fine tune it but for now...just get those greens and fruits into you....and enjoy!

Permalink Reply by Wendy Geesey on July 8, 2012 at 10:04am

Hi Alessandra- I'm assuming you are talking to me about the fat? b/c Carrie said she doesn't want sugar/excess calories. I'm not "afraid" of fat, but when fat is high in the diet it really doesn't matter where it comes from- it clogs the system and coats the cells. Sure, if you're eating a lot of fried food you're going to get sicker faster, but a high fat diet- NO MATTER WHAT THE SOURCE, is going to cause illness/disease.

And this is true about the sensation in the stomach, but I hadn't heard the cleansing theory before. What I read is that it's the stomach muscles contracting as the stomach empties- and just b/c the stomach is empty doesn't mean we should put something in it, lol :) A carb deprived brain can signal hunger too as can nutrient depravity. Are you getting enough Vit. D, B12 and iodine? A lot of raw food people use Himalayan or Celtic Sea salt that does not contain iodine... and since I don't add salt to my diet at all I crave it if I don't take kelp tablets! since my body was used to getting iodine from a salt source.

Carrie- you should actually be more concerned about fat in your diet as opposed to fruit sugar b/c fat is a concentrated source of calories! 1 tablespoon of fat is about 120 calories.... so is a LARGE banana! which one is going to fill you up more?! and which one is going to provide you with more nutrition, hydration, fiber?!!!

Permalink Reply by Wendy Geesey on July 8, 2012 at 11:26am

Keep an eye on your blood sugar Jane- a high fat diet is a per-cursor to diabetes (as well as a host of other ills). And there just aren't enough calories in greens of veggies to sustain life ;) If I were you I would actually add some cooked food calories instead of the fat... such as rice, sweet potatoes, squash... high fat and high protein is a serious health risk. Just in case you run into issues keep the 80-10-10 diet in mind... even tho he advocates fruit being our major source of calories I would go with a cooked plant food source before adding in raw fat sources...

Permalink Reply by Carrie Stoica on July 8, 2012 at 12:45pm

OK guys! Calm down, we're all just trying to help each other. So do whatever works :)

I'm still confused to be honest, so I'm just going to experiment with the smoothies or not make them my lunch and breakfast soley. It seems to be better in the last few days but I've eaten more calories for breakfast and I'm not sooo hungry by the time I get to lunch like before.

Permalink Reply by Wendy Geesey on July 8, 2012 at 2:04pm

Wow!! I'm really sorry to have offended Jane! :( I don't think I was drawing conclusions... I actually think everyone should check their fasting blood sugar!!! I was shocked when mine read pre-diabetic!!! So many people walk around with diabetes and aren't even aware of it- it's not until maybe 3 or so years after they've had it that they start to notice severe enough symptoms to address it. Glucometers are only about $15 on sale at any drug store- the kits come with blood strip and lancets and the lancet gizmo. I didn't get her entire comment to my email, so not sure what else she had to say, but I'm glad she is thriving!!

Great job Carrie- it did sound like you needed more!

Permalink Reply by Wendy Geesey on July 8, 2012 at 5:07pm

Hey Carrie- I also wanted to talk you very much for seeing that I was just trying to help/care! I guess in my passion for 811 I came on a little strong :( Darn. I'll certainly try to be more careful about that going forward. It's kinda hard though when I had been eating a raw food diet for over a year and thought it was healthy when in reality it was causing diabetes.... and then was able to reverse that in just 6 weeks with 811. The average raw fooder's diet can actually reach twice as high as the SADiet!!! so, yeah, I care... if I didn't I wouldn't share. Thanks again Carrie! <3

Permalink Reply by Carrie Stoica on July 8, 2012 at 5:48pm

Wendy, It's obvious that you care so much and want to help! I totally understand and if I'd gone through what you did, I would want to tell everyone too. It can save a lot of people that don't know, I had no idea that you could still get diabetes on a raw diet.

After I got ibs from taking antibiotics, I tell everyone that has to be on antibiotics to make sure that they are taking probiotics. Its so horrible having it and I wouldn't want anyone to ever get it if its so easy to avoid.