Quick question! Tips appreciated!

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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Zuudy
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Quick question! Tips appreciated!

Post by Zuudy » Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:35 pm

Hi, I'm new to this "diet". I literally just finished reading the site and I loved it so much I'm officially committing.

I did have one quick question though. After workouts I almost always have a fruit smoothie as a recovery food. However, I think this might fall under the "snack" category. Any help on this or just tips in general would be wonderful.

Thank you!

wosnes
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Post by wosnes » Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:45 pm

Well, since you don't chew a smoothie, it could be considered a between meal beverage, which is okay. Just make sure it's not too high in added sugars.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

Zuudy
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Post by Zuudy » Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:13 am

Ok thanks! I just wanted to make sure.

pirateman2k
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Post by pirateman2k » Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:14 am

IMO, this is a sweet and thus banned.

Go look at the Jamba Juice website.

A smoothie, picked totally at random--"Strawberries Wild" flavor, original size.

370 calories, 87g carbs--77grams of sugar! That's like TWO cans of Coke.


Martin Berkhan says this:
Never attempt to train yourself into a caloric deficit. Don't spend hours on the treadmill. Diet comes first, cardio second. The dumbest fat loss strategy ever devised is used by people that wake up early in the morning before going to work to do cardio and follow that up with "recovery shake." Congratulations, you just wasted two hours of your life. Cardio is good for cardiovascular health, but most people use cardio as a fat loss tool - and force themselves through regimens that aren't very conducive to their daily routine (or mental sanity). Next time, skip the shake and the cardio. Sleep two hours longer, but skip breakfast and fast until lunch time. This way you can create the same caloric deficit with the added bonus of feeling more rested and having saved more time. You'll be much better off.
Why bother? Leave the sweet treat until your S-days.

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:56 am

Also, just because you pulverize solid foods into drinkable form doesn't make them a beverage in the true sense of the word. The main content should be water, as milk and fruit juices mostly are. And water.

If you do your cardio in the morning (just to feel good) and have your smoothie as a meal, you're No S-ing. Although I prefer to chew and would probably leave the foods as they are.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
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Jammin' Jan
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Post by Jammin' Jan » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:57 am

I like a fruit smoothie, too. In my case, it is a banana blended with a cup of fruit juice. The only reason I can drink it, though, is because the blender has already chewed the banana for me. So I think of it as part of a meal; between meals it would be a snack.
"Self-denial's a great sweetener of pleasure."
(Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner")

Cassie
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Post by Cassie » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:19 pm

If it's something you've bought & thus has added sugar then you're breaking the no sugar rule. To be honest, if its just fruit & its just the once a day, I would think it's ok but it depends really how often you go for this sort of snack / drink. Is it usually, do you think, once a day? more than once a day? what do your smoothies contain? I think if you keep note of your habits as time passes you'll know what counts as a 'snack' (breaking the snack rule) if you see what I mean, and you know what's just a drink to tide you over. There's a difference but I feel it' not written in black & white, you'll have to figure it out for yourself as time passes. Give it time, note your habits as they change, and you'll have your answer.

(One other similar example is jam. If someone has a tiny amount on their morning toast then that's fine. If you're piling the jam on, spoonfuls & spoonfuls of it, then that's breaking the no sugar rule. Its all about learning what works for each person & building on those habits).
Restarting NoS (after going back & forth over the last 4 years) in November 2013.

GOAL: to lose 10 kilos.
HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR: 1.6 kilo

Clarica
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Post by Clarica » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:56 pm

I'd reccommend a switch to fruit itself, or a cup of milk, if you can do dairy. For me, a valuable tool had been to take any 'reward' out of snacks. If I'm hungry, and I need it, a cup of milk (which I do like, it's just never any kind of a 'treat') satisfies my body's needs. A fruit smoothie has so much of that pleasurable sweetness, I might want it even if I don't need it, you know?

kccc
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Post by kccc » Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:03 pm

I'd consider it a snack. Too sweet/substantial.

However, a home-made one that was mostly juice/fruit could be part of a meal - like soup is. Some people have smoothies and toast or something like that for breakfast.

No-S works by cutting obvious excess. A post-workout smoothie would fall into that category to me.

(PS - Welcome!)

ThomsonsPier
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Post by ThomsonsPier » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:47 am

Cassie wrote:If it's something you've bought & thus has added sugar then you're breaking the no sugar rule.
There is no "no sugar" rule. The rule is "no sweets". The distinction, I understand, is there to establish a difference between putting sugar in your coffee (acceptable) and eating cake because it's made with artificial sweetener (not acceptable).

With regard to the smoothie, I'd say it's a snack, as is any other food that's not part of a meal. Just because it's pureed, doesn't mean it's not food. You can wait for ice cream to melt and drink it: it doesn't make it any healthier or remove any of the calories.
ThomsonsPier

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marygrace
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Post by marygrace » Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:08 pm

There's a recent thread around somewhere where some of us were discussing the merits of pre- and post-workout snacks. A lot of people are completely against the idea, but some (myself included) feel it has to do with the nature of your workout and timing of your other meals.

Personally, a small snack before very vigorous exercise works for me, but only because I tend to workout right before dinner (meaning lunch was 6 or 7 hours ago). In that case, I think it's important to build some rules around a snack like that so I don't end up straying and eventually trying to make weird justifications like "Oh, it's 3 p.m. and I'm exercising in 3 hours, a cookie from the coffee shop will keep me energized." No way. My rule is I can have a handful of raw nuts right before working out--literally on the way to the studio. That's it.

Why am I telling you this? I think my situation is a good example for seeing that you need to honestly evaluate your situation and find what works for you. A few key questions to ask yourself:

1. Like others have mentioned, is this a homemade smoothie or one from a store? If it's the latter, ditch it entirely because it's probably got way too much sugar. If it's the former, find a basic recipe that you agree to stick with (maybe 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 frozen banana + 1/2 cup blueberries or something--but this is your default and you can't stray from it).

2. Does your exercise REALLY warrant a post-recovery smoothie? If you're a hardcore weight lifter, a protein shake might really be important. If you're doing 30 minutes on the elliptical, you can probably skip the smoothie and wait til your next meal. It's important to be honest with yourself here; are you drinking the smoothie because your body really needs it, or because you're used to it and enjoy having it?

3. When is your next meal? If you decide you can go without the smoothie, try exercising at a time that's closer to your next meal so you'll still be able to fuel up soon after working out.

Hope this helps. Let us know what you decide!

wosnes
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Post by wosnes » Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:41 pm

My daughter (who is now at nearly 50 pounds lost since August) works out for an hour daily, often after dinner. No snack afterwards. She does allow herself a small afternoon snack, but she has it at the same time of day no matter what time she works out.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:40 pm

Welcome, Zuudy!

Sorry you didn't get more of a consensus one way or the other, but it's a bit borderline. Smoothies are kind of sweet, and they're somewhere between solid and liquid, so it's not a totally clear call.

I think you'll have to decide for yourself whether you think it'll work for you -- and be ready to experiment.

I personally do sometimes have a smoothie with breakfast, but they're home made, and not too loaded with sugar. I think alarms would start to go off if I had them between meals or drank sugar-loaded store bought ones.

Best of luck whatever you decide,

Reinhard

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