Weight Loss Shakes – The Delicious Solution to Weight Loss

It’s hot outside. You don’t feel like cooking. You just want a nice refreshing drink to cool you down and fill you up. Well, you can have that - and lose weight at the same time. Weight loss shakes are your answer to delicious, nutritious weight loss in the summertime.

Once you understand the basics of a weight loss shake, you’re limited only by your taste buds when it comes to the endless combinations you can try. But, first, let’s go over what makes them weight loss shakes and not just plain old, high-calorie milkshakes.

1.    Weight loss shakes rarely, if ever, use milk in the recipe. And if they do, it’s skim milk, soymilk, or skim milk powder.

2.    The refreshing coldness of a weight loss shake comes from crushed ice or frozen fruits - not from ice cream, or even sorbet.

3.    A weight loss shake is meant to be a replacement for a meal, dessert. There is nothing on earth you can drink with a meal that will make you lose weight.

Those are the basic rules.  Your weight loss foundation should be as follows:

•    Cold water
•    Crushed ice
•    2 tablespoons skim milk powder, if you want a creamy consistency
•    1 tablespoon flax seed oil or wheat germ (for added health benefits - they don’t change the taste at all!

Once you get those elements, all you need is a blender and you’re good to go. Just add the ingredients you love best, whip it up in the blender, and pour into a glass to enjoy your weight loss shake.

Most people have their weight loss shakes in the morning - you get all your vitamins, and a healthy dose of natural sugars to get your metabolism jump started, without the mid-morning coma-inducing aspects of bread products or the gassy effects of milk with cereal.

Even out of season, you can buy bags of frozen berries and keep them in the fridge to dump into the blender for a frozen treat. You can also cut up your fruit beforehand and freeze it as well.

For an extra dose of protein as well as great flavor, add a tablespoon of low-fat peanut butter to a banana shake. Try it. It’s delicious.

If you’re partial to pineapple, substitute the skim milk above with coconut milk or even pieces of coconut, for a daiquiri taste that’s hard to beat.

Make sure not to cheat by getting your smoothie or shake at Starbucks. Starbucks tends to use sugary syrups and other ingredients that boost up the calorie count, which defeats the point of calling it a weight loss shake.

Want the “crunchy stuff” that is popular in some milkshakes? Drop in a few nuts to the mix, and voila.

If you’re a chocolate addict, no need to despair. Carob powder will give you that chocolate taste you love, without sacrificing calories or fat.