Sun Dream Orange and Banana Smoothie
(and losing weight again)
Green Smoothie of the week
Take this smoothie, lie back in the sun and taste the fruity, refreshing and zingy flavours of this summery sensation. If you don’t have any sun (like me) close your eyes and imagine the warming power of the sun as you drink this smoothie. It really does awaken all your senses. Today I am also going to give you an update on my weight loss progress and goals.
Weight Gain during pregnancy
After losing 56 pounds and getting down to my ideal weight, I fell pregnant straight away and ended up putting back on about 35 pounds during my pregnancy. Although I was still fairly healthy a lot of the time during my pregnancy I also ate a lot of chocolate around Christmas time before realising it really wasn’t agreeing with me, went out for lots of meals and ended up eating a lot of junk due to moving house and a hand injury which prevented me chopping fruit and veg.
Slow weight loss this time
So after I had my baby I had a lot of weight to lose again but took a totally different approach to the last time I lost weight. The first time I lost 56 pounds I was trying to recover from illness which motivated me to eat a lot more healthily, but after my pregnancy I felt fine and healthy so I wasn’t motivated to lose weight and actually ended up putting on weight due to eating more chocolate again and basically a lot more junk. I wasn’t in any rush though and made very gradual changes to my diet, introducing more and more healthy food as time allowed and making healthier versions of my favourite treats.
A year later my diet is 100% better than it was. I’m more organised with my food and I’m now motivated by the need to make my baby healthy foods, so I make everything from scratch now.
What do I eat now
I always have a Green Thickie for breakfast, sometimes for lunch too, or a soup or salad with home made or raw hummus and rice cakes. For dinner I have a small cooked dinner on a very large green salad. Some evenings I have healthy snacks such as kale chips, smoothies, fruit puddings, popcorn etc. I very rarely eat anything heavily processed anymore and I think this has really helped to shift the weight back down again.
** Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that I can receive a small payment if you make a purchase through my links.
My current weight
I am now pretty much back to the same weight I was just before I got pregnant, so my old clothes are finally fitting and I’m feeling much better about myself. However I’m a woman, and we all know that women are never happy with their bodies! I was doing loads of exercise before my pregnancy so I think I was actually slimmer and much more toned, and now I don’t get time for much exercise so I’m less happy with my body than I was. And like most women I’d like to lose a few more pounds (maybe 7) and do some major toning up. I’m not in a massive rush though as I’m really enjoying being a Mum at the moment. I could have lost the weight a lot faster if I’d have put my mind to it, but I think losing weight slowly (if you can bear it!) is much better for you, as you have to learn to make long term sustainable changes to your diet. You learn to eat healthily every single day and it’s a part of your life, not just some quick fix diet that you will abandon after your holiday.
Sun Dream Orange and Banana Smoothie
After bringing this smoothie to a baby group that I go to, the consensus was it’s gorgeous, smoothie, refreshing, sweet and summery. I also love it so I absolutely had to share it with you. It’s a really easy smoothie to make with the ingredients most people generally have lying around their homes, oranges, apples and bananas, the most common fruit. Who would have though it would taste so good with these standard ingredients. A little bit of ginger here and a squeeze of lime juice (or lemon juice) there makes all the difference. The original recipe, called Green Machine by Cookie and Cake added some cilantro (Coriander) to it which I happened to have at the time which really gave it an unusual and fresh kick, but you can leave this out if you’re not so keen on the idea or don’t have any to hand.
She says she craves this smoothie day and night and after tasting it I can honestly say I’ve joined her now. I think about this smoothie quite a lot! (Is that sad?)
If you missed my post on how to make orange juice for your smoothie, you can check it out here.
I know many people are curious about how other people manage to lose weight as most of us still want to lose at least a couple of extra pounds. Of course I think it’s great to accept yourself for who you are and not get too hung up on losing weight, but realistically, we can’t help ourselves, we want to talk about weight loss. So I’ll keep you updated on my progress as I strive towards greater health and a beach ready body.
So I have told you all about my second major weight loss journey in the last couple of years. Are you happy with your weight? Do you have any weight loss strategies to share? Let me know if you enjoy this Sun Dream Orange and Banana Smoothie, and I’ll just keep on dreaming of the sun and drinking my smoothies.
Sun Dream Orange and Banana Smoothie (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie)
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Orange Juice I used the juice from 5 small oranges
- 1/4 Cup Water If you are drinking this straight away substitute one cup of water for ice
- 2 Apples
- 2 Bananas
- 2 Tablespoons Linseeds or ground flaxseeds if you don’t have a powerful blender.
- Juice of 2 small limes
- 2 teaspoons Ginger
- 1 Tablespoons packed Cilantro/Coriander (A small handful)
- OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED FOR HEALTH BENEFITS
- 1 Cup Spinach tightly packed or 2 cups loosely packed (or any other mild greens)
- 2-4 drops of orange therapeutic grade essential oils. Click here to find out where I buy my favourite therapeutic essential oils at wholesale prices
- 1 Filler Click here to choose a filler
Instructions
- Blend the ingredients in the order listed. Add more water if required to thin it out. Substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you already have. If your smoothie is too warm, you can cool it down in the fridge.
Notes
Gluten free*, raw*, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, sugar free, wheat free*, soya free*, salt free, nut free*
* If you want to check if you can drink green thickies on your special diet please read this first. This will suggest some substitutions so you can still enjoy Green Thickies with ingredients you can tolerate.
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Hi, I’m Katherine. I lost 56 pounds and recovered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by replacing meals with Green Thickies – my original smoothie concept.
Tim Flannery says
Katherine,
I mean this in all sincerity: you’re just lovely! I know from my wife that what you said about women always wanting to perfect their bodies is true (and many men also want to do the same)! However, based on your recent picture I don’t see where you still have 7 pounds to lose! You’re to be commended for your desire for continual improvement and for helping others in the same way but just realize you are already physically stunning! Also, I am just about to make this orange banana thickie for myself and my son and I can already anticipate how great it is going to taste. Thank you!
Katherine Natalia says
Aww thank you Tim, that’s very kind of you to say so. I’m much happier with the way I look than I was a few years ago but that desire to always improve will probably always be there. We are a work in progress, never finished and never perfected. Hopefully it’s possible to be constantly improving yet have learned the value of contentment along the way. Thank you so much for your support and lovely comments.
Tim Flannery says
Follow-up:
This is our new favorite! Thank you from sunny Texas!
Katherine Natalia says
That’s great you agree. It is a smoothie that is crying out to be drank in the sun! Send some sun over to the UK!
Jenny$1983 says
This tastes amazing, so summery and fresh – made me feel a lot better while staring at the grey skies! I just blended an orange into it instead of juicing any, just my preference. I had no kale so I used spinach, and no coriander, but I’d love to try it again with the coriander!
I know what you mean: I still have just a few inches of flab to shift that no one will believe me about, but I’m not imagining it! I always feel like saying, “Well thank you for saying that you’re happy with how I look, but I’m me and I’m not!”
I count calories (I have no restrictive/obsessive urges, and I think any would have shown after over 18 months doing this) and it’s changed my life – each calorie is valuable to me now, so I make sure they come from the best possible sources, and as a result my diet’s never been healthier, just like my hair, skin and nails. I know calorie counting’s not for everyone, but after ten years of trying to lose weight by just “eating healthily” it was like an epiphany when I started tracking my food!
Sorry for the long comment, but as you say, we always want to talk about weight loss – and thanks again for the recipe :)
Katherine Natalia says
Thanks so much for your comment. I’m so glad you like this recipe. It’s one of my favourites now. Yes Is usually prefer whole foods to juices too but I love the taste of a smoothie with a juice base instead of water, it gives it a different taste, but I don’t often do it.
Yes I know what you mean about compliments. We always want to improve the way we look, probably because we are bombarded with images of women who are enhanced with photo shop and aren’t real. But I always thing that if you’re healthy on the inside it should reflect that on the outside too. I’ve just started my journey trying to improve my health and still have some way to go, so I’m not in a rush with the way I look either. I’m sure things will gradually improve in time.
Yes you’ve got to do what works for you. I can’t be bothered to count calories but I do weigh myself a lot. People say I shouldn’t and that it will put me off losing weight but it doens’t. If the scales aren’t moving after a week I know I need to change something in my diet, and if it starts going up at least I’ve realised earlier rather than later. I can easily put on 7 pounds in a week so it’s better for me that I don’t let that happen. More for my clothes than anything. I want to stay in clothes that fit me rather than having about 4 wardrobes of different sized clothes in the loft.
Counting calories is a great way to keep your weight in check and especially if you focus on nutrients like you say. I totally agree. A lot of people think Green Thickies are high in calories but they are supposed to be a filling meal. You need to get your calories from somewhere and a Green Thickie is such a healthy way to do that. On days when I have them for breakfast and lunch too I am much less likely to put weight on if not lose some as I’m less likely to overeat when eating healthy food.
Jenny$1983 says
I usually use chilled green tea as the base of my smoothies – it upsets my stomach to drink it hot but I don’t want to go without the benefits, plus it lowers the caloric content. I adjust your recipes to fit into my calorie allowance (eg. less dried fruit: easy as I don’t need them to add sweetness so I just add maybe 1 tbsp for texture and a hint of flavour, maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup oats instead) and they still taste great and fill me up: it’s easy to tailor them to your needs without losing out.
I wouldn’t be bothered to count calories if it weren’t for MyFitnessPal.com – it feels more like a game! So easy too. I never weigh myself! I go by my appearance and how my clothes fit. I’m completely with you on the wardrobe thing: I’ve only bought one pair of new jeans (because the zip and button finally gave out on my old cheap pair of black skinny jeans) in the last few years, and it was a pain in terms of size. First, I was in between sizes so I had to go with the bigger size, but then they went from fitting fine at first to needing to be held up with a belt after only three weeks :-0 I can’t afford for that to happen very often…
Katherine Natalia says
Yes I occasionally drink green tea but I do try and avoid caffeine most of the time. That’s great you adjust the recipes. That’s the beauty of smoothies, once you’ve got an idea for the ingredients you can adjust so it fits your own needs perfectly. Sometimes I add more oats or dried fruit for my husband or if I need to last longer if I don’t known when I’ll be getting lunch.
That website sounds interesting. I’ll have to have a look. At some point I want to develop a diet plan so that kind of thing would be really useful. I think it’s a good idea to watch your calorie intake so that you get the right amount and also avoid eating too few calories too. If you’re not aware that your green smoothie only contains 100 calories you might wonder why you were starving an hour later and be tempted to eat something unhealthy. It’s good to be aware of which foods are more filling. I think a lot of foods are easy to overeat on so the more unhealthy you eat the more you have to watch your calories. When I was on my raw food diet I counted calories just out of interest but I ate everything I wanted until I was full. I ate about 2000 calories a day and consistently lost weight. So I don’t believe all calories are the same in terms of weight loss, as with a plan such as weight watchers, I stuck to the bare minimum calories/points and often didn’t lose weight for a month.
I know what you mean about jeans. I’ve only got one pair now too. It took me ages to find one pair that suited my body shape but now they are too big and falling down. I mainly wear leggins as they are so comfortable so I don’t notice myself putting on weight unless I weigh myself, but if you don’t need to do that it’s much better.
You seem to be doing a great job of keeping healthy and your weight down at the same time. Thank you for sharing your strategies.
Rosary says
Well, the main difference is that nauatrl peanut butter is generally just roasted peanuts and salt blended, whereas unnauatrl (?) generally contains lots of sugar, peanuts, salt and some stabilizers and additives. Basically, my guess is that if you are someone who wants spinach in your smoothie, you’ll want to go the nauatrl route, BUT if you only have the conventional kind, still go for it! Your smoothie will likely be a little sweeter, so you can add an extra handful of spinach.
Katherine Natalia @ Green Thickies says
Yes I do try and find peanut butter made without salt, sugar or oil but I have to admit I find the normal variety tastier! I have a sweet tooth so always make a sweet smoothie but I do include more spinach than I publish in my recipes in my daily smoothie as I don’t mind it at all.
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