I went on a 5 day Smoothie Diet journey and here is what I’ve learned while preparing myself for it. There are things you should prepare, things you should be aware of and situations you should be ready to tackle.

But I definitely have to mention, that I didn’t undertake this journey because I wanted to loose a lot of weight. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some kg that I could loose, but it wasn’t the main point. The main reason for me trying out this diet was to just try out something different and new. And the hope that I could integrate at least some of those smoothies into our daily life, even after the so called diet.

Because I know myself pretty good and I tend to need sometimes some snacks in between I loved the fact, that the book I based my smoothie diet on, mentioned that snacks are ok. BUT only if they are healthy and really in a sensible amount.

Healthy Snacks in Between

“Healthy snacks are absolutely ok if you are getting hungry-ish”

If you are on a diet and you are getting hungry you should do something about it. Because otherwise the possibility that you will do something you will regret a little bit later is increasing.

There are healthy snacks that consumed in a small amounts will not influence the outcome of a successful diet — whatever a successful diet is (that’s a totally different topic). Of course you could eat some fruits, but because of all those smoothies, you will probably very soon have enough of fruits and vegetables. So let’s talk about healthy alternatives to fruits and veggies.

Edamame

What the hack is Edamame? Juuuuust a fancy name for boiled green soybeans still in the pod. BUT in my opinion they absolutely deserve this fancy name, because they are really easy to make and super delicious. I first got in touch with them at DOTS, a Vienna experimental sushi restaurant, where they were served as appetiser as soon as you sat down at a table. They are not only delicious but also amazing if you are like me a person who needs to snack sometimes.

How to cook Edamame?

If you have bought Edamame still in their pods you need to boil them in salted water for about 1-2 minutes. If you prefer steaming over cooking, that’s also perfect for Edamame. After the Edamame are boiled or steamed, sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt. You can eat your freshly prepared snack hot or cold, which basically means you can put them in the fridge for a later snack.

If your Edamame is fresh, you’ll need to boil them for 5-6 minutes, so a little bit longer than the frozen ones.

How to eat Edamame?

You eat your Edamame hot or cold, but without the pods. What I love about them, except for their taste, is that you have to squeeze the beans out of their pods, which gives you something to do. I admit it’s probably not the best snack while playing a board game. But while reading a book or watching your favourite serial it is perfect.

Where can you buy them?

I found Edamame in the frozen vegetables section in my Asia shop. So for people in Vienna searching the shops at Naschmarkt is probably a good idea.

Vegetable Chips

There is a new trend in town and it’s called: Vegetable Chips 😉 This is basically the little bit more healthy version of the potato chips version. So vegetable chips are nothing else as thin vegetable slices which may be fried, deep-fried, dehydrated, dried or baked. You can use root veggies or leaf veggies for making your own vegetable chips.

How to make Vegetable Chips?

It is really simple. Just get some of your preferred root or leaf vegetables or just try out some new ones, slice them up in thin slices, toss them slightly in oil with or without additional spices, at least sea salt and then bake them in your oven until they become crispy.

Probably I don’t need to mention that vegetable chips prepared in the oven are healthier than the ones you deep-fry, but just to be 100% sure: oven-baked vegetable chips are definitely the healthy ones. And if that’s still not healthy enough for you, you could also get one of those automatic food dehydrators. A dehydrator will allow you to create the most healthy version of your own vegetable chips.

I found this site where Alex Orlov presents “12 Healthy Homemade Chips Recipes” — take a look at this post — it’s worth it.

Which vegetables can I use?

As mentioned before you can use any kind of root or leaf vegetables. Furthermore here is a list of vegetables you can easily create delicious veggie chips from:

• carrot
• turnip
• parsnip
• beet
• radish
• taro root
• sweet potato
• zucchini
• cassava
• kale
• fennel

Where can you buy them?

The best place to buy the vegetables for your home made chips is a fresh market, where you can buy local food.

Although you can easily make them by yourself, there is still the possibility of an emergency. A crafting for something salty but at least a bit healthy and no time to prepare a snack by yourself. Then there is always the way to the super market. But be aware that there are different kinds of vegetable chips in the market shelf. Check the ingredients and make sure that there really are made of veggies and that there is no additional stuff in them. The only things that are legitimate are vegetables, oil and sea salt (or any other spices you prefer and choose). The ones that definitely have them are Interspar, Denns and sometimes even Hofer.

Drink, Drink, Drink …

And we are not talking about ordering the next Piña Colada 😉

One thing you should always consider while this inner feeling of hunger or the lust for a snack manifests itself, is to drink a glass of water in the first place. Most times your body wants to tell you that you are thirsty.

I don’t know at which point it happened for me, but I was constantly misinterpreting my thirst with hunger. So I ended up eating stuff and kind of still being thirsty without really recognising it as thirst.

So try this one small step in the direction of a healthier life: drink more water.

Maybe for some of you it’s more than obvious and you already drink enough water (> 2l per day). But for me it was a big step and a long process of habit building. Just to be sure you get my situation: I really was able to get along one whole day, without drinking anything. And I even managed to repeat this behaviour several days in a row … like for a whole week ;-(

There’s an app for that

Believe me when I say that drinking > 2l of water per day is a really big challenge for me. And I’m still working on building a habit out of it. So if you tend to drink too less water during the day, you may, as I did, need a little help with building a new water-drinking-habit. The thing that helped me was a drinking-water app for iOS. The app sends you a notification when it’s time to give your body some additional hydration. So as soon as the app gives me a kick in my ass I will fill a glass with water and drink it in a draught.

The great thing is that you can track your water consumption and get even badges if you reach your self set goal. I know that that sounds pretty childish, but still it gives me an uplifting feeling, each time I manage to reach my goal.

For all of you who want to give the App a try, check it out in the iOS App Store:

• My Water Balance

For all other devices you can check out your preferred App Store and search for a keywords like “water app”, “hydration”, “water balance”, etc.

Alternatives to water

But of course not only water is a good hydration for your body. It can get really boring to always have to drink water. So there are a couple of different possibilities to keep your body hydrated.

Check out the list below for more examples of what you could drink the next time you feel like getting hungry:

• Water
• Green Tea
• Mate-Tea
• Rooibos Tea
• Coconut Water
• Vegetable Juice

With all those things, except of water, you always should check the ingredients. You don’t want to be on a smoothie diet and than consume a lot of sugar, while thinking that you are drinking a healthy Coconut Water.

To stay hydrated you can also eat fruits or vegetables that will help you keep your body hydrated. The top fruits/veggies which will help you to accomplish this are:

• water melon
• grapes
• berries
• grapefruit
• cucumbers
• celery
• melon

Sum-Up

If you are getting hungry and lunch or dinner are still a long time to go, you can snack in between, as long as you know what and how much you snack. Try to snack healthy and always drink a glass of water first. Maybe you are not really hungry but rather just thirsty!