Drinking fresh, homemade juice is a great way to ingest a lot of important vitamins, minerals and nutrients without having to worry about too many calories. They also taste delicious. The best thing about juicing recipes for weight loss is that you can be creative and produce wonderful concoctions of vitamin-laden drinks. But how do you know which combinations taste the best? And which ingredients will provide weight loss results? Read on to check out some of my favorite, tried and tested juice diet recipes. Juice And Weight Loss You may be asking yourself, can drinking a freshly made juice really help me lose weight? The simple answer is yes. The long answer would include the need for regular exercise and a healthy well-balanced diet (as with any weight loss program). My favorite juice recipes are a great way to ingest a large serving of much-needed vitamins and minerals without having to slave away at preparing a nutritious meal. Homemade juices are a great breakfast for those who struggle to eat in the morning. They will kickstart your metabolism and help you to burn off calories. A fruit-based juice can provide a healthy treat for those with a sweet tooth, without reaching for a chocolate bar or donut. By drinking juice you make yourself you can ensure an energy and vitamin-packed drink to either complement or substitute a meal, thus helping with your weight loss program. Unlike many other diets, juices will help keep cravings at bay. They also add variety to your daily food intake and can easily be incorporated into your lifestyle long term. Juice or Smoothie? I find that people use these terms interchangeably. Whilst there isn't a huge difference, there are a few technicalities to be aware of. Juicing is the process of extracting the juice from a fruit or vegetable. They are easier to digest because the fiber has been removed. This makes them wonderful for those with digestion problems as well as a great detox. A smoothie involves blending all the ingredients and breaking them down into liquid form. A smoothie will still contain fiber and is harder to digest than juice, but easier than if you were to eat the foods solid. Now, I won’t hold it against you if you mix up the two. Both make for a healthy drink, but for now, we we’ll stick to juices. Common Juicing Mistakes It may seem simple – buy some fruit and veg and get juicing. However, there are some simple, yet common mistakes that are often made.1. Using a blender – you'll still get a delicious, nutritious drink, but it will be a smoothie not a juice. This isn't always a bad thing, but it does mean your body has some extra work to do when it comes to digestion.2. Too much fruit – it can be easy to be too keen and throw in large amounts of fruit into your juicer, but fruit is best saved for a smoothie. Our bodies are better at processing fruit when it contains its natural fibers, otherwise too much sugar can enter the bloodstream.3. Using spinach and chard everyday – a green smoothie is packed with goodness, but overdo it on the spinach and chard and you risk causing kidney stones. Stick to using these greens every other day. What Ingredients Should I Use? Finding your favorite juicing recipes for weight loss may take some experimenting. I have my preferred combinations, but really you can combine just about anything you want (just be wary about too much fruit and go easy on the spinach and chard). Below is a list of some common ingredients and how they help with weight loss.Lemon – increases your metabolism and has antiseptic properties.Leafy greens – full of nutrients without the added calories.Apples – loaded with vitamin A and C, they provide a natural sweetener for the times when you need a sweet pick-me-up!Beets – provide loads of energy to help you get on with your workout and active lifestyle.Ginger – great for the immune system.Watermelon – contain amino acids called arginine that help burn fat.Berries – full of antioxidants.Carrots – help boost the immune system.Don’t be limited by this list, experiment with your own preferred flavors and unique taste buds. My Top 3 Juice Diet Recipes Green Lemonade This is a must for those hot summer days. Simply combine the ingredients in your juicer and enjoy a refreshing, nutritious drink that's a much better alternative to a soda.- 1 cucumber- A bunch of kale- 2 medium apples- A few handfuls of spinach- 1 lemonBeetroot Zinger For an earthy drink that is packed with energy-filled goodness, try the Beetroot Zinger.- 2 beets (including leaves)- 2 carrots- 1 orange- ½ piece of fresh gingerBefore whizzing through your juicer, remove the ends from the carrots and peel both the orange and the ginger. The result is a deep red juice that will help you sustain your busy schedule.Antioxidant Delight The berries mean this drink is loaded with antioxidants to help protect your cells against free radicals. Personally, I reduce the carrot in this recipe as it tends to have an overpowering taste (and usually throw in some extra berries too).- 1 cup of spinach- ½ cup strawberries- 1 cup blueberries- 1 carrotChop the top and bottom off the carrot and remove the strawberry stalks and run all ingredients through the juicer. Best Blogs To Follow For Juice Recipes Reboot with Joehttp://www.rebootwithjoe.com/Reboot with Joe is a blog entirely focused on how juicing can revolutionise people’s lives and help them lose huge amounts of weight, as Joe did himself. This is a goldmine when it comes to juice recipes, as there are 200 on the site, not to mention the smoothie, main course and even dessert recipes that Joe shares.Juicing with Ghttp://www.juicingwithg.com/Garrick Dee, at juicing with G, has written his blog with complete newbies to juicing in mind. This blog underlines how dangerous juicing can be for your health if you do it wrong, and how beneficial if you do it right. The site is packed with both delicious juice recipes and with lots of informative posts that will help you take care of your health in general.Super Skinny Mehttp://www.superskinnyme.com/Now, this blog doesn’t entirely focus on juicing, but is more holistic, taking in exercise and all aspects of dieting, so you can read up on all aspects of weight loss in one place. It does, however, have a huge number of juice and smoothie recipes, perfect for those of you looking to shed a few pounds.Natural Juice Junkiehttp://naturaljuicejunkie.com/I love Natural Juice Junkie for the inspirational posts they post now and again, related to juicing and weight loss. They offer free programs for people who are new to juicing to get started and share recipes that are great for weight loss and a little outside the box.Linda Wagnerhttp://lindawagner.net/blog/Linda Wagner is a well-known figure in the world of juicing and an experience nutrition coach. She’s published three eBooks on juicing, smoothies and kid’s health, and she’s always publishing new recipes on her blog, along with her weekly ‘Monday Motivation’, helping inspire you to reach your goals.Prolific Juicinghttp://www.prolificjuicing.com/Farnosh Brook is a juicing-addict who’s mission is to share her love for juicing with the rest of the world. She’s published two eBooks on the topic and is always updating her blog with new recipes and/or tips, like how to stick with your juicing habit once you’ve started. Pay her a visit over at Prolific Juicing to check them out. In Conclusion These juicing recipes for weight loss won't only help you feel and look your best, but they taste great too! You’ll have all the energy you need to complete your workout, your body will be ridding itself of harmful toxins and you’ll be left glowing! All you have to do now is get juicing.
