The Best Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss

Personally I am a big fan of juicing, as I really don’t much like eating vegetables but I do appreciate their health benefits.

If you replace just one meal a day with a juice then you should see weight loss, and feel healthier, but if you want to lose more than a couple of pounds then a juice fast may be more effective.

Why juice?

One of the main benefits of juicing is that liquid puts very little stress on your digestive system. This means you have more energy, feel great and have a healthy diet at the same time.

Juicing also allows you to consume much more of the recommended 5-10 a day of fruit and vegetables. However if weight loss is your goal then be careful of putting too much fruit in your diet as it increases the amount of sugar you are taking in.

Juicing also helps to suppress hunger pangs, which mean you can avoid succumbing to unhealthy foods that go straight to your waistline.

Can juicing help you lose weight?

Yes it can and even if you are not quite ready to go extreme and commit to a full juice fast, juicing can help you lose weight and vastly improve your diet.

Here are some of the ways in which juicing helps you lose weight and can be used in either a juicer or one of the Bullitt type:

Prevents hunger

Juicing gives your body all the nutrients it needs, and this is good because when your body is lacking nutrients, it makes you hungry.

In this way, you will eat less and have fewer junk food cravings.

Convenience

Modern busy lifestyles cause us to make many poor diet decisions because of the convenience of fast food. Juicing takes just a few minutes and gives you fresh, delicious, healthy juice that satisfies you.

This means you eat less junk food and of course juice is easily portable to take with you to work or when away from home.

A natural choice

The chemicals and additives in many foods actively contribute to weight gain. By juicing, particularly if using organic where possible, You can avoid additives and preservatives and enjoy a very healthy drink.

Not a veggie fan?

I know most of us could do with eating more vegetables, but if like me you just don’t really like them, then juicing helps me get the goodness without the struggle of eating actual vegetables.

Detox

This is something that is often talked about as being healthy, and certainly a part and most Health spas and retreats.

Green juice full of chlorophyll is particularly detoxifying and can really help your liver and kidneys to flush out your system.

The two ways to lose weight by juicing:

#1 Juice Fast is and the most extreme option and does require willpower as you are changing everything your body has previously relied on to fuel it.

It involves restricting your diet entirely to juicing.

Different juicing fasts take different approaches and you should prepare properly before embarking on these.

Always check with your doctor if you have medical concerns and personally I think it best to ease into this gently by replacing one meal a day week one, two two meals replaced in week two and finally all meals by week three.

#2: Mix and match

This approach doesn’t force you to give up on all solid foods and basically allows you to juice whenever you feel like it.

By replacing some of the foods you used to eat with juicing, you can fill your body with lots of essential nutrients. You’ll have much more energy and feel a lot less hungry throughout the day.

So long as you eat a reasonable diet at the same time, you can lose a lot of weight with this method.

Fruit vs Vegetables

Generally speaking, vegetables are much better for you than fruit. Not to say that fruit is bad, but it does contain natural fructose which is a form of sugar.

Nevertheless, if you want to have a fruit filled juice then should be done in the morning or before exercise. This will help stop your body converting and storing this sugar as fat.

If you don’t like the taste of vegetables then you can add an apple or some lemon to the flavour.

The best types of vegetable to use are cruciferous vegetables. These include bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale. Make sure to drink more vegetable juices later in the day.

The people who lose the most weight from juicing tend to have about 70-80% of their juicing ingredient be vegetables.

Ready to give it a go?

You will soon find your own personal blend and favourites that you return to but if you are new to this then try some of the following.

Detox delight is a good juice to drink any time of the day as it is bursting with antioxidants to combat free radicals and cleanse your system of toxins.

This is such a healthy juice that you can drink it daily. If you’ve been having too many late nights or just got back from holiday, make this part of your daily routine and you’ll be feeling great in no time.

Ingredients

• 3 apples

• 1 stick of celery

• Half a cucumber

• Spinach (1 handful)

• Ice (1 cup)

• Lettuce (1 handful)

Preparation

• Peel the apples and the cucumber

• Drop them into the juicer with the lettuce and spinach

• Add ice and blend it for a minute or so.

• Drink nice and cold.

(serves 2)

Morning motivator is best drunk in the morning or before exercise.

It’s a powerful drink that will give you plenty of energy and nourishment for your morning or afternoon. The strong taste also helps waking up so it is perfect if you’re trying to stop drinking coffee

Ingredients

• 1/3 of pineapple

• Half a cucumber

• Spinach (1 handful)

• 2 apples

• Juice of 2 fresh limes

• Ice (1 cup)

Preparation

• Juice the lime separately in a citrus juicer and pour it into your collection jar with the ice. This helps prevent oxidisation of the juice.

• Cut up the pineapple and apples so they are small enough to fit through your juicer’s feeder.

(serves 2)

Night time soother is best drunk in the evening as it will help you to unwind at the end of the day.

Excellent for those who are not keen on vegetables, and also for children that don’t want to eat their greens.

Many people prefer to avoid juicing too much fruit in the evenings as it can disturb their sleep or even work, cause them to gain weigh as the body converts the sugar in fruit into fat.

Ingredients

• 2 oranges

• 2 carrots

• 1/4 head of lettuce

• 1 celery stick

• 1/4 head of cabbage

• 2 large branches of broccoli

Preparation

• Use a citrus juicer for the oranges and add it to the collection jar with the ice.

• Run the carrots, celery, cabbage and lettuce through the juicer.

• Stir to blend well and enjoy.

(serves 2)

Afternoon booster is really good to drink in the afternoons, when most of us tend to flag a bit, or any time that you need a pick me up.

If you normally reach for a can of energy drink, this can give you the same lift but without the inevitable crash that usually follows.

Ingredients

• 2 apples

• 1/3 of a pineapple

• 2 Kiwi fruits

• 2 nectarines

Method

• Remove the stones from the nectarine and the skin from the pineapple.

• Chop up the pineapple and apples until they easily fit through your juicer.

• Add ice, mix well and drink straight away.

Green light blend is another juice which is fine to drink all day as the chlorophyll is rich in antioxidants, but also quite low in calories, so you don’t need to limit the size of your serving.

Ingredients

• 2 carrots

• 1 cucumber

• Parsley (1 small bunch)

• Chard (1/2 bunch)

• Spinach (1/2 bunch)

• Kale (1 bunch)

• Celery

• the juice of a lime

Preparation

• Squeeze the lime first and pour the juice into the collection jar with a few ice cubes.

• Juice the greens in tightly packed balls in between the harder carrots, cucumber and celery.

• Mix it up and slowly sip while the ice melts.

(serves 2)