The Smoothie Recipe That Helped Me Lose the Baby Weight (Twice!)

The long-awaited recipe has dropped. Am I going to make you read slash scroll past my entire life story before I get to the actual recipe? You bet.

*sips smoothie*

If you are one of those queens that can lose weight while breastfeeding, I salute you. I was not one of those people. After a few disappointing months of dieting (aka being crabby and hungry all the time), I put off my weight loss journey until after I was done breastfeeding, and only then did I see results on the scale.

I gained about 25 lbs (not including the weight of the actual baby) with both my pregnancies. The body I had after both babies felt unrecognizable to me, and only added to years of self-loathing that I'd already experienced with my body. My body and I had never had a good relationship, but I was able to turn that around. I believe that this mentality shift had a lot to do with my success, and I'll be sharing more about that journey in the future. I was able to lose all the baby weight BOTH times, and I'm still losing! I weigh less than I did in high school! My prom dress is too big!

This was the progress I was able to make in 3 months after stopping breastfeeding.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the only thing I did to lose weight was drink this magic smoothie, change nothing else in my life, and the weight fell right off. I also got exercise and cooked healthy meals (but ate until I was FULL). I did a LOT of work repairing my relationship with myself while battling postpartum depression. But the smoothie really helped jump start my metabolism every day and kept me full til lunch without needing a snack. (But, if I felt like I needed a snack, I ate one. Deprivation diets don't work for me.)

However, during my weight loss journey I did NOT:

• Skip meals or leave a meal still hungry. I always ate until I was full.

• Cut out any major food groups like carbs. (Well, I did try to be low carb for like 2 weeks and it didn't go well, plus I gained all the weight back immediately.)

• Weigh myself the week before or the first few days of my period. I'm never gonna win that battle.

• Deprive myself of restaurant nights, parties, or any of my friend Kristen's mouth-watering confections. (Covid carefulness did a pretty good job of keeping my social calendar limited, though). It's all about balance.

Of course, always consult a dietician your doctor before you do anything diet-y. Please remember that I am a mere former biologist slash former teacher slash current marketing professional slash mom and am in no way qualified to give medical advice to anyone. This is just what worked for me. While I'm throwing disclaimers out there, I'll also add that this post contains affiliate links, which means that I get a small percentage of any purchases made from this post. Thank you for your support!

The Recipe:

• 1 rounded scoop Ascent Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Powder. This is my preferred protein powder - I love the taste and it keeps me full. I buy it in the 64oz size because we go through it so quickly. If you are vegan, or you have a different protein powder you like, feel free to sub it in as long as it has a chocolate/peanut butter flavor.

• 2T PB Fit Powder. This adds an extra 8g of protein, plus it enhances the peanut flavor.

• 2T cacao powder. Do not use processed cocoa powder, only cacao powder will work. Cacao powder is packed with antioxidants and fiber and is excellent at "moving things along," if you know what I mean. (This smoothie will help you go #2. That's what I mean.)

• 2T ground flax seeds. Also packed with fiber, plus, omega-3s! Also great at moving things along.

• 2 scoops collagen. If you remember Y2K, it's time for collagen in your diet. For hair, skin & nails.

• 1c c ice

• 1 c unsweetened almond milk plus water to get to your desired consistency

Blend in a blender. (I have this VitaMix and I can't say enough good things about it. It is completely worth the money. I've used it almost every day for 5 years to make smoothies, nut butters, hummus, you name it, and it still works like new).

A Note About Calories:

If you are a serial calorie counter, you may have noticed that the smoothie has like 350 calories. I'm going to preach now: stop counting calories. All calories are not created equal (okay, scientifically they are but metabolically, not). The health benefits of this smoothie-packed with protein, fiber, omega-3s, and vitamins-are tremendous and it jump starts my metabolism, keeps me regular, and keeps me full til lunch. This is what has worked for me. Consult a dietician or a doctor if you're concerned. Or, if SlimFast or whatever works for you, drink that instead.

Have you ever used a smoothie recipe like this? Are you excited to try it? I'd love to know about your experience in the comments!