I'm sending out a smoothie S.O.S.! Now that the weather is getting warmer, I know I'm going to start craving a smoothie now and again. The problem is that some smoothies are good for you... and some aren't. Sometimes I'll have a smoothie for lunch. In full disclosure, my absolute favorite smoothie is a little something from Smoothie King called the "Chocolate Elvis." Here is the nutritional info on it: http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nu...hocolate-elvis

It's 522 calories (on the high side, I know), with 13 grams of protein, 5 grams of sugar, 5 grams of fiber... and a whopping 108 grams of carbs. ARGH. So... is this something I should have... close to never? Any suggestions of satisfying smoothie alternatives? I just love the peanut-butter banana combo! Thanks, ladies.

Hmm, the nutritional info you linked to is for Planet Smoothie, not Smoothie King. I didn't see a Chocolate Elvis on the Smoothie King web site but Planet Smoothie's web site lists one. If that's the place you mean, their web site's nutritional info says it has 630 calories (I'd trust the company's info over that of a third party site ).

Personally, 630 calories would put it in the "never, ever, ever" category for me but if you're a calorie counter, you might be able to figure out a way to have one occasionally.

If you google Chocolate Elvis recipes, there seem to be a bunch of clones out there. I'll bet with a little tweaking, you could come up with one that's a lot healthier and lower in calories.

Got to say, it sounds delicious! If you come up with a clone, be sure to post it.

Thanks, Meg! I definitely goofed up the names of the places! haha So many smoothie names!

I think you're right... I should come up with a home alternative. It'd probably be cheaper too.

It's hard to imagine a chocolate smoothie with 108g of carbs and only 5g of it sugar - what the heck is in it?

The company's web site doesn't give grams of sugar so I don't know where the 5 grams came from -- but clearly it has to be wrong. I would imagine that 95% of the 115 grams of carbs (per company info) is sugar. What else could it be in a smoothie?

I haven't used it myself, but I know people that rave about PB2 (both the regular and the chocolate one). It's a powdered peanut butter. From what I've heard that it's great for adding to protein shakes, not as great mixed as a substitute. I'd start with a chocolate protein powder, the plain PB2, water (or dairy - which I usually skip), banana and ice. You could probably put something together for fewer calories.

However, having said all that, I'd only consider it as a post workout shake. I wouldn't substitute it for lunch (but that's just me).

Oops - adding the link to Bell Plantation, for the PB2: http://www.bellplantation.com/

Personally, any meal with over 500 calories is a bad idea for me, especially one that doesn't give me the satisfaction of chewing. I'm always hungry throughout the day no matter how much I've eaten, so I make my meals small and eat as often as I want. If you're like me, it's probably a bad idea to have your smoothie.

That said, I do love smoothies, especially chocolate ones. One of my favorite healthy(ish) treat meals is a smallSlim-N-Trim Chocolate smoothie from Smoothie King (197 calories in the "Skinny" version, 2g fat, 25g sugar, 34g carbs) paired with a grilled chicken salad and light dressing (the one I usually get is 190 calories). It's a big, satisfying meal for under 400 calories, but I don't have it much since it's on the expensive side.

Agreed on this. A lot of places add a lot of unnecessary sugars and so on, and you're better off experimenting with some ice and a blender to come up with something tasty and to be in control of the ingredients.

I rarely have smoothies but when I do, I make them with fresh fruit and ice and I don't buy them. If I make them, they end up being at least slightly healthier.