There
are three times a day I am the most tired: just when I wake up (obviously),
2:00 in the afternoon, and when I get home after working out.
Eggs in the morning occasionally make me nauseated, which is
actually quite common, so trying to find a quick, energy-boosting alternative
can be critical. I have bad acid reflux if I drink too much coffee on an empty
stomach, not including getting jittery and occasionally sweaty. Therefore,
finding a fast alternative to cooking and brewing can be critical for my starting my day out right.
If I do get a good breakfast in with a bold, dark coffee, I often
push lunch back and hit a wall around one or two in the afternoon. I need a
pick me up without imbibing coffee, high-sugar protein bars or
soda. I’ve been staring at a computer monitor for about six hours straight. At
this point, I start feeling drained and unfocused.
After a solid hour-long swim or a fitness class, I feel pretty
worn out by about 6:00 p.m. sometimes I’m so pooped I can’t lift a spatula to
save my life, which is odd because the television remote is heavier and I still
use that. Maybe I’m just lazy and don’t feel like cooking.
Directions:
For the sake of your blender, and to get a smoother beverage, add
the ingredients in the order listed.
Notes on Ingredients:
- I use frozen fruits and berries
because it gives the smoothie more body and keeps it cold. That, and it's
WAY cheaper. I typically get my frozen fruit at Giant. To use
fresh fruit, you can pour the mix over ice or blend ice in first.
- In every recipe, the protein
powder is optional. I have made and enjoyed each of these recipes with and
without various protein shake mixes. However, protein mix makes the smoothie much more filling.
- Milk can be substituted for soy
or almond milk, but I have not tried rice milk yet. Let me know if you do
and how it tastes.
- I try not to have smoothies with
blueberries before/during work, because the blueberry skin gets easily
caught in my teeth.
- If you experience rancid gas after one of these smoothies, you may be adding too much protein powder. Cut it back to half a scoop if you're feeling like Pumba, clearing the savanna after every meal. Adversely, you can add more than one scoop for after an intensive workout.
Servings: This gives me good 24 ounces of smoothie. For a lunch
replacement, it’s perfect. For dinner, it’s a bit much at times. To reduce the
serving size, decrease the yogurt to ½ cup and the milk to ¾ cup.
- 1 cup milk
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup low-fat strawberry yogurt
- 1 banana
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
Servings: This makes about a 20-ounce drink.
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup plain or vanilla low-fat
yogurt
- 1 banana
- ½ cup frozen pineapple
- ½ cup frozen mango
Afternoon Energizer1
Servings: This makes about a 16-ounce beverage. For more substance, toss in a banana.
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt
- 1 cup of frozen mixed berries - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
- ⅓ cup frozen pineapple
- ⅓ cup frozen mango
Eye Twitcher
Servings: This makes about a 20-ounce drink. This is obviously the least healthy beverage of my recipes. It makes for a good weekend dessert and a fantastic hangover cure. Just drink plenty of water with this if you're using it for the latter.
- 1 cup milk
- 2 shots of cold espresso2 or 1 cup cold coffee
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 2 scoops chocolate ice cream (optional)
Notes:
1 You can add 1 scoop of vanilla protein mix to Afternoon Energizer to make a
different flavored Classic smoothie.
2 For espresso, I use the espresso shots you can pick up for free at Rutters and WaWa.
Related
Links: Cutting
Carbs
1 comments:
Rice milk isn't too bad.. It is gluten free I believe. Almond milk is the best of the three (rice, soy, almond) in my opinion in terms if flavor and consistency. I've also found that organic skim milk tastes waaay better than regular. If you're used to 2% regular milk then organic skim is an easy switch. Today though all I drink is almond. The calories are super low, and it's super yummy.
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