Post-Workout Protein Smoothies

For starters, avid running followers might have noticed that I've taken out the Daily Mile widget from my blog because it was depressing me. I committed to increasing my mileage and running at least three times a week a couple weeks ago, only to find that I've developed some serious knee pain that has forced me to lay off the treadmill for who knows how long. It's often surprisingly been frustrating to the point of tears, but c'est la vie. I realize I'd rather take it easy on my knee that not be able to walk in my old age, so I guess I'll take it for now and I can get back to focusing on swimming! For now, my short lived running career is already on pause.

Anyway, I thought I'd follow up my last post about protein powders with a couple recipe example. While I have a couple recipes under my belt, I asked Andrew to jot down the second recipe he's been using a lot recently because it tastes fantastic. I know I already covered workout recovery foods here, but here are a few new recipes to play around with (the first one is amazing and tastes like Marshmallow goodness):

Post-Workout "Marshmallow" Smoothie

1 banana

1 nectarine

1 date

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

Post-Workout Smoothie #3

1 banana

1/2 pear

1 medjool date

1 tablespoon of cacao powder

1 scoop of protein powder

Post-Workout Smoothie #4

1 banana

1/3 C blueberries

1 heaping teaspoon of Peanut Butter

1/2 C home-made almond milk (or 1/4 C almond milk + 1/4 C water)

1 handful of spinach

1 tsp. spirulina and chlorella powder

1/2 tsp of maca powder

1/2 tsp of mesquite powder

1 scoop of protein powder

These really help with muscle recovery (and general post-workout recovery). A lot of really great information on how to fuel your workouts can be found in Brendan Brazier's Thrive. In short, he gives the very handy tip that any post-recovery meal should have a 4:1 carb to protein ratio (with some healthy fats). As I always say though, eat intuitively, because without having ever officially "read" that, Andrew has been following that 4:1 + healthy fat ratio by just listening to what his body needs for years now. The healthy fat is usually in the form of 1/4-1/2 an avocado he adds to whatever his smoothie mix is.

On a completely different note, also do check out Rawxy's First Giveaway. It's featuring awesome t-shirts and yummy raw cookies galore! (Plus, her blog is awesome!)

Have a good workout!