How’s it going, everybody? I hope all’s well 🙂 I realized it’s been forever since I made a nutrition video, so this is a quick answer to one of the nutrition questions I frequently receive: what is my post-workout meal like? So I’m sharing 3 protein smoothie recipes in this video because 9 times out of 10 (or more) my post-work meal is smoothie.
Sure, I’ll make muesli or a stir fry or something else once in a while, but these high protein smoothies check all the boxes and are EASY to make. (convenience is really important to me because of my busy lifestyle raising a family and all)
In a post-workout meal you want to focus primarily on carbohydrate and protein. Carbs will replenish depleted glycogen (energy for muscle contractions) and protein will help kickstart the anabolic processes to repair your tissues.
Some people say to limit fats in your post-workout, but I have yet to find a valid reason why to do that. The research I’ve read says fat will neither blunt the insulin response, nor slow the rate of glycogen repletion. So I’m not worried about it. Plus, even if fat was detrimental to recovery, I just love peanut butter way too much 🙂
? Here are the recipes if you want to copy/paste them ?
*Green Smoothie*
1.5 cups soy milk
2 bananas
3 dates
3 handfulls greens
2 cups pineapple (chunks)
2 Tbsp hemp seeds
20 g. vanilla protein powder (plant-based)
*Chocolate Smoothie*
1.5 cups soy milk
2 bananas
3 dates
2 Tbsp raw cacao
1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
20 g. chocolate protein powder (plant-based)
*PB&J Smoothie*
1.5 cups soy milk
2 bananas
3 dates
3 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
1 cup frozen blueberries
For anyone curious why I specify “plant-based” for the protein powder… I noticed my acne and gastrointestinal issues went away when I dropped dairy from my diet about 10 years ago. I was drinking whey protein shakes daily at the time. Just cutting the whey from my diet made a dramatic difference, then going “all in” with plant-based completely eliminated my problems. And I was never diagnosed as lactose intolerant or anything like that. If you want to read more about how dairy can impact us, start here: https://switch4good.org/
I hope you enjoy these smoothies if you make them. And don’t forget to stick around if you want to learn more from me! (for both nutrition and working out!)
-Ryan
