Rise and Shine Protein Smoothie

Unless I'm on vacation, or it's a special occasion, I've never been much of a breakfast person; which seems weird, at least to me, because I'm one who absolutely LOVES breakfast foods!  I'd have to say that it's definitely my all-time favorite category of food, which I know I've mentioned before!  So why don't I usually eat it then?  I'm just never really that hungry so early in the morning (I get up at 4:20).  

I don't skip that meal entirely, I do eat, it's just typically something small like a few hard boiled eggs, or lately, when I get home from the gym, it's been something like this delicious protein shake!  Not only does this shake contain a great amount of protein, which I like to have a lot of first thing in the morning, but it also contains lots of good vitamins and minerals to help get me started for the day.

Tip *Please feel free to substitute Orange Juice in place of water, I just like to cut down calories wherever possible.* 

Rise and Shine Protein Smoothie

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Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 cup water (or orange juice)

½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)

½ - ¾ banana

½ grapefruit (I ended up just squeezing the juice from the half of the grapefruit, instead of tossing it all in the blender; which ended up giving me more liquid, and no pulp!  It’s up to you.)

(If you want your smoothie a little bit thicker, you could always add in ¼ cup Greek yogurt)

Directions:

Toss all your ingredients into a blender, or in my case, a Nutribullet, and blend until everything is well combined.

Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Protein Shake

A healthy sweet?  Now that's what I call an oxymoron.

I've had it!  This post officially marks a change in my lifestyle.  I've decided that I need to do something different.  I'm like a drug addict; except for the fact that my drug is sugar; which studies have shown can actually be just as addictive as cocaine.  I know that I've blogged about eating healthy, which I do, but if I'm 100% honest, I've caved to my sweets cravings numerous times since the beginning of the year.  This is never a huge deal for me though, because I work out a lot, but I'm finally sick and tired of it.

It's for this reason that I tried giving up sweets (mostly chocolate) for lent, but honestly, that lasted all of 3 or 4 days; which to me is absolutely pathetic!  I personally know that I have more will power than that, but for some reason its been lacking lately and I'm over it.  I've finally come to the realization that I just need to cut out sugar all together.  I can't fool myself any longer and say that I can have only one little bite of something sweet; that's just not true (at least for me).  It'd be like giving a drug addict one little dose of crack and saying that they'll be fine.  It can't be done.  So, to give you an idea about how bad my addiction can sometimes be, let me just say that I can easily eat an entire package of Oreo cookies in one sitting and I'm not even joking.  It's shameful!

In addition to this, the really sad part is that I workout like crazy.  I'm talking 3-4 times a day, for an hour or more.  If I'd just eat clean in addition to exercising, I know I'd show better results.  I seem to go through spurts though.  I've been on and off the bandwagon so many times, (as you can probably tell from previous posts), but this time I'm really going to make it work.

One of the main reasons I'm so dedicated to focusing on nutrition is because back in October, after 9 years of teaching, I finally decided to leave the profession and now I've figured out will be next.  I'm going to become a personal trainer; which I guess is kind of like a teacher, only you don't have to deal with all the politics.  I've been fortunate enough, through my husband's job, to work with personal trainers for the past 3 years and have really been into physical fitness for the past 5-6.  I'm what some might call a fitness fanatic and have lost around a total of 40 pounds; although depending on my food consumption, that number can sometimes change, which is why I'm determined to be healthy in all areas of my life.  

Therefore, I've decided that I need to focus on dedicating my life to practicing what I preach.  I know what sugary and non-healthy foods can do to ones body, especially my own.  It doesn't take long either for all that sugar to change my physical appearance and vice versa.

1 Month Transformation after eating right and exercising

The picture on the left is the beginning of the month, the center photo is the middle of the month, and the right photo is day 30.

You can definitely see the weight loss in the face, arms, legs, hips, and thighs.

I often use this photo as my reminder of what sugar and unhealthy habits do to my body (It was taken last June).  Due to this, I'm currently on day 6 of no sugar or sweets and I'm once again feeling great!  In fact, other than an occasional protein bar (I love Questbars), or a Greek yogurt, I've had no packaged foods.  Day 2 was especially difficult though and here's why: I had little to no energy, ended up crashing in the afternoon, and almost ended up caving, mostly because I knew that something with sugar would give me the temporary rush I needed.  It was difficult, but I'm happy to announce that I stayed strong, making it over the hump and through the withdrawals, and now I plan to continue going.  

Don't ever give up, it's all about determination and willpower!

With that in mind, let's get to today's recipe.  I've been really into making protein shakes lately and not only was this particular one delicious, but it's healthy and is a great energy booster.  Enjoy!  There will definitely be more to come soon!

Snickerdoodle Protein Shake

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Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use almond breeze, 40 calories per cup)

¼ cup water

1 tsp. sugar free Vanilla Caramel Coffee Mate Creamer

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

6-8 ice cubes

*Optional – 1 tsp. Just Great Stuff (Organic powdered peanut butter; 45 calories a serving, which is 2 TBSP, compared to the traditional 190 calories a serving for 2 TBSP)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until the ice has been pureed.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a little extra cinnamon.  Enjoy!

Source: Slightly adapted from Maybe I Will

Cookies and Cream Peanut Butter Banana Protein Shake

Wow, it always amazes me how quickly time flies!  I know that I haven't posted anything new in a few days, but I had a very busy and fun filled weekend.  Jeff and I flew out to Las Vegas!  We mostly went because there was a big conference, at Mandalay Bay, that Jeff was attending, but it also provided me the chance to visit with my family, which is always worthwhile. 

Throughout the years, I've learned that the nice thing about having family out in Vegas is that I don't have to spend my entire trip just walking up and down The Strip.  I actually get to see what life's like in the surrounding areas.  However, I was a little bummed this trip.  Due to my injury, I couldn't do the one thing I like best, and that's to go hiking in Red Rock Canyon.  If you ever get the chance to go out to the canyon, take it!  The landscape is so incredibly beautiful and the trails are definitely challenging and fun!

Seeing that we couldn't go hiking, we had to try to find other forms of entertainment, which we did.  Sadly though, I did not come back to North Carolina a big winner.  However, I did have fun losing $40 while playing various slot machines.  That's pretty much all I will ever play.  I'm not really what some may consider a big gambler and it always amazes me to watch people just throw their money away.  One man I was watching lost $300 in just 2 spins of the roulette wheel, and another man lost over $500 playing just a few hands of black jack.  It's like they weren't aware that they could have just given the money to me and I'd have appreciated it way more than the casino we were in.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Now that I'm home again, I'd really like to get back to my daily routine, but sadly, I've been sick.  For some reason it seems that every time I fly on an airplane I get sick afterwards.  I think it has something to do with being in a confined area with others who could possibly be sick.  This is just another reason that I prefer to drive places.  However, I must admit that flights into, and out of Vegas are always quite entertaining.  You really do see the most "interesting" people on board those flights.

Don't worry, I'm almost done with my rambling, but before I get to today's recipe, I have just a couple more little things to share with you.........

As most of my loyal readers already know, I'm definitely big on challenges.  I absolutely love proving that I can do things and rise to any occasion.  Therefore, I have my November workout challenge ready to go. 

For the past few months or so, creating a workout calendar is something that I've been doing and sharing with friends around me.  This month however, I decided to put it on my blog, to share with all of you.  If you choose to complete this November workout challenge, please feel free to modify any portion of the exercises that you may need to, in order to meet your individual needs.  Usually I have running added onto the master calendar, in addition to the workouts, but, at least for the month of November, I was told that I'm not allowed to run.  That won't stop me though from adding in some incline treadmill walking, at least as soon as I'm able to.

Here's the link to the individual workouts that are listed on the master calendar...... workouts.  If you have any trouble deciphering the calendar, especially after you look at the individual workouts, just let me know.

In addition to my workout and food challenges, I've been given another one......To start my own business.  I've always been one who believes in signs and everything recently has been pointing in that direction.  For one thing, I've very recently left teaching, providing me the time I'd need to dedicate to a business.  I also met a young man on my flight back from Vegas, who created his own successful business, and he was kind enough to give me ideas.  In addition to that, and the very next day, my friend Mark, who also runs his own business, sent me information about a great location.  In addition to all this, my husband Jeff has been very supportive, and has also been encouraging me for quite some time now.  I'm beginning to feel that it's something I need to look into.

So, enough rambling for now.  Here's today's recipe!  It's really pretty simple to make, and I can't believe I haven't shared it yet, mostly seeing that I drink it at least once a day.

Cookies and Cream Peanut Butter Banana Protein Shake
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Ingredients:

1 scoop cookies and cream flavor protein powder
2 cups water

½ cup milk (I use vanilla almond milk)

¼ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
¼ - ½ a frozen banana
1 TBSP. creamy peanut butter
Ice (desired amount, I use 3-4 cubes, but I like my shake thin)

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients together in a blender and mix until completely combined.  (I love using my NutriBullet)  Pour into a glass and enjoy!  I always garnish with a little cinnamon.

For a creamier shake, use more milk than water.  You could also blend in an Oreo cookie, for more of a cookies and cream taste.