Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Morning Fuel

When a photo of my morning smoothie makes its way onto Instagram or Twitter, I seem to get tons of questions asking "what do you put in it"!? Because I'm pretty passionate about my morning fuel, I thought it would be fun to break it down and share my thoughts on smoothies. 

On a typical morning, I wake up, Mark and I drink coffee together for about 30 minutes, then I dress myself from head to toe in neon and workout. I don't have the biggest appetite in the morning, but after an intense hour or so of gym time, I know it's important to get some calories in- especially after working out on a nearly empty stomach. Protein smoothies have become a staple in my weekday routine because they hydrate, fuel AND cool me down. A good triple win in my book.


I start with unsweetened almond milk and a scoop of vanilla protein as my base. EAS Vanilla Whey Protein is my favorite. The flavor is great and it's very low in carbs and sugar. I buy this at my local market and I have also seen it at Target. 
I buy fresh bananas and berries in excess so that I always have them on hand. When my bananas start to get extra ripe, I freeze them in halves and freeze the berries whole. This also makes for an icy cold smoothie. I stick everything in the blender and mix it all up. If I want that extra chill, I throw in 4-5 ice cubes. Once my smoothie is blended to perfection, I pour it in my trusty Appalachian State Tervis Tumbler and sip with a straw. 
Here's a roundup of my favorite morning smoothies:




If you're not careful, a seemingly healthy breakfast can end up being loaded with sugar and extra "junk" that your body doesn't need. Fruit juices and even fruit flavored Greek yogurt, I try to steer clear of. I only buy natural peanut or almond butter, meaning the only ingredients are either peanuts or almonds and a minimal amount of salt. As for the Cocoa Powder, I stick to unsweetened. The natural sweetness of the other ingredients bring out the chocolatey goodness and it's super tasty. 


Blend, sip and enjoy! 

8 comments:

  1. I think I need to start drinking smoothies for my morning fuel. Thanks for posting these! And Go Mountaineers!! :)

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  2. Love this post! And very appropriate after our conversation yesterday. :)

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  3. Love smoothies! My fav right now is banana, pb, Greek yogurt, almond milk, spinach & chia seeds. I will have to try the protein powder.

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  4. Thank you for sharing! I usually buy a smoothie at my gym if I'm running short on time, but making them at home would be better. I'm printing these recipes!

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  5. I make something similar to the Healthy Nut after my runs, but I am DEFINITELY going to try the Peanutty Banana Split next time. YUM!!!

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  6. Thanks for sharing this. I will definitely try all of these. Hmm i wonder which blend will be my fave.
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  7. Yum! Great options. I definitely have to try the peaunutty banana split.

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  8. Nina, thanks for sharing these awesome recipes - we're so happy to hear you use EAS products! Have you tried our Lean 15 Protein Powder? You can pick up at $3 off coupon here: https://eas.com/lean15-registration. ~Morgen @EAS

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