Looking For a Protein Upgrade?

Adding the right amount of protein to you diet can be challenging, especially if you needed that after work-out boost. Adding protein powder to your morning smoothie may taint the flavor if you are adding the wrong ingredients, but with the right stuff, you can make anything taste like a milkshake! The average person needs about 50 grams of protein every day, which means that chalky protein powder flavor is hard to beat. Brands like Purely Inspired and Body Fortress offer lots of health benefits, but cutting down on calories and price is ideal. Purely Inspired Organic Protein Powder has 140 calories, 20 grams of protein, and only 2 grams of sugar for 2 scoops (38 grams). Purely Inspired powders cost between $17-$25 for a decent sized container (which normally takes me months to go through!) They also come in two basic flavors - vanilla and chocolate. Body Fortress Whey Protein powder has 190 calories, 30 grams of protein, and less than one gram of sugar for every scoop (50 grams). Body Fortress prices are about the same as Purely inspired, but offer more for your buck. Body Fortress also has more flavor options including chocolate, vanilla, cookies n' cream, strawberry, chocolate peanut butter, banana creme, and cinnamon swirl. Keep in mind, there are tons of different protein powder options out there, don't feel like Purely Inspired and Body Fortress are the only ones out there. Also, your body may react differently to different powders.

Back to the blends, depending on what brand you buy, you will have different flavor options. I have found that no matter what powder flavor you're using, you should always add peanut butter. It helps with both texture and flavor; another key ingredient is banana.

Fruitless Smoothies:

When making smoothies without fruit, you need to add some greens to get the right consistency. Adding extra ice can also help when making them. If you think that if you have strawberry powder and want to add spinach to it, then my dear, your are wrong! And if you are into that, then good for you. If you are like the rest of us, you should add apple sauce, Greek yogurt, yogurt, milk or a heavier cream (coconut milk works for us vegans!) If you just add peanut butter, then it will stick to the roof of your mouth and your glass. Smoothie making is like yoga, you need to have balance.

Fruit Smoothies:

Fruit smoothies are easy to over due, but with the right ingredients, you'll be on the right track! When making fruit smoothies, you should always (or at least try to) add bananas!!! Even if you don't like banana you should add it. Blue berries are another staple in smoothie making, but they aren't the only thing out there. Mangoes, kiwis, dates, raspberries, blackberries, and peaches also make great smoothies. One of the best parts about fruit smoothies is that they don't require any dairy products. Adding strong flavored greens to these blends can sometimes over power softer flavors (banana, peach, nectarine, etc.) so don't over due the greens.