Post-workout recovery drinks & Justin’s Nut Butters
I almost always drink some sort of recovery drink post-workout. If I’m lifting weights (most of my workouts except Zumba), lots of sources recommend getting some protein in your system the following 30 minutes to help rebuild your muscles. I also like the opportunity to get something into my system as I don’t have much or anything to eat prior to my morning workouts, something I’ve been used to for years and years.
My drinks are usually pretty similar – banana and chocolate seem to be flavors I never get tired of, and my drinks usually have at least one of those, those I’ve often experimented with variations of vanilla or using greek yogurt as a base.
So I usually mix things up from this list (note that it’s usually never more than 2-3 ingredients per drink):
- protein powder
- peanut flour
- peanut / almond / hazelnut butter
- water
- greek yogurt
- almond milk
- bananas
- peaches/nectarines
- strawberries
- blueberries
- cherries
- spinach / kale leaves
- honey
- cinnamon
- cocoa powder
- hot pepper (only if I’m feeling adventurous)
The “method” is pretty simple: Take a tall plastic container/glass, a wand/stick blender, and your drink ingredients. Blend and drink! In the summer, I use a frozen banana instead of a fresh one for my drinks, which makes an instant “milkshake” with its consistency, with no milk or extra sugar needed. To do this, slice up a banana or two and put them in a Ziploc to freeze. I usually lay the bag flat so that the bananas aren’t in one big clump, and it makes it easier to break them off / separate the right amount later.
The post-workout recovery drink pictured in this post had only two ingredients: frozen banana and Chocolate Hazelnut Butter from Justin’s. I added a little water to thin things out as well. Do you do post-workout recovery drinks? What’s in yours?
I’ve waxed on about how much I like Justin’s Nut Butters in past posts (Maple Almond Butter is my favorite, with Chocolate Almond a close second), and I was pretty excited when they reached out to send me this care package packed full of their nut butters and their new Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. I’ve already shared some of the contents with people in my coworking office (sorry Automattic colleagues!), but I made sure to keep quite a bit for me. I love the single-serving packets for travel and just squeezing into my mouth. 🙂 Thanks Justin’s!
Have you tried Justin’s nut butters? Do you have a favorite flavor or one you wish they made? I think I’d like to see a cinnamon peanut or almond butter, guys!
Disclosure: I received the Justin’s nut butters from the company, but I didn’t promise a post in exchange for them, and I wasn’t compensated in any way to write this post. All my words and opinions are mine.
Frozen fruit is the best for a summer smoothie! I also love lemonade-inspired smoothies, with some unflavored protein, greens, lemons, and strawberries or mangoes to sweeten it up. Might need a dash of honey as well, but often the other fruits are sweet enough. Add some ice cubes and wow. Need a good blender for this, but it is delicious.
Lemonade as a base is a good idea, too! Though I’ll have to make mine from scratch – no lemonade concentrate here 🙂 What kind of unflavored protein do you recommend? I’ve only see chocolate, vanilla, and some plant-based ones…
Jay Robb has a good unflavored whey protein. Most powders are too sweet for me, so I prefer the unflavored and then add a little honey or erythritol. I use a NutriBullet, so only whole fruits and veg in there – no juice or concentrate! Just skin a lemon, quarter it, and toss it in. Soooo good.
Thanks for the rec, Courtney! I’ll have to try that next trip to the States – I’ve tried Jay Robb’s egg protein (it was ok) but not the unflavored stuff.
Thank you, Cortney, would you please post your favourite recipe or two? I’m trying to find new smoothies because I don’t want to stop drinking them but I’m getting a little tired of chocolate/banana. I’m trying to do two smoothies a day full of spinach and lettuce, with a base of frozen peas instead of protein powder.
Ms. 444 – there are so many! My friend Michael did a series of smoothie recipes here (I did the video and taste-tested every one… all delicious!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4160l-9tWA
My favorite is the lemon/pear (you can also add greens to this). Go nuts!
Hmmm…I have my weekly 90 minute ‘power’ yoga session this evening after work at 5.15. I do drink a lot of water during and immediately afterwards but never really consider a post workout recovery drink. It’s a short drive home for me, cup of tea when I arrive and my wife usually already has the tea (evening meal or dinner – not another drink of the same name) on ready to serve.
A recovery drink (with protein) is especially important for rebuilding muscle but probably wouldn’t be needed for yoga, though I would probably drink something with sugar / calories in it in any case post-yoga to get some energy back into you. Eating a meal works, too 🙂
I love hazelnut butter for breakfast ! too bad that I can’t find it here in italy 😦
You can make your own! 🙂 I have a recipe for almond butter on this site, but if you make hazelnut butter just realize that you’ll probably have to add some sort of oil to it as the hazelnuts are pretty dry.
I love nut butter. Cinnamon is a great idea to add there!
Something you should try guys : koyu matcha tea, its very good for our health and losing weight. Its a japanese tea, and you can also do smoothie with that green pouder