Gotta be honest. I'm not really one for too much more than "real food" for weight management. I think it goes back to a crazy high school (oh, it's been a challenge all my life) program in one of my Mom's womens' magazine where they promised an unbelievable amount of weight loss on a crazy concoction of raw eggs, orange juice and vegetable oil. One or two days did me for LIFE on weird drinks.
BUT -- I think things have come a long way since then, and I've been using a protein powder from Melaleuca where we are members for a long time.
Body For Life strongly recommends their protein drink for 2 or even 3 of the 6 mini-meals. Read further and it will say that it is optional, but all of those who were really successful on the plan credit the protein drinks for much of their success.
SO -- I've been doing the drink faithfully a couple of times a day for nearly every day of the program. I like the simplicity. I like feeling like I'm drinking a milkshake. I don't plan on doing this for the rest of my life, but I WILL do it 'til the end of the challenge. I don't get hungry with them. Feel very satisfied.
Almost every morning I make a delicious green smoothie with the protein powder (chocolate or vanilla), plus 1/4 cup of tea concentrate, some flax seeds and a whole serving of baby spinach leaves -- about 4 cups. I add some Truvia. The spinach really has no flavor when mixed like this, it just adds VOLUME and BULK, which are terrific in my books. It tastes wonderful with either chocolate or vanilla.
IMPORTANT: I always use 1/2 cup of crushed ice and cold water from the refrigerator dispenser. This is what makes it COLD & THICK. If it is not enough liquid to process in the blender, I add some more cold water and use a wooden spoon to finish processing it
But this morning I read about a recipe for a pumpkin pie protein shake, and couldn't wait to try it. Oh, my goodness! I feel like it's Thanksgiving and I'm scraping the bowl of the pumpkin pie filling. SO GOOD! Reminds me of the time or two when I've splurged when McDonald's and other places have a pumpkin milkshake for about 9,000 calories. But this is a nutritious MEAL!
Use the vanilla protein powder. Add 1/4 to 1/4 scoop of canned pumpkin, a bit of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to taste. Truvia (my go-to sweetener) and blend. DELICIOUS! It tastes just like pumpkin pie filling before it is baked.
This is definitely a repeat recipe, and inspires me to try some other ways to super-charge both the nutrition and the satisfaction of the protein drinks.
YAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment