Smooth(ie) moves

The weather has been absolutely beautiful this week – sun sun and more sun!! I love the warmer weather, I’m definitely not a winter girl. All this weather has put me in the mood for yummy refreshing drinks after my workouts so I’ve come up with a couple of protein-filled smoothies for post-workout!

Weekly motivation: Aussie Nina Silic – so envious of her tiny waist!

 

Ok so this first smoothie I’m calling a Mango Avocado Protein Smoothie (no prizes for guessing what’s in it ;P)

Serves 1

1/2 cup mango

1/4 avocado

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

1&1/2 cups cold water

Splash of almond milk

Blend!!

Nutritional info:

Calories: 264

Total fat: 9.7g

Total carbs: 22.2

Sugar: 14.3g

Protein: 26.2g

 

Next one is the Flaxseed Mango Protein Smoothie (mangoes had been on sale at Woolies..)

Serves 1

1 tbsp flax seed oil

1/2 cup mango

1/2 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

1&1/2 cups cold water

Throw it all in the blender!

Nutritional info:

Calories: 396

Total fat: 19.3g

Total carbs: 28.3

Sugar: 19.9g

Protein: 30.7g

 

You might notice that these have (much) higher sugar content that all of my other recipes, but I’m allowing myself this extra sugar because a) it is natural sugar from fruit and b) sugar post-workout with protein helps rapid absorption of protein and recovery.

 

Another snack that I have whipped up for this week are Cinnamon and Peanut Butter Protein Cookies from the wonderful www.proteinpow.com. Here’s my slightly modified version:

Serves 12

80g vanilla whey protein powder (2&2/3 scoop)

1/3 cup ground almond

1 tbsp cinnamon

4 serves Stevia

1 tbsp peanut butter (natural, no added salt/sugar)

220 mL lite coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

Mix the whole lot together and roll/dollop into a baking tray lined with baking paper

I then flattened these because otherwise mine were little balls

Bake for 15 minutes

Yum! These are pretty nice, but not the best protein cookies I’ve made

Nutritional info: per 1/12 cookies

Calories: 96.4

Total fat: 4.5g

Total carbs: 5.6g

Sugar: 1.2g

Protein: 8.6g

 

This week has been much better than last week (thank goodness) but we have had assessments due and of course exams are looming. At the start of this year when I was unwell and trying to decide whether to continue studying or not a few people (professors and tutors) admitted that I didn’t seem like the kind of person who could bring myself back up and pass this year. I’m going to prove them wrong 😉

Don’t let other people determine what you’re capable of. Show them you can do whatever you set your mind on x

Dementia and Red Wine Vinegar

I started a new rotation last week – I’m going to be spending the next 4 weeks in the rehab centre of the hospital. Meeting the patients with dementia is a whole new experience for me, and is very confronting.

Meanwhile, I’m still working on the leg situation – I got some advice from fellow fitties and they suggested that rather than focus on decreasing my quads, I should aim on increasing my calves to even out my legs.

 

Motivation for the week – Nina Silic!! Total hottie 🙂

 

Weekly food plan:

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

Blueberry pancakes!! + sugarfree maple syrup mmm 🙂

 

Meal 2:

Leftover Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies from last week yum!!

 

Meal 3/Lunch:

Again, leftover Slow Cooker Thai Chicken. This is how I normally eat my weekly prepped meals haha.

 

Meal 4:

Tried some different muffins, this time Blueberry Protein Muffins from skinnymom.com. I didn’t take a photo because they stuck like CRAZY and turned out a bit of a mess (please please please use muffin pan liners!! Foil ones, because otherwise you’ll struggle to separate the paper from the muffins…) but they are really yummy!!

Serves 6 big muffins or 12 small muffins

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used oat flour)

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

1/2 cup skim milk (I used almond milk)

1/4 cup sugarfree maple syrup (LOVE THIS STUFF!!)

4 egg whites

1/4 cup sweetener (I put in about 12 serves of Stevia)

3 tbsp sweetener Brown sugar (I have no idea where to find this, so I left it out and they turned out fine)

2 tbsp light whipped butter (I substituted fat free Greek yoghurt)

1/2 cup blueberries

2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

1&1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to about 200 degrees celcius.

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Whisk wet ingredients well.

Combine wet and dry ingredients, then fold in blueberries.

Line a muffin tray with muffin pans (I thought if I used HEAPS of spray these would be fine.. please take my advise and use muffins liners!!)

Bake in the oven for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. These muffins are super sweet and delicious!

Nutritional info: (per 1/12 muffins)

Calories: 46

Total fat: 0.7g

Total carbs: 5.2g

Sugar: 1.7g

Protein: 4.4g

 

Meal 5/Dinner:

I tried something different – I was feeling lazy/poor so I used a slow cooker packet and made Slow Cooker Kangaroo/Beef and Red Wine Casserole.

Serves 4

500g kangaroo steak – diced (the recipe used beef, but I wanted to use roo)

200g mushrooms – diced

2 carrots – diced

2 tbsp no added salt tomato paste

125mL red wine (I used red wine vinegar, because that’s what I had, and has very little calories – eugh please do not do this!! I tasted it this morning after cooking it overnight and no matter how much sweetener or salt I added, I could not make it edible!! I’ll retry this next week with red wine)

1x masterfoods beef and red wine casserole recipe base

Shove it all in a slow cooker for 8 hours on low!! .

Nutritional info: (per 1/4 serves, with kangaroo)

Calories: 172

Total fat: 1.4g

Total Carbs: 11.6g

Sugar: 5.3g

Protein: 27.7g

 

Meal 6:

WW protein mouse – I haven’t updated this recipe in a while, but this is what I currently have for dessert:

Serves 1

50g low fat cottage cheese

1 serve weight watcher chocolate mouse (1/2 packet)

1 tbsp hulled hemp seeds

1 tsp cocoa powder

2 serves Stevia

Splash of almond milk

About 4 walnuts/1 tbsp dessicated coconut

Nutritional info:

Calories: 258

Total fat: 13.1g

Total carbs: 10.7g

Sugar: 5.1g

Protein:13.8g

 

Along with healthy eating, keep up with the exercise – exercise releases endorphins, which explains why I always feel pumped up and a hell of a lot better after sweating it out at the gym. Rather than reaching for chocolate when I’m feeling down I’m trying to get into the habit for going for even just a 15 minute walk around the block – it helps!! And keep in mind: there’s no such thing as a bad gym session – any gym session is better than nothing at all 🙂 x