Beat the Heat

(Smoothie ingredients)

I just started my first dietetic internship rotation today. I’m in a HIV clinic in Houston, Texas. More information on that to come. In the mean time I figured that this is the perfect time for a challenge. I decided on another ½ marathon in Austin on October 9^th! I am really excited about this one and just started my training regimen this morning with a run at 6am. If you have even been to Houston in the summer you know that this is the ONLY acceptable time to go running. By 4:00 today the thermostat in my car read 111 degrees.

(I took a picture to prove it!)

After finishing my run this morning I was ready for a little breakfast. Problem is, not much sounds good when the temperature is in the 100’s. Of course, being the nutrition freak I am, I could never skip breakfast. That is sacrilege! Especially after a run! I needed protein to rebuild muscles and carbohydrates to replenish my glycogen stores. What satified? A smoothie of course! Honestly, my new roomie Elizabeth and I have been drinking smoothies non-stop since our arrival in Texas and they certainly hit the spot on a hot day. So, challenge of the week: a different smoothie every day! Yeah! And I’m even going to share the recipes with y’all (note Texas slang).

Monday Smoothie

1 ripe banana

½ cup organic blueberries

1 tablespoon organic peanut butter

2 tablespoons Vega Chocolate Shake & Go Smoothie

5-6 ice cubes

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

(Go Texans!)

This smoothie has it all, the Vega products are really awesome too. This particular one provides 11 grams of protein and contains all natural minimally refined ingredients. You really need to be careful when selected protein powders as they have a lot of garbage in them and super refined/processed. Products you can trust are Vega and Nutiva.

I threw in some peanut butter to add some healthy fats and the peanut butter-chocolate combo was super yummy too! Enjoy!