5 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Goals

If you’re one of our followers, you know I’m going through contest prep right now. It’s been a 6-week contest of cutting fat and building lean muscle, trying to create a “transformation.” Since my willpower week, the clean eating has been a cinch. Well, except when I went to Iowa for family reunion and had ice cream on a daily basis. After that vacation, it was hard to get myself as motivated as I was beforehand. I still followed a good eating plan and exercise routine but I wasn’t as into it, so I’d fall into some bad habits–mostly, it’s picking at food I shouldn’t have. We all sometimes have trouble staying focused on our goals and here are some tips to stay on track!

1. Set your phone background to something motivational. I know what I want and I know how I can get it. But there’s always the gap of emotion, laziness, and impulse. This is a way to bridge that gap. Take a photo that inspires you, could be a picture of a physique you want or a place you want to get to. Whatever your goal is. Email it to your phone and set it as your background so that every time you look at it (and we all know our phones are with us 24/7). I even went and added some text to mine to remind me of my bad habit and stop my hand from snatching a little piece of something.

A great motivator for me

2. Go back to the first image, post, “thing” that started you on this path. We all become inspired to complete a goal, one way or another. For me, for this goal, I was inspired by the contest page. Chris showed me the contest and he thought I could do well, maybe even win. I never thought I could win (okay maybe before I saw all the rest of the people joining), but his confidence in me and my imagination of what I could transform my body into. It was a chance to test my willpower, to see how hard I could work. I look at that page and I feel those same feelings and I become inspired again.

3. Imagine yourself at the end. This is a huge one for me. I can feel tired after a day’s work, I can feel lazy, and make up some excuse of why I shouldn’t go 100% that day. But all it takes for me is to imagine myself at my completion, imagine what I can become, and that inspiration pops right up again. If your goal is to save enough money for a vacation to Greece, imagine yourself on the beach. If your goal is to lose those x number of pounds, imagine what you will look like, what you will feel like. I always like to imagine how strong I will become, mind, body, and spirit.

Actually developing some abs

4. Set a schedule on your calendar. Whether you have a smart phone or a hard calendar (we have both), plan the days of your week. I used to do this a lot during college when I set up training sessions with my friends. And for this last week of the contest, I am scheduling my workouts each day. You don’t have to schedule all the way down to what exercises you’re going to do, but a general plan. Maybe back and biceps with a little cardio on Monday, Yoga and HIIT training on Tuesday, and so forth. Put it into your calendar (it’d be great if you could do reminders and alerts with your smart phone if you have one) and put the times too. Make what you want a priority, and that means making solid time for yourself.

Set a date!

5. Track your results. Whether that means calculating body fat percentage or watching your savings account go up, TRACK IT. Maybe you don’t see a difference (though you probably will), keep reality-based checkpoints that you can measure with. I hadn’t measured for a while and I finally did, finding that I had lost 2% body fat. It’s a great re-motivator if you feel like you’re hitting a plateau or sliding away. Find some way to track your results and goal, no matter what it is.

Seeing progress

Those are 5 simple things you can do anywhere, anyhow. If you feel yourself sliding, try one of these tricks. They are sure-fire to keep you hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Kitties from the other side of the window

Jul152013

Building Muscle & Losing Fat (Myths of Fitness)

Myths of Fitness might not be the greatest name for this series but it’s all we have for now. The whole reason that I made up such a boring and vague name comes from my immediate desire to spread this information. Now, I am sure that we have said this before, but it IS possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. Here I will explain it shortly without getting into detail about the scientific and specific aspects that are better explained through some links below. This is a better explanation for people who want to know the truth and those links provide the better explanations for those who want to know the reasons that make it true.

Hittin da gym in Iowa

First and most importantly, you as an individual need to figure out what your goal is! The reason why I have a general problem with P90X, Insanity, Total Immersion Swimming, and other similar programs that are products you need to pay for is because they act like these programs are the solution to everyone’s needs. This obviously is not the case since all individuals interested in getting in better shape are different anatomically, physiologically, psychologically, etc. Basically, everyone is physically and mentally different from everyone else. So you need a program that caters specifically to your needs. While I have many problems with those products the one reason why I do like their popularity is that they are helping get people off of the couch. (Just be careful that once you get off the couch you don’t get hurt because it’s in the nature of some of those programs to accidentally let that happen.) But my rants about those products, triathlons, obstacle races, and Crossfit will come at another time. (It will be a “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”)

Going back to how I started the last paragraph… what is your goal? If you want to be massive then your goal is hypertrophy and mass gain. If you want to be super lean then you’re on the other side of the spectrum. If you want to maintain your appearance, it’s another different story. Professional bodybuilders, pro athletes, endurance athletes, martial artists, dancers, professional eaters, and everyone else on this planet should take different approaches to reaching their goals and this is where we come back to that myth of not being able to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

If you focus on one goal (I struggle with this) then it is typically easier to achieve. Or at least you can achieve it quicker. Bodybuilders go through a bulking cycle where they pack on extra mass and fat in order to help their muscles go through hypertrophy. Once they have achieved their desired size in terms of specific muscle groups, they continue to exercise rigorously while cutting. While they are in a cutting cycle, they will lower their body fat and mass significantly while maintaining a significant amount of their hypertrophic progress in their muscles. That is the end result of what you see when you watch the Olympia or the Arnold Classic. I won’t go into significant detail about their diet and supplementation other than the fact that they try to eat more calories while bulking and a caloric deficit while cutting. This is the optimal way to maximize gains in a mere aesthetic manner.

However, if you are more interested in building “functional” muscles (don’t take me using functional literally. Every workout leads to the growth of functional muscle. Some would argue that some forms are more “functional” or useful than others) then you should consider find what program suits you best. Everyone can be classified as a mesomorph, ectomorph, or endomorph. (See our old glossary of fitness terms for an explanation.) In order to find the perfect mix of macronutrients and exercise in order to build muscle and lose fat you need to go through something called… trial and error. I cannot be convinced that there is a single “adonis ratio” that calculates every person’s needs equally. We are all far too different. You can hire “coaches” to help you and guide you but be careful and make sure they have your best interests in mind. You might hear of a coach telling a client to eat under 20 grams of fat a day. Please do not listen to them. You need fat to control hormone production and for hundreds of other functions. But that is another post we’ll talk about at another time.

Bottom Line: You can build more muscle if you are just trying to build muscle. You need the excess calories and other factors to help you gain mass. You can cut more fat is you are just trying to cut fat. You need the caloric deficit and other factors to help lose fat. However, if you are interested in doing both at the same time… you can. Obviously it isn’t possible to maintain a caloric surplus and deficit at the same time but for beginners, overweight individuals, and exceptional people it is more likely to be able to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Also, depending on your macronutrients, you can “build muscle” (in various ways, not mass necessarily) while on a slight caloric deficit or a caloric balance. You won’t build quite as much muscle or lose quite as much fat, but you can still be efficient and help reach YOUR goals. Don’t listen to anyone else since you have YOUR goals and it is YOUR body. My goal right now… be happy in life. If I want ice cream then I’m having ice cream. And you should do the same because happiness is a key factor in staying hungry and fit.

Gettin’ some Frisbee Golf on

Here are two great links to two great individuals that I look up to in the scientific side of the fitness industry. Jim Stoppani provides individuals with hundreds of phenomenal workout programs… many for free. Congratulations to Dr. Layne Norton in the birth of his son. Best of luck to your family.

http://www.cutandjacked.com/CutAndJacked-Ask-Dr-Layne-Norton

http://www.jimstoppani.com/home/questions/187

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Jun272013

My Hell Week is Over

Disclaimer: I would never suggest this “diet” to anyone else. For me, it was just a willpower test I’ve wanted to try. I am highly against crash or fad diets.

Second Disclaimer: This is kind of a long post, but only because it means a lot to me.

I did it. I did it! I did it! If you’re wondering why I’m seemingly raving mad right now, direct yourself to this post. If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing (even though it’s short), I’ll give you a little summary. I did a crazy thing of subjecting myself to 7 days of 560 caloric hell. The actors from Spartacus did this to get lean and in slave-gladiator-like shape for their show. It was a prescribed four water protein shakes a day. That’s it. For an entire week. And that was while they were at “Gladiator Camp” doing 4 hours of combat work each day. I unfortunately had no such camp to attend, so every other day I completed the hellish Spartacus Circuit (3 times over). And on the other days, I did other cardio and strength exercises.

Working hard during a Spartacus circuit

So last Wednesday I forwent food, subsisting on only 4-5 protein shakes a day (water mixed with protein powder). If any of you know me, I am hungry most of the time. Why do you think we named this blog Hungry and Fit? I didn’t choose to do this to lose weight or lose inches (even though I am doing this contest), I did it for the sole sake of testing my willpower. And I did it. I didn’t touch any food for that entire week though I drooled and craved it constantly. I’m waiting for someone to send me my “Willpower Extraordinaire” plaque, but I guess it takes time to mail.

I am very proud of myself and happy I pushed through. Water, gum, and ice are the three material things that really helped me get through it. Oh, and video games. Thanks, nerdy side of myself, for helping me get lost in that while I wasn’t working out or working. More than those, Chris and friends really supported me. Chris was there for me every step of the way and my friends would text me each morning say, “Alana, still staying strong?!” I appreciated it more than they know. Because I was definitely an infinitely more grumpy person during that week. You can especially ask Chris, but also my workmates like Daisy or Kim too.

How I felt

Again, I would not suggest this to anyone. After only consuming 560 calories a day, working out every day, and continuing an active-paced job, I lost ten pounds (I know my mum is yelling at me right now back home). Ten pounds in a week is NOT GOOD. Listen to me, I’m a trainer. That’s what you call a bad crash diet. Again, I want to reiterate, I did it for the willpower test, because for me, I think at the end of the day, if you don’t have your willpower, you don’t have anything. It was extremely rough the first few days–who am I kidding, it was rough for the entirety, but I started getting used to not consuming food. However, by the end, my body was pretty mad at me, making me a little sick and weak. Again–DON’T do this. I’m just sharing my achievement. It ended up de-motivating me for my contest because I was so miserable without food and feeling weak.

“Before”

“After”

I’m showing you pictures of how my body slightly transformed, not as motivation, but to document how this affected me.

You can imagine how blissfully amazing this day of rebirth into food has been (if you think I’m being dramatic, blame my dad, he’s an actor). I had my meals planned days in advance (because what do you do when you can’t eat? You think about food!). I was in such a better mood than I had been all week and I was just happy because I did it. I accomplished something I had wanted to for a long time now. I’m all for celebration, but I’m still on track for this contest. And although today is a “cheat” day (you’ll get descriptions and pictures after this of my meals today), I’m going right back to strict eating of lean proteins, veggies, fruits, and complex carbohydrates to get to my “extremely fit” goal with Chris at my back as a coach.

This wasn’t even close to my cheat day before the Spartacus Hell Week (in terms of bad food), but it was cheat enough for me because it was real, beautiful FOOD. Let’s look at the menu.

For Breakfast: Dot’s Diner

Small House Breakfast…that’s fake meat

I really tried slowly eating, but you can’t understand my excitement and happiness. I ate most of it, but not the whole biscuit. Stomach felt funky for a few hours, but it just needs to get used to solids again.

For Lunch: Snarf’s

Tuna sandwich…mmmm

Face of bliss

The mouth-watering in this situation happened to be ridiculous. Again, tried to take my time.

For Dinner: Korea House

Korea House in its amazingness…we would eat here every night if we could afford it

Happy last meal

I wasn’t going to (or supposed to) have any thick dairy like milk or ice cream, but we were served it by our favorite Korean chef and we always put respect, honor, and morals before anything else.

All in all, I’m glad I did it. I’m proud of myself. But I will never do it again. I only wish to inspire people to try to reach higher and higher, because you never know what you’re capable of. Wish me luck on the rest of my 5 weeks til the end of the contest! Going to be on an eating plan of tuna, beans, rice, vegetables, grapefruit, banana, fish and oatmeal! Use your willpower to stay hungry and fit!

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Jun212013

Do NOT Mix Thermogenics and an “Empty” Stomach

If you don’t know what I’m doing this week, please read here. Now that you understand my Hell, please know that I made a big mistake last night. So yesterday was Day 2 of this awful protein-shake-only thing I’m doing. And I know I have a tough workout coming up, to be more specific, the Spartacus workout—3 circuits of it. So I was thinking…I should probably take a pre-workout so I have enough energy for the workout. Unfortunately, the only thing we had left was little thermogenic sample packs. If you don’t know what a thermogenic is–it’s basically a fat burner. However, it also has energy in it–concentrated caffeine. If any of you know me, you know caffeine tears my body apart.

So I take it. Feeling alright, feel as if I have enough sustenance in my body (because I previously just had my #4 protein shake) and head over to my workout. Now I am proud of myself for this workout. Nobody was watching me, I set up a timer, and did every set, every rep as hard as I could. When I felt like giving up, I would push on and fight harder. So that felt awesome–3 circuits through, 10 stations, 1 minute each. And I did it. Felt shaky by the end, but I was expecting that.

Near the beginning

Then I get home. And it just hits me–I get the shakes all over and become incredibly nauseous and cold. I really felt like throwing up, but didn’t. All I could do was lay down on the couch, trying to watch the NBA Finals game (boo, Heat!), but feeling so tremendously awful. I have one last protein shake to drink, the one I probably needed the most, but I just couldn’t do it. So I go to bed very early and have a rough night of tossing and turning with the taste of bile in my mouth, but I woke up feeling better and hungry.

How I felt

Still feeling a little off today, but it’s Day 3 and I’m hoping it will be easier from here on out. My body is getting accustomed to less food, so I will be less hungry. My body is pretty sore, especially my back and rear delts, but it feels good. I brought an ice cube tray to work to munch on and it feels like I’m eating real food!

My cute ice cubes

Moral of the Story: DO NOT HAVE THERMOGENICS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Period.

Cheers! Stay hungry and fit!

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Jun202013

The Best Test of Willpower

If you read my post yesterday, you’ll know that I’m doing a contest to transform myself (from fit to extremely fit) and see how strong and lean I can make my body. I started off with a 10-day cleanse, a cheat day, and now Hell Week begins. Again, here is my bodyspace. This is when I need the most support. When the days look bleak and I’m not looking forward to much at all. When my stomach begins eating itself.

I’m not a fan of fad diets. And this isn’t a fad diet, it’s getting my body to a certain point where I can then maintain it for the next 5 weeks or so with lean proteins, veggies, and complex carbohydrates. But even before I knew about this contest, I wanted to do this challenge. I wanted it primarily for the ultimate willpower test. Now you’re probably screaming, “What ‘diet’ are you talking about!” Check this video out, don’t worry, it’s only 2-3 minutes long and it’s a lot of fun.

My “diet” is based on the actors who trained for Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the Starz series, the original series with the late Andy Whitfield. 4 water-protein shakes a day. That’s it. And that was all the while doing 4 hours of “Gladiator Camp”–which I would love to do, but it’s damn tough. To get lean and mean. I got my protein powder from tigerfitness.com (Machine Whey Powder) which Chris recommended as one of the best protein powders, especially for this task (and similar to what they used). So this is what I’m doing: four or five (alternating each day) protein shakes, which is just protein powder and water. That’s it. For seven days.

The protein I’m using

I just completed Day 1 and it feels like a century. 4 water protein shakes spaced roughly four hours apart. The first five hours and last five hours were the toughest. However, I was able to complete a 1.64 mile trail run with a dog and a 1.5 hour arms workout. Not bad, but again, it was rough and miserable. Any food sounds good. I use water and gum to curb my constant hunger. This is a willpower test and I can do it. I know I can. I want to see how far I can push myself. Like I said, I wanted to do this before I even knew about the contest just to test my willpower.

Trail run

So here I go, eating like Spartacus and also training somewhat like him (doing Spartacus workouts). I’m looking at 4-5 water protein shakes a day for the next 6 days. Every smell and glance of food will tempt me, but I will stay strong. This will keep me hungry and fit!

My only sustenance

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Jun192013

Fit is Entering a Contest

Some of you may have heard of BodyBuilding.com. No, I am not trying to become a body builder (though, that is what all of us do when we exercise or even eat–building our bodies in different ways), but I am trying to win a contest, and more importantly, show myself up. This is to prove myself that I can always be better than what I am and that I can use willpower to achieve whatever I want. I am entering the Strong to the Cor Challenge sponsored by Cellucor (a popular supplement company).

It is a contest for already fit people (though I’ve seen some men with 27% body fat…not exactly “fit” for men) to get extremely fit. This means cutting down fat and building up muscle. If you know me already, I’m fit, but there’s always room for improvement. I want to get stronger, faster, and more capable. I have Hungry as my coach and I could ask for no better as he knows me best and also happens to live with me.

There’s a $10,000 1st place grand prize (in additional to like 2k worth of supplements and products) with some 2nd and 3rd place prizes too. And it’s 10k to both a female and a male. But that’s not why I’m doing it. I don’t think I’ll actually win the grand prize in the face of all the other females who are doing it–especially those starting with 27% body fat and able to get such a larger transformation. I’m doing this, like I said, to prove to myself that I can push myself farther than I ever have before and really see what my body can do.

Recent arms workout

It’s a 6-week transformation, ending in early August. Tomorrow, I truly start. For the past 10 days, I did a cleanse to prime the body and now it’s ready to kick butt. So today was my in-between day, eating whatever I wanted to savor it all up. Pancakes for breakfast, big cheesy burrito for lunch, and pizza and ice cream for dinner. I had been off dairy for 10 days so today was a goooood day. Tomorrow, I start a week of 4 water protein shakes a day, doing what the cast from Spartacus did to get lean and ripped. It’s probably going to be one the hardest tests of my willpower yet. But, I’m excited for it. It will be a week of hell, but I believe I can do it if I set my mind to it.

So support me! I know that sometimes the killer workouts and nutritional plan are gonna make me want to quit, but I want to see how far I can go. Here is my BodySpace, I’ll try to be updating as much as possible. After watching Man of Steel, I’d love to be paid to workout every day and prime my body to become a superhero, but we can’t have it all, right? So with you guys supporting me and Chris there for me every step, I believe I can get far. Let’s do this! Time to be hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria found herself in a doll house in the house we’re sitting at

Jun012013

Enter into Beast Mode: Spartacus Workout

Some of you may have heard of this, some of you may have not. But if you do this right, it is an amazing, kick-butt workout. We do it with each other sometimes and sometimes I will put my unfortunate clients through it. Chris knew about this before Men’s Health even did. He’s been doing it forever. Depending on how many rounds you do, this workout takes no longer than 30 minutes. It is a fat-burning, muscle-burning, lean-making workout. Don’t miss out on this one! You can find its original site here.

There are 10 stations. 1 minute per station. 15s rest for transition. 2 minute break at the end of each circuit. 2-3 circuits. One minute may not sound like a lengthy bit of time, but once you’re in the circuit, pushing yourself through the muscle-ripping exercises, it seems more like an hour. Let’s get started. Grab dumbbells that are manageable for 15-20 reps. Don’t go too heavy or you’ll die.

1. Goblet squat. Grab a dumbbell and hold it like a goblet and then do proper squats.

2. Mountain climbers. Get in a tripod position on your hands and toes and bring each foot for ward towards your head and then back, and rotate.

3. Single-arm dumbbell swing. Grab a dumbbell and get into a crouched position but keep the shoulders back and look forward. With one arm, swing the dumbbell above your head, straightening your body as you do so. Bring it back down and switch arms.

4. T-pushup. This one is almost always a killer. Get into a pushup position with your arms straight, using the dumbbells as pushup grips. Do a pushup and then turn your body sideways and lift the dumbbell up as if you’re doing as side plank. Then do the other side.

5. Lunge jumps. Just what it sounds like. Hold a dumbbell and jump between lunges.

6. Dumbbell row. Bent slightly forward with both dumbbells in hand and row towards yourself.

7. Dumbbell side lunge and touch. Lunge to the side with your dumbbells and touch the floor with them.

8. Pushup-position row. Get into a pushup position using the dumbbells as grips again. This time, don’t do a pushup. Instead, row with each dumbbell towards yourself.

9. Dumbbell lunge and rotation. Lunge forward with a dumbbell and twist to the left. Lunge with the other leg, twist to the right. Repeat.

10. Squat press. Perform a squat with two dumbbells in hands and at the top of your squat, do a shoulder press.

All images from Menshealth.com

And that’s ten. Remember, 1 minute each with only 15s rest for transition. Try for 2-3 circuits. Remember to take 2 minute rest in between, so that your muscles can perform adequately the next round. This is a BEASTLY workout, and all you need are dumbbells. This can be done anywhere! No excuses! The perfect workout to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Up close and personal with Nymeria

May102013

Fat-Roasting, Glute-Burning Leg Circuit

After a 2 mile run around McIntosh Lake (see the run here), I decided to get my leg workout in the fast, no-break circuit kind of way. For this, it’s best to find yourself in a park, a beach, a backyard–somewhere with some space. But of course, if you’re locked in an apartment in an Alaskan winter, you can always modify it for small space too. This is a great workout for those who have little time and want high intensity. Let’s do it!

Lock n Load Legs Circuit

1. Lunge 20 feet (or for 20 seconds). You’re going to lunge yourself to your first “station” in this circuit.

2. Scorpions until failure. These work the hamstrings. Go on all fours, lifting one bent knee up and down behind you. Do it until you can’t do another rep. Switch to other leg.

3. Lunge 20 more feet to the next station (or 20 seconds). Think about a triangle as a formation that we’re doing (the stations set up in that way).

4. Plie squat until failure. The link has the best full description. Start in horse stance, squat down, then lunge left and then right! These are killer on the glutes and quads. Do them until you drop.

5. Lunge 20 more feet to next station (or 20 seconds stationary). ‘Nuff said.

6. Step ups until failure. For this, I had a little grassy incline that I used. If you’re at home, you can use a chair, a couch, or a coffee table (just don’t tell your partner!). Or at the beach, build up a little sand incline. You get the idea. Step up and drive the knee up every time. Until you can’t step up another time!

A super blurry older picture of me performing a step up

7. Doggies until failure. For this, you’re on your hands and knees again. Kick your leg back and then a full rotation around back to starting position. This targets your glutes. The more you do, the more those muscles will tighten up. Do them until failure and then right away on the other side.

And repeat as much as you have time for. Again, this can all be done stationary in one place. Just try to keep it non-stop. You can rest and have water in between the whole sets, but to get that burning, cardio effect, just keep going! Have fun and stay hungry and fit!

May072013

Strong is the New Skinny

I hope you’ve been seeing this around. Within the recent decade, gyms, fitness centers, and health clubs have been booming. And along the last couple of years, females have been admired for getting buff. Especially this and last year, as I’ve noticed, there are tons of phrases coming out like “Strong is the new skinny” and I am 100% on board with that. For too long, women have been shuffled into a space where they are expected to look a certain way.

Hello, earth to people–everyone’s body behaves, evolves, and trains differently. That’s it. Check out this post to learn more about fitness definitions like “mesomorph” that describe different body types. Now, I’m not saying, go and eat 5 cheeseburgers because it’s okay to be fat. No, it’s not okay to be overweight for your body type–not because of how you look, but because of the health inside of you and the problems it can create. No, I’m saying, that it’s okay to have more than 15% body fat, that skinny is out, and strong is in.

Abby Wambach, the “gladiator” of the US Women’s National Soccer Team

Once you begin strength training and really building yourself with endurance, strength, and agility, you find power. Think of our Olympians–they’re sexy because they’re strong. And guess what–it is HEALTHIER to be strong. Often times, it can be unhealthy to be skinny. It’s a whole new level of empowerment. I ask you to stop shying away from your broad shoulders like I once did and embrace them. They give you great power for swimming, back workouts, and overall strength. They help you become a better athlete.

Me during a pull workout a few months ago

Some people call me skinny and I stop them. I don’t have a lot of body fat, but I do have a good amount of muscle. I am strong, not skinny. I almost take insult to being called skinny now when I would’ve loved that compliment five years. Times have changed and perspectives are almost coming around to where they should be. I am lucky enough to have someone like Chris who admires me for my strength, which all should do of their partners instead of desiring unrealistic and unhealthy figures. I apologize for the rant, but I’m sick of people starving themselves to get a certain look. Feed your body and put it through work. Love yourself, love your body, and love the power that strength can give you.

Treat your body with respect and kindness. STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY

Mar072013

Alana’s Almost-Tropical Smoothie

Since Chris got me some flavorless protein powder for V-Day, I was ready to hit up the smoothie-making business. One day after a workout, I decided I wanted to break the seal and use the new protein powder, instead of a new expensive gross (in my opinion) one that Chris got. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a ton of smoothie fruit in the house (I mean strawberries, bananas, blueberries, etc.), but we still had some of our staples. So I whipped this together, giving Nymeria and Sajah scraps of fruit along the way.

Ingredients

1 scoop Jarrow’s whey protein
1/2 cup milk (I really didn’t measure this)
1 banana
4 clementines
ice

Directions

Put ice and milk in blender, ice crush!
Put in the scoop of protein powder
Break the banana and half and add in. Peel the clementines and add in, whole or cut
Blend until smooth!

blending blending blending

And enjoy! Makes about two servings, I couldn’t finish all by myself so I saved it for later. I call it almost-tropical because we didn’t quite have the pineapple or guava or passionfruit to kick it into tropical gear. But this tastes great anyhow. Feel free to mix and match with whatever fruit or protein you have. Cheers!