OMG you guys. I don't know about you, but I love experimenting with my body and seeing how I respond to certain foods. Lately, I've been playing around with my post workout meal, and I think I found my new favorite. Not only do I feel great after I eat it, but I also feel very satisfied and I love how it fuels my body for recovery. I also happen to love that it's a teeny bit sweet which calms the vicious sweet tooth that I have.
Post workout, I normally look for something that is 50% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fat (approximately). I find that this mixture helps me recover well and also keeps me full until my next meal. I don't do a lot of nutrition timing, especially now that I'm pregnant and my whole diet is a bit off anyway, but I do like to take in a good portion of my carbs post workout for that fast glucose reabsorption after my stores have been depleted.
Wanna know what it is??? Here you guys go!
Chocolate-Almond Butter Protein Oatmeal
What you'll need:
1/4 cup Coach's Oats
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
2 tbs. almond butter (check your ingredients, there should only be almonds in this, and maybe salt... absolutely NO added sugar)
OPTIONAL: 1 cup (166 grams) sliced banana
I have found that the best way to make this is to mix the oats and the protein powder first, then add water as directed by the oatmeal recipe.
Here is the most important step: WHISK THOROUGHLY!!!
You know how protein powder gets really gross and clumpy when you don't have a shaker bottle to use? Guess what? It does that in this too, so before you either heat this on the stovetop or in the microwave you need to make sure you get all those clumps broken up.
Then heat per oatmeal instructions, stirring often.
After the oats have reached desired consistency, add in your almond butter (and sliced banana if desired) and mix completely. Let cool and ENJOY!
The one thing that might get some of y'all is the texture of this bad boy... it's not great I'm not gonna lie hahaha. But it's also not bad as long as you whisk thoroughly at the beginning. And like I said, the chocolate and almond butter flavors really come through so it tastes a little like dessert - I might even try and make some cookies soon playing around with these ingredients!
What's also cool about this recipe is that you can tweak it to meet your macros accordingly and it will still turn out fine! Need less carbs? Ditch the banana or use less oats. Need less fat? Cut the almond butter in half. The only thing you shouldn't try and do is add more protein as it's been scientifically proven that only about 30 grams of protein are properly reabsorbed, so adding more is literally wasting your precious powder.
Give this a go and let me know what you think! Macro counts are below...
1 Serving as directed above (may vary depending on brand of ingredients used):
Calories: 450
Protein: 34.5 grams
Carbs: 30.25 grams
Fat: 20.75 grams
With banana:
Calories: 583
Protein: 36 grams
Carbs: 64 grams
Fat: 21 grams