Weight training smoothie

It's 9:20 a.m. and between the cold weather, the everyday aches and pains of this body and PMS, my diet has consisted of too much Halloween candy and too many potato chips.

My fitness goals have been challenged by the cold snap and my unheated work out space coupled with ankle pain that may be related to my cerebral palsy and/or preliminary phases of arthritis. 

So today I brought some weights inside. I did 20 minutes of yoga for abs and 15 or so of lower body yoga. I'd never done that routine. The results were indeed awkward. I added to that 15 minutes of upper body free weights while watching an old episode of ER and ended up getting more reps than usual in because I enjoyed watching TV.

I "rewarded" myself with a breakfast smoothie, vegan:

 It's sweeter than I expected. I used 4 ounces coconut water with pulp, 4 ounces very vanilla silk soy milk, one tablespoon unsalted organic almond butter from Wegmans (a friend hates it and passed it off to be knowing I do love almond butter in all shapes, sizes and varieties), a banana, and Biochem Sports vegan protein powder in vanilla.

Makes me feel stronger already.

Protein powder

Well, it's come to this. I keep losing weight. And I don't want to anymore. I've lost 30 pounds. I don't want to cut back on my work-outs because I'm trying to strengthen my legs and upper body to combat various health issues.

So I need to eat more.

Except I'm not a fruit eater. I love veggies but they don't have much of a calorie count. Processed carbs? Chips? Cakes? Candy? Yes, I love ALL of them. But I want to eat cleaner than that.

I need protein. And I'm not a big meat eater. Most days my calorie counter says I run a protein deficit and despite working to remedy this, I just don't have enough protein foods that I enjoy that are healthy. Chicken and fish? Blech. Peanut butter and cheese, absolutely but then I overload on fat.

So I checked out the protein powders at Target today. We have some BIG cans. I don't want to invest quite that much into this experiment. 

I went to Nature's Way. Got these sample sized packets. One serving.

I tried good old fashioned whey powder after my weight training today. I liked it. I mixed it with Very Vanilla soy milk. My daughter says it tasted like a milkshake. A lumpy milkshake, in my view.

I loaded it into my calorie counter-- I STILL have a protein deficit. Le Sigh.