Bored at breakfast? Looking for something that will keep your belly full at least until your first coffee break? I feel ya. Breakfast can be a tough meal, especially when you’re trying to eat like a health conscious CrossFitter.
Well then my friend, it’s time to dig out the blender and go high tech with your breakfast! Throw in a few simple, nutritious ingredients, give ‘er a whirl and you’ve got a super-quick and uber satisfying meal. I ask you, who in their right mind can resist a nice icy cold, frothy, smoothie concoction? 😉
Obviously the aim here is to keep the calories and nutrition content under control. I hate to break it to you all, but this means that you should avoid smoothie ingredients like ice cream, whole milk, and cream. Instead, try and utilize healthy and lower fat items. If you’re not on the Paleo train, you can try such things as skim milk, low-fat plain yogurt, natural fruit juice, silken tofu, soymilk, or rice milk. If you ARE on the Paleo train, water is always a viable option!
The very best smoothie is creamy and thick, NOT watered-down or icy. A great trick for adding thickness to your smoothie, without adding additional unwanted calories, is to freeze the fruit you’re going to use before making the smoothie (or, you could simply buy frozen fruit). Just remember to watch your portions when making the smoothie, to avoid carbohydrate overkill.
Don’t forget protein and fats! An easy protein fix is to sprinkle in some of your favourite protein powder, or, if you’re brave, some raw eggs. You can also pop in a modest scoop of nut butter, or even some ground flax seed, to add some healthy fats to the mix
If your smoothie doesn’t contain fruit, you may want to freeze the liquid ingredients to add thickness and creaminess, preventing a watery consistency. Go ahead and freeze the liquid in ice cube trays until ready to use. Spices and flavorings can also give your smoothie some zest without adding a lot of extra calories. Try adding vanilla, almond, coconut, or lemon extracts. Or, sprinkle in some nutmeg, cinnamon, shredded coconut, etc. You could also throw in some Greens powder from your local health food store, if you want that added nutritional boost
Grab a straw, sip, and enjoy a great start to your day!
Important Reminder: The “What’s Stopping You?” seminar is tonight from 7:30pm – 8:30pm. Please dress warm and bring a chair to sit on 🙂
Today’s Workout:
Buy-In: 30 overhead squats (pvc, bar, doesn’t matter, get the reps in nice and easy, broken up as needed)
WOD: Nurwor
5 rounds for time of:
- 500m row
- 400m run
Zone 2: Scale rounds to 3
Zone 1: Scale as needed
Cash-Out: easy stretch as a group
Paleo train: Almond milk (non-sweetened), coconut milk, frozen berries, egg protein. BAM!
Coming from a smoothy queen, here are some fine options for your smoothies…both paleo and non…
coconut milk, avacado, spinach, egg protein powder, soft pears….mmmmm, mmmm good 🙂 (not necessarily all combined, but…)
Didn’t RSVP, but I will be going to the seminar, Tisha won’t.
also I’ll second Heather on the coconut milk in smoothies, that’s good eating!
Ooh! Good tips, Heather! Thanks. 🙂
I am not a banana fan, but I like to add about a 1/3 of a banana to the smoothie because I feel like that is the trick to make it SMOOTH! Also, only adding 1/3 cuts down on the carbs 😉
Why would I avoid whole milk but not skim milk? Fat content = fullness and part of block system. breakfast should be a 4 or 5 block meal so skipping out on fat does not make sense to me.
Paul, good question. I believe this article is written for the majority who are neither Zone or Paleo. With this approach, limiting calories is the wiser choice. If you are Zone and know the Zone then you should be following whatever it is that has been working for you. If you want your fat from whole milk then this is fine. The fat in whole milk contains a lot more extra calories BUT also blunts the release of insulin caused by the lactose in the milk.
So best answer, IMO, if you’re Zone then measure accordingly, if you’re not then skim milk is good. If you’re Paleo use almond milk that hasn’t been sweetened and thicken it with coconut milk.
Paul, for the folks (like myself!) that have allergies or difficulty processing the actual casein (milk fat) in dairy, the skim milk option makes things a bit more livable. But for those without milk-fat issues, homo is a good choice, health wise, as long as it’s used in moderation.
I know guys don’t always have to be as careful about their fat consumption as gals do, especially when you’re talking about Zone blocks. Often it’s recommended that men at peak fitness triple or even quadruple their fat blocks, whereas doing that would have a detrimental effect for the average female CrossFitter.
Shannon, JRoc,
Thanks for the responses. Thats interesting about the fat blunting insulin. Where did you read that? Casein is milk protein, not fat. It is found in both skim and whole milk. If one doesnt bother you great but they still have the casein protein.
@Paul – Robb Wolf I believe. He also mentioned some people handling goat’s milk better than cow’s. Could be worth a try for some.
Paul,
Yes, pardon me, Casein IS milk protein! Regardless, I can’t tell you why one type of milk bothers me/other folks more than another. All I know is that throughout my life, it’s been recommended to me by my doctor/naturopath that I try experimenting to see which ones aggravate me less, and I have personally found success with low fat milk.
Despite my own personal experience though, the focus of the suggestions in today’s article was simply to recognize that some people have success with different solutions, and it’s good to experiment and find the right fit for YOU.
Fun fact: the majority of the world’s population is actually lactose intolerant. So, it is actually “unique” to be able to handle milk. Why we have such a concentration of milk drinkers in North America, I don’t know. Maybe we don’t realize that it’s hurting us.
Personally, I love the stuff. Gets me gassy on occasion, but what doesn’t?
I am a big fan of homo milk, precisely because it has more calories and more fat. These characteristics happen to be in line with my goals. Skim milk might be a better choice pre or post WOD, as its relative lack of fat means quicker insulin response and higher blood sugar levels, which some people argue is desirable in those cases.
I don’t think the Zone diet is a good filter for choosing milks – as I understand it, the point of Zoning is to eat whatever you want while just adhering to macronutrient ratios. So, whatever floats your boat.
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