5 Minute meals - chocolate banana protein smoothie

Do you like chocolate?
Awesome, me too!
Do you like bananas?
Sweet. This is going well!
Do you like quick easy breakfast ideas that are healthy, delicious, and perfect for a post work-out meal?
Great! 
Did we just become best friends? YEP!

via GIPHY

If you have any sort of fitness routine going on in your life, I believe it is a must to have a few go to smoothie recipes on hand for busy mornings or even for a quick lunch. This chocolate banana protein smoothie has been a staple of mine for years and I want to share it with you today. 
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It's quick, easy, and pretty freakin tasty! 

The MOst important part of the smoothie

I've probably made thousands and thousands of different kinds of smoothies in my training career. I used to be the guy that thought if I didn't have a shake within 10 minutes of my workout that it didn't count. That is obviously not true, but it lead to me using and trying a bunch of different kinds of powder protein. 

I can say with complete certainty that you get what you pay for. I've had many people tell me they don't like smoothies. Then when I ask them to send me a picture of there protein it all makes sense. 

I plan on doing a separate article on picking the right protein powder, but just know they are not all created equal. The cheap powders don't mix very well, they taste like chalk, and there is a huge chance you are just wasting your money because the manufacturing process sucks and you are actually only getting a small percentage of the amount of protein listed on the label. 

Without turning this into a novel about supplements, if you want to get the benefits of a protein supplement, you need to spend a little bit of money on it. It doesn't have to be crazy. But you can't expect the dusty, bottom shelf protein from Wal-mart or whatever is on sale at Cosco to provide the same benefits as an all natural protein sourced from grass-fed cows with no artificial flavors, sweeteners, or colors. 

Just saying. 

Here is what I use and recommend: bit.ly/trutein-cpbc

It's available on Amazon for around $40. It tastes absolutely amazing and you will look forward to your smoothie or shake every single time. 

Alright. Enough about that. Let's get into the recipe. 

The ingredients

I'll be the first to admit this recipe is not exactly ground breaking. There are probably a million others just like it online. At the very least, let this recipe serve as a reminder to how awesome chocolate banana smoothies are. 

Here is the short list of ingredients:
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• 8 oz milk or milk alternative (you can use water, but I wouldn't recommend it)
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 cup of oatmeal
• 1 small to medium sized banana
• 4-5 ice cubes

That's it. 

Put all the ingredients in a blender and run that bad boy. In about 15 seconds you will have an absolutely delicious breakfast or post-workout meal. 

I use a ninja blender, but a magic bullet, vitamix, nutribullet, or any popular blender will do the trick.

If you don't have oatmeal on hand, no worries. It will work without it. I do think the oatmeal helps make this smoothie a little more filling. I want this to be a meal, and the added carbs will help you from grabbing for a snack 30 minutes later. 

I like non-sweetened almond or coconut milk for the milk alternatives. I've tried cashew milk, but wasn't a big fan. You may like it though, so go with whatever fits your taste buds. 

If you're a peanut butter fan, you could add a tablespoon or two of the PB2 powder and that will give you a nice little PB kick. 

Or the above protein powder that I linked to has a peanut butter cup flavor that is crazy good. You could definitely use that instead. 

Super simple and super easy.

​With the crazy and unpredictable morning most people deal with (especially if you work and have kids), that is a winning formula if you ask me.  

Final rant

If I look back on my most successful clients in terms of losing weight (20-40 lbs) and really seeing some amazing body composition changes (lower body fat, more lean muscle and definition), every single one of them under ate in the protein department when they started.

EVERY...SINGLE...ONE...OF...THEM

Once they started focusing on adding protein to there diet, eating protein at every meal (including snacks), and getting started with a quality protein supplement, it was game on from a fat burning stand point.

I somewhat believe the amount of protein in a person's diet in inversely proportional to the amount of sugar they eat. 

Most people who aren't getting enough protein tend to have diets higher in sugar. The funny thing is they don't really realize it until they start paying attention to it. 

All those low protein yogurts, low fat snacks, and a ton of other foods labeled as non gluten or whatever other BS food manufactures use to trick people, are complete sugar bombs. They are wreaking havoc on your fat loss goals. 

Once people actually start tracking this and paying attention to food labels, the amount of the protein they eat goes up and the amount of sugar they consume goes down (usually WAY down). 

Then they finally start to loss weight and fat while maintaining there muscle mass (super important for long term weight loss). And if there doing any sort of weight training, they start to see more definition and tone. 

Crazy how that works!

So with that being said, if you want my stupid simple advice on what I've seen work to lose weight and body fat in bunches, eat more protein and eat less sugar. 

Super scientific and overly complex?

Absolutely not.

Real world tested with dozens of client success stories that can back me up on this?

Absolutely!

Now go try this smoothie recipe and let me know how it is.

Simplicity is king!