How are you doing today? Have any of you fallen for an April Fools’ joke or managed to pull off a good one this year? My day has been foolery-free so far. I think I’ve only ever pulled off one April Fools’ Day joke on the blog (remember when Sadie was “pregnant?”) and I wish I gave today some forethought so I could’ve brainstormed a fun prank to pull on Ryan, but I guess there’s always next year!
Breakfast + BodyPump
My day began with an early morning egg and cheese sandwich, served with two turkey sausage patties on the side.
Sadie’s sad puppy eyes ended up working their charm on me and Sadie got half of one of my sausage patties because I am a huge sucker.
After breakfast, I headed off to work at the gym for a few hours. Since today’s work didn’t involve teaching, by the time my break rolled around, I was ready to work up a sweat myself and headed out to take a BodyPump class.
It’s been weeks since I’ve taken a BodyPump class – mainly because my workouts were consumed by the ones I taught and Pure Barre last month – but I think it’s time to start going a little more regularly because I absolutely love BodyPump and the way it works my whole body in less than an hour. It makes me feel strong and I always get really into the music. And just in case you happen to be pregnant and a big-time BodyPump fan like me, Les Mills has a brochure available online that features a lot of information about proper modifications which you may find here: BodyPump Pregnancy Guide.
Once I was done with my workout, I had just enough time to head home for a shower before I had to be back at the gym. Right after I rinsed off, I made myself a post-workout protein smoothie that totally hit the spot! I followed a recipe I tweaked and photographed last week for a delicious Post Workout Mocha Mint Protein Smoothie!
Post Workout Protein Smoothie
This recipe is coming your way today thanks to a collaboration with Silk!
When it comes to post-workout snacks, one thing I’m always looking to include in a creamy smoothie is protein, as protein aids in muscular recovery after training. Plus, a protein-packed snack keeps me feeling satisfied for way longer than a simple piece of fruit or some other quick and easy snack I might grab from the fridge. Since I usually work out in the morning, I try to include protein in my breakfast, but if my workout occurs later in the day, like it did today, a protein smoothie is often my go-to post workout snack of choice. They’re delicious, easy to throw together and very satisfying! And if you add enough filling ingredients into the mix, they can quickly transform into a simple meal as well.
Silk Soymilk (I always opt for the unsweetened organic soymilk – you can click this link for a coupon!) has 7 grams of plant-powered protein per cup and I combined the soymilk with Greek yogurt for a protein-packed smoothie that easily powered me through the rest of the morning until I was ready for a late lunch.
This creamy smoothie combined two of my favorite things: Coffee and chocolate! And the addition of mint leaves gave the smoothie a refreshing flavor that I absolutely adored!
Yum!
Post Workout Mocha Mint Protein Smoothie
Print
Post Workout Mocha Mint Protein Smoothie
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: snacks
- Cuisine: snacks
Description
This creamy smoothie combined two of my favorite things: Coffee and chocolate! And the addition of mint leaves gave the smoothie a refreshing flavor that I absolutely adored!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Silk Unsweetened Organic Soymilk
- 1 6-ounce container plain Greek yogurt (you may also use vanilla if you prefer a sweeter smoothie)
- 1 1/2 frozen bananas
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 packet instant coffee (I used decaf)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (you may wish to omit this if you use a sweetened Greek yogurt)
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a glass, garnish with additional mint leaves if desired, and drink immediately.
Drink up!
Question of the Afternoon
- What are some of your favorite protein-packed smoothie flavor combinations?
I love key lime pie protein smoothies (lime juice + key lime pie Greek yogurt = key ingredients) and anything with frozen strawberries and bananas in it will almost always hit the spot for me!
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Disclaimer:
This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you very, very much for your support surrounding sponsored posts. I truly appreciate it!
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I absolutely love mint and chocolate flavors! So refreshing!
I also love peanut butter and chocolate smoothies!
yessss to peanut butter and chocolate!! <3
I’m not a big smoothie & milk shake girl, but this sounds really good! May have to give it a try.
BODYPUMP is definitely safe for pregnant ladies! I just did some BODYPUMP today as well. Be sure to move your feet around so you don’t stand still too long and elevate your bench during the laying down portions. Great smoothie! Sounds delish! 🙂
I’m hoping to incorporate more BodyPump classes into my routine again — it really is my favorite!!
My protein smoothies usually involve chia, protein powder, greens, and blueberries, but when I am just looking for a quick smoothie I have been having chia, greens, apple, ginger, lemon juice, and turmeric. It’s great now that the weather is warming up…super refreshing!
ginger, lemon and apple = a favorite combo for me, too! i’ll have to try adding turmeric!
I LOOOOOOVE fresh mint in smoothies! Peppermint extract just isn’t the same. Definitely going to try this recipe – thanks Julie!
I love smoothies and I always try to incorporate protein powder into them when I make them. I wish I could eat them more, but it’s hard working a desk job and having to be at the office, ALL THE TIME!
Random question… Since your blog is titled “PB Fingers” have you had any special cravings or aversions to pb?!
🙂
Not really, actually! 🙂 I’ve still just loved it as much as usual.. Thank goodness b/c I’m not sure how I’d handle a peanut butter aversion! 😉
Love the idea of instant coffee and maple syrup in a smoothie! Congrats on being a mom-to-be!
Thank you, Sarah!
Mmmmm! This looks and sounds fantastic! You can’t go wrong with chocolate and mint.. or coffee ;)!
I recently discovered PB2 Chocolate Peanut Butter Powder while I was in the states recently and I’ve added it to any and every smoothie! A smoothie match made in heaven. (Now it just needs to come to Canadian grocery stores!)
Mint & chocolate is the best combo ever!! Mmmmm!
This smoothie looks great! I love Silk milk products, I usually buy the vanilla kind and use it as the base for my smoothies 🙂
Chocolate and mint go so well together, I’m excited to give this a try!
I really like peanut butter/banana/chocolate protein smoothies. I had a pineapple & orange smoothie with greek yogurt this afternoon that was also very delicious!
this looks like such a great post-workout treat. my little mint plant is really thriving and this would be such a good use for it. i always use non-dairy milk in my smoothies, but i honestly didn’t realize there were 7 g of protein in soy milk. great to know!
I’m jealous you can keep plants alive!! 🙂
I love all of the recipe posts as of recently! That combined with the pregnancy posts- I love checking into your rail happenings!
Thank you, Julia!! And thanks for your email the other day, too!! <3 <3
Do you buy frozen bananas or put some fresh ones in the freezer? I guess I’ve never seen just frozen bananas in the grocery freezer section. I could totally freeze my own but sometimes I lazily opt for convenience.
And thanks for replying the other day about what to wear for a Barre class. I’ve got some weight to lose so things like that the average person may not even think about become a big deal…and standing out any more at my first class than I already feel I will is NOT what I’m going for. 🙂
I always freeze my own because I’ll inevitably have bananas on hand that are about to go bad and won’t be able to use them in time… So into the freezer they go! 🙂
And how did your class go!?!
I love strawberry and banana combinations.
I have never been to BodyPump but I really want to after hearing so much about it from several people!
It’s the best!! If a gym near you offers the class, I highly recommend it!
I love chocolate and mint (especially peppermint!) but I think my original flavor combo love goes to PB and chocolate 🙂 This smoothie looks super thick and tasty!
The chocolate mint flavor combination is definitely one of my favs! When I need to up the protein of a smoothie, I usually use silken tofu. Dairy and I are not friends
I’m so glad you mentioned the Body Pump flyer for Pregnancy because after struggling with a few of the tracks last night at my class, my instructor came to me afterwards and talked to me about the flyer and different helpful tips for reducing weight/modifying the ab track to fit my 6 month belly 😉
Thanks for the suggestion! 🙂
Oh, man, I remember that Sadie-Pregnancy post! So funny! I love the ones you do of her “captioned”. 🙂
My fiance and I put our gym membership on hold back in December because with our NY winters & snow days/delays, it is just too hard to get to the gym. There has been a few times where we’ve gone early in the am & our districts wound up closing! We’ve been doing a mixture of P90x/Insanity, but I have been longing to go back to the gym for Body Pump!! It feels so much more effective to work out ALL body parts for 60 minutes vs. 5, 60 minute workouts!!
My husband and I read in “panic free pregnancy” that a study showed that mom’s who consumed pb while pregnant were at a higher chance at having a child with peanut allergies. Crazy, right? I always assumed if you ate a lot of pb it would help lessen the chance. The author actually recommended not eating pb during your pregnancy. My husband tried to convince me to cut out pb and said he’d stop eating it too. He didn’t even make it a full day before I walked into the kitchen and caught him eating a Reeses pb egg! I’m not sure how I feel about the study and cutting out all pb as I LOVE pb but I’ve tried to stop adding it to my smoothies at least but I’m not shying away from pbj sammies (one of the only things I want when I’m feeling nauseous) or from pb desserts!
This looks super yummy! I might have to give it a try!
I have tons of mint in my backyard, so this smoothie is PERFECT. Ahhhh. I can’t wait for my mint to grow bigger now. Everyone told me NOT to plant it, because it takes over, but I can’t enough of the stuff. Haha. Thanks Julie!
I absolutely love mocha mint flavoring together. My favorite smoothie though is a vanilla mango one!
Mmm that smoothie looks amazing!
I don’t want to come across as judgy or knowitall but, if you haven’t already, you might want to check with your OB about how much soy and protein powder to consume while pregnant. You might want to limit soy but I don’t know about the safety of protein powder?
Random question- are you only drinking decaf coffee during your pregnancy? Or just limiting it to one cup a day and anything more than that is decaf (I’ve heard some people say this)? Just wondering as a coffee lover!
Most things I’ve read said you can have a cup or two of regular coffee but I’ve never really been a big caffeine person (I honestly love the taste + smell of coffee most), so I just switched to decaf. I have had a cup of regular coffee every now and then while pregnant though but stick to decaf 99% of the time right now.
Yum, that mint smoothie looks delish! How much mint do you put in it? Congrats on having a boy by the way! I have an older boy and younger girl, and I still remember the feeling of the first ultrasound where we found out we were having a boy. Complete and utter joy, and amazement that there was actually a boy in me! I also had a feeling it was a boy. With my daughter I thought early on it was a boy, but later when the ultrasound confirmed she was a girl, boy did I fall completely in love. Best of luck on the rest of your pregnancy. Enjoy every minute of it!!