This is a guest post by Jeff Rose. Jeff Rose is an Illinois Certified Financial Planner(TM) and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group. He is also the author of Good Financial Cents, a financial planning and investment blog. You can also learn more about Jeff at his website Jeff Rose Financial.
Anybody interested in losing weight, feeling better, improving your health and doing so in less than 7 minutes? If so, you may want to read this article. You are probably asking yourself if this is an infomercial and I assure you it is not. This is a self discovery that I made several years ago that I attribute to my exceptional health and well being. First, a little background…..
I became a workout buff right about the age of 19. During college, it was typical for me to frequent the gym 4-5 days per week. I did the protein powders, creatine, vitamins and everything else an obsessive fit person would do. I even ate canned tuna fish mixed with cottage cheese during a low carb phase I was doing. (Ewww. Would never do that again!). But then a little thing happened after college…..LIFE. I became career focused and the gym and “eating right” took a backseat.
I slowly saw my weight start to creep up. I’m not sure what the defining moment was, but I knew I needed to do something. I also knew that it all starts with the diet. But being extremely busy I had to figure out something that I could prepare the night before and would be easy to fit in my unpredictable work day. Introduce: The Busy Man’s Health Shake.
Partly inspired by the Men’s Health Power Foods, I wanted to create a shake that would get me plenty of protein, good complex carbs, the “good” fats, and plenty of fiber. I’m kind of a fiber fanatic because heart problems run in my family. Here’s a look at the ingredients with a rough calculation of their nutritional value (calories, protein, carbs, fiber) based on the serving portion I use for the shake.
The Magical Ingredients
- Milk- I use 2% (240/16/12/0)
- Plain-Nonfat Yogurt (55/5.5/8/0)
- Banana (105/1/27/3)
- Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (200/36/4/0)
- Berry Medley (Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries) (45/0/10/4)
- Raspberries (45/1/10/5)
- Flaxseed (90/4.5/6/6)
All in all, we have tasty protein and fiber packed shake that yields the following nutritional value: 780 Calories, 65 grams of protein, 77 grams of carbs, and 18 grams of fiber. Did I mention that it’s delicious? As you’ll see below, this will actually make you almost 3 16 oz shakes that you can drink throughout the day. A quick nutritious fix at work that will prevent you from visiting the nearest vending machine.
Adding The Ingredients
Putting the shake together is rather simple. Here’s quick rundown on how I add everything to the blender:
- Just about 16 oz of milk
- One banana
- 1/2 cup of yogurt
- Approximately 3 tablespoons out Flaxseed (I just pour out of the bag)
- 2 Scoops of Protein Powder
- 1/3 bag of Berry Medley
- 1/4 bag of Raspberries
You may notice that I add a little more raspberries than the other two. I primarily do this for two reasons: 1. Raspberries tend to have more of a sweeter taste. 2. They offer a higher fiber content to their berry counterparts. It’s all about the fiber!
Considering you have a lot of frozen fruit in here, you’ll need a good blender with some horsepower. I actually went through 3 blenders before finding my old faithful. I always start on the “Crush Ice” setting to break it down a bit, before I start on the speed cycle.
If you have the proper amount of raspberry, it will have more of a purplish color as seen here.
All said and done, you should have two full 16 0z shakes with one about 14 0z or so. It will vary depending on the amount of milk and berries you add. Typically, I’ll have one shake for breakfast and another around 3 pm or so. In between, I’ll usually eat a light lunch, a Fiber One bar (yes, more fiber), and an apple. That will usually get me through the day with plenty of energy and not let hunger pains interfere. The third shake varies on when I drink it. When I workout after work, I’ll usually drink it when I get home. If not, I’ll drink it as a late night sack. (Just got done drinking it as I finish this post).
Okay, I can here the skepticism now. But Jeff, that takes too long to make and I just don’t have the time. The most common excuse everybody has, right? Just for fun, I timed myself making the shake. I wasn’t trying to break any world records here. I went at the same leisurely pace I do every time I make it. As you can you can see, didn’t take long at all. In the 6 minutes and 21 seconds, I made almost three healthy and delicious quick meals.
Don’t like the ingredients I use? No worries. Experiment. My wife sometimes likes it when I use pineapple juice and frozen peaches. You can use orange juice as a filler as well. The point is to be creative and make a healthy alternative to get you through the day.
J.D.’s note: I’m sure that Jeff would agree that this is a fine health shake for busy women, too!
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Sounds good, and I already have all of the ingredients!
This is almost exactly the same as the shakes I make, except I also add creatine and glutamine into it.
Note, you can also use chocolate protein powder for a “chocolate raspberry” flavor. Yum.
One thing I would suggest about the PWO (post workout) shake: drink it as soon after your workout as you can. While the anabolic window is around 30 minutes to an hour, it’s better to play it safe. You can just bring it with you and consume it on your drive home. I can’t count the number of times I used to forget to make a shake or eat something right when I got home due to other distractions and then realized an hour and a half went by.
That looks like a good shake, I will have to give it a try. I do something similar already but like some of the alternative ingredients you used. Also glad to have stumbled onto another 30 something males fitness blog.
holy calories batman! try using water (and fage 0%).
i add spinach to my protein drinks. seriously. turns it green, but i can’t taste it.
Usually for my protein shakes i use protein powder and berries, then ice and water. I don’t really drink milk.
My wife makes a shake most weekdays with green stuff and flax.
How do they keep over the day?
I’ve been doing this for a while. Here’s my go-to:
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder, 1 frozen banana (just peel it and throw it in the freezer the night before, or peel a whole bunch and put them in a plastic bag), 1 cup milk or soymilk, and a spoonful of unsweetened Dutch process cocoa. I often use some ice cubes, but a frozen banana is enough.
Rivals Starbucks $5 version, done in about 30 seconds, and delicious!
I’ll have to give this a try. I’ve been making a morning shake to drink on the way to the gym and/or work. I use a Magic Bullet blender so I make one serving at a time.
8 oz fruit juice, usually apple.
4-6 oz frozen fruit, usually strawberry and/or mango
1/2 banana if I have any (they don’t last long with the kids around)
1 scoop whey protein powder
I like the idea to add some yogurt and flaxseed in order to add some good fats to the mix.
The protein I use is a natural unflavored whey powder. It has a slight flavor to it, but not enough to get in the way of whatever I mix with it. My local gym stocks it, but you can also get it from here:
href=”http://www.buybulkwhey.com/?C=166
Keep the shake recipes coming, I love trying new healthy shakes.
Thanks!
Jeremy
This sounds really good. I need to make something that I can have in the fridge and grab and go because I’m so lazy when it comes to snacking healthfully. You’ve inspired me to replace the blender I ruined (by accidentally letting the cord red on a hot burner. Whoops!) This would be really easy to make while I’m packing my son’s lunch. Heck, he might even like it! (world’s pickiest eater who needs to eat more fruits and veggies).
Let me ask you this though–is protein powder an absolute necessity? I read enough about how Americans get double the RDA of protein anyways so I’ve always wondered what the appeal of protein powders is.
Seems like a lot of carbs for a protein shake to me…
Can i ask what brand of blender you use??
@Ben That’s usually what I try to do depending on what time I work out. If I workout at lunch, then I’ll have the second shake and then another snack later on in the day. If after work, then I drink the third one right when I get home.
@ Brandy Yes, it’s calorie packed. I’m 6′0 and 205 so I’m not as concerned. You could eliminate the protein powder, use skim milk, etc. to cut back on the calories a bit.
@ Donna The protein powder I’m sure is debatable. I come from the gym rat background where protein = muscle. Often times I’ve thought about cutting out the protein powder to see if I see a difference. You might have just given me the inspiration
@ Ken M I make them the night before and they do really well. I have a refrigerator at work and will usually store it in there. Sometimes I have forgotten but it still holds up during the day pretty well. Also, sometimes I won’t drink the third shake that day, but will drink it the next morning and it holds up well.
@ Eric I used to be a carb counting freak and realized it doesn’t matter as long as your smart about what you eat. From my standpoint, yes, you have 77 grams of carbs, but look at where they are coming from…..real non-processed foods. Plus, with 18 grams of fiber, that (based on what I’ve read) wipes out some of the carbs. (I could have fell for some Atkins marketing on that one when they talk about “net carbs”). Plus carbs = energy. My job requires me to stay sharp throughout the day and then my workouts regimen is Crossfit or “Crossfit inspired” (check out http://www.crossfit.com). Think of it as football practice but worse, so I need all the complex carbs I can get….within reason.
@ Suzanne It’s a Krups from Bed Bath and Beyond. If you visit there, it’s the biggest and baddest blender they have. I tried to find a model # on it, but couldn’t. I think it was in the $120 range? Pricey, but I’ve gotten my money out of it.
Ok will need to try that. I usually drink them right away.
Also we have a VitaMix. Most money you will ever spend on a blender, but worth it if you use it everyday. Chops ice like butter. THe new ones are stronger and quiter then ours.
Also if you use straws consider glass ones, lifetime guarantee.
http://www.glassdharma.com/straws.html
Thanks for the response, Jeff. All my fitness friends swear by having something protein after a workout to stave off the workout hungries, so I’m sure there is something to it!
Thanks again for the recipe!
I’ve heard that it’s not a good idea to pre-mix protein drinks and let them sit. The protein starts to break down after about two hours. Now that’s just what I’ve heard – not taking it as gospel truth. I do know that some of the protein drinks I used to pre-mix (Myoplex comes to mind) would smell funny after a few hours. Since then, I make everything fresh.
@ Donna. No problem. Glad you liked it!
@Brigid. I’ve heard that about creatine but not protein. But who knows? My shakes don’t smell funny the next day otherwise I would consider it. Thanks for your input!
Dear Jeff, JD and team,
I want to first let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. Your blog, Get Fit Slowly, serves a need to the fitness community, and as someone who is personally always looking for a better way to stay fit, I have found your blog posts to be extremely on-target, and personally helpful in my quest to obtain a more healthy lifestyle.
I would like to introduce Better Whey of Life fitness yogurt, the first Whey Protein-enhanced yogurt that contains 15 17g of protein in each 6oz cup, depending on the selected flavor. Knowing how important protein is in a persons daily diet, especially someone who is looking to gain more from their workout, Better Whey of Life has been developed to introduce Whey Protein in a convenient, everyday form.
I’d love to send you samples if you’re interested. Shoot me an email if you’d like to try out the yogurt!
Thanks again for a great blog!
Kasey
Just picked up the whey powder, it’s my plan for breakfast in the morning.
@Kasey. I’ll try anything once! Just send it to my office address located on the contact page of my blog. I’ll be sure to report back.
@Joe- Let us know how it turns out. When it doubt, add more raspberries!
This sounds delicious! I will have to try it! I also have a recipe that my sister and I use… I’m sure you could add the potein powder to it… Here it is:
1/2 cup Acai Berry V8 Fusion Juice
1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup blueberries
1 Tbsp Benefiber or Fibersure
1 cup ice
Pour juice into blender first, then add other ingredients. Put ice into blender LAST! Pour into glass and serve. This is the MOST delicious shake I have had in awhile and is very fruity!
I just made one of these following the directions here. It is mighty tasty, although I think I might have done something wrong. I only got two 16oz shakes + about 4oz left over. Perhaps your bags of berries are bigger than mine? I did the math so that I put in about 45 calories worth of each. About how many cups of berries do you put in? Of course I can’t imagine having more berries in it, it’s very fruity and yummy already! I did use fat-free milk instead of 2%, other than that everything was the same. Should I be adding more than 2 cups of milk? Would 2% milk, once blended, froth up more and fill up more space? I’m slightly confused on the math here =/
@ Robert.
The third shake mixture usually varies for me, too. Sometimes I may only have 8 oz, depending on the amount of berries and milk I add. I really don’t measure the berries any more, just kind of dump them direct from the bag. So obviously, my mixture will vary from day to day.
Usually, you’ll have a lot of mixture left on the insides of the blender where you could add just a bit more milk and reblend to get the rest.
Men’s Health also had a shake recipe like this a while back. They also added Peanut Butter for more protein, and coffee for some caffeine.
I used to make shakes like these all the time, but stopped when I went into my downward spiral. I think I will make one tonight and drink it after my run.
Chocolate suggestion. Ben suggested chocolate flavor protein powder – not my favorite. Instead, use the vanilla, but add cocoa powder and trade flax for an avocado (or part depending on how much your making) – if you need it sweeter, then add a little OJ, but the fat from the avocado makes this delicious.