
People have been wondering why during my evening circuit training I'm carrying two bottles around with me. One bottle is for hydration (water with BCAA mixed in it) and the other contains my post workout dinner drink.
On Paleo forums like paleohacks.com there are quite some discussions if post-workout drinks or nutrition is still necessary. I'm still a firm believer in the golden time window of the first 15-20 minutes after wokout. During that time one is naturaly insuline sensitive and your muscles will soak everything up like a sponge. So I try to plan my workouts that a session can immediately be followed by a meal. That would be the ideal scenario but often not possible.
Therefore depending on the workout I usually just stick to BCAA's and then I'm fine until the next meal time. But sometimes there are these late intense workouts, farther away from home, no decent Paleo friendly joint around and I'm on the go. That's when a post workout (home made!) shake is my saviour. I generally stay away from RTD (ready to drink) shake packs. That stuff tastes chemically nasty.
I also have a shake as dinner substitute for those days when stuck somewhere until late nights and the only eadible thing around are Nissin cup noddles or nibbles covered in agent orange powder. Eeek.
But why low still carb? Shouldn't a post workout drink have some carbs so you body can refuel? True, but I'd prefer to give my body only as much as it needs while it still gets its energy from fat. That is the reason why I add glutamine to the mix as the body can convert glutamine into glucose via gluconeogenesis in the liver if necessary. Pretty nifty trick, eh? Listening to Robb Wolf's podcasts makes one smarter. Hehe.
I usually prepare the shake the night before, pour it in my blender bottle and stick it into the freezer. When completely frozen it'll take 2-3 hours to melt, so take out of freezer early enough before your workout.
Low Carb Post Workout and Dinner Substitute Shake
à la Lory MartinPrep time:
Blending time: Depending on blender,
Total time: less than
Yield: Depending on how much water you add, 500-700 ml
Ingredients:
200 ml Coconut Milk
80 g Frozen Spinach
30 g Isolated Whey
8 g Super Green Powder
5 g Raw Chocolate Powder
5 g Glutamine Powder
1/3 Cinnamon Stick
1 Tbs Vanilla Essence
Directions:
2. Pulse for 1 to 2 minutes
3. Blend on high for 1 - 3 minutes.
4. Add water until wished consistency and/or volume.
5. Pour in blender bottle (if possible with blender ball) and freeze.
Enjoy and drink slowly.