How to Replenish Your Energy After a Workout {Recipe: Kimball’s Coffee Protein Blast + GIVEAWAY}

Never before has he been the author – and we’re not quite there yet – but today he’s actually the recipe developer (imagine my surprise!). He even named it himself.

Over the past few years, my husband has gotten more into fitness than ever before – he always played sports and lifted weights occasionally, but somewhere along the way he decided to be more committed. He’s completed a couple sessions of 6-day-a-week P90X and Insanity workouts, and the man who always hated running suffered through training for a 5K, hit that magical point where he actually began to enjoy the challenge and crave running, and even completed a half marathon last fall (below).

Training Drinks

Just as he’s purchased special running shoes, clothes, apps, and gloves for winter that even work on his smart phone, runners and athletes tend to have special foods and drinks they enjoy to keep their energy up while training.

There’s that one that’s ubiquitous with all sporting events, gushing on coaches’ heads, spotlighted in million-dollar athlete-endorsed commercials and served after children’s games everywhere (unfortunately).

My son knows that if he gets a bottle of the artificially colored and flavored you-know-what, it either counts as his dessert or, if it’s also artificially sweetened, it hits the trash.

A few years ago I happened upon a recipe for homemade Gatorade electrolyte replacement drink (ahem, I’m sure that’s copyrighted), and my husband said it tastes exactly like the original lemon-lime version. Made with Real Salt, it adds minerals and salts your body sweats out while exercising.

Redmond’s Re-Lyte capsules, the sponsor of this post, do the same thing in a supercharged way, delivering 60 trace minerals in a vegetable-based capsule. They often reduce or eliminate cramping for athletes on long training sessions while replacing electrolytes, and it seems cyclists in particular have nothing but good things to say about them. (Click the review tab HERE to see more.)

In our pre-real-food days, my husband not only was a regular consumer of above unnamed drinks when playing hockey, but he also had huge tubs of whey protein to make muscle-building drinks with when he would lift weights. When those ran out after our journey to real food began, he didn’t know what to replace them with, and neither did I.

His protein drink days seemed to be over.

Enter Minimally Processed Whey Protein

We finally found properly raised, minimally processed whey protein powder in a few places, both at Tropical Traditions (goat milk protein) and Radiant Life (as used in our grain-free quinoa bars recipe).

The powders don’t blend as smoothly as he’s used to, and without the added sugar of the conventional stuff, so simply mixing them with milk wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

So my husband, who has never experimented in the kitchen beyond putting my cooking utensils away in the wrong drawer to see what my reaction would be, created a delicious way to get his protein AND added electrolytes.

Recipe: Kimball’s Coffee Protein Blast

Recipe type: beverage

Author: Kris Kimball

• Prep time: 5 mins
• Total time: 5 mins
• Yield: 1
• 3 Tbs. hot water
• 2 tsp. instant coffee
• ¼-½ tsp. vanilla
• dash stevia powder or 3-5 drops stevia liquid (to taste)
• 1 scoop protein powder (15g)
• ~2 c. whole milk, divided
• 2-5 ice cubes
• to replace electrolytes as well, add (for 2 cups):
• 1/8 tsp. Real Salt
• a pinch baking soda (1/16 tsp.)

In a cup with a lid (my husband uses the bar-help drink mixer that we got for our wedding and never used before; there are also special shaker cups for mixing protein drinks) or a measuring cup with a whisk, vigorously shake/whip the coffee, water, vanilla and stevia as well as salt and baking soda (if using).

Add the protein powder and one cup of the milk and shake or whip again until completely dissolved.

Place ice in a pint glass, pour mixture in and fill to the top with milk, which will be slightly less than a cup.

Drink and enjoy!

Everyone feels a little differently about coffee – it seems like one day it’s good for you, the next day it’s not. You could use a touch of cocoa powder or other flavoring instead of coffee if you don’t prefer it.

2.2.8

And a {Giveaway}

Redmond and Re-Lyte have offered to share the trace mineral love with 3 lucky readers today: I have 3 prizes of a bottle of Re-Lyte caps and 3 pocket shakers or Real Salt, total prize value: $17.96 each.

Re-Lyte is such an easy way to carry a burst of energy with you on your long training runs, bike rides, swimming excursions, hikes, etc. The trace minerals include Sodium, Calcium, Potassium, Sulphur, Magnesium, Iron, Phosphorus, Iodine, Manganese, Copper, and Zinc.

Check out what this ironman competitor said about Re-Lyte:

“If you want to keep your stride long and prevent cramping, you need NaCl. I was reduced to a walk in an Ironman Triathlon. I got Real Salt at an aid station and within 10 minutes, was running again at a seven-minute pace.”

Smart race organizers!

ENTER HERE

There are 5 possible entries! Here’s what you can do to win:

*Mandatory entry: What do you do to replenish your energy/nutrition after a hard workout? Do you think you’d try Re-Lyte?

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