- Getting fuel into your body quickly after racing
or training is essential.
You might have heard about that 20 minute window
when your body can really do with absorbing
some great nutrients.
Well, having a drink is the best way to do this,
'cause it's easy to digest
when maybe you're not feeling quite so hungry
after a hard session or a hard race.
So today, I'm going to be making two
different smoothie recovery recipes.
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Well for both of these recovery drink recipes,
you're going to need some sort of blender like this
and some ice cubes and then they are gonna be two,
quite separate recipes.
This first one is going to be dairy based
and the second one will be dairy free.
So let us get started.
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Ideally you want to have nice ripe bananas.
We're gonna use one banana in this smoothie recipe.
So it is designed for one person obviously,
you can just double the ingredients if you're making it
for a friend as well.
Ripe is always a little bit sweeter
and easier to blend.
Now, we're gonna add in, using frozen fruit
for this one and the best thing about frozen fruits,
you know it will have been frozen when it was fresh,
so the nutrients are still gonna be really high.
So add in a couple of spoonfuls of frozen berries.
I do love some berries in this smoothie,
'cause they're full of anti-oxidants
and help with the anti-inflammatory process.
So when you have done a hard session,
really important to help your body recover.
Now it's time to add in a little bit of dairy.
And I've actually got some Greek yogurt here,
which is extra creamy.
Yes, it is high in fat, but it's also high in calcium.
So it's the right type of fat,
it'll be slow releasing.
Gonna get a nice big spoonful of this.
And then I'm just gonna add in milk for the liquid.
Obviously you can use whatever type of milk you like,
but I'm using dairy milk today.
Then I'm gonna blend and I'll add the ice cubes in later,
just to see what consistency I want it
and whether to make it a little bit thicker or not.
The reason I've gone for a lot of dairy in this one,
it's high in calcium and lots of essential vitamins
they're really good for recovery.
This is a great drink to use after training
or after racing.
The great thing about a smoothie recovery drink's
you can have it straight after your training.
So if you've ready made this,
you've got it in your bag.
As soon as you've finished your warm down,
you could actually start to recover.
So before you even get changed after your session.
But with that in mind, just remember,
'cause you're having it as a drink,
yes, it's really convenient, but it does mean
that you're not having to chew anything,
so your mind will take a little bit longer
to realize that you're full.
'Cause if for example you sat down and you ate a banana,
you had this amount of fruit and yogurt,
you're gonna feel full pretty quickly.
So if you're trying to reduce your calories
or you're trying to lose a little bit of weight,
then bare this in mind and have a gap
before you go to eat anything else,
just to make sure that your body has had time
to digest this.
And on that note, fruit is naturally high in calories
and yes you get a lot of other great nutrients
from your fruit especially anti-oxidants
that I mentioned earlier.
But do remember to keep a cap on the sugar levels
and then it depends
what time of day you want your smoothie for,
so you're gonna use it as a breakfast replacement
so you're in a hurry and you could be drinking that
on your way to work.
You could add in some oats.
Will help make it a longer lasting feel.
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For this one, we've got a completely new set of ingredients.
And we're staying away from dairy so I've actually chosen
almond milk but you can use any other milk alternative.
Now, we're using some flax seeds also known as lin seeds,
depending where you're from.
I've got some raw cacao powder, some almond butter
the honey's probably not needed
but if you do have a very sweet tooth you can add that in.
Little bit of ground cinnamon gonna be needed
and this is a little bit different
and this recipe is inspired from my trip
to the Middle East recently.
Got some dates to add in just to add that sweetness.
Now, I know I'm guilty of basically all of my smoothies
or recovery drinks having bananas in.
But some people aren't a fan of bananas,
so for this recipe we're leaving them out,
but we are gonna use some ice cubes,
just to help thicken it out as well.
This recovery smoothie doesn't have any berries in,
but it's still pretty naughty and high in calories.
Starting with the dates.
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and don't forget to take the stones out
when you are using these.
And again, it's a little bit of an experiment,
depending on how much you want and how sweet you want it.
But make sure you get it the right way around.
Okay, I think three is probably enough for now.
Now we're gonna have a spoonful of almond butter,
great for your protein and your good fats.
With this one a nice generous spoonful.
This is pretty much a meal in itself to be honest,
this recovery drink.
So if you know you're not gonna be having your lunch
for a little while then this would be great.
Okay, we are now going for almond milk like I said,
any type of milk that you prefer.
A good dash of that.
Now the rest is kind of to flavor, to texture,
I'm using lin seeds or flax seeds,
because they're great for protein, iron, magnesium,
all the things that you need for after training
and during your heavy periods of work so,
I might use a spoon for this or to end up with too much.
But couple of heaped teaspoons
or dessert spoonfuls in there
and of course, this is going to be a naughty smoothie,
you might as well add a little bit of raw cacao, why not.
Just gonna go with one spoonful for now,
and I might taste it to see how chocolaty that comes out.
And I am gonna also add in a pinch of ground cinnamon,
just to give it that slightly unique flavor.
Okay, like I said now bananas which for me is quite unusual
but we've got a lot of really lovely ingredients.
And I am just gonna add in a few ice cubes already.
'Cause obviously haven't got the banana that thickens it
and ice cubes if you add it while still cold,
will give it a slightly thicker texture,
naturally without adding anymore calories, so.
Let's see how this comes out.
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well this second recipe is actually quite a new one to me.
I hadn't thought of putting dates in a smoothie before,
it wasn't until I went to the Middle East,
but a really nice addition and it really does make it
quite sweet, but also a little bit naughty.
So if you are say, still hungry after your main meal,
it could be a great dessert option,
'cause it just tops up the protein to help your body recover
overnight especially if you're doing real high mileage
or if you eat early, say at six o'clock
and you're not going to bed until ten, eleven o'clock,
you just need something else to top up those energy levels
and make sure you're ready for your morning session.
Then a smoothie like this one could be perfect.
The only thing is these are recovery drinks
and I actually haven't done any training yet today,
but anyway I'm still gonna drink this one, nevermind.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this.
Give us a thumbs up, like, especially if you like
the look of these smoothies and remember
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And if you are getting into the baking mode,
but you don't have an oven, we've made some raw food
energy balls and you can find the recipe for that
perfect bike fuel just here.