P90X Recovery Drink Alternative (aka the BEST shake ever!)

{Saturday was Kenpo. We let the boys join us.}

So, The Chief and I have been doing P90X for two weeks now and we love it!  We bounce joyfully out of bed every morning at 4:30am.  Say what?!  Yeah.  I know.  It blows my mind, too, I promise.  Turns out that all we had to do to be blessed with the determination and drive to adopt this routine and stick to it was to start with a prayer.  Duh, right?  Totally.  (Well, okay, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the little bit of encouragement we received via threat of another extended family picture in April hanging over our chubby bodies.).  So now that we've invited Heavenly Father to give us the strength we need to accomplish this goal, we're actually having fun with this.  Don't get me wrong, P90X is kicking our little heinies, but we're seriously loving every second of it, especially the awesome hurt that strikes the day after a killer workout and leaves you hobbling about like an 80-year-old.  Love that pain.  I also really love the hour I get to spend each morning with The Chief before he gets swept away in the daily raging torrent that is life and all its demands.  And last, but definitely not least, is the wonderful, amazing, awesome ability I have to start my day off with all the things that really need to get done but never do when I wake up with my children instead of before them.  Now I can read my scriptures, daydream in a hot shower, do my hair, put on make-up, and brush my teeth.  When they wake up, I can be busy in the kitchen making them breakfast.  (Well, I could be anyway, but more often than not they just jump into bed with me as I read my scriptures and then we end up cuddling under the warm blankets for a while before tackling breakfast.)

But, that's enough of that.  What I really wanted to do with this post is share our shake recipe that we have mastered over the years.  It's chalk full of all things wonderful.  And the kids love it, too!  On these P90X DVDs they are always talking about drinking your "recovery drink" right after your workout.  Well, The Chief did his homework and discovered that Beach Body's (the makers of P90X) recovery drink would cost us way more than we were willing to spend each month.  It didn't take but a split second for us to know that we would not be going that route.  We decided, instead, to just find an all-natural whey protein that we could incorporate in our favorite family shake recipe.



And, without further adieu, here is what we blend up in our Bosch.  It has a 6-cup capacity which we always fill to the absolute brim.  In fact, sometimes it even overflows a tiny bit.  But that's no biggie.  That's what your tongue is for.



Here's your ingredient list:

1 cup milk (cow's milk or soy milk or rice milk or almond milk or goat's milk or camel milk or whatever kind of milk you prefer)
2 cups 100% pure fruit juice (we use Apple Berry from Stater Bros.)
1 frozen banana
1/2 avocado
2 scoops whey protein (we use Jarrow Formula's 100% natural unflavored whey protein powder purchased from Henry's)
1 and 1/2 cups frozen fruit (we use the island festival blend from Costco)
1 sandwich-size Ziploc bag full of spinach (we buy the huge bags from Costco, rinse it, and portion it out into sandwich baggies to freeze)
Cinnamon
Honey

Start by putting in your milk and juice.  Break the banana in half and add it to the liquid.  Cube the avocado into the blender.  Scoop in the protein powder.  Sprinkle cinnamon over everything liberally (you can do this to taste, obviously).  Toss in the fruit and spinach and turn on the blender.  I start at the lowest notch on my blender (1) and work up fairly quickly to 3 and leave it there for a while.  You know you're finished blending when either the mixture pumps out over the brim (:D) or the tornado you see swirling around in the center of the blender remains constant.  This is when you add the honey.  I squeeze it in during the blending process (don't stop the blender or the honey will just sit right there on top and get shoved up into the lid when you start the blender again).  Counting for about four seconds while I squeeze gently gets me just the right amount of honey flavor.  Honey has many health benefits and heightens (without overpowering) the mild fruit sweetening perfectly, so don't forget this last step!

We make this shake twice a day.  Once right after our workout (The Chief lugs the mixer/blender combo out to the garage for me so we don't wake the bambinos) and once at lunchtime for the kiddos. It's thick.  It's creamy.  It's packed FULL of vital nutrients.  It's sweet, fresh, and delicious.  It is a huge hit in our home; something we will probably continue to make daily for the rest of our lives.  What can I say, we are shake lovers!



On a final note, here are some of my reactions after two weeks of P90X:

- It really is an amazing workout program.
- I'm in terrible shape.
- It's so varied from day to day that I never get bored.
- I'm in terrible shape.
- The P90X instructor, Tony Horton, is a goober.
- I am not flexible in the least bit.
- YogaX wants me in my grave.
- I'm in terrible shape.
- Arms and Shoulders is my favorite workout with Plyometrics coming in at a close second.
- And have I mentioned that I really am in terrible shape?
- Pull-ups are a joke, but if I put a chair beneath me like they recommend, at least I get a good quad workout.

Really, if you're thinking about doing P90X (or any exercise program for that matter), just say a little prayer and give it a try.  It's amazing what we can accomplish if we invite our Father to help us.  Remember, when our cause is just (and I'd say wanting to keep up with my three holy terrors darling angels is a fairly just cause), He wants us to succeed.


{I love The Chief's ingenuitive garage set-up which recycles our old portable DVD screens.}


{This is how The Pipster gets in on the action.}


{Bugga kicks way higher than his mom and dad.}