Three things I NEVER put in my protein shake...

There's been a few protein shake posts lately asking about various additives. Boy, I can't wait until my shake book is out because we go over all this stuff (think of it as an anatomy book for protein shakes****il then, here are three things I never put in my protein shake (and subs for them).

#1 - A whole banana

Why: First off, there's a lot of sugar (albeit natural but still) in bananas. A whole one can almost ALWAYS take your shake from protein forward to carb heavy.

Instead: half a banana works well. Freeze it so you get the benefits of the consistency. If you want to go even lower carb, use sugar-free banana cream pudding mix.

#2 - Peanut Butter

Why: Much as I love it, the stuff has 100 calories a tablespoon!!! And lots of fat (albeit good fat, but still). I like to keep my shakes reasonable on calories and, frankly, there's better ways to achieve the peanut flavor I desire.

Instead: If you don't want to invest in peanut flour (PB2 on the internet, Google it) there are a few peanut butter flavored protein powders out there. I know Body Fortress makes a chocolate peanut butter one. All these options save you considerable calories.

#3 - (This is purely personal preference) Additional milk powder

Why: I see folks do this in an attempt to raise the protein count of their shakes. Milk is a good protein base for a shake, but there are other things you can put in your protein shake besides milk that can bump up your protein count way more.

Instead: If you like Greek yogurt/smoothies, consider using it instead of milk. Some folks even use cottage cheese, which has a considerable amount more protein than a glass of milk. I only use cottage cheese for a shake base in cheesecake flavored shakes. Again, this is a preference. There isn't anything bad about milk powder in your shake if you like it and can tolerate it.

1/2 of a frozen banana in a chocolate shake is one of my favorites.

Although I like peanut butter, never liked to add it to my protein shake.


When is your shake cookbook going to be ready?

Well...if I:

a) quarantine myself the next few weekends and MAKE myself do a thorough copy edit
b) bully Pam into designing a cover and shooting some photos and
c) don't have a complete melt-down about my move

I anticipate it will be ready mid-July.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Nik, like you I LOVE peanut butter and need to find healtier ways to include it in my days.  I have not found a peanut butter protein powder that is not chocolate-peanut butter.  Is there such a thing?  Where can I find it?

I keep seeing folks posting about this one powder but the name escapes me. I'll research.

I do my peanut butter in oatmeal. Best flavor bang for my buck. I put one tablespoon in with my hot oatmeal and swirl it around. With sweetener and a bit of cinnamon it tastes like a cookie.

I think the one that peeps have been talking about lately is the About Time protein... they just came out with a peanut butter flavor.

Haven't tried the PB flavor, but I like their Birthday Cake, Strawberry and Cinnamon Roll ones.  Might be tasty...


tori

About Time protein powder just released 4 new powders: unflavored, peanut butter, banana, and chocolate peanut butter. If you go to www.tryabouttime.com you can order some. Enter the coupon code "NU4U" to save 30% off of their 2lb. tubs of the new flavors. If you want to try one of the old flavors, you can enter the coupon code "lifestyle" to get 20% off of the other 2lb. tubs. You can also get 2 samples for $2.99, but I don't know if they have samples of the new flavors yet.

I think it's still cheaper to buy the old flavors from lucky vitamin, but I don't think they have any of the new flavors yet.

I eat a whole banana in my shake every day for lunch...its the only way the shake satisfies me. I will have to try the half thing and see how it works.

A few additional tips:

1. use overripe bananas. They are sweeter. I usually freeze bananas for shakes when they are completely brown on the outside. That way I don't need to add Splenda to my shake.

2. DO freeze them. It makes even a water based shake very creamy!

thanks Nik!