Ultimate Weight Loss Drink: Protein Smoothie

If you are looking for something you can do to speed up your weight loss, you’re looking at it.  A protein smoothie is not only incredibly healthy for you, it also has the power to slim you down.  Why?  Because it has ingredients that promote a dream body.  With things like protein powder and yogurt (which also has protein), your body will be able to build muscle quicker.  Muscle burns calories, even while you are resting!

The strawberry smoothie recipe I am going to share with you is very easy to make.  While there are other fruit smoothie recipes, I have yet to try them because I love strawberries!

Here is what you’ll need:

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 6 ice cubes
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup strawberries

To determine what the best protein powder for smoothies is, you’ll need to decide what factors are important to you.  I was primarily concerned with the cost.  I  shopped around, and found that Walmart had the best prices.  Some specialty stores that sell supplements (like GNC, for example), tended to be much more expensive.  The protein powder I purchased was Six Star Pro Nutrition Whey Protein Elite Series in vanilla cream flavor.  I went with that one because the wrapper cited a study that this company did with their protein.  Participants in the study gained more lean muscle mass with the ingredients in this protein powder versus regular whey protein.

Start by preparing your ingredients.  Cut the strawberries into halves or quarters, making sure to remove the stem.  Use your knife to get as close as you can to the stem so that you don’t waste any part of that valuable strawberry.  Or you can use this nifty strawberry stem remover gadget.

Measure out one cup of vanilla yogurt and half a cup of orange juice.

Now you are ready to begin!  I have made this protein smoothie dozens of times, and I have found that the order you put the ingredients in the blender does make a difference in the final product.  In particular, it is the protein powder that should go first because that lets the juice and ice start to dissolve it.  If the protein powder goes last, you can end up with clumps in your drink from the powder.  And nobody wants that.

So first, add one scoop of protein powder.

I suppose you could add two scoops of protein powder if you wanted to, but the taste might be overbearing.  One scoop of the protein powder I am using has 26 grams of protein in it.  While two scoops of protein powder (52 grams of protein) might sound like the way to go, I don’t ever do that because the taste isn’t as good.  Part of maintaining your healthy diet is liking what you drink.

Next, add 1/2 cup of orange juice.

This immediately starts to work on dissolving the protein powder.  Adding the ice next does the same thing.  Drop in six ice cubes.

Now you’re ready to add one cup of vanilla yogurt.

Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for.  The strawberries.  You’ll need one cup of those.

Blend all of the ingredients.  How long you blend is entirely up to you.  Blending longer than 30 seconds might cause it to lose some of its thickness, so you make it whichever way suits you best.  Personally, I don’t like my smoothies to have the consistency of juice, so I don’t blend very long.  Just long enough to make sure the ingredients are mixed in well.

Even after you blend, you may find that some of the ingredients did not properly blend.  For example, while I was blending the ingredients, I noticed that yogurt got stuck to the side of the blender.  Since the continued blending did not help get it off, I stopped the blender and put a knife in there to scrape the yogurt off the side.

Be sure to scrape all the way around the blender so you don’t miss any.  Once you are done, you can blend again for ten more seconds.  Now you can pour your protein smoothie into a tall glass.

This recipe makes 4 cups (32 ounces) total.  If you cannot drink it all, I recommend the following options.  1) Share the rest with someone.  I don’t have to ask twice in my house if someone wants a glass of this delicious protein drink!  2) Freeze the rest for later in an air-tight container.

Total protein in this drink: 33 grams.  (26 grams from the protein powder, 7 grams from the yogurt).  If you cannot drink the entire batch you make, you won’t be getting all 33 grams of protein obviously.  But don’t fret.  There are other ways to include protein in your diet, like from baked chicken, yogurt, or protein bars.  Either way, this smoothie recipe for weight loss will not disappoint you.  Have it for a snack or even a meal replacement when you are in a hurry and need a quick, healthy meal.

Update:  Check out my new favorite protein powder!  This protein powder is so delicious (and it has more protein than the powder in this recipe) that I can use two scoops and not even notice a difference in taste!  So now I get twice the amount of protein I was getting before.  Go here to see a picture and the name of my new favorite protein powder.

 

Recommended Reading:

My New Favorite Protein Powder – I no longer use the protein powder I used in this recipe.  Check out my new favorite protein powder.  After I tell you what I did for exercise this week, you’ll see the protein powder that is my new favorite!

How to Order a Diet-Friendly Coffee Drink – what you drink can easily sabotage your efforts to lose weight.  Coffee doesn’t get an exempt-from-diet-consciousness pass just because it can be good for you.

Does Drinking Water Lead to More Bathroom Trips? - A common complaint I hear is that the more water one drinks, the more trips they take to the bathroom.  You may be surprised with the reason that this annoying phenomenon occurs.