The Recovery Drink: Hers

     All the fitness 'experts' agree: You need to have a recovery drink when doing a routine that is as physically exhausting as the Insanity Challenge. Post-workout nutrition is nearly as important as the actual workout (if not more so) because your body needs extra nutrients and fluids to make good on all that hard sweat, so you don't just pass out from fatigue.

   I get that. But I nearly passed out from hysteria when the Insanity fitness leader people recommended chocolate milk as a great way to fulfill the recovery nutrition requirements. No wonder active people still get sick; the professionals actually recommend consuming refined sugar. Well, that's a problem for me. Remember, Justin & I want to do this the real-food, low-sugar, no-junk way. We are not going to be drinking chocolate milk. The other recommended option is fruit juice, or protein powder mixed in fruit juice, as Jessica Seaton, DC recommends. Fruit juice is on the same level as chocolate milk in my book (beyond the general grossness of mixing protein powder with fruit juice. yuck). <Not talking about juicing your own fruits, which is awesome, and if anyone wants to contribute to the Buy-Sara-and-Justin-a-Juicer fund please contact me ASAP.

   But Seaton's article does have a cool formula for generating the ideal amount of carbs and proteins in a recovery drink based on a 2:1 carb/protein ratio and weight. So I used this to come up with the guidelines for a recovery drink that I would actually drink (and one for Justin).

First, my plan.

     Following the formula, I should be consuming a recovery drink that has 56.24 grams of carbs and 28.12 grams of protein.

Young Living's Balance Complete

   This meal-replacement powder contains 29.5 grams of whey protein and 50 grams of carbs per serving. Mixing it in 2 cups of Raw Whole Milk, I added 1 tbsp of ground flax seed (and 1 ounce of Ninxia Red, consumed separately) to create a recovery nutrition plan that has 31 grams of protein and 55 grams of carbs. A 3-gram difference isn't bad, imo.
    The total calorie count is 566, which initially seemed high to me, but once plugged into my total daily calorie requirements is actually perfect. At 566 calories, I can still eat 5 meals a day at just over 300 calories each.

And it tastes good. (Really good. :) )