Swim, Bike, Run, Eat: Chocolate Banana Brick Smoothie

This is one of my favorite smoothie recipes...


1 large banana
.25 cups uncooked old fashioned oats
1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I like gold standard extreme milk chocolate)
1 cup skim milk
1 cup of ice
2 cups of spinach (you won't taste it.

Mix in smoothie like fashion and enjoy.  Depending on the workout, you may want to double up the oats (but probably not the honey...too sweet!) or add some peanut butter. 

Macros-
Calories:  470
Fat 3.15g
Carbs 78.76
Protein: 37.78
Fiber 6.9g
Sodium 228.4mg

Micros-

When you run a lot you have a lot of time to think about stuff to put in your recovery smoothies.   Here's what I think about this one. 

This is all about recovery!  In my very uneducated opinion, in addition to carbs and protein you should also try to recover with foods that will assist in balancing the various things that can get out of wack through big amounts of exercise.  That really comes down to sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium as I understand it.

You can hide a bit more NaCl in this if you want it, but there is a fair bit in it already.  The banana is going to help you on board potassium.  Together your body can use these to keep the sodium/potassium pumps in your cells pumping...

Calcium and magnesium are pretty important too.  Beyond just building strong bones, calcium helps your muscles fire and magnesium helps them relax.  Short on either one?  Cramps.  Milk is about the best source of calcium you can find.  Spinach and Oats are both a great source of magnesium. 

Spinach also gets you a ton of various vitamins and minerals, some iron, phytonutrients for those free radicals you just made, and all kinds of other good stuff!