Mean, Green & Lean

Welcome to my first "new" post. Click here to learn more.

There are a lot of words to describe the recipe I'm going to share with you.

Quick. Healthy. Nutritious. Delicious. Customizable. Gluten-free.

I literally could go on and on and on and...well, you get it.

Before we get to the recipe, I'll show you what I did for my workout today.

Today was an upper body day. I'm not a big fan of working my upper body because I'm so weak, but on the other side of the coin, I want to get stronger so I push through.

In addition to the upper body, I did core and 15 minutes of cardio.

For my arms I did this Oxygen workout.

• Dumbbell Chest Press (10 reps)
• Dumbbell Bent Over Row (10 reps)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press (10 reps)
• Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl (12 reps)
• Dumbbell Tricep Extension (12 reps)

* No rest between exercises
* Rest 2 minutes between sets
* Repeat 3 times.

It was difficult, but not as intense as I thought it would be. I lifted the highest weights I could with proper form, it just wasn't very challenging. It is still a solid workout and because it only took 20 minutes, I'll file it away for when I need a quick workout.

For my abs/core, I did:

• Stability Ball Crunch w/ 25lb. Weight Plate (12 reps)
• Torso Rotation w/ Dumbbell (12 reps/each side)
• Seated Crunch w/ Medicine Ball Between Knees (12 reps)
• Decline Bench Crunch/Twist At Top w/ Medicine Ball (12 reps)
• Plank Walks on Bosu Ball (12 reps)

This was a solid ab routine and took me about 10 minutes.

For the last 15 minutes, I hit the step mill. It is literally the most killer cardio machine ever. I am slowly building up my endurance on the thing and I'm hoping to get to 30 minutes straight.

Overall, it was a quick 45 minute workout but it was effective!

After my workout, I came home and whipped up a Green Monster.

Unfortunately, I don't have exact measurements. I just eyeball it. Sorry not sorry.

Start off with some almond milk. You can use any kind of milk here, but almond milk doesn't hurt my stomach like normal milk does.

Then I throw in 1/2 a banana

Next goes a scoop of 100% Whey Protein (vanilla)

Then I put a little under a tablespoon of peanut butter in

Toss in some ice and mix it all up

Now comes the fun part!

Spinach.

Stuff in as much of the green stuff as you can.  I know you're scared. I know you probably think I'm insane.

Trust me, I understand.

I was just like you. I've been seeing variations of this smoothie for the past 6 months and I turned up my nose every time. One day I was feeling kind of crazy and decided to give it a spin.

All I can say is, do it.

You don't taste the spinach at all. You taste peanut butter and banana goodness. I promise!

Not only is this a great source of protein, but it has a huge serving of veggies! I like to drink this immediately after a weightlifting session. It's so refreshing.

Plus, it's in a mason jar. Everything tastes better when it comes out of mason jar. It's a scientific fact.
 

Enjoy!

Kaci