Ever in a pinch for getting in some good nutrition, and only have a minute or two to prepare a meal? Enter the smoothie. With a little bit of creativity, these can become great tasting, nutrient dense meals that can be prepared in less than 5 minutes.

There is so much leeway with a recipe like this, that there are virtually limitless combinations of ingredients, which ensures that each shake always agrees with your taste buds. Here is a standard template that I use when making a high protein, whole foods smoothie.

Banana Berry Nut Smoothie

• ¼-½ cup water or milk as a base
• ¼-½ cup plain, nonfat yogurt
• ¼-½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
• ½ serving of whey vanilla protein powder (between 10-20g)
• 2-4 tbsp dry oats
• 1 medium banana
• ½-1 cup of mixed berries - blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.
• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp of mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc.)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp of flax meal (ground flax seeds)
• (optional) honey or splenda as a sweetener, go light on this stuff
• 4-6 ice cubes for texture and that “chilled feeling”

Put all ingredients in a blender, in the listed order, and blend on high for one minute. This simple recipe packs a lot of protein into one meal along with some complex carbohydrates, fiber, and plenty of healthy fats.

Remember that liquid meals like this should be used out of necessity and for convenience reasons - not as a cornerstone of a meal plan. Whole foods smoothies are usually packed with calories and will leave you feeling hungry not long after finishing. Whole foods are always a better option, and when eaten from solid form, instead of liquid, more of the nutrient value will be digested and absorbed into the body.

To your health and success,

John Sifferman, NSCA-CPT

P.S. Do you have any favorite shake or smoothie recipes that you would like to share with other fat burning blog visitors? Please leave your recipes and comments below.