But I don’t like drinking water

At Sanctuary Fitness, we keep our nutrition advise pretty simple for clients, and it can be summarized in just a few words: protein, veggies, fish oil, and water.

Of those 4 concepts, water intake is the simplest to explain, but occasionally someone will say “but I don’t like drinking water.”

I certainly enjoy ice cold water on a hot day, but there are times that I don’t feel like drinking plain water, so I can sympathize with this sentiment. So here are some suggestions for healthy hydration. Start with a good water filter at home, and of course use reusable bottles when on the go.

1. Lemon/lime juice added to water – juice of half a lemon or lime added to a glass of cold water makes a very refreshing drink. Here is a convenient water bottle that already has a citrus juicer built in: Zing Anything. Also, you can boil a cut lemon in 2 cups of water to make a healthy detox drink full of limonene.
2. Mint water – someone made a fortune of bottling this concept, but you can make your own easily. Add a few drops of mint essential oil to you water and stir, or add mint leaves and refrigerate overnight.
3. Carbonated water – this idea can be combined with any of the other flavoring ideas, or add a few drops of liquid stevia to make your own soda. Make your own with Soda Stream.
4. Tea – herbal, green or white teas are a great way to get hydrated. I like having tea in winter, but you can also do iced tea in the summer time. Keep it lightly sweetened.
5. Any fruit or vegetable combination that appeals to you – I never got into cucumbers in water, but I have seen lots of people do it. Try whatever you like with your own infused water.

Note: Sometimes people don’t want to drink enough water because they aren’t absorbing it (feel like it is just sloshing around in stomach). In that case, adding a pinch of sea salt to a water bottle will help you to absorb the water better. Use just a pinch – you should not be able to taste it. Try Celtic Sea Salt.

Chocolate protein pudding!

I love to experiment with my recipes. Even when I have a recipe that I know  I like, I throw in different things just to see how it will turn out.

My dad loves to tell the story about how I asked for chocolate yogurt when I was young, and it was my first full sentence to him. These days I still LOVE chocolate yogurt, but I prefer mixing up my own from plain yogurt and cocoa powder.

Ingredients:

• plain yogurt – about 1/2 cup
• 1 scoop of plain whey protein powder
• 2 TB of cocoa powder
• 15-20 drops of vanilla liquid stevia, or other sweetener to taste ( I also like using honey when I am in the mood)

Note: if you haven’t worked with cocoa powder much, it is easy to make a mess. Always start with all the dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly mix in the wet ingredients. If you dump in all the yogurt at once, it can be hard to mix all the cocoa powder sufficiently and you get lots of little pockets of unmixed cocoa. Not fun.

The end result is something like chocolate pudding! but with more protein! yay 🙂

PS: I suggest using regular yogurt, but not Greek yogurt. Many people do not understand that Greek yogurt is just yogurt with some of the water drained out – that is the difference. By adding protein powder, it will thicken the yogurt. If you started with Greek yogurt, it may end up too thick.

Recipe: chocolate coconut protein mash-up

I considered calling this a protein “ball” or “pudding”, but to me it is best described as an amorphous mash-up (and of course delicious). I have been making this frequently when I am am hungry but don’t really feel like cooking or prepping vegetables. Also makes a great addition to my lunch box.

Chocolate Coconut Protein Mash-up

• 2 scoops of whey protein powder (I use grass-fed) [you can also use protein powder that is already flavored chocolate, but I get plain unsweetened protein powder]
• about 2 TB of cocoa powder (I use fair trade organic powder from Frontier Co-op)
• 2 TB of coconut butter (Artisana makes the best that I have found – available on Amazon and your local natural food store)
• 1 TB of powdered peanut butter (such as Betty Lou’s Just Great Stuff Powdered Peanut Butter or PB2)
• 20-25 drops of vanilla liquid stevia (this will give a very lightly sweet dark chocolate taste)
• dash of cinnamon or other sweet spice as desired
• about 3 TB of water (or some plain yogurt will give a nice thick texture)

I put all the ingredients except the water in a bowl, and start to slowly add water as I mix. Add water until the desired texture is reached, which may vary depending on type of protein powder.

Plus: I like adding a little Barlean’s Omega Swirl on top like frosting. This stuff is a great way to add healthy fats (fish/flax oil) and it tastes great – not a bit like fish. Great flavors!

To my appetite level, this yields 2 servings. 🙂

ingredients for chocolate coconut protein mash-up