Wednesday Morning Déjà Vu

Do you ever wake up and have a Groundhog’s Day movie-esque moment, where you feel like you’ve already lived this day before? Maybe it was the 5am wake up and ACTUALLY making it to yoga, or maybe it was my double Amazing Grass repeat, but today was one of those days for me. I have the world’s best internal clock and promptly woke up 3 minutes before my 5am alarm. I actually like when I do this because it is less of a rude awakening. I contemplated going back to sleep, but knew if I didn’t go to yoga that I was going to feel stressed about not going (ironic?) this week, and began getting ready. I wasn’t that hungry when I first woke up, but I really don’t believe in doing anything on an empty stomach; you have to fuel your body, and you wont be able to have an optimum performance if you don’t. I wanted something easy to eat, easy to digest and something palatable at the 5am hour (aka nothing chocolate or too heavily flavored). I wasn’t planning on having another SuperFood Energy Bar, but the Berry Whole Food Energy seemed to fit the profile I was looking for and I decided to give it a try.

Half-eaten 5am photo

The Verdict: My instincts were right, this was the perfect early morning energizer! I actually think I liked it more than the Green Chocolate Whole Food Energy that I had yesterday. It was extremely tender, but still had a nice, dense texture to it. The flavor was light and slightly sweet. One of the reason I don’t have chocolate flavored energy bars first thing in the morning is because I don’t like the intense, overwhelming sweetness. They are good for mid-day snacks and pick me ups, but not something I enjoy at 5am. This bar had the perfect balance of flavor and necessary nutrition. The Berry SuperFood base was a lot better tasting than the Green. I have yet to try the original Green SuperFood, but I think if anyone is hesitant to try these bars that the Berry Whole Food Energy is a great place to start.

Yoga always puts me in a state of tranquility. It woke me up and relaxed my tense body. I was happy I ended up going, but waking up so early the first day that I start my Lenten sacrifice of caffeine may not have been the best idea. When I was leaving class (which is also held in a dark, warm room…just to add to my sleepy sensation) I could feel my eyes becoming heavy and the aroma of coffee was in the air. What a tease. I decided to have an apple immediately post work out, remembering they have “wake up” qualities because of the fructose and the physical stimulation of the crunch.

Clearly Couldn't Wait to Eat This!

It worked a bit but after getting settled I decided I needed some protein and comfort. The yoga studio I attend also has a juice bar and one of their signature drinks is “Protein Punch” made with frozen banana, dates, peanut butter, and chocolate soy milk. That sounded good to me, so I made myself a peanut butter, banana, raspberry and chocolate smoothie with Chocolate Green SuperFood. I used 1/2 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk, 1 frozen banana, 1 TBS crunchy organic PB, 1/4 cup frozen raspberries, 2 ice cubes and a packet of Chocolate Green SuperFood. I call it Peanut Butter and Jelly Bliss.

Love of My Life

The Verdict: I CURRENTLY HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES…it was THAT good. I am wide awake and full of life after this smoothie. I love experimenting with different concoctions…but after this one, I don’t know if I’ll ever try another mixture again (lies but IT WAS AMAZING).  I have admitted my PB&J obsession in past post and this smoothie was PB&J + Chocolate + THICK creamy goodness= one happy girl. I felt like I was eating an ice cream sundae for breakfast…coffee who? This was infinitely better.  I could go on and on but for the sake of those reading this, I’ll contain myself. I’ll just end by saying that I am in love.

Happy Hump Day,

Nora

What is your favorite smoothie combination?