Miracle Drink

When you are training for a competition your macros (short for macronutritents; protein, fat and carbohydrates) are very structured.  You are limited to certain amounts per meal and per day for each of these.  For example, on a high carb day my limit is 95.  

On top of restricting carbs you also have to restrict your sugar intake.  {You should be watching your sugar intake no matter whether you're training or not honestly}  When it comes to what you can drink, watching all of these numbers pretty much leaves water and....well, water.

I had serious problems with this for the first few weeks.  I started only using my soy milk (I don't drink regular milk) in my morning oatmeal on my cheat day.  After suspecting that I have a soy intolerance and deciding to cut out all soy products from my diet I realized I'd have to ditch my cheat soy milk.  I knew that there were other nondairy options so, I started checking them out online.  

Most other milks had too much fat and carbs.  When I looked at the nutritional information for almond milk I was shocked.  

Low fat, no cholesterol, not too much sodium, <1 gram of carbs and 0 grams of sugar??!!?? Rock and roll!!  Now I can use it every day.  No more watery protein shakes?  No more non-creamy oatmeal?  This stuff is a miracle.  I'm in love!  You know what  the first thing I did with my almond milk?  Make a smoothie!  The carb for the meal was supposed to be complex, which means sweet potato (I can have other ones, I just really REALLY love sweet potatoes).  I decided to blend it all up together.  

Sweet Potato Smoothie

6 oz sweet potato, cooked
31 g (1 scoop) Protein Powder
6 oz silk unsweetened original almond milk
3 g PB2
1 T sugar free maple syrup (if your macros allow)
dash cinnamon

Directions

1. Scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato, discard (or eat) the skin
2. Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth

Have you had to cut anything out of your diet only to find a better substitute?