Instructions:
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses and serve immediately.

1 cup boiling Water
4 Organic Green Tea with Mandarin Orange Flavor Tea Bags
1/2 teaspoon organic honey or organic agave nectar
1 ripe organic banana
1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions:

Plate the organic tea bags in the boiling water and allow to steep for 2 minutes. Remove tea bags and squeeze out any remaining tea. Add organic honey or organic agave nectar and stir to dissolve. Place in the refrigerator and allow to chill about 30 minutes. Place the chilled tea in a blender. Add the organic banana and ice cubes. Blend until smooth and creamy. Serves 2

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-Supplement of the Year – Optimum 100% Whey Protein (5th year in a row!)

-New Supplement of the Year – MRI Black Powder

-Muscle Builder of the Year – BSN NO-Xplode (5th year in a row!)

-Pre-Workout Supplement of the Year – BSN NO-Xplode

-Intra-Workout Supplement of the Year – MuscleTech IntraVol

-Recovery Supplement of the Year – Scivation Xtend

-Protein Powder of the Year – Optimum 100% Whey Protein (5th year in a row!)

-Protein Bar of the Year – Supreme Protein Carb Conscious Bar

-Energy Supplement of the Year – VPX Meltdown

-Energy Drink of the Year – VPX RedLine RTD

-Fat Loss Supplement of the Year – Nutrex Lipo 6x

-Weight Gainer of the Year – BSN True Mass (3rd year in a row!)

-Nitric Oxide Supplement of the Year – BSN NO-Xplode (5th year in a row!)

-Creatine Supplement of the Year – BSN CellMass (5th year in a row!)

-Glutamine Supplement of the Year – MHP Glutamine-SR

-Multivitamin of the Year – Universal Nutrition Animal Pak (5th year in a row!)

-Joint Health Supplement of the Year – Universal Nutrition Animal Flex (4th year in a row!)

-RTD of the Year – CytoSport Muscle Milk RTD (2nd year in a row!)

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There are two keys to successful refueling. The first one is timing and the second is what you consume.

As far as timing is concerned, within 30 minutes of your workout, you should be consuming a recovery drink. Within 2 hours of your workout, you will want to consume a well-balanced meal and/or drink.

The ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and electrolytes are crucial to optimizing your body’s need for these ingredients as well as its ability to absorb and utilize them. What do you drink within 30 minutes of completing your workout? A drink consisting of a carbs to protein ratio of 4:1, added electrolytes including potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium and low in fat. You can get a commercial preparation or you can make your own. Endurox is an example of a commercial preparation.

An example of a post recovery drink is:
Perfect Empowered Drinking Water (oxygen and electrolytes are included)
Primorye (adaptogens are great for muscle recovery)
Organic orange juice
Organic Lemonade
A pinch of organic sea salt
A bit of protein powder

if you don’t use Perfect Empowered Drinking Water, then I would suggest water and an electrolyte powder instead. Some examples are Ultima, Refresh and Elete.

A great resource we recommend is the book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by triathlete Brendan Brazier.

As far as your post-workout meal, it should include carbs, more protein, healthy fats (especially Omega-3s) and fiber. The reason we mention drink as an option is that a smoothie is a good post workout drink. Include a healthy protein powder like Vega, organic bananas, organic berries, Primorye, Lifeshots, organic flax oil, organic non-fat yogurt and organic orange juice (or other juice of your choice). You can play around with this recipe according to your taste preferences.

Also, make sure you continually drink plenty of water and include electrolytes during the day as well. Perfect Empowered Drinking Water is great because the electrolytes are already included in the water itself, not to mention added oxygen. Make sure you stay well hydrated and don’t overtrain.

Instructions:

Place organic chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour organic milk into pan. Add organic cocoa powder, organic sugar and organic cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, 4 minutes or until chocolate chips have completely melted and cocoa has completely dissolved. Pour into warm mugs. Add a cinnamon stick to each mug.

Number of Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1 mug

A perfect drink for a cold winter’s night.

4 organic apple cinnamon spiced tea bags
5 cloves
1 cup organic orange juice
4 cups organic apple cider

Instructions:

Place tea bags and cloves in sauce pan. Place pan over medium heat. Pour in organic orange juice and organic apple cider. Cook mixture for 12 minutes. Remove tea bags and cloves. Serve hot with a cinnamon stick as garnish.

Nice sipping in front a warm fireplace. A great way to reduce stress. Share your experiences with us.

6 cups organic apple cider
3 whole organic allspice berries
3 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 organic navel orange, peeled and quartered
1 organic navel orange, unpeeled, sliced

Instructions:

Place organic cider in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the organic berries, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Stir to combine ingredients. Add the quartered orange. Bring mixture to a quick boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low. Cook 7 minutes. Pour organic cider through a strainer being sure the berries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and oranges are removed. Place mugs in microwave for 30 seconds to warm. Pour the cider into the warm mugs and garnish with orange slices.

Number of Servings: 6
Serving Size: 1 mug

Ahhhh…the comfort of a nice warm drink!
Add this drink to your nutritional program.

Today, it is more and more widely accepted that you cannot get all your nutrients from food and drink alone. In fact, the more active you are, the more supplementation you will require. However, your first source of nutrients should come from the food you eat and what you drink.

There is no more important category of food than fruits and vegetables. Although there are a variety of different food pyramids and recommended diets, there is a school of thought that says that all food can be divided into 2 categories: water containing and non-water containing. As you can imagine, water containing foods are fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, we recommend you consume these in organic form. Not only are these fruits and vegetables free of pesticides, they contain a greater amount of individual vitamins, minerals and adjuctive nutrients. The main differneces are not so much in the macro-nutrients as in the micro-nutrients you will get. This is especially true when making your own juice.

There is no better delivery system than mother nature. Juices get absorbed quickly and completely so you get the full impact of what they have to offer. It is also important to consume a wide variety of juices. You will get different vitamins in different concentrations when consuming a variety of juices. This is a huge benefit of doing the juicing yourself.

Books on Juicing

An example of some of the nutrients in orange juice are: Vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, iron, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, choline, amino acids, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids

And that’s just orange juice. Can you imagine if you consumed a wide variety of juices on a regular basis? A misconception that exists among many is that fruit juices should not be consumed in quantity because they contain sugars. It is important to note that organic natural fruit juices actually have a low glycemic index. Glycemic index is a term used to depict how quickly a food converts into glucose within the human body. High glycemic index foods spike blood sugar levels, low glycemic index foods do not.

So far, we have been speaking of fruit juices, but you should certainly incorporate vegetable juices as well. Another benefit of making your own juice is that you can combine some fruit into your vegetable juices as a sweetener. It is common to add apples for this purpose. Again, use variety and color-rich fruits and vegetables. Some great examples of what can be included in vegetable juices are: carrots, celery, beets and ginger.

When you cannot juice yourself, make sure you are buying juices that are organic and do not contain preservatives or additives. Make sure they are 100% pure. If you choose to make juicing a regular part of your life, you will notice the benefit in increased energy, better performance and reduced disease due to a reinforced immune system.

I’ve been experimenting with various alternatives to do just that and, after 2 months of consistent use, I’ve put together a concoction that works for me and I hope it will work for you as well.

I start with 3/4 of a 500ml bottle of alkaline, micro-structured, oxygenated water with electrolytes.
To that , I add a liquid adaptogen and aloe vera formula and
a liquid antioxidant formula

I use an aptogen/antioxidant ratio of 3 to 1, primarily for taste. The antioxidant is quite sweet (fruit extracts) for me while the adaptogens are more bitter. You can experiment to find your ideal mix.

When do I drink this? Primarily after exercise and throughout the day before exercise. I use only the water during my activity. For best results, I consume a homemade protein shake prior to competition.

I have noticed better performance and virtually no muscle pain using this plan. I have also found that at the first signs that my immune system is compromised, it seems to eliminate those symptoms.

Please let us know how you make out.