How to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth and Increase Your Protein Intake

If you’re anything like me, you may have a difficult time adjusting to a healthy diet plan. While fitting exercise into my daily routine was never a struggle, I’ve had an extremely difficult time cutting out desserts because of my sweet tooth. It’s when I wasn’t seeing the results I was hoping for that made me realize I was sabotaging myself. No matter how hard I worked out at the gym, I was ruining all of my efforts on binging on cookies, cake, and other deliciously sweet treats.

A few months ago, I introduced protein shakes into my diet as an after workout boost (and sometimes as a meal replacement). I’ve been doing lots of experiments with ingredients to see what tasted the best. And that’s when I had my epiphany: by finding the perfect ingredients for a sweet protein shake, I could get the cookie taste I’ve been craving without counteracting all of my hard work at the gym!

Below are the ingredients to my sugar cookie protein shake. When I first began making protein shakes, I struggled with finding a recipe that hides the taste of protein powder. This recipe is so good; it tastes just like my favorite cookies! I promise you won’t regret trying it.

• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (I use Almond Breeze’s unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• ½ tbsp. of vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. of coconut oil
• 1 tbsp. of almond flour
• 1 tbsp. of ground flaxseed
• 2 packets of sweetener (I use Stevia)
• 1 scoop of super premium whey protein (I use MHP’s vanilla flavor)

The only directions I have are to blend all together until smooth. The coconut oil can be a little difficult to blend, but the flaxseed should help with that. If you notice that the coconut oil is floating to the top of your shake, you can try replacing the almond flour with almond butter instead.

My sugar cookie protein shake recipe is vegan, gluten free, and is full of healthy fat. The best part? It only takes about five minutes to prepare! The ingredients above are for one serving. I usually drink it within a half an hour of exercising. It’s almost like a sweet little reward for completing a tough workout!

I chose whey protein because it helps reduce muscle soreness after a workout. There are numerous scientific studies that prove the benefits of this supplement. It is a complete, high quality protein that contains essential amino acids that your body needs. In addition, this type of protein is more easily digested compared to other types. Personally, I don’t really like meat or seafood, so adding shakes into my diet helps me get my daily dose of protein.

If you’ve been hitting the gym and struggling to get the results you desire, I highly suggest taking a look at your diet. Making healthy changes to what you eat can completely transform your life! Not only will it help you achieve the results you’ve been after, but it will also help you feel more energized and reduce your risk of life threatening medical conditions. And thankfully, with a little research, you can find recipes like this one that are healthy but also fulfill your sweet cravings!

Michele is a health and fitness blogger for https://www.reachyourmhp.com/, a company that is dedicated to developing the most innovative nutrition products that help people achieve their fitness goals.