I know you all think I live in southern California where the sun always shines and it never gets cold.  That is a myth.  Here at the beach we have many mornings between 45 and 50 degrees and our fair share of mornings below 40 degrees.  For me those mornings are sweats, sweatshirts, sweaters and Uggs weather and I still have trouble getting and staying warm.  One of the side effects of losing 250 pounds I guess since I am not anemic or deficient in any vitamin or mineral.  When you add a brisk onshore wind coming off a 50 degree ocean and now you have a sunshiny day that is bone chilling, especially for someone who used to carry around layers of fat to keep her warm. 

On these chilly days the thought of an ice blended anything does not sound like a good way to kick start my day.  I want hot chocolate, hot coffee, hot tea, oatmeal, soups and stews to help me warm up my days.  The question that then begs answering is how do I get all of these tummy warming liquids into my body and still get my requisite 80-120 grams of protein and stay below my 1200 calorie limit?  OK, it was really 3 questions in one, but you get the drift.  It’s not nearly as difficult as it was 9 years ago when I started my journey.  There are so many great products out there to choose from.

Here are a few of my personal “Recipes for Success”:

• Instead of having my usual cup of coffee then off to the gym with my ice blended protein shake in hand I have a steaming cup of one of the delicious Fit Frappe flavors, either with caffeine or without.  I drink this on the way to the gym for my early morning workout.  I use ½ serving for 65 calories/10 grams protein of pure warmth and yumminess.  As soon as I get home from the gym I have another cup for my post workout protein boost.  I drink about 24 ounces of water while at the gym, just in case you wondered.
  
  
• Between 3 and 4 hours later I am ready for some “real food”.  On cold days no matter how much I keep moving and bundle up I still crave a steaming bowl of soup or steel cut oatmeal to keep me as warm as possible.  I can do this and increase the protein of a single portion of either from the typical 6-9 grams of protein to 16 to 19 gram of protein simply by adding ½ scoop (portion) of BiPro unflavored pure whey isolate protein powder to either soup or oatmeal when it is hot and ready to serve.  I get to feed my craving for hot, creamy soup or oatmeal and my need for protein to keep me satisfied.

Maybe this will not be such a bad winter after all?  These are just two quick and easy ways I turn on my internal furnace with hot protein on cold days.  How about you?  We all love to share new ideas.