Skinny Black Forest Smoothie {GF, Low Cal}

Skinny Black Forest Smoothie made with blended chocolate, cherry, milk and spinach. A delicious smoothie packed with antioxidants and fiber. The perfect post workout smoothie that doubles as dessert!

You guys are so lucky because I have the sweetest dessert treat for you today! Would you believe me if I told you it were good for you too? Allow me to explain! But first I have to confess that I have a thing for cherries.  

While I love experimenting with fruits in smoothies and testing different flavors (by the way, did you see that cranberry smoothie a few weeks ago? OMG so good and was a total accident!), a cherry smoothie is always my preferred flavor.

I'm guessing most people are all about the berries. Not me! Cherries are my jam. More time than not you'll find me gravitating toward my favorite skinny cherry yogurt smoothie. But during the winter, I cannot bring myself to drink that coldness.

Lately though I've been through serious smoothie withdrawals so much so that when I reached in the freezer the other day for something and saw the four bags of frozen cherries staring me in the face, I could not resist. From that moment, I was on a mission to make something winter smoothie edible.

Later that day a ginormous box of Rockin' Refuel arrived at my door. Rockin' Refuel recently came out with a new line called Rockin’ Refuel Lean Builder that offers lower calorie and low sugar options.

In case you aren't familiar, Rockin' Refuel is a complete line of protein beverages made to maximize the science behind chocolate milk recovery. If you've ever run a race, you will see chocolate milk being offered to runners. It has been shown to be one of the best ways to recover from a workout and ideal for people of all fitness levels who want to build and retain lean muscle.

A few more facts about Rockin' Refuel:

• Rocks 20 grams of high quality protein
• Lean Builder is 150 calories per bottle
• Lactose & gluten free
• Available in vanilla & chocolate flavors
• Sold at Walmart in the dairy case

At first, I was a bit skeptical about these. I am very picky about the type of protein I put in my body and usually dairy and I do not agree. But to my surprise, my body tolerated these just fine. I've been drinking them now for a couple weeks after all my workouts. I love how full they make me feel not to mention, they're ridiculously DELICIOUS!

I had no other choice but to turn this deliciousness into something even more delicious and what better than a winter appropriate cherry smoothie like a Skinny Black Forest Smoothie?

A creamy and thick smoothie laden with chocolate and cherry with spinach snuck in. The chocolate provides the body with much needed antioxidants, cherries fight inflammation, spinach replenishes iron and milk is an excellent source of protein and calcium. I told you it was healthy!

For those of you making excuses as to why you cannot drink a smoothie in the winter, this Skinny Black Forest Smoothie is the farther thing from cold. In fact, it's more like a warm dessert in a cup. I think I just gave you another reason why you need to drink more smoothies. So stop making excuses and go make yourself some dessert and while you're at it, check out the Rockin' Refuel!

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.