A nutrition post by Cambridge personal trainer Callie Durbrow
See How Your Trainer Can Recommend Desserts….
If you’re anything like me you probably enjoy something sweet every once and a while. I hate the term “sweet tooth”, it’s kinda weird but I guess that’s what it is…
Back when I was younger I always remember my grandmother wanting to have a cookie or something sweet after every meal. I think back then people were always having dessert attached to their meal. I alway loved having dinner or lunch at her house for this reason. My brother and I both love candy, I’m talking the sweeter the better like Skittles and all that crap.
Obviously I don’t eat it on a daily basis but on my cheat day I usually have to break out some of the Jelly Belly jelly beans. You know the ones will all the crazy flavors? Yep, that’s me with a super healthy grocery cart on Saturdays and a bag of jelly beans 🙂
If you listen to me at any point then you know how insistent I am that you can’t out-train a bad diet. Say you’re working out hard but you’re going home to processed foods or maybe you’re not even eating enough to support your metabolism that’s trying desperately to go fast and burn you lots of fat.
But in theory what are you going to do, totally wipe out your past eating plan and replace it with a 100% clean nutrition plan? That COULD happen but I doubt it.
It has to be small changes. Make 2 big changes per week and stick to them, then make a few more. It takes 21 days for your brain to develop a true habit.
I know it can be tough to change your nutrition plans but I seriously hate the word “diet.” It just makes me shudder because I think of those grapefruit diets and crazy starvation stuff that never works. The whole deal is that you want to create a lifestyle, something you can stick to.
And, that lifestyle CAN include enjoying your food. Having an occasional sweet as a treat is freakin’ awesome when you’re working hard and training hard. And who says it can’t be good for you? There are so many ways to make tasty treats that are packed with protein, are low in sugar and won’t break your stride when it comes to nutrition.
So check out these recipes and start using them right away for a nice little treat. For protein powders I recommend Prograde but there are lots of others out there, EAS Myoplex is good stuff too.
Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies
In a food processor, blend:
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
1 cup of almonds (raw, unsalted)
1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tbsp water
Chop everything until it’s small and uniform and develops into dough and not powder. If it’s too powdery add more peanut butter or water. Dump the cookie dough onto a piece of waxed paper, make a tight log shape, wrap tightly on both sides then roll tightly and place in the freezer. After about an hour take out and slice in 1/2 inch cookies. Store then in the refrigerator, they’ll stay soft because of the peanut butter. Makes 12.
Per cookie:
92 calories
4g protein
3g carbs
7g fat
Flourless Black Bean Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups canned black beans, drained well
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup instant coffee grounds
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
1 cup light agave syrup
Preheat the oven to 325. Line a baking pan (11×13) with parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Once melted completely, stir with a spoon. Place the beans, 1 scoop protein
powder, the vanilla extract, and 4 or 5 spoonfuls of the melted chocolate
mixture into the food processor. Blend until the beans are very smooth.
In a large bowl, mix together the walnuts and 1 more scoop Prograde Protein
powder. Add the remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee grounds, and salt.
Mix well.
In a separate bowl, with a mixer, beat the eggs until light, about a minute. Add
the agave syrup, and beat well. Set aside.
Add the 3 separate bowls (bean and chocolate mixture, coffee and chocolate
mixture, and egg mixture) together. Blend well. Pour into your prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan
completely before cutting into squares. Better yet, let these cool, and then
refrigerate, and they cut even easier.
Nuts may be substituted or omitted.
Makes 32 servings
Per brownie:
153 calories
3g protein
13g carbs
10g fat
Vanilla Blender Cake with Berries
In a blender, add:
1 egg
3 tbsp unsweetened, natural applesauce
2 tbsp agave syrup
3 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Once well blended, add to that:
2 tbsp almond flour
3 tbsp gluten-free pancake mix
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
Once mixed, add to a microwave safe dish (glass or ceramic works well), and
cook until done (start at 2 minutes and 15 seconds). If it’s still “wet,” cook
longer, going a few seconds at a time so it doesn’t get tough or overcooked.
Put onto a plate, pick a handful of berries, microwave the berries for 45
seconds until soft and mushy, pour over the top of the cake, and enjoy.
Makes 2 servings.
Per serving:
224 calories
17.5g protein
22.5g carbs
7g fat
Orange Pumpkin Mousse
1 scoop Prograde Orange Protein powder
1 6 ounce container of plain or vanilla greek yogurt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp 100% pumpkin (not pie filling)
Blend in the food processor, put in a fancy dessert cup and enjoy. Makes one serving.
235 calories
46g protein
10g carbs
1g fat
Enjoy these quick and easy recipes and leave me a comment below if you have any cool recipes you want to share. I’ll be coming back with more of these in the next few weeks.
Also, this is totally cool….my friends at Prograde are hooking you up with a nice little discount. Prograde is, in my opinion, the best quality protein out there. I also recommend using their vitamins and EFA (essential fatty acids aka fish oil). This coupon is ONLY for protein so if you want to try it out just go here…..
Prograde Protein Hook-Up and place your order, then use the coupon code protein10 when you check out. Be sure to use this link that I provided so they can track the discounts.
And one more hook-up for you….you know you’ve got to get your healthy eating dialed in, but what about your workouts?
We have a few spaces left in our evening training classes so come check us out and get 1 week for $1, no hassles, no pressure. Just go here to sign-up….