Protein Pudding and Interval Training

Whew - what a week it has been!

I started back up at my music teaching job on Monday with the elementary kiddos and BOY am I whooped! I had a great first week back, with almost every class doing their personal best and really feeling in charge instantaneously with my classroom management and procedures, but it is nonetheless exhausting to be ON constantly when teaching in front of a class!

That being said, I haven't blogged in awhile and I thought it time to share a little snippet of both diet and exercise with you all in the blogosphere!

First off, my incredible husband found yet ANOTHER way to incorporate protein into our diet. PUDDING! Mmmmmm, yes, you heard right! Who says you can't still enjoy decadent tastes and textures while eating healthy?! This pudding uses pumpkin puree as the base, which is low in calories and high in fiber and protein itself! Here is the recipe. It is literally one of the most dark and creamy things I have tried in a long while that is very low calorie and absolutely guilt free PLUS still giving you some nutritional value!!

High Protein Chocolate & Pumpkin Pudding

 

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

]Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (Brett and I used 100% DARK CHOCOLATE, OH YEAH!)
• ½ cup all-natural, sweetened chocolate protein powder (vegan or whey... we used whey)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup almond milk or lowfat dairy milk (we love our Silk!)
• Optional: additional natural sweetener to taste (e.g., stevia, honey, maple syrup... BUT we didn't sweeten it at all, the protein powder did enough of that for us!)

Instructions

1. In a blender (we used our Ninja) or food processor, process the pumpkin, cocoa powder, protein powder, vanilla and cinnamon until well blended and smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl or blender pitcher with a spatula.
2. Add half of the milk to the blender or processor; process until smooth, then scrape down sides, Add remaining milk; process until smooth. Taste the pudding and add additional sweetener (a little bit at a time) if desired.
3. Scrape into a big container or into individual jars or ramekins. Cover and chill at least 2 hours for it to thicken and for the flavors to blend. (We could only wait 1 1/2 hours before trying it.. and it was FABULOUS, but would have reached its perfect level of thickness had we been patient! :)

Nutrition Information

Serving size: ½ cup Calories: 71 Fat: 1 g Carbohydrates: 8 g Protein: 10 g (FEW variances might pop up depending on your protein powder, but it is still a very low calorie high protein treat!!)

Next up, I am going to speak on interval training. This type of exercise has truly been a life changer for me. It saves me time in the gym, and I reap huge benefits physically from it. When you do interval training, your body pushes incredibly hard for short spurts and then fights to recover in short spurts of rest, causing huge peaks and valleys in your heart rate which is OPTIMAL activity for fat burning! 

There are a lot of different types and variations on interval training, but a simple one to start out trying is simply choosing this easy format: 4 exercises, each performed back to back with no rest at 30 seconds per exercise, followed by 30 seconds of rest before beginning the next round. That is a 2 1/2 minute circuit, which you can continue on as long as you wish! Usually you can do 10 to 12 rounds to bring your workout up to 25 or 30 minutes. 

This may seem redundant at first, doing the same moves that many times, but when you are first starting out, it is an effective way to get into the swing of HIIT and to really work on your form staying proper and keeping track of the exercises in your brain! :)

This is a great app I use that you can create your own customized intervals within for free and alter each workout if you so wish! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timerlist-interval-timer-for/id769031985?mt=8

Give it a shot sometime! Today I did 30 seconds of burpees, then in and out jacks, then jump squats, and lastly floor sprints followed by my rest. Try to add some variance in pure cardio moves followed by some strength based moves, OR you can just focus on pure cardio! Whatever floats your boat! If you want to know more about HIIT and find out some of my favorite go to moves, let me know!

Take care, and happy Saturday!

Court

Protein: not just for shakes anymore!

Normally I post a "smoothie Sunday" recipe on Sundays. But this morning, my husband and I experimented with incorporating our protein powder into a different kind of recipe: French Toast!

Many of you may be wondering why in the world I talk so much about protein, protein, protein! Well, it is an important macro-nutrient (or macro) in your daily diet, as are carbs and fats. In the average American diet, we consume well over our daily requirement of carbs and fats, and not nearly enough protein! Think about it... walking down the grocery store aisles you find bags and boxes and canned goods chock full of fats and carbs, and not the best kinds of fats and carbs, eithers.

Carbs and fats are essential for a healthy lifestyle, but you need to fuel yourself with the correct kinds and at the right times of the day that works best for you. Fruits and veggies and whole grains are great examples of the "good" kinds of carbs. Nuts, nut butters, avocados, and healthy oils like coconut and olive oils are great ways to get your "good" fats! But... back to protein.

I love lean meats and fish, Greek yogurt, egg whites, cottage cheese... but sometimes it is still hard to get my protein intake high enough for the day. I like to aim for 30% of my food intake to come from protein so that as I maintain weight or even lose some weight from training, it will be fat that is being burned and NOT my lean muscle mass that I work so hard to get with my training!

Anywho.. I do not claim to be a dietician, but from the little research I have done, those are my takeaways and I hope that you all can try to incorporate enough protein into your diet and keep your macros well-balanced for optimal health and weight loss! :)

Here is a website with some great ideas for ways to incorporate protein powders into other recipes... PROTEIN RECIPES!!

The delicious breakfast that Brett and I tried today is what we like to dub "All American Toast!" Check it out! And try it, it is SO delicious! We followed the recipe except we did not use any maple syrup on top at the end. Brett ate his plain with just the bananas and blueberries that he added, and I added a swipe of Jif natural PB on top of mine with a drizzle of honey and sliced bananas. MMM mmm good!

All-American Toast - Serves 2
INGREDIENTS: 
*1 scoop vanilla protein powder
*4 slices of bread (We used Ezekiel sprouted bread. SO good!)
*½ cup egg whites
*¼ cup milk (your choice... we used Silk Unsweetened Original Almond Milk)
*1 banana
*Cinnamon
*Syrup, honey, or PB for topping








DIRECTIONS: 

Mix egg whites, milk and protein powder together in a small bowl. Add cinnamon to taste. Dip the slices of bread into the mixture. Place the batter-covered bread on a non-stick skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, then remove from heat. Add syrup, honey, or PB for extra flavor. Cut the banana (or fruit of choice) into small pieces and sprinkle them overtop the bread. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this post about the great and powerful PROTEIN and can be brave and start incorporating it into some different recipes! Make sure you eat enough, especially if you are training hard! Soreness means your muscles have broken down and need to repair themselves, thus making them stronger!! You need that protein to rebuild quickly and correctly! And now you know instead of just drinking up that protein, you can eat it up with these recipes! ENJOY!!

Court