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BEYOND THE STRAW: Trading Shakes for Cakes!
It’s time to go beyond the protein shake straw and trade the blender for a mixer so we can cook up some protein treats!
As a sequel to my last protein supplement blog “Behind the Straw“, my blog on protein smoothies, I am calling all fit chefs to fess up and share your favorite and unique protein treats including protein waffles, muffins, bars and other creative treats made with protein powder.
After tweeting out a request to see what kind of response I would get, I realized there are many of you eating some really good high-protein grub so I am making it my mission to spread the love! Here’s a sneak peak of a couple of my favorite recipes so far.
Protein Waffles by Julianne Talley
“I am a musician ♪ ♫ ♪ – a cancer survivor, sister to two older brothers, mom to three amazing girls and the lover and friend to an amazing man.”Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/julianne.talley
- 2 c flour
- 1/4 c protein powder
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 T sugar
- Egg substitute (equal to 2 eggs)
- 2 c low-fat milk
- 1/4 c light oil (calls for 3/4 but I don’t use that much)
- Add whatever you want to it..cinnamon, walnuts, banana or fruit slices
Protein Muffins by Ozzie Elyashiv
“Proud dad! Into fitness, nutrition, technology & TV. I sell fitness supplements & develop mobile games & apps for iOS. Love the gym!”
President of MuscleTov Sales & Marketing
Twitter is @oztheuzi
website www.oztheuzi.com
RECIPE:
1 1/2 cups whole grain flour or buckwheat flour- 3/4 cup ground flax seed
- 3/4 cup oat bran
- 1/2 cup stevia
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup vanilla or plain almond milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (can also use coconut oil)
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 2 apples, peeled, shredded
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped mixed nuts
- 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
SHOW & TELL
To share your recipe, please give us your name, blog or website, twitter username, facebook URL and tell us what you do. Are you a mom, trainer, marathon runner or health nut. I will feature some of the best entries in a follow up blog.
PROTEIN SHAKES: Who’s Behind the Straw
There are a lot of people that take supplements, but it seems most people think of bodybuilders and athletes first when they think of drinking protein shakes – and there’s no one who knows protein better than Designer Whey.
As the #1 protein brand since 1993, they were around during the peek of spandex and body building, and they are thriving here and now – and fitness looks a lot different than it did 20 years ago. With the informative world wide web, people are more educated than ever and more aware of their need for protein in their diet. With this knowledge, protein has become a part of many people’s lives – and if I have to guess, most of them aren’t bodybuilders.
Of matter of fact, I’d guess they are moms, dads, runners, surfers, cyclists, health nuts, fitness newbies, experienced athletes, youth, seniors and basically every body type, age and race. My guess is there is no one Designer “way”. All of us Designer Whey fans (follow them on Facebook) use Designer Whey OUR way – and are loving it!
As a protein supplement enthusiast myself, I’m constantly looking for fresh new recipe ideas, so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered Designer Whey’s shake recipe page! YAYYYYY!!! Ingenious! Whether you use Designer Whey or another brand, you can start mixing it up like a pro with some of their creative yummy ideas. And, if I had to guess, I bet many of you have some great ideas too!!
In search for more great ideas, I asked what flavors and recipes my facebook friends liked and how they mix it up at home. Below are just a few of the first posts. Join the protein party and help us shake things up by sharing your recipe or favorite protein shake fix mix below! I’ll be doing a follow up blog to showcase YOUR recipes, blogs, web pages and/or personal profiles!
FACEBOOKERS SHAKING THINGS UP:
Melissa Henderson Chocolate protein powder- syntha 6 from BSN-with frozen banana, strawberries and peanutbutter 🙂
Christopher Borders GNC Wheybolic Extreme 60 CHOCOLATE
Patti Ambrosia McLean 8oz almond milk, body by vi shake mix (im sure whey mix would work) 1T instant coffee, ice and 1T baking cocoa. DELISH.
Ed Meade I have soooo many, but Butterfinger is probably my tops!
Jenee Simons Blueberry with ViSalus
Kristina Smith Davis Baked oatmeal! 1/2 cup whole oats, 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, 3 egg whites, 1 cup water, pinch of baking powder and 1-2 teaspoons of cinammon. I usually add 1/2 cup blueberries and sometimes a few pecans, but you can get really creative with your add-ins. Bake it in a preheated 350° oven for 25 minutes and presto! So good I sometimes have it twice a day!
Renee Bissonnette Langlois Kristina, that sounds yummy…maybe sunday for breakfast. vanilla for the protein powder and then the mix ins of raspberries, blueberries and honey.
Ingrid De Groot Suichies · Friends with Alfonso AngryTrainer Moretti
Muscle Milk Vanilla mmmmmm …….. My reward after a workout!
Emily Gibbons Chocolate GNC wheybolic 60, natural peanut butter, and honey, skim milk, ice. Yumm.
Tammie Huff ISO 100 chocolate with a scoop of Myofusion Bananna Cream and a tablespoon of PB2!!!
Supplements: Don’t Waste Your Time & Money
Some of you are probably all ready to LASH out at me just after reading my title alone! Get your panties out of a wad. I don’t mean supplements are a waste of time and money. What I mean is they CAN be! YOU can easily waste your time and money on supplements if you aren’t doing YOUR job.
Supplements Require Team Work
“If you aren’t ready to work, you might as well take the money you want to spend on supplements and flush it down the toilet. You’ll end up just as poor, with less work, and get the same results: the same old out-of-shape body.”
I’m currently on GNC’s GenetixHD, which I love. However, just because I’m popping some pills and gulping down a re-workout drink doesn’t mean I’m going to get results without doing my part.
This is a partnership. My supplements have a job and I have a job. We are working together for the same goal. If I don’t do my share, I can’t expect results.
GNC’s GenetixHD products rock – if YOU rock.
How can you expect increased energy to result in fat loss if you sit on your butt?- How can you expect CLA to support a healthy body composition if YOU aren’t working to improve your body composition?
- Why work to protect muscle cells when you aren’t training muscle cells?
- Why take Meta-Ignite to boost calorie burn before, during and after a workout if you don’t actually “workout”.
- You can’t expect to start seeing abs if you aren’t sculpting abs, and burning off the fat covering them, with cardio. (I could go on and on)
Time to Supplement
Seem like common sense to you? I would expect so, however, MANY people are looking for that magic pill or easy way out – and I’ve got news for ya: “It doesn’t exist”.
When is it time to incorporate supplements in your routine? When YOU are ready to do the work you need to do to get the MOST out of those supplements. Otherwise, stick to vitamins, because that is piratically the only pill you can pop that doesn’t require work to get results!
“Supplements are made to SUPPORT your program, not BE your program.”
Supporting Results with Diet:
My Rules:
- Stick to 100-150 calorie snacks
- Aim for 300-400 calorie meals
- Eat 5-6 times a day
- Eat no closer than 2 hours apart (seems easy until you finish dinner and find yourself staring in the pantry 30 minutes later! ha!)
- Get a minimum of 100gms of protein a day
- Limit drinking calories (coke, alcohol, coffee (creamers), high-cal shakes)
My foods:
White meat, dark green vegetables, oatmeal, grits, long grain rice (sparingly), Chobani greek yogurt, Designer Whey protein bars (for snacks), Smart Ones Satisfying Selections steamers (they ALL are high in protein), Uncle Ben’s Basmati Rice (this is the only 90-second rice that doesn’t taste like it’s drowning in preservatives – plus basmati is one of the lower-glycemic grains), almonds – and my absolute favorite night-time snack, 100-calorie popcorn. 🙂
Supporting Results with Exercise:
Cardio: No less than 30 minutes of cardio, at one time, as often as I can squeeze in. Ideally 5 days a week. (being careful not to REPLACE the calories burned with food)
Weights: Lift heavy and hard a MINimum of 4 days a week. The more I can train, the more results I can expect. (being careful to support muscle development with supplements)
My supplements: Everything I’m currently taking and enjoying!
Designer Whey Protein or
Amplified Whey 60 Protein
GNC GenetixHD™ Physio-Burn™
GNC GenetixHD™ Pro-Sculpt™ – Fruit Punch
GNC GenetixHD™ META-IGNITE™
Kre-Alkalyn 1500
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Designer Whey Bars Gone!?
As a fitness professional, I have the privilege to try all kinds of new products – well, I WOULD have a chance to try all kinds of fitness products …if Steve didn’t get his grubby little hands on them first! ha!
Last night, around 2:00am in the morning, I could hear Steve getting back in bed after, what I knew to be, a trip to the kitchen. Then I smelled a sweet chocolatey smell. In that very moment, I realized he raided my Designer Whey protein bar stash.
OUR CONVERSATION:
Secretly smirking, I said, “how was the protein bar?”
He giggled like a 5 year boy and replied “yummyyyyyy”.
I followed with, “make sure you leave me some so I can sample all the flavors and tweet which ones I like”.
He replies “um… that maaaay be a problem. Maybe insteaaad, you can tweet that your husband liked them sooooooooooo(said in a very high little voice)ooooooo much, that they were aaaaaaaaaall (still in that high pitch little-boy voice) gone before you could try them all. YES! That think that would be a GREAT tweet!
He continued, “I like me some Designer Whey protein bars! Boy are they yummy in my tummy!” again, in that little boy voice, as if trying to make sure he sounds so cute he doesn’t get in trouble. And, I’m afraid it worked. Little Devil!
MORAL OF THE STORY:
That little booger ate them all! I only got to have one! The moral of the story is, Designer Whey protein bars were a hit at our house. Steve said he liked the Double Dutch Chocolate the best – but then again, I wouldn’t know! ha! Looks like I’ll have to hit a GNC and pick up some more bars so I actually try them all myself!! I better find a better hiding place!
This was all that was left of the 160 calorie Designer Whey bars with 10gms of protein on the kitchen table. They are a perfect little snack ….if I still had them to snack on! 🙂
DIET TIP: If you wake up in the middle of the night hungry, celebrate! That normally means you whizzed right through your calories and your metabolism is on FIRE! A small snack like this protein bar or a hand full of almonds normally will kill the hunger. Typically, something with a little fat will keep you full longer.
Next on my list to try: Designer Whey’s Protein 2GO!
New High Protein “Fast Food” Meal
Not everyone can slice and dice up fresh food, so occasionally we need something FAST. This new Weight Watchers’ Smart Ones has 31gms of protein and is only 340 calories. The meals were SUPER filling and satisfying. Give one a try!
How Much Protein Do I Need?
QUESTION: How much protein do I need?
ANSWER: That depends on your goals. ACSM recommends you take no more than 1gm per poud of body weight, although body builders are known for taking up to 2gms per pound of body weight. I am a 145lbs and I try to get a third of my calories from protein, which (when dieting) equals 100gms of protein or .7gms per pound of my body weight. (THE MATH: 1200 calories x 1/3 = 400 calories divided by 4 (4 calories per gram of protein) = 100gms of protein). The most protein I get is around 130gms of protein while Steve probably gets more like . (I normally have one post workout shake and another shake either in the morning after my run or before bed. Steve averages 190-210gms of protein a day.
Most trainers in the industry suggest .5-.75gms per pound of your ideal body weight for women and 1-2gm per pound of ideal body weight for me. I would say anyone’s minimum should be .5gms of protein per pound of “IDEAL” body weight. For instance, if you are 200lbs but you want to be 150lbs, I’d suggest never dropping below 75gms of protein if you are actively workout. Of course this varies with people’s training, weight goals, existing lean mass, gender, etc – but it’s a good general rule of thumb. Read the rest of this entry
‘High Protein’ Foods Exposed
1st blog in this week’s series: “Eating for Success”
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QUESTION: “I want to increase my protein so I can lose fat and gain muscle. What foods besides eggs, peanut butter, chicken, lima beans are high in protein?” Darryl
ANSWER: Darryl, there’s a difference between a food having protein in it and a food actually being considered a good ‘protein source’. In my opinion, I don’t consider a protein ‘high-protein’ unless it has at least a third of the calories coming from protein.
It’s hard to determine what’s high in protein without looking at all the substrates. There are approximately 4 calories in one gram of protein, 4 calories in one gram of a carbohydrate, 7 calories in a gram of alcohol and 9 calories in a gram of fat. Below are graphs of the foods mentioned so you can visually see the breakdown of each food. Now, let’s see how some of the foods you mentioned weigh in. Read the rest of this entry
