Bringing this one back because I know a lot of you will like it!

This recipe is from Felicia Romero and Whitney Jones. Follow the link below to their Youtube video to see them make it!

Chocolate Protein Peanut Butter Cups

1 scoop chocolate protein powder(they use chocolate pb flavor, can do either)

2 tbsp Jello sugar-free fat free instant chocolate fudge pudding

2 tbsp natural PB

6 oz water

Mix.

Put in muffin tins or small, shallow dishes.

Put in freezer for at least 2 hours until hard. You can make a few, leave in freezer and take out to thaw for a few minutes before eating.

Tastes DELICIOUS!

They say the recipe makes 6. I made three bigger ones. If you make three, here is the nutritional information per cup. If you make 6, divide by 2 to get how many cals/fat/carbs/protein it is.

Nutritional Information(per cup)

100 cal, 6g fat, 3.3g carb, 8g protein, 1g sugar, 2.8g fiber

What’s the difference here? Less sugar, and more protein. Exactly what we want!

(A note: It is best to eat natural foods- normally I do not eat Jello Pudding, whether or not it is sugar-free. But if your choice is this or a Reese’s peanut butter cup, this is by far the better option!)

Here is the link if you want to see them make it:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AzProPhysiques#p/u/12/3Mg05vTy7bc

We’ve all heard eating late at night is frowned upon for anyone trying to lose weight. You’ve seen it in magazines: Weight loss tip- No eating after 7 p.m.(as if we all have the same schedule and there is something “magical” about 7 p.m.) Do our bodies take the fuel we give it late at night and put it right into our fat storage?  

Only if eating late puts us over the amount of calories we burn in a day, and if we are eating a large amount of carbohydrates in our late-night snacks.

Why don’t you want to go to bed starving?

You want to preserve the muscle you have, and if you’ve been weightlifting, you want to add to it (although you should all want to add to it!).  Your body will not necessarily pull from its storage of fat if you haven’t supplied it with fuel from food. Eating protein at night aids in the preservation of muscle, while not supplying your cells with extra glycogen (stored carbohydrate). When the cells are full of glycogen they tell the incoming fuel, “We’re full!  There’s room in the fat cells for you. Here’s a map of a few places you can go- hips, stomach, arms….”

Does what you eat at night matter?

Yes. Limit carbohydrates at night. No ice cream, dessert, pretzels, crackers, chips, or the American favorite- cold cereal.  These foods are high in glucose(sugar). Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy- we don’t need a lot of energy at night! We also don’t want high blood sugar at night, and a greater insulin response.  Do you remember what I said about insulin? Your body will not lose fat when insulin is consistently high.  I have read that eating carbohydrates at night also interferes with the release of growth hormone at night (as a result of high insulin). This is not what we want when we are trying to gain muscle and lose fat! Stick to protein. 

What are protein options?  Cottage cheese, plain greek yogurt, protein shake, chicken breast, extra lean ground turkey, egg whites.

Give yourself time to digest. I would say at least 2 hrs before bedtime.

If you want to eat late at night, don’t skip a snack earlier in the day. Stick with eating 4-5x per day, and simply shave off a few calories of each to allow you to eat later. Taking out only 80 calories* anywhere between breakfast and dinner to stay within my calorie deficit is hardly noticeable to me, and it’s worth it. I can then enjoy a ½ cup of cottage cheese, egg whites, or any type of lean protein and I won’t wake up starving in the middle of the night.  I don’t always eat after dinner, but if I anticipate that I will be more hungry than usual due to an intense workout, I’ll plan for it.

Do you crave sweet snacks late at night? Try ½ cup cottage cheese, ½-1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, and sprinkle with truvia. It completely changes the taste of cottage cheese. I love it!

Now that you know- Correct anyone who says you’ll get “fat” from eating late. And start eating protein at night!

*80 calories is not a magical number either! I keep it small because I don’t need (or want) to be full before I go to bed. I would say keep it under 200 calories if you are going to bed in a few hours.

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. I don’t know if it’s the food itself, or the fact that I have a full day of eating ahead of me (If you’ve ever watched your calories, you know exactly what I’m talking about.) What’s a typical American breakfast? Big bowl of cereal, maybe juice. How about going out to breakfast? Huge omelets, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage, buttered toast. Big problems.

In terms of ordering breakfast when you go out to eat, I’d order eggs w/ multigrain toast (make sure you tell them not to butter it), egg white omelet, ham instead of bacon or sausage. Skip out on pancakes, French toast, waffles, bacon, and sausage all together. Until we see changes and healthier options in restaurants, it’s not worth wasting your calories on something you can make much lighter at home.

I love pancakes, waffles, French toast, the taste of sausage etc. I love breakfast food period. But when you go out to breakfast, you can’t trust that they won’t be dipping your French toast in whole milk or heavy cream before they throw it on the buttery griddle. If you love these foods like I do, try making them at home. Make French toast w/ cinnamon raisin Ezekial bread, egg whites, and almond milk. Drizzle with agave or honey. Eat chicken sausage. It’s the flavoring and spices of sausage that make you love it, so why not start with a lean meat like chicken and save yourself some calories. At least try it once to see if you like it!

What about breakfast Monday –Friday? Most of you eat cold cereal because it’s quick. It’s important to know what you’re eating, so I picked a few cereals and gave you their nutritional profile. I made them all 1 cup serving size so you can really get an idea of how they match up to each other.  I recommend you all do this- Pour your bowl of cereal as you normally would. Then, get out your measuring cups and measure out how much you poured. Is it above the serving size?

Special K, original, 1 cup

120 calories, .5g fat, 23g carbs, 6g protein, less than 1 g fiber

Honey nut Cheerios, 1 cup (serving size is ¾ cup)

147 calories, 2g fat, 29.3g carbs, 4g protein, 2.7g fiber

Cinnamon toast crunch, 1 cup (serving size is ¾ cup)

173 calories, 2.7g fat, 32g carbs, 2.1g protein, 1.5g protein

 Notice the fiber and protein in the last two. Cold cereals are notorious for having very little protein and fiber. Protein supports muscle growth, and makes you feel more satisfied! Fiber is necessary to make you regular. Most Americans don’t get nearly as much fiber as they need. The amount of fiber recommended per day is 20g-35g.

Here is my favorite brand of cold cereals:

Kashi- Go lean original, 1 cup

140 calories, 1g fat, 30g carbs, 13g protein, 10 g fiber                            

Kashi- Go lean Crunch- Honey Almond Flax, 1 cup

200 calories, 4.5g fat, 36g carb, 9 g protein, 8g fiber

Kashi- Go lean Crisp

Per 1 cup(serving size is ¾ cup)

250 calories, 5.3g fat, 46.7g carbs, 12 g protein, 10.6g fiber

Oatmeal, ½ cup uncooked, old fashioned (expands w/ milk or water when cooking)

150 calories, 3g fat, 27g carbs, 5g protein, 4g fiber

You can see the cereals differ in their calories/fat/carbs/protein. If you’ve never had any Kashi cereal before, try Go lean Crisp. I absolutely love it!

If you can’t give up your favorite cereal, at least add an egg or egg whites into your breakfast. This morning I had ½ cup kashi cereal & 4 egg whites with pesto. I lowered my carb count by having a ½ cup of cereal, and added 20g protein w/ the egg whites.

 Many of you may be thinking, “There is no way I could only eat 1 cup of cereal in the morning. I’d be starving in an hour!” I’m right there with you. Kashi cereal is filling, but I usually eat 250-350 calories in the morning. That’s why I suggest dropping down the carbs/calories by eating ½ a cup of cereal, and adding egg whites, or some form of protein. I cook eggs every morning, and it takes no more than 5 minutes. You have the time!

 Maybe that’s a lot for you to think about, but a good breakfast is so important. I guarantee if you eat a healthy breakfast, you’ll make better food choices throughout the day.

Kashi cereals can be found at all major grocery stores. To read about them, here is the link:

http://www.kashi.com/products/category/Cold%20Cereal

This is SO good. This recipe is from Jamie Eason (go to bodybuilding.com to see more of her recipes). This girl knows how to cook! I make them, wrap and freeze individually(necessary for portion control.. they are that good) Great alternative if you can’t give up your sweets!

What makes this recipe different from most sweet breads:

Oat Flour- more nutritious than white flour- it’s from whole grain oats

Protein- this recipe has 6g per bar, that’s really high for a dessert!

No calorie sugar- Using Ideal or Stevia, you can drop calories & carbs dramatically.

No butter, oil, egg yolks

Ingredients

Takes abt 10-15 minutes of prep before putting it in the oven.

• 1/3 cup Ideal (Xylitol)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Ideal (Xylitol) or ¼ cup Stevia in the Raw
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)
• 1/3 cup or 4 oz no sugar added applesauce and ¼ cup low sugar vanilla yogurt. I used 0% plain greek yogurt b/c that’s what I had at home.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 X 8 inch Pyrex dish with non-stick spray (can use larger pan, will make thinner bread, or loaf pan) 

 In small bowl combine: (set aside)

1/3 cup Ideal (Xylitol)

2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl combine: (whisk together)

1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup Ideal (Xylitol) or ¼ cup Stevia in the Raw

In a medium bowl combine: (whisk together & add to lrg bowl)

2 egg whites

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)

1/3 cup or 1 4oz applesauce and ¼ cup low sugar vanilla yogurt (optional)

Pour a shallow layer of batter into the loaf pan (about 1/4 of the batter).

Sprinkle heavily with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter & cinnamon/sugar on top.

Draw a knife through the batter to marble. Bake for 24 to 28 min. Let cool for 10 min. Bread will be dense.

Nutritional Information (using Ideal):

12 bars, Per bar:

Cal=77, Fat: 1.7g, Carbs: 14.5g, Protein: 6g, Fiber: 1.4g

Enjoy ! :)