Fuel Your Fitness

In my first post here I mentioned that I’m a magazine whore.  I love reading all things health and fitness related and usually flick through old copies at breakfast if I’m eating solo.  I love reading the inspirational stories, finding some new moves to add to my workout, and scoping out recipes to try.  There are a great deal of things that I love about these magazines, and they provide ample motivation to keep moving and eat well.

But there is one thing that has always bothered me: the cover girl diets and training regime.  It boggles my mind how an ACTIVE woman can fuel their body on such a limited number of calories.  A typical plan for said cover girl might be:

Meal 1: ½ cup oats with protein powder or egg whites

Meal 2: Protein shake and a piece of fruit

Meal 3: Fish or chicken with ½ cup cooked rice and salad

Meal 4: Protein shake mixed with water

Meal 5: Fish or chicken and steamed vegetables

Meal 6: Protein shake mixed with water

So you are trying to tell me that this person can survive, function, AND then do weight training/cardio exercise on top of this.  No friggin way…Let me explain.  In my disordered eating days I used to eat a meal plan like the one above believing that I could achieve the results of all these cover girls.  I ate lots of protein, minimal carbs, and fat was fairly non-existent.  I was also training hard about 5 days a week and I felt like crap.  I had no energy and over time I started to waste away.

When I started recovery a dietitian helped design a new meal plan to help me add some much needed kay-gees.  During this time I reduced my training, but still remained active.  I was amazed at how much food I had to eat just to gain 500g!!!  It makes me wonder how I was ever able to cope with everything I put my body through on that silly diet.  Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

Going through that experience has made me realize that I need to listen to the cues my body is telling me.  If I feel hungry I eat, tired then I rest, and when I’m well fueled I can pump out reps like nobodies business at the gym.  It’s important to remember that you are an individual and what works for one person may not be appropriate for you.  It’s a simple lesson, but one that we tend to overlook.  I had to learn the hard way.

Learn to be kind to your active body and it will thank you in return.  And if you want your taste buds to thank you then make them this:

Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Cake

(Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups regular oats, processed into a flour
• 1/2 cup regular oats (not processed)
• 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder**
• 1/2 cup sucanat, lightly packed (brown sugar will work too)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/16th tsp ground cloves (optional)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted OR canola oil/other light tasting oil
• 2 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Fold in: 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips; 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional); 1 ripe banana, cut into chunks (optional)
• Garnish: 16 thin banana slices, 16 dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9-inch square brownie pan. Take 2 cups of regular oats and process them in a food processor until flour like in consistency.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (processed oats, regular oats, sugars, spices, baking powder, and salt).
3. In another bowl, mix together the oil, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla. Add in the two peeled bananas and smash into the wet ingredients until smooth.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined. Now fold in the chips, optional walnuts, and the chopped banana.
5. Spread into prepared pan and garnish with additional banana and chocolate chips.  Bake for approx 35 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake must be cooled for at least 15-20 minutes before attempting to remove.
6. Once fully cooled, slice evenly into 16 pieces. Store in sealed container in the fridge.

**If you don’t have any protein powder on hand, use another ½ cup of oat flour instead.

For Printable version click below

Banana Oat Protein Cake

How do you fuel your fit body?

Tags: Fitness, Food, magazine, oats, protein powder, recipe