I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure out my eating...make a tweak here and there and try to figure out why my weight loss had...gasp...plateaued. It is that dirty diet word everyone fears. I wasn't exactly surprised it was happening. Inevitably as you have less weight to lose your body needs less calories to do the same amount of work and uses the calories you are feeding it more efficiently. My goal is still to eat a healthy, balanced diet, but like I said before weight loss is still high on my list of motivating factors.
Rather than try to cut calories, I decided to do the opposite and I am so glad I did. I had been eating around 1300 calories. I wasn't starving by any means, but when I took a look at how many calories I was using in my workouts (thanks to the use of a heart rate monitor) it made sense that I could definitely be eating more. And seriously, who doesn't love that? I decided to raise my daily intake 300-500 calories a day and just see how it would go. I fully anticipated a weight gain, but you know what happened? I hit the goal weight I had set for my self back in January and I was able to do it two weeks before my May 1st goal! It was a big accomplishment, not to mention I enjoyed the extra chew time.
The temptation in adding those extra calories for me is to snack all day or eat more "treats" instead of adding more nutritious food to my existing meals. Hello frozen yogurt! Where's the trail mix? In reality those calories really go pretty fast.
Tonight I was really craving bread. Muffins to be exact. I love lemon bars, lemon cake, lemon strudel, lemon danish, lemon bars, lemon cookies...You get it. If its a carb that looks or smells like lemon, I'll probably eat it. I was struggling to come up with a way to get some strong lemon flavor into my protein muffins so I did what any time-starved, shower-needing, 300-extra-calorie eating woman would do. I googled it. There were several options out there with suggestions like grated lemon peel, lemon curd, and so on. Most of those required me to have an actual lemon in my possession. I'm sure you've deciphered all my foreshadowing and figured out I had no such lemon. I did however have pink lemonade Crystal Light drink mix and Mio drink flavoring. I can't technically call this a clean eating recipe, but it was a pretty healthy and tasty addition to our dinner. They would also be a great protein packed way to start your morning. Try finding a muffing with 10 grams of protein and under 120 calories at Starbucks!
These muffins are more dense than regular muffins. I don't want there to be any surprises when you make them. That is the unfortunate reality of most baked goods made with stuff that is good for you. It's funny, but I've almost come to like the density of the "new" pancakes, cookies and muffins I bake better than the "old" kind. Call me crazy.
Anyway, these are really simple. Start my mixing all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix your wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then add the wet to the dry and mix well with a whisk. The batter will be thick.
I love lemon, but if its not your thing this recipe would be easy to adapt to your taste. There are a ton of drink mix flavors. I've seen a blueberry lemonade flavor that would probably be awesome with fresh blueberries added, although I haven't tried adding fruit to these yet.
You can also see from my picture that I prefer to use silicone baking cups for my muffins. I'm sure the paper kind will work fine, but the silicone type are awesome because nothing sticks to those babies.
So here ya go. Happy baking!
Pre-heat oven to 350
Bake time: 15 mim
Recipe:
1 1/4c Whole Wheat Flour or oat flour
3 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
1 "tub" of crystal light pink lemonade (the size that makes a 2qrt pitcher)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c unsweetened apple sause
4 tbsp agave
9 tbsp egg whites (I used the liquid egg whites, not separated egg whites. Its easier)
1/2 tsp Mio lemonade flavor drink mix
Divide into 12 muffin liners and bake. Store extras, if you have any, in an air-tight container or ziploc bag.
Nutritional info based on specific brands/ingredients.
*Different brands may have different nutritional content*
Calories: 116
Fat: 1g
Total Carb: 16g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 10g
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