Weigh in: 200.8lb; total pounds lost this week: 3.0
Waist measurement, the Jorge Cruise way: 41 inches, so minus one inch.
I did not quite get under 200 lb, but that will be soon. At one point this week I was at 200.4lb, and was hoping....:-) Alas, that is the pitfall of weighing more often than once each week, is seeing the natural weight fluctuations.
Despite the weight loss and inch lost, I cannot see the extreme of this diet being practical for brain usage and overall energy. Not once this past week did I feel a huge energy burst, or a day where my muscles didn't feel fatigued. Some days were better than others, but no day was super-charged. Plus we were sleeping 9-10 hours each night. Richard is ecstatic to be able to have carbs and "free" vegetables and Zevias. In fact he just strutted in, with a big grin on his face, holding a Zevia, and announced, "Look what's FREE!" Now he's sucking it down. Happy boy!
We are planning to keep our sugar grams under 20, which will naturally reduce carbs for me, and our fat grams under 60 for me, and 85 for him. We are also tracking our protein to make sure we get enough. I have to keep it simple, as my time is going to be very limited for focus on this as classes begin this week. We also decided, and I'm not sure if I mentioned this yesterday, that we are planning to have one meal each week where we don't have to track anything. We are going to continue the "Cruise Moves" (the 8 minute workout each morning that is for toning and strength training), and continue our walking and my elliptical-ling.
I fully expect to be under 200 pounds next Monday morning. It's time, and on this plan, I'm sure it is more than possible.
So, now,
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Day 7, Most Importantly: LAST DAY of the One Week Challenge...
...also known as "Sugar Awareness Week".
We are already stoked for shifting our eating plan tomorrow to include more natural sugars and carbs, especially Richard who dearly needs them. My oldest son (a PhD student/candidate in neuroscience at Harvard) reminded me today, too, that the brain can only use glucose for energy, and if it's not there, that could cause a problem. He thought it was crazy to count the sugars in vegetables, that cinched it for me. With full time pharmacy school starting in three days, glucose is back in.
We have a plan, that yes, involves counting total sugar grams (maximum 20 grams), but we are not going to count the sugar or carbs from vegetables (or psyllium!!!) We are going to return to our healthy carb regimen we were on before, and with more awareness of how much we are eating. I am going to be more aware of my serving sizes with the carbs, limiting to some extent, as I am still working to reduce poundage, and Richard will be free to eat what he feels is right for him. We can breathe a sigh of relief. Ahhhhhhhhh.
I developed a check list for each of us, because our dietary goals are different from each other, as are our diets (with my eating (grass-fed, hormone-free and lean) red meat, in fact now prescribed by the acupuncturist/nutritionist and Richard's (pesca)vegetarianism). We can each check off 20 grams of sugar each day, up to 60 grams of fat for me, and 85 grams of fat for Richard, and AT LEAST 80 grams of protein for me, and 100 grams of protein for Richard.
We ARE going to continue with the morning toning exercises for abdominal, upper body and lower body Monday through Friday, because we think that's a good thing to add in, and seems reasonable to put into our morning routine. And we plan to continue walking (and I will do my elliptical), and meditation, and living peacefully.
Today's menu looked like this:
Breakfast: Mediterranean Omelet (as in previous posts), no carbs
Snack:
Lunch: Roasted chili pepper bake (with egg beaters and mozzarella), I had a piece of gluten-free toast with olive oil
Snack: Matcha green tea frapuccino (protein powder with stevia, matcha green tea, unsweetened Almond Breeze) and strawberries with nonfat plain yogurt with stevia.
Dinner: Me: hormone free steak; Him: Fish? tofu? and something to fulfill our remaining carb serving(s) of the week, some arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic) . It looks like we will be splitting the remaining Almond Butter Cup (unless I make some more tonight - this was another good thing to come out of this experiment!)
Tomorrow is the official weigh-in for the One-week Challenge, and I'm sure I've lost weight; we will see about the inches.
We are already stoked for shifting our eating plan tomorrow to include more natural sugars and carbs, especially Richard who dearly needs them. My oldest son (a PhD student/candidate in neuroscience at Harvard) reminded me today, too, that the brain can only use glucose for energy, and if it's not there, that could cause a problem. He thought it was crazy to count the sugars in vegetables, that cinched it for me. With full time pharmacy school starting in three days, glucose is back in.
We have a plan, that yes, involves counting total sugar grams (maximum 20 grams), but we are not going to count the sugar or carbs from vegetables (or psyllium!!!) We are going to return to our healthy carb regimen we were on before, and with more awareness of how much we are eating. I am going to be more aware of my serving sizes with the carbs, limiting to some extent, as I am still working to reduce poundage, and Richard will be free to eat what he feels is right for him. We can breathe a sigh of relief. Ahhhhhhhhh.
I developed a check list for each of us, because our dietary goals are different from each other, as are our diets (with my eating (grass-fed, hormone-free and lean) red meat, in fact now prescribed by the acupuncturist/nutritionist and Richard's (pesca)vegetarianism). We can each check off 20 grams of sugar each day, up to 60 grams of fat for me, and 85 grams of fat for Richard, and AT LEAST 80 grams of protein for me, and 100 grams of protein for Richard.
We ARE going to continue with the morning toning exercises for abdominal, upper body and lower body Monday through Friday, because we think that's a good thing to add in, and seems reasonable to put into our morning routine. And we plan to continue walking (and I will do my elliptical), and meditation, and living peacefully.
Today's menu looked like this:
Breakfast: Mediterranean Omelet (as in previous posts), no carbs
Snack:
Lunch: Roasted chili pepper bake (with egg beaters and mozzarella), I had a piece of gluten-free toast with olive oil
Snack: Matcha green tea frapuccino (protein powder with stevia, matcha green tea, unsweetened Almond Breeze) and strawberries with nonfat plain yogurt with stevia.
Dinner: Me: hormone free steak; Him: Fish? tofu? and something to fulfill our remaining carb serving(s) of the week, some arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic) . It looks like we will be splitting the remaining Almond Butter Cup (unless I make some more tonight - this was another good thing to come out of this experiment!)
Tomorrow is the official weigh-in for the One-week Challenge, and I'm sure I've lost weight; we will see about the inches.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Days Five and Six of Sugar Awareness Week
Yesterday went smoothly, although we did not do our four mile walk. Neither of us has had abundant energy since beginning this One Week Challenge, and after all of the body and energy work I'd had the previous three days, it was time to take a break. Today I moved my middle son into his dorm, which involved lifting and carrying on a day that is supposed to be a "break" day from the 8 minute exercise plan - oh well.
Yesterday's menus looked like this:
Breakfast: Chili Relleno Bake (essentially home-roasted Anaheim peppers sprinkled with a bit of low-fat Mexican-style cheese and a combo of whole eggs and egg whites whisked with some baking powder and salt and pepper).
Snack: Chocolate Protein Powder shake with unsweetened almond breeze
Lunch: More Chili Relleno Bake
Snack: low-fat, hormone-free mozzarella cheese stick, and 2 Almond Butter Cups since I could spare the carb servings (Recipe for Almond Butter Cups)
Dinner: 4 ounces of delicious pan-fried steak (Richard had marinated tofu), spring greens with a bit of parmesan cheese and homemade red wine vinegar dressing, and some strawberries and blueberries with an ounce or two of nonfat plain yogurt sweetened with stevia.
Today:
Breakfast: 2 blue cornmeal pancakes with stevia-sweetened maple syrup
strawberries and blueberries with an ounce of non-fat plain yogurt with stevia
Snack: Chocolate whey protein powder shake with unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze
Lunch: (out with son at Egg & I) veggie fritatta (no mushrooms, no green peppers, no toast, no English muffin, and no potatoes - this made it is "free" Sugar/Carb meal, and it was very satisfying this way.
Snack: Matcha green tea frappuccino (Match green tea with stevia blended with unsweetened plain Almond Breeze and Vanilla protein powder shake (Jay Robb- sweetened with stevia).
Plus we cannot forget our daily Almond Butter Cup allotment!
Dinner: looks like it's going to be some roasted Anaheim peppers, mixed with some combo of cheese and corn tortillas (enough to make our carbs count, but not over-count), and probably a salad, too.
I do have to say, that on this diet, we have increased our saturated fat intake (cheese, a little bit of cream in the first frapuccino (Day 1), which can be tough on cholesterol levels, so I/we are thinking when we come to modifying our intake in light of sugar content of foods, we will be searching for a happier intake of types of fats.
Having said all of that, I did sneak a peak at the scale this morning, and am at 200.4 pounds, which means that I've lost 3.4 lb in the last five days following this eating plan and doing the 8 minute exercises each morning. We'll see on Monday what the grand total is and the difference from last week's waist measurement, and maybe I'll actually be under 200 lb, probably for the first time in several years. That would be pretty cool (as would seeing it decrease more and more!)
Yesterday's menus looked like this:
Breakfast: Chili Relleno Bake (essentially home-roasted Anaheim peppers sprinkled with a bit of low-fat Mexican-style cheese and a combo of whole eggs and egg whites whisked with some baking powder and salt and pepper).
Snack: Chocolate Protein Powder shake with unsweetened almond breeze
Lunch: More Chili Relleno Bake
Snack: low-fat, hormone-free mozzarella cheese stick, and 2 Almond Butter Cups since I could spare the carb servings (Recipe for Almond Butter Cups)
Dinner: 4 ounces of delicious pan-fried steak (Richard had marinated tofu), spring greens with a bit of parmesan cheese and homemade red wine vinegar dressing, and some strawberries and blueberries with an ounce or two of nonfat plain yogurt sweetened with stevia.
Today:
Breakfast: 2 blue cornmeal pancakes with stevia-sweetened maple syrup
strawberries and blueberries with an ounce of non-fat plain yogurt with stevia
Snack: Chocolate whey protein powder shake with unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze
Lunch: (out with son at Egg & I) veggie fritatta (no mushrooms, no green peppers, no toast, no English muffin, and no potatoes - this made it is "free" Sugar/Carb meal, and it was very satisfying this way.
Snack: Matcha green tea frappuccino (Match green tea with stevia blended with unsweetened plain Almond Breeze and Vanilla protein powder shake (Jay Robb- sweetened with stevia).
Plus we cannot forget our daily Almond Butter Cup allotment!
Dinner: looks like it's going to be some roasted Anaheim peppers, mixed with some combo of cheese and corn tortillas (enough to make our carbs count, but not over-count), and probably a salad, too.
I do have to say, that on this diet, we have increased our saturated fat intake (cheese, a little bit of cream in the first frapuccino (Day 1), which can be tough on cholesterol levels, so I/we are thinking when we come to modifying our intake in light of sugar content of foods, we will be searching for a happier intake of types of fats.
Having said all of that, I did sneak a peak at the scale this morning, and am at 200.4 pounds, which means that I've lost 3.4 lb in the last five days following this eating plan and doing the 8 minute exercises each morning. We'll see on Monday what the grand total is and the difference from last week's waist measurement, and maybe I'll actually be under 200 lb, probably for the first time in several years. That would be pretty cool (as would seeing it decrease more and more!)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Day Four: One-Week Challenge aka "Sugar Awareness Week"
"Challenge" is a good word. When four spears of asparagus (yes, that is FOUR SPEARS) count for two of your daily SIX allotted Carb servings, and 1 of your 15 Sugars, then that's a serious challenge.
As Richard and I walked this morning, we agreed that after this "Challenge" week is over, that we needn't count any of our vegetables as Carb servings. He is really feeling the lack of carbs, as he has always had a fast metabolism, and naturally needs more food. I keep offering for him to increase his carbs, but he insists he's going to complete the challenge "as is". I even just offered him my last Carb, and he rejected it.
I made a visit to a new (to me) acupuncturist, who, after a thorough intake and constitutional assessment, highly suggested that I eat grass-fed, hormone-free red meat (which will work well with this Belly Fat Diet, thankfully), but she also recommended greatly restricting the gluten-free breads and processed foods (which we've also been doing anyway due to the carb and sugar content of all breads, we clearly have to make every carb count with this). She suggests following more of a "paleo" type diet, restricting refined carbs and keeping fat intake moderate. Obviously that is going to take a bit more research and planning. She was very much "for" my becoming sugar-aware, and was in agreement with the craziness of the nitpicky details of the Belly Fat Cure.
Having said all that, we trudge ahead, even with our lower energy levels. We like the protein shakes and reducing our sugar intake, and will likely take those two aspects with us into our future plan. The acupuncturist also encouraged strength training, which we have introduced into our daily life through the Belly Fat Cure, so will likely move that forward and increase it with our new plan as well. She is very much for our starting up tai chi and/or yoga again to help with daily life balance and keeping our energy flowing.
We are past the half-way point, just days 5, 6, and 7 to go. We will see what results come from this week. As of today I'd lost 0.8 pounds, so I have a way to go to the 4-9 pounds in one week "promised" with the Belly Fat Cure. Perhaps if my diet was completely horrible and I didn't move regularly, this 4-9 pound loss would be attainable in one week. But a big part of me is thinking that rate of weight loss is simply unhealthy.
As Richard and I walked this morning, we agreed that after this "Challenge" week is over, that we needn't count any of our vegetables as Carb servings. He is really feeling the lack of carbs, as he has always had a fast metabolism, and naturally needs more food. I keep offering for him to increase his carbs, but he insists he's going to complete the challenge "as is". I even just offered him my last Carb, and he rejected it.
I made a visit to a new (to me) acupuncturist, who, after a thorough intake and constitutional assessment, highly suggested that I eat grass-fed, hormone-free red meat (which will work well with this Belly Fat Diet, thankfully), but she also recommended greatly restricting the gluten-free breads and processed foods (which we've also been doing anyway due to the carb and sugar content of all breads, we clearly have to make every carb count with this). She suggests following more of a "paleo" type diet, restricting refined carbs and keeping fat intake moderate. Obviously that is going to take a bit more research and planning. She was very much "for" my becoming sugar-aware, and was in agreement with the craziness of the nitpicky details of the Belly Fat Cure.
Having said all that, we trudge ahead, even with our lower energy levels. We like the protein shakes and reducing our sugar intake, and will likely take those two aspects with us into our future plan. The acupuncturist also encouraged strength training, which we have introduced into our daily life through the Belly Fat Cure, so will likely move that forward and increase it with our new plan as well. She is very much for our starting up tai chi and/or yoga again to help with daily life balance and keeping our energy flowing.
We are past the half-way point, just days 5, 6, and 7 to go. We will see what results come from this week. As of today I'd lost 0.8 pounds, so I have a way to go to the 4-9 pounds in one week "promised" with the Belly Fat Cure. Perhaps if my diet was completely horrible and I didn't move regularly, this 4-9 pound loss would be attainable in one week. But a big part of me is thinking that rate of weight loss is simply unhealthy.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Day Three of One Week Challenge
Today, since I knew I was going to to be out and about most of the day, I packed my lunch, drinks and snacks. The day started out with a fairly big breakfast including another Mediterranean omelet with the usual "free" veggies, a slice of gluten-free toast with olive oil and my bowl of fruit and yogurt (getting the Sugar counts in early in the day, so I could use them to get through the day - I learned from yesterday's fatigue!) I packed a couple of mozzarella cheese sticks, a small container of tuna, and lots of celery with a dab of almond butter on each one. I also included about 1/4 cup of roasted pumpkin seeds and a Virgil's Diet Root Beer (sweetened with stevia). This seemed to hold me through the day all right. I was pretty hungry when I got home, and Richard had prepared a light dinner for us that included some hummus with endive, and guacamole and 15 blue corn chips and a chocolate protein drink mixed into some unsweetened Almond Breeze. Of course we had to each have an Almond Butter Cup afterwards. Yum.
Richard's pretty tuckered out, as am I. We are a bit challenged by the fact that we need to limit our servings of fish each week to help decrease the amount of mercury we ingest. Richard is a vegetarian who eats fish, so it looks like we need to look into some tofu options to increase our protein intake, along with the protein shakes we drink every day. Everything I've read about greatly decreasing sugar in the diet is that it is supposed to increase your energy... maybe we are going through a natural process of fatigue as our bodies realize that it doesn't have free access to sugar anymore.
We're still in it, I continue to give Richard an "out" if he's not feeling well, but he plugs away with me, meticulously accounting for those Sugar grams and Carb counts. Also, I notice that we are not getting to the 15 grams of Sugar every day, even if we eat 6 servings of Carbs, so maybe if we made sure we get all 15 grams that would help energy-wise.
We did just a short walk around the neighborhood, about a mile, and it felt good. Not much else to report here, except I am looking forward to seeing what results show up on Monday after all of this accounting of sugar and carbs, plus those crazy "mini" toning workouts every morning. Maybe I will sneak a peak at the scale tomorrow morning, maybe not. :-)
Richard's pretty tuckered out, as am I. We are a bit challenged by the fact that we need to limit our servings of fish each week to help decrease the amount of mercury we ingest. Richard is a vegetarian who eats fish, so it looks like we need to look into some tofu options to increase our protein intake, along with the protein shakes we drink every day. Everything I've read about greatly decreasing sugar in the diet is that it is supposed to increase your energy... maybe we are going through a natural process of fatigue as our bodies realize that it doesn't have free access to sugar anymore.
We're still in it, I continue to give Richard an "out" if he's not feeling well, but he plugs away with me, meticulously accounting for those Sugar grams and Carb counts. Also, I notice that we are not getting to the 15 grams of Sugar every day, even if we eat 6 servings of Carbs, so maybe if we made sure we get all 15 grams that would help energy-wise.
We did just a short walk around the neighborhood, about a mile, and it felt good. Not much else to report here, except I am looking forward to seeing what results show up on Monday after all of this accounting of sugar and carbs, plus those crazy "mini" toning workouts every morning. Maybe I will sneak a peak at the scale tomorrow morning, maybe not. :-)
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day Two of the One Week Challenge - ow!
Ok, I can barely move! I felt great this morning, if a little hungry, and eagerly did my seemingly simple upper body exercises for the prescribed 8 minutes. However, we just returned from our four mile walk, which was a challenge, because I not only felt the effects of yesterday's 8 minutes of abs work, but also today's arm workout, plus I think my body suddenly realized that it hasn't had any significant sugar in over 24 hours, and it may not (likely!) get significant sugar in the near future.
Richard and I agreed (AND pinky swore) that psyllium husks are NOT going to count as a Carb serving for us on our plan. We have only 6 Carb servings each day to work with. It just seems so silly that something that provides so much extra beneficial fiber and is nasty to drink, has to count against our total carb count. It is highly unlikely that I am going to get a severe craving for psyllium husks or even become a closet psyllium husk eater, so I think we are safe with this slight modification. I did tell Richard that if we end up gaining weight and/or belly inches, that we will have to go right back to counting the psyllium husks as a Carb serving.
We also made our yummy green tea (matcha) frappuccino after our walk, but without the 1/2 cup per serving of heavy cream from yesterday's drink. This is definitely preferable, I simply substituted some unsweetened Almond Breeze, and it was a much lighter drink than yesterday, so hopefully we won't have that sluggish feeling (if I'd even notice it with the recovering muscle aches) that I had last night. I also planned ahead and pre-made and cooled the matcha green tea drink, which takes awhile to cool down before it can be blended successfully into a cold and refreshing beverage. This way we could have it more immediately after our walk.
When I awakened this morning, I had a sensation of belly fat melting, my muscles, especially my abdominal muscles seemed to be heated up. Let's hope so!
We both chose to not have a piece of toast with our breakfast this morning, to save the precious Carb serving for later in the day. I also made an experimental recipe of almond butter cups (Recipe: Almond Butter Cups) that will count for 1 Carb serving, and no Sugar (I have a particular weakness for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (21 grams of sugar and 25 grams of carbs) so am hoping to create an alternative I can live with).
I am going to need to plan ahead for tomorrow since I'm going to be on the road for most of the day at various appointments. I plan to pack all of my food which will include snacks, drinks and lunch.
Today's Menu looked like this:
Breakfast: Mediterranean omelet (spinach, kalamata olives, garlic sauteed in olive oil, served inside cooked eggs with feta cheese and fresh basil) no toast, hot green matcha tea, water
Snack: Unsweeteened Almond Breeze with a scoop of chocolate whey protein (Jay Robb); two tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seeds
Lunch: tuna melts on Udi's whole grain gluten-free bread. (Tuna mixed with mustard and mayonnaise, topped with part-skim mozzarella cheese and alfalfa sprouts and 1/4 sliced avocado)
Snack: Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino (Unsweetened Almond Breeze, 1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (Jay Robb), match green tea with stevia, ice cubes.
Fruit: strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries with goat yogurt and a bit of stevia
Dinner: Huevos Rancheros (Richard is foregoing his corn tortilla, which counts as a Carb serving (no sugar), since he had a Zevia earlier in the day) eggs, bit of cheese, a couple tablespoons of black beans, tomatillo salsa and a corn tortilla softly cooked in light oil, for me, and a salad on the side which this week we are making our way through arugula and spinach, tossed with a little shaved parmesan cheese - mmmmm, tasty!
After dinner snack: 1 Almond Butter Cup
Yum! Hopefully I will be able to move easily tomorrow when I awaken! Burn, Baby, Burn! (Says me to my belly fat!)
Richard and I agreed (AND pinky swore) that psyllium husks are NOT going to count as a Carb serving for us on our plan. We have only 6 Carb servings each day to work with. It just seems so silly that something that provides so much extra beneficial fiber and is nasty to drink, has to count against our total carb count. It is highly unlikely that I am going to get a severe craving for psyllium husks or even become a closet psyllium husk eater, so I think we are safe with this slight modification. I did tell Richard that if we end up gaining weight and/or belly inches, that we will have to go right back to counting the psyllium husks as a Carb serving.
We also made our yummy green tea (matcha) frappuccino after our walk, but without the 1/2 cup per serving of heavy cream from yesterday's drink. This is definitely preferable, I simply substituted some unsweetened Almond Breeze, and it was a much lighter drink than yesterday, so hopefully we won't have that sluggish feeling (if I'd even notice it with the recovering muscle aches) that I had last night. I also planned ahead and pre-made and cooled the matcha green tea drink, which takes awhile to cool down before it can be blended successfully into a cold and refreshing beverage. This way we could have it more immediately after our walk.
When I awakened this morning, I had a sensation of belly fat melting, my muscles, especially my abdominal muscles seemed to be heated up. Let's hope so!
We both chose to not have a piece of toast with our breakfast this morning, to save the precious Carb serving for later in the day. I also made an experimental recipe of almond butter cups (Recipe: Almond Butter Cups) that will count for 1 Carb serving, and no Sugar (I have a particular weakness for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (21 grams of sugar and 25 grams of carbs) so am hoping to create an alternative I can live with).
I am going to need to plan ahead for tomorrow since I'm going to be on the road for most of the day at various appointments. I plan to pack all of my food which will include snacks, drinks and lunch.
Today's Menu looked like this:
Breakfast: Mediterranean omelet (spinach, kalamata olives, garlic sauteed in olive oil, served inside cooked eggs with feta cheese and fresh basil) no toast, hot green matcha tea, water
Snack: Unsweeteened Almond Breeze with a scoop of chocolate whey protein (Jay Robb); two tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seeds
Lunch: tuna melts on Udi's whole grain gluten-free bread. (Tuna mixed with mustard and mayonnaise, topped with part-skim mozzarella cheese and alfalfa sprouts and 1/4 sliced avocado)
Snack: Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino (Unsweetened Almond Breeze, 1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (Jay Robb), match green tea with stevia, ice cubes.
Fruit: strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries with goat yogurt and a bit of stevia
Dinner: Huevos Rancheros (Richard is foregoing his corn tortilla, which counts as a Carb serving (no sugar), since he had a Zevia earlier in the day) eggs, bit of cheese, a couple tablespoons of black beans, tomatillo salsa and a corn tortilla softly cooked in light oil, for me, and a salad on the side which this week we are making our way through arugula and spinach, tossed with a little shaved parmesan cheese - mmmmm, tasty!
After dinner snack: 1 Almond Butter Cup
Yum! Hopefully I will be able to move easily tomorrow when I awaken! Burn, Baby, Burn! (Says me to my belly fat!)
Stephanie's Low Carb Almond Butter Cups
Low Carb Almond Butter Cups
serves 12
Made in one mini-muffin pan (12 muffin cups)
Ingredients for chocolate shell:
8 ounce bag of Hershey's sugar-free chocolate chips (sweetened with maltilol, no sucralose)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup almond meal/flour
1/4 cup protein powder (sweetened with stevia, not sucralose, i.e. Jay Robb Vanilla Whey Protein Powder)
dash of salt
Instructions:
1) Melt chocolate chips at very low heat, ensuring they do not burn, or separate.
Stir in vanilla and salt.
2) While chocolate is melting, mix together the almond butter, almond meal/flour, vanilla protein powder, and dash of salt until dough easily forms into balls, add more protein powder if it is too sticky, add more almond butter if it is too dry.
3) Put heaping tablespoon of melty chocolate into the mini muffin tin. If thick enough, push up the sides of each space.
4) Form almond butter dough into 12 equal balls. Push each one into the center of the chocolate, and push the top of each ball so that it's flat.
5) Chill the entire mini muffin pan in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour.
6) Remove from refrigerator and run hot water over the bottom of the pan for a few seconds.
7) Using a thin knife to insert at the edge of one of the cups to see if the cup can be turned and easily popped out. It may need another few seconds of heating the bottom of the pan under hot water.
In the entire recipe (all 12 servings), there is a total of 89 grams of carbohydrates, and 7 grams of sugar.
Each serving contains: 7.42 grams of carbs, so one Carb serving in the Belly Fat Cure, and 0.58grams of Sugar. (<0.5grams of sugar is not counted at a Sugar) Most of the sugar comes from the almond butter, so that could be reduced, to some degree, to make each serving less than 0.5grams of sugar) Of course if you have two, you have to count the Sugar. :-)
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