Post-Workout Breakfast Recipe: Chocolate Protein Pancakes

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No, it’s not a Rorschach test. It’s a delicious chocolate protein pancake.

After this morning’s weight training, I whipped up some chocolate protein pancakes. I used my chocolate favored Whey protein powder.  But you can use vanilla if you prefer.

I started out mixing it by hand. After a few minutes I broke out my hand mixer to break up the banana. As for a topping, I decided to go with a thin layer of almond butter. But you could use fruit or 2 tsp of maple syrup.

How does it taste? As with most post-weight training food, I hope for the best and expect the worst.  This one knocked my socks off.  It was delicious. It’s moist and the chocolate, oatmeal and egg combine to give it a nice flavor with the occasional burst of banana.

Would I make it again?  Absolutely. It’s very filling. I’ve also seen a recipe with plain, non-fat yogurt and I might give that a try.

Why The High Carbs?
Coming in at 55 net carbs, this is not a low carb meal. You need to eat both carbs and protein after an intense workout – and when I mean intense, I don’t mean walking 30 minutes on a treadmill. I’m talking about the kind of intensity where a trainer kicks your ass to the point where you feel like jelly or you ride a bike for 3 hours.

Anyway, the carbs boost insulin levels after a workout. The insulin in turn helps your body to more efficiently use the amino acids from the protein. Essentially you’re repairing and rebuilding your muscles more quickly. But you have a small window to do this after a workout – about 2 hours (1 hour is best).

Also, be smart about the your carb choices. Technically after an intense muscle workout you could eat a candy bar and it would probably get stored as muscle and not fat.  But remember this is a lifestyle change…not a diet.

Protein Pancakes
Serves 1 person
Net Carbs: 55
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 11

Ingredients

  • 4 Large eggs (3 whites and one whole)
  • 1 Scoop Whey protein (chocolate)
  • 1/2 Banana, mashed
  • *1/4 C Oatmeal, steel-cut or old fashion

Directions

  • Spray pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium high heat
  • Stir all ingredients together until combined
  • When the edges of the pancake begin to harden, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes
  • Top with syrup, nut butter or fresh fruit and enjoy

*Steel-cut oatmeal takes 30 minutes to prepare, so suggest you give yourself extra time or make the oatmeal before your workout.

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How Can Little Muscles Hurt So Much?

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(the inner Dot2Trot)

— The Inner Dot2Trot —

Monday morning I had my first session with my new trainer. She’d planned to take it easy with me for the first week. She didn’t want me getting so sore I’d stop working out.

After our first session, I felt great. We did a lot of work with kettlebells — squats, presses, lunges, crunches and twists. After the session, I hit the treadmill for 45 minutes. It was awesome.  I felt like I had the tiger by the tail.  I just didn’t realize that the tiger was biding his time. Bastard!

Roughly 12 hours later, I made the mistake of getting out of my comfy chair. Wow did that hurt. My hamstrings, abductors and glutes screamed at me in unison.

But I knew the pain meant I’d done something right. I’d asked my muscles to do something they hadn’t done in a long time and this was their response. But I know my body will acclimate and the cycle will start again.

Flash forward to today: I did yoga this morning to help stretch my muscles and warm them up before meeting with my trainer. When I finished and my legs didn’t hurt, I thought I’d turned a corner. Ha!

When I got to the gym today, my trainer did not take pity on me. Working with barbells, I did presses, squats, pull-ups, lunges, rows, step ups and mountain climbers. For each exercise I had to do as many as possible for 30 seconds with only 15 seconds of recovery between exercises.

The soreness came back with abandon — in the glutes, especially.

I toyed with just going home, but I decided to hit the treadmill. After the first 3 minutes I was hurting. I picked up my iPod every intention of abandoning my power walk. Thankfully I ignored this impulse and kept walking, even increasing the speed. About 5 minutes later my legs felt great.

I finished my walk 22 minutes later and left the gym very proud that I’d pushed through the pain.

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