Egg Whites & Oats Pancake

Starting your day off with a clean, high protein breakfast lays the perfect foundation for desiring clean foods throughout the rest of your day.  Don't let fancy marketing claims fool you; I can assure you that a Nutri-Grain bar isn't by any stretch the ideal fuel your body demands.

I often begin my day with a bowl of oats and four to five egg whites.  Like with any routine, switching things up a bit is often necessary to keep "easy-outs" at bay. Recently, I was reminded by my extremely fit sister-in-law, Jenny Hansen, to turn to one of my favorite recipes, Egg Whites & Oats Pancakes, when a little change in the breakfast theme is necessary. It's the perfect fix for making you feel like you are eating something entirely different, even though you are using the same exact ingredients!

Ingredients (Makes One Pancake)
Five Egg Whites
1/2 Cup of Oats
1/2 Teaspoon Quality Ground Cinnamon
1 to 2 Teaspoons Raw Agave (or Natural Stevia) - OR leave this ingredient out all together as I did today :)

Directions

• Beat five (or whatever your heart desires) egg whites using a blender and/or hand held mixer until fluffy texture is reached (roughly 30 to 45 seconds). 
• Add remaining ingredients and stir together.
• Spray a small frying pan with a natural medium to high heat oil and place on stove on medium heat.
• Pour "pancake batter" into small frying pan
• Cook on medium heat until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom.
• Flip, cook other side.
• Enjoy!  While I enjoyed this plain today, you could top with berries! Mmm so good!

Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom
Pancake in above pic is almost ready to flip...

And, flip!

Perfectly cooked in a matter of minutes! 
Looks like a "real" pancake but oh so much better!

The texture and taste - while simple - is phenomenal!
The ultimate fuel to start your day right!

Keep it Clean & Enjoy the Ride,

Mrs. Skinny Fat

Drastic Results Requires Drastic Measures

Since even before the life of this blog, many of you have reached out to me as it relates to clean eating and have asked quite simply, "How do I get started?" While my responses have been tailored to your individual needs, I have recommended to each of you Tosca Reno's The Eat Clean Diet Recharged.  I love all of Tosca's books (and cookbooks too!), but this book is my favorite of the group - it provides you with just the right insight, reasoning, and necessary tools to get started with purpose. Many of you are now full force into the challenge of embracing clean eating.  I love the updates!  Your journey is as exciting as mine - seriously, it warms my heart to know that so many are adapting and loving the benefits of a clean eating lifestyle.

My Eat Clean Idol.  Tosca Reno, former
fat housewife turned fit!

Yes, clean eating takes time and planning, but it has come to be my way of life, thus there's really not a whole lot of challenge to it anymore. I can't imagine eating any differently than I do!  However, I can easily remember the days - years ago - when I would crave Oreo cookies and Doritos...(puke!) - Now if I happen to have a craving, it's for fruit, super dark chocolate (85% cocoa and greater), homemade "clean" pizza, and raw nuts.  Once you rid your life of junk, you'll never look back.  It's really that simple.

Well, even though I'm a clean eating fool, it's still not enough to get me stripped. My personal trainer, Cari Draft, and I are doing a fitness photoshoot together next week Thursday, October 20, so the pressure is on to peal off those last few pounds!   Throughout this week and next I will feel a lot like newbie as I venture down the road to my own clean eating challenge. 

Tosca Reno has a great plan in her book, "The Eat Clean Diet Recharged,"  - called "Cooler 1 Meal Plan".  The purpose this eating plan is for breaking plateaus, losing that last 5 to 10 pounds, early contest preparation, photoshoots, showing increased muscular definition, and quick weight loss.  It's super strict.  There's very little room for indulgence - which saddens me as I oh so look forward to that daily bite of ripe juicy pineapple. 

While using Tosca's plan as a foundation, I also decided to reach out to my beautifully fit sister-in-law, Jennifer Hansen, who is currently in contest prep mode for Nationals this coming November in South Beach. I wanted to get her take on the Tosca plan and see if she had any changes to it as I only have a total of 10 days to get where I want to me.  As expected, she had some slight modifications to the plan. 

So, for the next 10 days - I too will feel challenged and frustrated as many of you are embracing this lifestyle - just at a whole different level. I am a firm believe that drastic results requires drastic measures...now here's a true test!

My beautiful and amazingly FIT sister-in-law,
Jennifer Hansen - on her way to pro!

Here's My "Okay to Eat" List:

Complex Carbohydrates from Whole Grains & Starchy Carbohydrates
1 handful of quinoa, brown rice, or oatmeal.  OR - one serving of Ezekiel bread.
1 hand-sized sweet potato

Lean Protein
1 palm-sized portion eaten five times a day of chicken, tuna, egg whites, venison, or whitefish.
Good-quality, sugar and chemical free protein powder (Tosca says okay to use in replacement of any protein serving - Jen says no - so I will only use in moderation, when necessary)

Complex Carbohydrates from Vegetables
2 cupped handfuls eaten four times per day of cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, leafy greens, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green beans, sprouts, celery, bok choy, and any other non-starchy, low-Gycemic Index vegetables.

Complex Carbohydrates from Fruit
1 apple or pear per day - (Tosca says yes, Jen says no fruit at all - so I will only consume if desperately craving a piece of fruit since I am after all a fruit-aholic!)

Beverages
1 gallon per day of distilled water and herbal tea. 

Absolutely Avoid
Dairy products
Juice
Bread
Salad dressings
Spreads
High-sodium foods

At this hour, I am 650 ml away from getting my gallon of water in me (I typically drink this much anyway) and have ate my way through the day successfully.  Today was easy. Tomorrow may or may not be different. We'll see. I'm excited to see what results will come about through this strict clean eating plan.  The biggest thing that I will not be doing is consuming alcohol - which I think may be a huge contributor to why I haven't been able to break my plateau yet. With bachelorette parties, two weddings, and two fun-filled "fall" events now behind me, I'm in a much better position to stick to my guns and say no to that glass of red wine.

I invite you to take a challenge with me over the next 10 days.  Maybe it's as simple as getting away from that sugary cereal in the morning, or maybe it's eating more protein throughout the day, or drinking more water, or saying no to "easy pre-made freezer meals", or perhaps you, too, need to cut back on the weekend glass of wine, or two, or three... :) 

Whatever it is, take a challenge - one that will help you get that much closer to reaching your clean eating goals! I look forward to sharing with you in these days ahead but even more so, I look foward to hearing about your own challenge!


Keep it Clean & Enjoy the Ride,
Mrs. Skinny Fat