I am not talking you out of anything, just saying for those who are not there but want chisled abs...they are made in the kitchen as we say..
Actually, it's more about WHAT you eat than it is HOW MUCH you eat. At least, that's been my experience.
BREAKFAST: 2 to 4 eggs (6 grams of protein in an average-sized egg) Cooked in butter, avocado oil, or olive oil With vegetables, etc., such as sun dried tomatoes, artichoke, fresh basil, pesto… SNACK: Protein shake (with 40 grams of protein [and carbs if working out]) LUNCH: Grilled salmon Roasted potatoes (allow to cool?) Vegetables SNACK: Kombucha (tea) Unsweetened Greek yogurt with apples (or pears), cinnamon, and walnuts (or hazelnuts) DINNER: Organic grass fed rib eye steak with avocado, sun-dried garlic tomatoes (or pickled garlic red tomatoes) Salad (baby arugula, baby spinach, kale, shaved fennel, carrots, radish, and roasted pine nuts Dressing (good olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sea salt, and black pepper)
Jeff's opinion on this topic reinforces what I tell my family members and others when they can't understand why I don't view myself as having committed some terrible act of sin if I eat, for example, a bowl of Kellogg's Sugar Pops maybe twice a year...
BREAKFAST: Two to four eggs Oatmeal with honey and berries SNACK: Shake with 40 grams of whey protein Nut butter Water or milk (hemp, almond, or coconut?) Berries LUNCH: Lemon marinated chicken thigh Hummus Rice Salad SNACK: Thin Crisps Smashed avocado Smoked salmon (with chili flakes and lemon juice) DINNER: Lamb Sweet potatoes Broccoli SNACK: Protein shake with 40 grams of whey protein Nut butter Berries
date sweetened carrot cake ★★★★ 4.5 from 10 reviews A healthy, yet delicious carrot cake made with no refined sugar. Author: Sep Esmaili (sepcooks dot com/date-sweetened-carrot-cake) Ingredients Cake: 10 ounces pitted dates ½ Cup hot water 10 ounces shredded carrots 1 ½ Cup whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour) 2 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon nutmeg 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon kosher salt 3 eggs ½ Cup canola oil 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup walnuts chopped ½ cup raisins, optional 1 recipe cream cheese frosting (see below) Frosting: 5 oz pitted dates ¼ Cup hot water 8 oz package cream cheese (at room temperature, cut into 1 inch cubes) 1 tsp fresh lemon zest ½ tsp vanilla extract ⅛ tsp sea salt 1 Tbsp half and half (can omit if you don’t have it in the house) Instructions Bake the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of 9-inch (or 8-inch) round baking pan with parchment and spray with baking spray (I use coconut oil spray). Place the pitted dates in a large bowl and cover with hot water, set aside for 10 minutes. While the dates are soaking, combine the carrots, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside. In a food processor, blend the soaked dates (and the soaking liquid) until a paste forms and no big chunks of dates remain. Add the eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to the food processor and pulse a couple times until the ingredients are fully combined. Pour the egg and date mixture from the food processor into the bowl of dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula a couple times. Add the walnuts and raisins (if using) to the bowl and continue to fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with the rubber spatula. Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50-65 minutes (you might need to bake the cake longer if you’re using an 8-inch round cake pan), rotating the pan halfway through baking time. The cake will be browned on top and starting to pull away from the edges, be sure to look for any bits of raw batter when inserting the toothpick or skewer in the center. If you have an instant read thermometer, test doneness by measuring the internal temperature in the center of the cake. It should read 200-205 degrees Fahrenheit when fully baked. If the cake is turning too dark before reaching 200 degrees, tent the top with aluminum foil and continue baking. Remove the cake from the oven and place on top of a cooling rack until cool enough to handle, 20-30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely on the rack before frosting, about 1 hour. Make the frosting: Place the pitted dates in a large bowl and cover with hot water, set aside for 10 minutes. In a food processor, blend the soaked dates and the soaking liquid until well combined and no big chunks of dates remain. With the food processor running, add 1 piece of cream cheese to the food processor at a time. Stop between every few additions of cream cheese and scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Once the cream cheese is well combined, add the vanilla and lemon zest to the food processor. Once the cake is completely cooled, slice the cake in half cross-wise so that you end up with two round cakes. Spread the cream cheese frosting over the top of 1 round, place the other round on top of the frosting, frost the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. You can also keep the cake in one large layer and frost the top. Tip: since the cake is only mildly sweet, it’s nice to have the frosting in the middle as well. Let the cake and frosting chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
FRUIT-SWEETENED CARROT CAKE LOAF (nourishedbycaroline dot ca/fruit-sweetened-carrot-cake-loaf) Servings = 8 Ingredients 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted 1 cup applesauce (room temperature) 1/4 cup olive oil 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cup carrots, finely grated 1 1/2 cup whole wheat or spelt flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground 1/4 teaspoon ginger Pinch of clove 1/2 teaspoon salt Walnuts and raisins (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan using butter or oil. In a food processor, add dates, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Don’t worry if you have small pieces of dates. Add the grated carrots and pulse a few times. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Transfer the date mixture to the bowl as well as the eggs. Stir it all together until combined. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Wait 10 minutes before slicing. Notes Add raisins and walnuts if desired. I haven't tried it as I prefer it as is, but add your quantity of choice. The loaf was a little overly moist using spelt flour, but I still loved it. If you love extra moist (almost lightly undercooked) desserts, you can try it using spelt. Whole wheat flour resulted in a dryer, but still very moist loaf. I used whole wheat bread flour. I haven't tried it, but melted coconut oil or a light tasting oil should work too. I use a spoon and level method for measuring flour. You can try replacing the applesauce with crushed pineapple (in the same amount) or you can do half pineapple and half applesauce.
Carrot and Date Sugar Free Cake Recipe cookingnook dot com/recipe/sugar-free-cake-recipe Ingredients 1/2 cup carrots, grated 1 1/4 cups dates, finely chopped 1 1/3 cups water 1 cup raisins 1/4 cup butter 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans Method Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the carrots, dates, water, raisins, butter and spices in a pan. Bring to a boil slowly and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool. Meanwhile, stir the dry ingredients together, then add it with the nuts to the wet mixture you simmered. Stir the entire mixture together until it is well blended. Pour the cake batter into a well greased and floured 9 inch ring mold or square pan. Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes. Makes 9 to 16 servings. Note: To fill a large bundt pan or a 9″x13″ pan, make a double recipe. Kids and adults alike will love this date and carrot cake recipe. And the great part is that the kids won’t have any idea how healthy it is for them. (We’ll forget too!) You can’t get much healthier than a cake made with whole wheat flour, vegetables and no sugar! Yes, it still has some carbs, so those following a diabetic diet have to watch portion control, but isn’t it nice to know you can have a treat once in a while? And this recipe isn’t just a diabetic recipe. It is important to cut down on the amount of sugar most of us consume and this easy, healthy cake recipe is a great way to do it. The recipe is shown with a thin layer of cream cheese icing, but I always leave it off. The cake is sweet enough without it.
I found this part of this article interesting so I thought I would post it. Not sure if this article fits into this thread but here it is anyway. (States that it is a 4-min article). Gut transit time can be big indicator of your digestive health | Daily Telegraph THE BACTERIA CONNECTION Those trillions of bacteria that feed on the contents of the large intestine have a preferred fuel: carbohydrates found in the fibre we take in from wholegrains, fruits and veg. As they consume these carbs they create healing by-products that fight inflammation and help restore the mucus layer that protects the intestine against toxins. However, a slow gut transit time can have a negative effect on this process, as researcher Henrik Munch Roager from the National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark explains: “The bacteria run out of carbs to consume and start to feed on any leftover protein instead, which changes the by-products.” So, rather than the bowel-restoring compounds, they instead generate by-products from protein degradation such as ammonia and sulphur compounds, which at high concentrations might damage the cells of the bowel directly. Even worse, the lack of dietary fibre also means the bacteria start to feed on the protective mucus layer of our intestinal cells, causing it to become thinner. This is problematic since a thinner mucus layer makes the intestinal cells more prone to DNA mutations, thus increasing the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Knowing and adjusting your gut transit time is therefore an essential part of maintaining good health.