Fat Loading

*disclaimer:  I am not a health professional.  This is my opinion only.  Always consult with and follow the directions of your health professional.



We are doing HCG again!  This is a love hate thing, I love how much my body can change in a few weeks time, but I hate how limited my food choices are while on the diet.  It's a good thing I don't feel hungry on the diet or I would never last.

I have done HCG 3 times now, and have kept most of the weight off.   We have changed most of our eating habits to more of a paleo style diet, and that has REALLY helped me manage my blood sugar.  I didn't know how big of an issue my low blood sugar was for me until I didn't have to deal with it anymore.   I know the key to the few pounds I didn't keep of is exercise.  I hate to exercise but we have bikes now and I have to get this part of my life under control or it is just going to be a downhill battle.  It's one thing to lose weight, it is a completely different thing to be toned and in shape.

So, in the middle of a week where I am already maxed out trying to finish renovating our basement suite I decided to start HGC because I want to do the full 6 weeks - we have an event planned in June that means I have to start NOW.

Today and tomorrow are "fat loading" days.  From a scientific perspective, in layman's terms, "fat loading" or "forced feeding" keeps you from freaking out for the first few days on the diet.  The purpose is to top up your short term fat storage so you don't feel hungry. 

Yes, you can be a kid in a candy shop of crazy fatty junk food for two whole days.  I bought cinnamon buns, pizza, Doritos, and butter chicken with naan.   I felt like people were looking in my basket and judging me!  The euphoria only lasts for a while though as the gross bloated feeling sets in.  Yucky.  Yucky is actually in the plan.  Feeling so horrible is a great catalyst to starting the diet.  Eating as much junk as you can for two days makes you crave your protocol days so you can start eating clean and feeling great.

I would recommend HCG to pretty much anyone, but there are a couple things I will mention:

1.  Don't buy your HCG drops over-the-counter, you have no idea what you are really getting and you are probably over paying.

2.  You most likely need to detox before you start your first round of HCG.  Toxins are stored in your fat cells and when you start burning through them like crazy you can get really sick if you haven't prepared yourself beforehand.  

Here is a link to the book "Pounds and Inches" where the HCG diet got its start.  

Read the book if you are curious about the diet, it isn't long and will answer a lot of questions that you will have if you decide to do the diet.  Watch for some more HCG specific recipes here soon!

xo Marie

Paleo Lemon Muffin Base

I'm baaaaaaaack!

Here I go starting to post all those recipes I've been Instagraming for ever.  Better late than never, right?

So today, for all of you that are coming to my "garage sale" I made you Lemon Blueberry Paleo Muffins :)

Here is the link to the original recipe, lemon poppyseed muffins, they are wonderful just as they are!

My recipe is altered a little, I upped the lemon zest, added applesauce (which helps add moisture and texture to coconut flour) and reduced the oil and honey by a bit.  It is also a bigger batch.   This recipe is the 'base' for lemon poppyseed or lemon blueberry or lemon "fill-in-the-blank" so the calorie content for whatever you are adding is left out of the calculation and is for the base recipe only.

Enjoy!

PALEO LEMON MUFFIN BASE

Makes 2-3 doz regular size cupcakes, around 140 calories each.

Heat oven to 350, 325 if using convection

INGREDIENTS:
-1 1/4 cup coconut flour
-15 organic pastured eggs,

-zest or peel of 8 or more organic lemons 

-3/4 cup raw honey

-1/4 tsp sweetleaf stevia or to taste

-1 cup organic applesauce

-3/4 cup organic unprocessed coconut oil

-1 tsp sea salt

-1 tsp baking soda

and for my batch this morning - 2-3 cups frozen blueberries - though dehydrated blueberries would be my preference.

In your mixer bowl sift your coconut flour, baking soda and salt. 

Grab your blender and add all your eggs, honey and lemon peel (i just peel the lemon using a veggie peeler instead of zesting, make sure you don't get much pith (the white part) and let the blender do the work for you.)  Blend until you can't see any chunks of lemon peel.

Turn your mixer on and slowly add your wet ingredients from your blender, then add applesauce and stevia if using....come to think of it, some vanilla would be great too.

Once it is mixed into a smooth consistency, add poppy seeds, blueberries, cranberries...whatever and scoop into muffin liners.  I use my "big" cookie scoop, about 1/3 of a cup.  These won't rise too much, and if they overflow they will just run out and over their liner, so don't overfill the muffin cups.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Refrigerate if keeping out more than a day - the are very moist so I am sure they would mould easily.  They also freeze brilliantly!  

Let me know how it turns out!

M