A little story from a recent “day in the life” in our family…
My middle son T is a powerhouse and a sugar addict. Little, quick, built like a brick shit house – muscles you don’t typically see on your average 16 year old boy unless they are really spending time in the gym pushing weight.
T is an amateur boxer and if you know anything about boxing (or really any type of one on one performance sport where they slot into weight classes) they choose the weight they want to fight at, and then have to be at that weight for the weigh in – which typically is 8am the morning of the fight. So T and his coach decided to drop down to a lower weight class for one of his fights on quite short notice. The kid basically ate nothing for 3 days prior to the fight.
Water, very minimal food – we are talking about living on fumes. And if you have ever tried a cleanse, or even not eating sugar for three days, you know how crappy you feel for the first few days. I tried to say my peace, but since I know very little about boxing, and “they knew best” my worries and complaints fell on deaf ears. At least until the fight was over. T lost that fight. He was gassed. Had no energy – could not push his body any further. After losing 10 lbs in basically 5 days, his body said – NO WAY. And I got to weigh in…
SO – the next time T had to get down to this weight, I was determined it would not go down like it had the last time. There is no question, he had to eat light. BUT for three weeks, he had pure protein, good veg, and good fats. Sugar was taken completely out – those double doubles had to wait at the take out window. And he was committed. The first days sucked for sure. He had headaches and was crabby as hell. But he knew the consequences of the quick fix and settled in for a longer haul of eating to maintain his muscle but drop weight. But you know what he really missed? Bread, pancakes, waffles – anything that would give him some comfort. So today, I give YOU some comfort.
These protein pancakes were created for T – protein, protein, protein, gluten free oats – no refined sugar.
And a little comfort for a 16 year old that was going for the biggest athletic fight of his life…
Here is how it goes together – quick, easy and mixed in the blender in 5 minutes.
T's Protein Pancakes
1 cup gluten free oats
2 tbsp Flax
4 teasp. baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 scoop protein powder (I use Vega Protein and Greens)
2 eggs
1/2 cup egg whites (or you could do all egg whites, if that floats your boat)
1 very ripe banana
Directions:
Throw it all in the blender, give it a whirl. Yup – that easy!
Once it all comes together and is smooth, pour out about 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter onto a hot griddle. About 3 minutes a side until golden and enjoy!
Serve with pure maple syrup (just a tad, if you are training like T!)
*on a side note, T was training for the National Boxing Championships up in Edmonton and I thought ahead and made several batches, threw them in the freezer and brought them up with us. I left them with T and his team in the hotel room.
Smiles all around.
