Pineapple Banana Muffins

These are moist and soft; more dense due to the coconut and oats. Partner loves these for an afternoon carbohydrate to get through the afternoon energy slump. He pairs his with a protein shake to get a mix of protein and carbs. I make these GF by using the alternative listed below the recipe- but save these as a treat.

Pineapple Banana Muffins
3 medium bananas mashed, (about 1 1/2c)
1/2c fresh pineapple, chopped (or canned, but drained)
1/3c vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4c turbinado sugar
2/3c flaked coconut
1/2c slow-cooking oats
4Tbsp ground flax seed

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 12-muffin tin. Combine wet ingredients. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Fold together wet and dry, spoon into tin and bake for 20 min. Gluten Free Alternative: To make this a GF batch, replace wheat flour with your fave GF flour mix, use GF oats and also, soak 4Tbsp ground flaxseed in 1/4c hot water for 15 minutes and add to the wet ingredients.
Modified from: Karen's Pineapple Banana Muffins, p. 100 The Salt Spring Experience: Recipes for the Body, Mind and Spirit.

Fell off the Wagon

Supposed to be my rest day, but I failed at resting today. I knew I should have just stayed out of the gym, off the treadmill but I didn't. Dammit! 30 min cardio, 4.0 speed, 7.0 incline. I'm not looking forward to training the rest of the week now that I didn't give my muscles a rest. Tomorrow's 5k in the AM is going to HURT!
I did it because I thought that I had to work my lunch off- when in reality, it was just fine.
Goal: Rest on Saturday- total, utter rest.

Obesity at 700 calories a day

This article "Living with Obesity at 700 Calories a day" described what I'm going through right now. I am not obese, but the similarities lie in the body's reaction to getting good whole foods and moving out of starvation mode and the effects of it. Interesting point in the article: most obese people are actually consuming very little calories, but doing so in binges or one large meal a day. A colleague of mine at work lost 14lbs just by eating breakfast everyday- just goes to show how important it is to fuel your body in a timely, consistent way with whole foods. Even the smallest changes make a big difference.
Sticking to a maximum amount of cardio a day has been very very stressful. I'm always calculating, oh! I could do an extra 10 more min here or there. Also, eating all my prescribed food has been tough- but I'm doing it. My body was starving before, too much activity and not enough food; now that I'm resting and eating more it's inevitable to gain a few pounds- but this will drop once it's returned to a balanced state and doesn't think I'm in a famine.
I have been trying since Sunday to upload pics and recipe of my fave tropical muffins but to no avail. I'll keep trying.
I'm on track for my 1/2m training, this morning i did three hills, according to the training schedule mapped out for me by my clinic. In all, I ran 5k this morning. Yesterday it was a flat 4k run. I'm enjoying a new, warm but breathable running sweater I got from my sister these chilly mornings (I can see my breath at 445am).
I will try a new bi/tri workout later today, and do no extra cardio. Once I have completed this week on my new weight training program I designed I will share it with a review. I'm still tweaking it a bit; it's a 2 day repeated split (so train 4 days a week with weights). I'm not training my legs at all because they are getting it with the hills and running I'm doing. Let's see if it keeps them lean without too much muscle mass. So look for a new weight program later in the week, and hopefully some tantalizing muffin shots.