As I mentioned a few weeks back, I am competing in my first powerlifting meet tomorrow. I am nervous but also looking forward to it. I’ve spent this week training pretty light, stretching a lot, and trying to get as much sleep as possible so I can go in with lots of energy and minimal anxiety.
I decided to compete in this meet about two months ago and since then I’ve made some adjustments to the way I eat, especially when it comes to my protein intake. Protein is always important, but perhaps even more so when you strength train with heavy weights. I work particularly hard to make sure I am eating enough of this macronutrient.
Though I previously wasn’t that big a fan of protein powders, I have found them to be nothing short of essential as of late: without supplementing with some protein powder on a daily basis, I simply don’t eat enough protein to meet my current needs. Right now I am eating about 110 grams of protein a day (this is 1 gram or protein per pound of my body weight).
Does this mean I think everyone should be supplementing with protein powder? No, not at all. While protein at or near the amount I am consuming may be useful to you, the amount of protein you need and whether or not protein powder is right for you depend on the context of your lifestyle and activity level, not mine.
{Ah, context. Such an important concept when it comes to matters of nutrition. We don’t all inhabit the same body nor do we live the same life (obviously!), so “one size fits all” nutritional recommendations really don’t make sense, do they?}
I like this recipe because I can quickly mix up 4 individual servings. Then I can grab one from the fridge in the morning and add a little more milk and maybe some fresh fruit (in these photos I’ve used pomegranate arils) before I head out to the gym. The lid makes tucking one into my purse super easy.
I don’t usually put my recipes through a nutritional calculator but just for kicks I decided to do it this time. The calorie and macronutrient breakdown of this overnight high protein oatmeal recipe (without any fruit or anything else added on top) comes out as follows:
For each serving (presuming 4 servings), approximately:
300 calories
10 grams fat
34 grams carbs
24 grams protein
I think this is great because there’s almost 1/4 of my protein requirement right there.
This recipe was inspired by Refrigerator Oatmeal from The Yummy Life. I used short 1 cup glass canning jars with plastic lids to make this recipe.
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Since it’s Friday, here are my shares for this week:
Misc.:
The Introvert’s Guide to Networking (The New York Times)
Shepard Smith Destroys Fearmongering About Ebola (video)
Don’t Muddle the Real Foods Movement (Spit That Out)
Why You Shouldn’t Measure Exercise Hours in Slices of Cheesecake
Recipes:
Halloumi Veggie Burgers and a Giveaway (A Thought for Food)
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe (Gimme Some Oven)<--I made this earlier in the week and it's delicious!
Roasted Squash Salad with Dates and Pecans (Healthy Green Kitchen)
Parsnip and Pear Soup (Alexandra Cooks)
The Stone Fence Cocktail (Sassy Radish)
Gluten Free Huckleberry Lemon Verbena Cake (Bojon Gourmet)
Cookbooks:
1. My friend Alta has released her first eCookbook. It’s a gluten-free baking book and it’s awesome!
2. Another dear friend, Cathy Barrow, wrote a preserving book that will be available in just a few short weeks. I received a review copy and it is just gorgeous. You can pre-order it here
3. And yet another friend, Chris Bryant, released his first cookbook this week. It’s called CHIPS: Reinventing A Favorite Food
Have a great weekend!
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Recipe for High Protein Overnight Oatmeal
Ingredients
- *1 cup rolled oats preferably organic, and not "quick" oats
- *1 cup milk any kind; I used raw milk
- *1/2 cup plain yogurt any kind; I used full-fat Greek yogurt
- *1/3 cup chopped dried apricots or prunes or raisins or another type of dried fruit
- *1/3 cup pistachios or chopped pecans or walnuts or a different nut/seed
- *vanilla protein powder: I used 2 scoops which is equivalent to 50 grams of protein Monster Milk Intense Vanilla
Instructions
- 1. In a large bowl, mix the oats, milk, yogurt, dried fruit and nuts. Add the protein powder and mix again. If it seems impossibly thick, you may want to add a bit more milk and/or yogurt. (I expect different protein powders may absorb liquid differently so the thickness may vary depending on what brand you use.)
- 2. Transfer mixture to 4 equal sized glass jars that you can close with a lid. Leave a little space above each one to add fresh fruit, more milk or yogurt, and/or sweetener (all optional) closer to serving time.
