PTO days call for early morning workouts and protein pancakes 🙂 

Today is Day 6 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox and I’m hoping this weekend pushes me over the hump of feeling entirely back to myself. Not going to lie, this past week was an interesting adventure in lower-than-usual energy levels, mild headaches and choosing long walks with my dog over high-intensity workouts. 

I’m feeling grateful that this detox is bringing me another learning opportunity on what works best for my body, and I am excited to see how I feel over the coming days! The first few days of any dietary adjustment are usually challenging, but by week 2 the body tends to say, “Ok, I see what you’re doing here, I can adapt.” Crossing my fingers that this is reflected in my energy levels in week 2! 

I wasn’t expecting this detox to impact me quite like this, given that I was already following a fairly paleo diet and was not consuming any more than about 150 grams of carbs per day. Cutting out grains? Check, already done. Eating higher fat and moderate protein? No problemo, already my norm. Cutting out fruit? Wait, come again. I can’t have fruit? Ruh roh. 

This has definitely made me aware of my reliance on fruit (dried and fresh) to bump up my energy levels when I need it mid-day at work or before a workout. Needless to say, I’ve been having dreams of pineapples and bananas 😉 In the mean time, while I’m avoiding the fruit at the grocery store for fear of drooling on unpurchased goods, I am experimenting with some fun new recipes, like this one! 

Check out the recipe below to take yourself back to the crisp days of autumn with these pumpkin spice protein pancakes!

Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes (Paleo, Gluten, Dairy & Sugar Free, 21DSD Friendly)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup collagen protein (I used Bulletproof Collagen Protein)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice 
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together.
2. Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl – whisk the egg white and pumpkin puree together.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is thoroughly combined (should be moderately thick, not too runny).
4. Pour pancake batter onto a heated skillet or pan – cook to golden brown over medium/high heat.