In the year of 2012, I am embarking on a weight loss journey that I hope will end with me not only being healthy and whole but also about sixty or more pounds lighter.
After much research, I decided to follow Kathleen DesMaisons’ seven-step plan called ‘Your Last Diet’. Here is my previous article where I give more details about this plan. Read all about it and then come back, or simply follow along with me now. Here’s the link:
‘Your Last Diet’: Working step 1
In my efforts to work step one of ‘Your Last Diet’ developed by Kathleen DesMaisons, I began experimenting with several recipes in my effort to create the most ideal sugar-free breakfast cookie filled with protein and complex carbohydrates.
The first step of her diet and exercise plan is to simply focus on eating breakfast within an hour of waking up. That breakfast should contain a lot of grams of protein and some complex carbohydrates.
It may sound fairly simple. It probably is pretty simple for people with a traditional nine-to-five job who enjoy cereal and other Americanized breakfasts. As a freelance writer and professional storyteller, I don’t fit either of those descriptions. In fact, on days that I don’t have a storytelling gig, I often get up, grab some water, and head straight to my computer. After being up for two or three hours, I begin to think about what I might enjoy for brunch – a late breakfast and early lunch combined.
Kathleen DesMaisons stresses that it is important to eat within an hour of waking up so that your body doesn’t mistakenly feel it is in starvation mode and holds onto the fat for all it is worth.
She also describes on her website and in her books (see the resource section at the end of this article for links) that we should take our weight and divide it by two. That is the number of protein grams that we should have during the course of a day. If you weigh over 250 pounds, do not have more than 125 grams of protein per day. If you weigh less than 250 pounds, which thankfully I do, than have less.
She gives the example of a person who weighs 150 pounds, which sadly is not the case for me. That person divides his or her weight by two. So that lucky person only needs 75 grams of protein per day: 25 grams at breakfast, 25 grams at lunch, and 25 grams at dinner.
Proteins can be found in meat, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, seafood, etc.
For a list of commonly eaten protein foods, you can visit this link on the Choose My Plate.gov website that is the updated version of the Food Pyramid.
What foods are in the Protein group?
Ideally, each meal should contain some complex carbohydrates as well. Foods containing complex carbohydrates are things like whole wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, butterless popcorn, whole wheat pasta, etc.
For a complete list of whole grains (complex carbohydrates) versus refined grains (simple carbohydrates), you can visit this link on the Choose My Plate.gov website that is the updated version of the Food Pyramid.
What Foods are in the Grains group?
In my effort to follow this plan, I started becoming an avid nutrition label reader. I wondered if a delicious no-sugar cookie could be created that would contain proteins, complex carbohydrates, fruit, and possibly even a vegetable. Thus, the food experiment began.
Step One: I visited a health food store and purchased Whey Protein powder and Plant Protein powder for Vegans.
As a breast cancer survivor, my one big forbidden food is anything with soy in it. Soy is a natural estrogen, and estrogen feeds cancer. Now that I’m over the cancer, the last thing I want to do is to make myself a breeding ground for cancer again.
With the help of the store clerk, I finally selected:
(1) 100% Whey Protein Isolate Natural Original Flavor
and
(2) Lifetime Life Basics Greens Plant Protein Powder for Vegans
Step Two: I purchase Oatmeal and a bag of Whole Wheat Flour.
I decided to make a tiny batch of four cookies using each type of protein powder to see which one would be tastier.
Cooking experiment number 1A
Lemon almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using plant protein powder.
Ingredients:
¼ cup Hodgson Mill 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour ½ cup Old Fashioned Oats ¼ cup ground up Garbanzo Beans (no salt added) ¼ cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese ½ Egg 1 Scoop of the Greens Plant Protein Powder (half a serving size) ¼ tsp Sea Salt Half of a lemon plus lemon zest 1 tsp of Allspice 1/3 cup of blanched slivered Almonds
I baked them at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Eating all four cookies would give me 40 grams of protein, 79 grams of total carbohydrates, 17 grams of dietary fiber, and less than 8 grams of sugar. The only problem was, I could only eat one bite. It tasted like cardboard.
Cooking experiment number 1B
Lemon almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using whey protein isolate.
I worked the same recipe using the Whey Protein Isolate instead of the Plant Protein. Additionally, I only used half of a scoop of the Whey Protein Isolate instead of a whole scoop which was half a serving size. Eating four cookies would give me 41.5 grams of protein, 77 grams of total carbohydrates, 16 grams of dietary fiber, and 6.5 grams of sugar. Once again, I could only eat one bite. It too tasted like cardboard.
So who was the beneficiary of these two batches of cookies? Three neighbors dogs who love eating my leftovers. Thank goodness they do not seem to have picky taste buds like mine.
Cooking experiment number 2A
Strawberry almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using plant protein powder.
I tried the same mixture only using ½ cup of strawberries instead of half of a lemon and got the same result. Cardboard-tasting cookies that were thrown out for the puppies to gobble down. By the way, the puppies, as I call them, are one large dog and two smaller ones. I don’t know their real names. I simply open up my back door, throw the food out, and call out “puppies.” They came running up our back hill like a small herd of elephants.
Cooking experiment number 2B
Strawberry almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using whey protein isolate.
Once again, the only change to this recipe was in using the whey protein isolate instead of the plant protein. There was a slight improvement between these cookies over the one containing plant protein. But there was not enough improvement for me to eat more than one bite. Thankfully, the puppies ate all the rest of the bites of the four cookies with tails wagging all the while.
Cooking experiment number 3
Revised Strawberry almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using whey protein isolate
Realizing that I needed more sweetness and flavor added, I made a few significant changes to the recipe. For example, I removed the garbanzo beans and cottage cheese. I decreased the salt. I increased the strawberries and spices. I also added honey. Here is the new recipe.
Ingredients:
¼ cup Hodgson Mill 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour ½ cup Old Fashioned Oats ½ Egg ½ scoop of the Whey Protein Isolate Powder 1/8 tsp Sea Salt 1 cup pureed strawberries 1/3 cup of blanched slivered Almonds 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp nutmeg 1 tbsp cinnamon 1 tbsp allspice
What was the result?
The flavor was a bit better; however, it still wasn’t appealing to eat. The puppies were going to get a work-out on this particular day as I threw this batch minus one bite out the back door.
Cooking experiment number 4
Revised Lemon almond protein complex carbohydrates cookies using whey protein isolate
It was time to make even more adjustments in this recipe. I decreased some of some things. I increased some of the other things. I also added in more ingredients in my attempt to make the ideal protein breakfast cookie.
Ingredients:
1/8 cup Hodgson Mill 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour ½ cup Old Fashioned Oats ½ Egg ½ scoop of the Whey Protein Isolate Powder 1/8 tsp Sea Salt ½ tsp Vanilla Extract ½ tsp Baking Soda 1 tbsp Crisco Pure Canola Oil 1 whole lemon plus lemon zest ¼ cup ReaLemon Juice 1/3 cup blanched slivered almonds 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp allspice
What were the results?
I actually ate half a cookie. I even dared to let my husband try out a cookie. He only managed one or two bites. You could barely taste the lemon. It still was not anything appealing to eat. The puppies benefited once again.
Cooking experiment number 5
Apple Carrots Oatmeal Whey Cookies
Okay. I was now out of strawberries and lemons. I purchased some Gala Apples and Baby Carrots.
It was time to check out other people’s recipes before I tried again.
I felt inspired after reading Mary Parker’s recipe #71157 on Food.com called Apple Oatmeal Cookies. I’ve included the link.
I made a few adjustments to her recipe to still keep to my original goal.
Ingredients:
Instead of her ½ cup margarine, I used ½ cup butter Instead of her ½ cup honey, I used a whole cup Instead of her 1 egg, I used 2 eggs We both used 1 tsp of vanilla extract She used ¾ cup whole wheat flour. I used ¼ cup. We both used ½ tsp baking soda Instead of her ¾ tsp of cinnamon, I used 2 tbsp We both used 1 ½ cups oatmeal Instead of her one apple, I used six. I also used 2 tbsp cinnamon 6 scoops of Whey Protein Isolate 2 tbsp apple pie spice 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice ½ cup raw almond butter 1 cup of blanched slivered almonds 1 ½ cups pureed carrots
I baked them at 375 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes.
I actually made two rounds of these. The first round had less spices and less carrots and less apples and was still not sweet enough. The second round is listed above.
What were the results?
These were the most promising yet. My husband agreed that they had a pretty good flavor; however, he just could not get around the weird texture. I actually ate about 3 cookies of the second round.
The following day, I decided they were not crunchy enough to suit me. They were too much like muffins. So I put a few of them back in the oven to cook several minutes longer. I ate one more cookie.
The day after that, I managed half a cookie. Then I concluded that this was a failed experiment from which I learned a fair amount.
The puppies were probably going to grow fat for a whole bunch of cookies went flying out the back door of both large batches.
I dearly love cooking, and I like experimenting with recipes. So I got a lot of enjoyment out of this whole process.
However, the search for the ideal breakfast food continues. Stay tuned …
Resources:
Radiant Recovery website by Kathleen DesMaisons
Amazon link: Potatoes not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., Addictive Nutrition
Kathleen DesMaisons’ Radiant Recovery website: Potatoes not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., Addictive Nutrition Amazon link: Your Last Diet by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. Kathleen DesMaisons’ Radiant Recovery website: Your Last Diet by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
Follow-up Articles by Debbie Dunn
‘Your Last Diet’: Working step 1 ‘Your Last Diet’: Step 1’s breakfast adventure part 1 (see above)
‘Your Last Diet’: Step 1’s breakfast adventure part 2