Little known fact, I do not live off of nacho cheese and funfetti cake!

Life is all about moderation. Eat a wheel of cheese/have a salad the next day. Spend 10 hours watching Netflix/spend an hour checking your work email. While I wish I could eat all of the cookies and burritos in the world, my metabolism would have a serious intervention with me. While I would be lying if I said part of my decision to eat vegetables and go to the gym wasn’t so that I could fit into my jeans, it’s not the only reason. As I get a bit older, I notice that not only has my metabolism slowed down, but the way I eat and exercise has a huge effect on my stress level, anxiety, complexion, energy & so on. If I don’t exercise at least 4 days a week, my stress and anxiety go through the roof. If I’m not drinking enough water and have a few too many Carne Asada burritos, my skin feels dull and sad.

My weekly routine is pretty standard. I wake up around 8 o’clock, have coffee & check my work email. I try to go to the gym at least three days a week (Orange Theory is my new jam). If I can’t make it to the gym, I try to run about 2 miles in my neighborhood. Working out is a game changer for me. It helps me stay focused, but also keeps me from having an aneurysm from works stress. I eat a pretty standard breakfast after I work out: 2 eggs, lean meat & veggie scramble. At some point, I have lunch (normally leftovers or a salad). When I want a little snack, I have some more coffee (bad I know) and a handful of almonds or I make myself a protein shake. One trick I found recently is that you can add half of a scoop of protein powder to your coffee!

Protein is an essential part of every balanced nutrition program. Not only is protein necessary for building muscle, it also helps with decrease your appetite while providing important nutrients for all cellular processes within the body. Ok so that’s a bunch of science talk, but adding protein around your workouts enhances recovery, improves immune function, reduces overall body fat and helps increase your energy.

So now you’re thinking… cool, I have to drink one of those gnarly protein shakes that’s all clumped up and mixed with my water. NOPE! While I love adding a scoop of protein powder to my smoothies and shaking it into some Almond Milk, you can actually bake with it! THAT’S RIGHT! Now you see where I’m going with this post…

Instead of using a bunch of flour and adding sweetener… you can add a scoop or two of protein powder to create a post workout snack or a healthier treat! I give you… Vanilla Molten Lava Cake – Protein Powder Edition!

Get ready… the first thing you’ll need is a Vanilla flavored Protein Powder. I recommend Metabolic Nutrition’s Vanilla Cake Protizyme Protein Powder. The main reason I like it is because of the flavor. You can straight up mix a scoop with water and it tastes like cake batter. The other reason I like it is because they use 1/1000 less sweetener than other similar brands.

This recipe takes about 2 minutes to prepare, 12 minutes to cook and 4 minutes to cool… so in under 20 minutes, you’ll have a ooey gooey molten lava treat that’s under 150 calories (about 145)!  Another cool part about this recipe is that you can easily make it vegan, gluten free or sugar free by swapping out ingredients!

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