Tip: The Bodybuilder's Breakfast

[01dragonslayer]

BODYBUILDER'S BACON AND SWEET POTATO WAFFLES​

Occasionally, a recipe comes knocking on your door that makes the typical oatmeal-and-eggs breakfast look like a pile of baby vomit. These waffles make any "healthy" breakfast look inferior, especially when you realize they're made of bodybuilding staple foods you probably already have in your kitchen.

We're talking eggs, sweet potato, oats, Metabolic Drive® Protein, almond milk, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. That's it. The waffles alone have a great split of macronutrients, but by adding a few slices of lean bacon (nitrate-free pork or turkey) you get an amazing sweet and salty combo that punches high for both flavor and macros.

What's in those Waffles?​

Let's break down the ingredients and their benefits, then I'll lay the easy recipe on you.

EGGS​

We choose whole eggs in this recipe because we know the benefits the whole egg has on helping maintain healthy testosterone levels. That little bit of fat and cholesterol is good for us, so why bother separating the yolk unless you really need to cut out a few calories from fat? Apart from that, it really doesn't make much sense to cut the sunny yellow from your life.
The egg yolks will also help to increase your acetylcholine levels, with around 300g of choline per two eggs. Acetylcholine is the chemical your motor neurons release to activate your muscles. And let's not forget the vitamin D the yolk contains, as well as a variety of other beneficial nutrients.

SWEET POTATO​

Did you know that pre-cooking then chilling potato increases the amount of resistant starch?
Resistant starch, in many physiological ways, has a similar effect to dietary fiber from a "keeping your bowels moving properly" standpoint. It's also a special form of starch that manages to escape digestion in the small intestines, becoming fermented by the large intestinal microbiota. The results? A healthy digestive system and a happy microbiome.
This recipe uses pre-cooked or leftover and chilled sweet potato. When you chill a white potato the structure of some of the starch is changed which increases the resistant starch content by around 55%. For a boiled-then-cooled white potato, for example, you also lower the glycemic load from 21 down to 16-17. Sweet potato and purple potato have a little higher resistant starch content than a white potato, along with a lower glycemic index to begin with.

OATS​

No bodybuilding breakfast would be complete without some oats. Whole grain oats have been shown to have positive health effects in human studies, in addition to being the good muscle-building carb source we all know it to be.
In mice, whole grain oats have been shown to simultaneously improve insulin sensitivity, cholesterol profile, and intestinal microbiota composition (Zhou et al. 2014). That's good news for your health, fat loss, and your ability to gain slabs of muscle.


A plant-based protein is sometimes better for cooking with, and a little more "predictable," although it can give cooked food both a texture and taste that can take some getting used to.
A whey and casein blend like Metabolic Drive® Protein will result in the best texture and taste in most recipes. Just half a scoop in this recipe is enough to add a little sweetness and bump up the protein content to above 40 grams, taking you above that magical 2.5g leucine threshold that will spike anabolism from a single feeding.

CINNAMON​

Ceylon cinnamon increases the amount of GLUT4 receptors as well as insulin receptor and insulin receptor substrates (Shen et al. 2014, Cao et al. 2007, Qin et al, 2003), thereby enhancing glucose entry into cells. It may therefore have a positive effect on body composition, as well as for those that suffer from diabetes.
But in all honesty, there's cinnamon in this recipe just because it's tasty AF. And sure, a measly quarter teaspoon probably isn't going to be enough to improve your glucose response by much, but there's no harm in adding it.

ALMOND MILK, HIMALAYAN PINK SALT, BAKING POWDER​

This stuff is just for taste and texture, but there's nothing bad going on here. In fact, you could argue a little extra dose of vitamins and minerals from the almond milk and muscle-pump inducing pink salt.

The Recipe​

INGREDIENTS​

• 4 ounces of cooked, cooled, and mashed sweet potato (without skin). That's about one 1 large sweet potato.
• 2 whole eggs (preferably pasture raised)
• 1 ounce oats
• Half-scoop vanilla Metabolic Drive protein, or more if you prefer it sweeter
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of almond milk, enough to create a pancake batter texture
• Few pinches of Himalayan pink salt
• Half-teaspoon baking powder
• Quarter teaspoon cinnamon (or more if you prefer those GLUT4 receptors to be amped up!)
• 2 rashers of nitrate-free pork bacon or turkey bacon
• Optional: Maple syrup or low-calorie syrup alternative

DIRECTIONS​

• Use a blender or food processor to combine all the ingredients until a smooth mix is formed. The oats should have fully broken down and combined as a flour would.
• Preheat your waffle maker. If you don't have a waffle maker a good frying pan will do, placed on a medium heat.
• Place a little oil or ghee in your waffle maker or pan if needed.
• Pour one-third to one-half of your golden-colored mix into the waffle maker or pan.
• For waffles, follow your normal waffle-making steps.
• For pancakes, the mix will require a little longer, and you should allow each pancake to have cooked at least two-thirds through before flipping. High heat and cooking them too fast will only result in a sweet potato scramble!
• Top with a few slices of turkey bacon or nitrate-free pork bacon, and a tablespoon of maple syrup if you deserve the extra carbs.

Store in your freezer and pop in your toaster in the morning for a quick meal-prep idea.

THE NUMBERS​

• Calories: 470
• Protein: 46 grams
• Carbs: 45 grams (8g fiber)
• Fat: 14 grams