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Low Calorie No Bake Protein Pumpkin Pie

Did you know I am a Fitness and Nutrition Coach, Pro Bodybuilder and a Baker to boot? The months between October and January are when you typically put on the most weight between yummy extra treats and less movement. Your holiday body comes with a few extra pounds. As a fitness and nutrition coach, I know what a challenge the holidays can be and that means I head to the kitchen and find ways to reduce the extra calories in your favorite holiday dishes.

I am so excited to share this recipe with you this Low Calorie No Bake Protein Pumpkin Pie.

This recipe begins with a Low Calorie Graham Cracker Crust

  • 10 Graham cracker sheets
  • 3 Tbsp. Unsweetened Almond Milk

In a food processor*, process crackers into fine crumbles. Add the milk and process again to combine. Pour the now-sticky crumbs into a pie pan, and smash down very firmly with your hands or a sheet of wax paper. (Be sure to smash down as the lack of fat will make this crust crumbly if you don’t.) There’s no need to bake; just pour desired pie filling on top.

*If you do not have a food processor, you can put the graham crackers in a ziplock bag and crush with heavy tool like a tenderizing mallet until fine.

Next comes a two layer pie filling.

  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 4 oz Fat Free Cool Whip
  • 1.5 tsp Cinnamon
  • 4 oz Fat Free Cream Cheese
  • 28 g Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
  • 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
  • 122 g Canned Pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup 2% Milk
  • 1 Scoop: Syntha-6 Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder

In a medium size bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip and blend well with a hand mixer. Pour into prepared crust and spread evenly.

In a medium size bowl, mix pudding and milk and stir until thick. Add pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir until blended. Pour on top of the cream cheese layer and spread evenly.

Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes to set up.
Print Recipe

This recipe serves 8 with sweet macros per serving: Protein 7g, Carbs 27g, Fat 3g = 168 Calories. Compared to traditional pumpkin pie, this pie is 5 times less fat and 1/2 the carbs with a boost of protein.

This is a perfect addition to your holiday table this year.

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Single Arm Lat Pulldown

The single arm lat pulldown targets your lats unilaterally. If you have muscle imbalances this exercise can be helpful in reducing the imbalance.  One of benefits of doing the single arm lat pull down verses the traditional lat pull down is the ability to increase range of motion. With traditional lat pull downs you are restricted to stopping at your chest whereas this exercises allows you to engage your lats through the entire range of motion.

Some tips when doing this exercise:

  • Place your thumb on the same side as your fingers to reduce forearm and bicep fatigue
  • Stretch at the top position
  • Squeeze at the bottom position

 

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The Kneeling Squat

Finding great exercises to target the glutes are essential to any good workout program. Today’s video demonstrates the kneeling squat. The main muscle this exercise targets is the glutes. However, you will also engage secondary muscles including abdominals, lower back, and hamstrings.  You can perform this exercise in a traditional squat rack but for beginners starting with the smith machine helps with focusing on the technique and form of the exercise.

  1. Put a rolled up mat or foam pad on the floor to protect your knees.
  2. Set the bar to a height right around your shoulders.
  3. Slide under the bar position the bar across your shoulders/upper part of your back.
  4. Unracking the weight, push your butt backwards and descend until your butt touches your calves.
  5. With and explosive motion return to the top position and squeeze the glutes at the top. Note: you can also do these slow and controlled but focus on squeezing the glutes at the top.
  6. I recommend 3 sets of 20 reps per set.  It you can do 20 reps easily increase the weight until it is difficult to reach 18 reps.