Oatmeal banana muffins

I baked last night! I had two ripe bananas that I just couldn't throw away so I decided to whip up a batch of oatmeal banana muffins. Don't worry, I only had a bite of one; I gave the rest to Demi. She's done so much for me that I wanted to give her a treat. These muffins are actually quite healthy; the only "bad" ingredient is the brown sugar. They make a great on-the-go breakfast!

Oatmeal Banana Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
Topping:
1/4 c rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking)
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp butter, melted

Muffins:
2 whole, ripe bananas
1/4 c egg substitute (or 1 large egg, beaten)
3/4 c milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1 c all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 c rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with foil or paper wrappers.

2. Mix the ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Mash the bananas. Add the egg substitute and milk and mix well. Mix in the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. Mix just to combine; the batter should be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each with reserved topping. Bake for 18-19 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

The muffins are a little dense but I like them that way. I didn't have any baking soda so I omitted the soda, added 2 tsp of baking powder and omitted the salt. The original recipe calls for raisins, which I didn't even realize until I started writing this post and re-read the name: "oatmeal raisin banana muffins." Der. The raisins will certainly add more sweetness since these aren't very sweet but I think my version is delicious without raisins so I suggest making them to your personal preference.

I'm halfway through 4D with only 1.5 slip-ups under my belt -- one extra cheat meal and a day of following the diet but not eating enough. It really hasn't been too bad. Like I've said before, I'm not dying of starvation and I really don't mind the foods I'm eating.

Yesterday was probably the hardest day in terms of temptation. There were about 5 times throughout the day that I literally had the m&m's in my hand and had to force myself to put them back in the bag. I think part of the reason yesterday was such a struggle is that I had a pretty hard workout in the morning. Last week my workouts were pretty mild because of my cold so yesterday was the first time while on the diet I really did a lot of cardio. I was trying to justify the m&m's or the bite of peppermint bark because of how hard I worked. I realize it is certainly not the end of the world if I eat 5 m&m's but I started this diet to challenge myself and to reach a goal. I knew if I had eaten the m&m's, I would've felt like a failure. I got through it by telling myself I only have a week and a half left and since I've made it this far, I can definitely make it to Christmas. I reminded myself of the training I did for my half marathons this year. If I didn't feel like running, I would just have to tell myself over and over again why I was doing this and that I can get through it. After each run, I physically crossed it off my training calendar and felt a sense of accomplishment for doing it, even when I didn't initially feel like doing it. I never regretted a run once I got out there and I've come a long way using that mental momentum. It's time for me to apply that attitude to food.

As of this morning, I've lost 11 pounds since Sunday, December 4. Not bad considering two cheat meals (one allowed and one extra) and a day of following the diet but not really. We'll see how these next 10 days go!