Post-Thanksgiving Motivation from He and She Eat Clean's Scott Carlson

Check out this super-fit pair! Scott Carlson and his wife changed their lives with the Eat-Clean Diet & now continue to encourage others by maintaining their wonderful blog - HeandSheEatClean.com. Scott shares his motivation for changing his life below and generously shares his recipe for Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats. Yummy!

Eating Clean… if you asked me what this meant five years ago, I would’ve laughed and said it sounded like another “fad diet” that will only be around for a couple of years. Boy, was I wrong.

After graduating from college, getting married, and settling into my career I realized that it was time to make some changes.  Nothing that I ate would ever be found in one of Tosca’s books… Fried chicken, pizza, cheeseburgers, milkshakes, sugary sodas or sweet tea, and other processed junk food were all part of my daily diet.  These were the same types of food that my dad ate, which played a large part in his early death at the age of 49 from colon cancer.  Choosing not to end up going down the same road, I began to learn more about exercising combined with Eating Clean and adopted the lifestyle.

It has been about four years since I began, and the changes I’ve experienced have been amazing!  I went from 240 lbs (size 38 waist) down to 210 lbs (size 32 waist).

Not only has Eating Clean provided me with more energy and a better outlook on life, it has supercharged my gains in the gym.  I like to compare it to driving a Ferrari and refusing to fill up with high octane fuel and using poor tires… by settling for low quality parts, you’ll never experience the vehicle’s full potential.  I’ve been able to power through workouts and continually break through plateaus because of Eating Clean.

My wife and I are very passionate about the Eating-Clean lifestyle and we work together to prepare all of our food each weekend.  We also work very diligently to inspire other couples, so we, along with the help of our cousins, post recipes and provide advice on our blog HeandSheEatClean.com.

Here’s a recipe for my Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats:

Ingredients
3 cups Bob's Red Mill Organic Steel Cut Oats

3 cups Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

10 cups water (you can use more, but we like the thicker texture)

1 cup Trader Joe's unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup Ideal Brown No-Calorie Sweetener
 (or sweetener of your choice)
3 tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg (you can use 2 teaspoons if desired)

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Methods
1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray.

2. Put all the ingredients into your slow cooker and cook overnight on low (around 8 hours).

3. Wake up to the delicious smell of your Apple-Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats.  Don't freak out... most of the spices will float to the top.

4. Stir a few times & serve!


If desired, you can add sliced apple, walnuts, almonds, flax seed, protein powder, or fresh berries.



Tip:  Store in a container that holds at least 3.5 liters.



Gluten Free Version:  Use Gluten-Free Steel Cut Oats as an alternative.



Yield: Approximately 12, 1.5c servings. However, if you have a scale you may want to weigh & divide that by 12 to get a more accurate weight of the serving size.



Nutritional Information (per serving):

Calories - 153

Fat - 3.1g

Carbs - 30g

Fiber - 4.4g

Sugar - 0.8g

Protein - 6.2g