Carrot cake muffins

Truth: Just because I eat well and exercise regularly doesn’t mean that I feel amazing all the time.

This is scary for me to share and something I’ve wanted to admit for quite sometime, but didn’t really know how... without feeling a bit hypocritical.

For as long as I can remember - far back into childhood, I’ve dealt with stomach pain, bloating and constipation. I’ve met with countless doctors and “specialists” who told me that I have IBS and tried to treat me with Miralax and other over-the-counter medications.

Over the years, I’ve attempted to take matters into my own hands by cleaning up my diet, going gluten free and adding targeted supplements; however, most things were just temporary fixes.

After having Addy, things got worse — brain fog, difficulty sleeping, chronic back and wrist pain, difficulty losing weight and a host of other issues continued to pop up out of the blue.

But I take good care of myself... i shouldn’t feel this way, right??? 🤷🏽‍♀️

This spring, I took a leap of faith and invested in appointments with a doctor of functional medicine. Lab work showed signs of hypothyroidism and Hashimotos, an autoimmune disease. Since thyroid troubles run long in my family, this came as no surprise to me, but I needed to know what I could do NOW, without medication, to turn things around.

My doctor shared that one of the best things that i could do was to cut out gluten entirely; which I did over 8 years ago, and referred me to an integrative nutritionist. The nutritionist took things a step further and recommended I read and follow “The Plant Paradox,” by Dr. Steven Gundry.

While I haven’t entirely started following the lectin-free protocol yet - mainly out of fear and feelings of overwhelm - I have begun to decrease the amount of grains I eat each day, while increasing the quality of foods I put into my body.

As I move closer towards becoming a certified holistic health coach, I know that I need to have these personal experiences in order to better help those around me; however, as I’ve shared before - coaches are people, too! We have fears and cravings and scheduled events, but I WILL make this work.

In an attempt to follow the plan more closely, I’ve been trying a few new recipes from the cookbook each week and these Carrot Cake Muffins are now a favorite!!!

CARROT CAKE MUFFINS 🥕
(from Dr. Gundry’s “The Plant Paradox Cookbook”)
Makes 12 muffins.
​
INGREDIENTS:

• ​1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 pasturedeggs
• 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/3 cup Swerve
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. ​Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, Whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, oil, coconut milk, swerve, and vanilla.
4. Whisk wet ingredients into dry, then add the grated carrots and walnuts.
5. ​Fold to combine.
6. Portion into the muffin tin, dividing the mixture evenly among 12 cups.
7. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool slightly before serving. When stored in an airtight container, muffins will stay fresh 5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.

Have you ever attempted a major nutritional overhaul???

​Did you notice any significant health changes from doing so?

What steps did you take that helped to make it more manageable??