So… I cannot button my pants.

Am I surprised by this? Not at all. As much as I’d like to justify reasons why this weight gain has occurred, for example, my body’s transitional phase building muscle before burning fat from strength training, I cannot. According to some female fitness experts, this is actually a true phase for some women. In my case, I’d like to believe that it is playing a small roll in why my pants are tighter, however, there is really only one thing to blame: fork-to-mouth. And who is in control of that fork? Me.

With this not so exciting turn of events, I have no choice but to button up my diet. Which, apparently, is a lot easier than buttoning up my pants at the moment. Since I’m being honest with myself about why my body has expanded, it’s time to bust out the scale (ugh) and the MyFitnessPal app to see exactly what I am dealing with here.

But for now, let’s talk about the awesome pancakes I made because they’re the last ones I am going to be indulging in for a while!

These wholesome, dense pancakes are made out of fresh ground blue cornmeal from my local farm and gluten free oat flour. Given their rich appearance, they are completely sugar free. Yup! No added sugar at all! The batter is super thick, so you may need to add more milk than the recipe calls for. I made them bigger than usual this time because I wanted a single pancake. Believe me, one was plenty!

I topped the pancakes with caramelized bananas and drizzled over melted coconut manna. Hello, coconut manna where have you been all my life? Have you tried this stuff? It’s incredible, such rich coconut flavor. Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Blue Cornmeal Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas
Makes 4 pancakes

1 cup blue cornmeal flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
1/4 cup apple sauce

Caramelized Bananas
2 bananas, sliced
1 tbsp coconut oil

Combine flours, baking powder, salt, milk, and apple sauce in a medium bowl and whisk well.

Heat a large pan over medium heat, melt a little coconut oil, and spoon 1/4 of the batter into the pan forming the best circular shape you can. There may be some slight bubbling, but when the edges start to brown, flip. Cook for another couple minutes and remove from the pan onto warm plate. Repeat until all the batter is gone.

While you’re pancakes are cooking, heat a medium pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the pan is hot, then melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and add the slices of banana. Sear on one side for 2-3 minutes till browned then gently flip, the bananas will be soft. Sear on the other side for another 2-3 minutes and remove the pan from the heat. They should stay fairly warm while your finishing the pancakes.

Top each pancake with the caramelized bananas and drizzle on warmed coconut manna. Enjoy!

While you enjoy making these pancakes this weekend (I hope that you do 🙂 ), I’ll be keeping track of my macros in my fitness app and planning out meals. What a tough time of the year to try to manage your weight. Please wish me luck through this holiday season, I’m going to need it!

On the bright side, I get to enjoy wearing all my comfy yoga gear this weekend before the “What the heck do I wear to work?” debacle on Monday morning. If there is one thing I do appreciate in this situation is that I heard the wake-up call my body was giving me, and there is no way I’m buying bigger pants!