Chocolate Milk for Recovery Drink?? This is HUGE!

As a pseudo-certified, self-proclaimed gym rat, I hate to admit that I rarely ever drink recovery drinks after intense workouts.  I think I am getting plenty of protein in my diet during the day, but I am thinking I need a little something extra to add to my routine to really kick it up a notch.  Here lately, I don't feel like I am bouncing back as fast as I should be able to at this point. So I have decided to invest in a Recovery drink to try. I say "invest" because these things aren't cheap. Here are the two that I have been reading about:

BeachBody's P90X Recovery Drink:

This is actually the more affordable alternative, at $43.95 + $6.95 for s&h, totaling at $50.90, with 25 servings per tub, which comes to $2.04 per serving. Which is not terrible considering I probably exercise about 20 - 25 days a month. So to start adding this supplement would mean about $50 extra a month. Notice the almost 4:1 Carbs to Protein ratio, and only 2 grams of fat.

My second option, which is almost the more expensive but also more in line with what I think I need is the EAS Pro-Science FINISH Powder:

This stuff comes in at $42.87 + $6.95 (must be the magic shipping and handling rate), totaling at $49.82, with 20 packets, comes to a total of $2.50 per serving. The reason I think this would be the better recovery-drink option is because it states "A post-training recovery powder that delivers essential amino acids to help build muscles and increase lean body mass. It contains high-quality protein and a structured lipid system that help muscles refuel, while beta-alanine boosts carnosine levels in the body, helping to reduce muscle fatigue." It is not only in EAS's Recovery Drink category, but also their muscle endurance category. The carb/protein ratio is completely different than the p90x, at 25 grams of carbs to 35 grams of protein. But what got me was 3 facts they stated:

• Refuel and build lean muscle
• Beta-alanine delays muscle fatigue
• Structured lipids support fat-soluble nutrient absorption

That pretty much is what I am looking for. But still not completely satisfied, so I continued my search........


......until I found this article: Chocolate Milk's 'Natural' Muscle Recovery Benefits Match Or May Even Surpass A Specially Designed Carbohydrate Sports Drink, dated June 2, 2009.

Well, this was right up my alley! I have heard of this before, and even briefly mentioned it in a previous blog, but never took it seriously. Never looked into it. Just used it as an excuse to get to drink chocolate milk.

A quote from this study states:

"This new study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting milk may be just as effective as some commercial sports drinks in helping athletes recover and rehydrate. Chocolate milk has the advantage of additional nutrients not found in most traditional sports drinks. Studies suggest that when consumed after exercise, milk's mix of high-quality protein and carbohydrates can help refuel exhausted muscles. The protein in milk helps build lean muscle and recent research suggests it may reduce exercise-induced muscle damage. Milk also provides fluids for rehydration and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium that recreational exercisers and elite athletes alike need to replace after strenuous activity."

So I kept reading, and found another article : Chocolate Milk May Help Repair Muscles, Restore Glycogen After Exercise, dated June 3, 2010. This study was done by the American College of Sports Medicine, the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the WORLD. They conducted 2 studies which you can read about in the article. A couple facts:

• those who drank fat-free chocolate mild during recovery had heightened markers of muscle protein repair (compared to the carbohydrate drink)
• choc milk contributes to replenishing glycogen stores in muscles, showing a higher content of glycogen compared to those who drank the carbohydrate drink

Their conclusion? They state that chocolate milk may be a worthwhile post-exercise recovery beverage.

My conclusion - Chocolate milk is delicious. And cheaper, at around $2.50 for a gallon (or less on sale). And will at least give me something to drink in between those more expensive recovery drinks, if I decide to try one or both. But for right now, just sticking with the fat-free chocolate milk.

Don't Foget To Hit Reset

Monday morning, for me, is usually a time to hit the "reset" button, and start fresh for a new week.

Its time to make up for the Keifer's gyro, cottage fry, and pitcher of Amber Bock I had on Friday night, the large Domino's pizza Jonas and I split Saturday night, and the hamburgers we cooked on Sunday along with the beers I had after working in the yard.

Its time to get back on my workout schedule since I didn't do anything all weekend (except for work outside in my yard for Saturday and Sunday - which quantified plenty of sweat, but still not the same.)

What happens when that reset button doesn't work? OR - what if I didn't hit that reset button in my mind? What if I just told myself, "well, you've done messed it all up now and gained a few pounds back. No point in starting over again...."

Well, that would make me a quitter - and that is something I am most certainly not.

When Life throws you lemons, make lemon-flavored water! (Because lemonade has too much sugar, and sugar is off limits!)

So headed to the gym at 4:00 for my usual Monday routine: Vinyasa Flow Yoga at 4:00, followed by my Spin class at 5:30. Still doing the Tour de France rides in class, and today we did Stage 6: mostly flat roads with a few very small hills. We will keep a fast pace, trying to keep heart rate around 80%.

Whew! That ended up being a killer ride! 655 calories burned in 45 minutes! Tomorrow, Stage 7 + abs class + bootcamp. Gonna be a long day.

Calorie Count:

Breakfast cereal (+ vitamins) - 340

Lunch - BBQ chick pizza - 340

Banana - 105

Dinner - 540

Half a protein drink with skim milk - 190

Total Calories Consumed - 1515

Calories Burned -  724

Total Calories Remaining -----------791

Tour de France Stage 3: Wanze > Arenberg Porte du Hainaut

"NEWSFLASH!!! Exercise doesn't make you gain weight. Consuming more food than you burn makes you gain weight ....period!!!"
- Chalene Johnson

 I saw that quote by Chalene on Twitter and loved it! Having balance in your life is all about what you take in, and how you burn it off. It's pretty simple, actually.

Keeping in line with the Tour De France theme in Spinning, I am working on a Stage 3 ride for today. It goes from Wanze Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. Here is the profile:

Mostly flats with three small inclines. This will definitely be a fast one with fast music! We will also try to stay at our threshold, or 80% MHR.

Music profile for the day:

1. Ain't That Cold - Bodega Girls (6:10) - warm up

2.I Need To Know - Tom Petty (2:23) - engaging in flat road, picking up cadence

3.Fell Down A Hole - Wolfmother (5:04) - hitting that first hill here, we'll make it about 3 minutes then back to a flat

4. Let It Rock (Cahill Remix) - Kevin Rudolf (3:36) - maintaining flat, move to standing to keep HR up if needed

5. Why Must You Always Dress In Black - Ben Harper and Relentless 7 (4:43) - hitting second series of small hills, climb 1 minute, flat 1 minute, climb 1 minute 30 sec, finish out with a flat

6. Go Faster - Black Crowes (4:03) - flat road but progressing with accelerations every 30 - 45 sec

7. Get On Back -  Tishamingo (4:32) - decrease gear for 1 min, add back and run during "Get on Back"

8. Crazy On You - Heart (4:54) - flat road surges during chorus to get to the front (add resistance while maintaining cadence)

9. Paint It Black - Rolling Stones (3:46) - last small incline, we'll climb for 2 minutes

10. Love the One You're With - Stephen Sills (3:06) - finish strong and fast!

11. Awe - Citizen Cope - 4:11 - Welcome to Arenberge Porte du Hainaut! Cool Down

After class, I stayed and went to Colleen's bootcamp (which I am subbing for next week if any of my people are reading!) It was brutal!

Calorie Count

Breakfast - 340

Leftover Pasta for Lunch - 440

Banana - 105

Protein Bar - 200

After-workout shake - 280
Dinner - 325

Calories Consumed:- 1690

Calories Burned: 1495

Calories Remaining for the Day............195

Spinning: Tour De France Stage 2

"Counting calories may not be popular but neither is balancing your checkbook. Both are necessary!"

- Chalene Johnson

Time to get back to the real world. Although the Food Challenge is over for me, I'm going to continue to try to keep up with my calories at the end of every day. Didn't sleep well last night (even had to drink some coffee this morning), and I'm thinking it is from the lack of training from the weekend. Plus I stayed up reading that book, only giving me 7 hours of sleep instead of the 8 that I prefer.

So another Spinning instructor at the gym had a great idea to mimic rides from Tour de France in our 4:30pm weekday afternoon classes. He printed out a map and a schedule of the type of rides, the start-finish, and the distance/time of each stage. I know I could just use some older rides that fit the description of each stage, but I'm a sucker for making themed rides, so today, I'm going to work on a ride for Stage 2, Bruxelles to Spa, about a 40 minute hilly ride. So we will do fast varying hills, will little breaks. Heart rate range should stay between 75 and 85% for the majority of the ride, which will consist mostly of flat roads (seated and standing), and mostly low to moderate hills, with two or three steep hills that may require a break at 3rd to get over, staying somewhere between 75 - 110 rpm.

This is what we are going for. This stage is actually scheduled for July 5.

Now, the trick for me is to find some music on my ipod that I haven't used lately because I have not gotten any new music in the last couple weeks. My plan is to find about 3 or 4 faster songs to get through the first 1/3 of the ride on a flat road, then we'll slow it down a bit with some power songs for the hills.

STAGE 2 PROFILE - BRUXELLES>SPA:

0:00 - 4:18  Scream My Name - LMFAO (4:18) - begin warm up, explain ride's purpose: 75 - 85% MHR, 70 - 110 rmp, flat roads that turn into small hills at an aggressive pace. Most of the ride should be aerobic until we hit 3 of our steeper hills at minutes 19, 35, and 40

4:19 - 8:00 I Need More Love - Robert Randolph - (3:42) - Second song of flat road, with small increase about half way through, but should still keep riders on a flat road. Begin to increase RPMs all the way through.

8:00 - 11:50 Ex Lover - Friendly Fires - (3:50) - Third song of flat road. Maintain high cadence between 90 - 110 rpm. Alternate between seated and standing flat.

11:51 - 15:19 The Small Print - Muse - (3:29) - This song has 2 elevations at :50 and 1:55, so we are adding a little resistance each time, slowly building up our first hill.

15:20 - 19:37 Seven - Dave Matthews Band - (4:17) - Add resistance to a moderate hill for 2 min. 30 sec until we roll back to our flat road, maintain high cadence once we are back on flat road and check HR. Get ready to hit our first hard hill at the next song...

19:38 - 23:09 Shame And Fortune - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (3:31)- Crank up resistance to a moderate/moderately hard hill for 2 minutes, and move to position 3 to power over. At the 2 minute mark, lower resistance just a little, but keep climbing.

23:10 - 27:37 - Showdown - Black Eyed Peas - (4:27) - short flat for about 30 seconds (break here if needed), then add resistance back for a moderate hill at position 3 for 1 min 30 sec, then move back to saddle without changing the gear. Focus on pedal stroke!

27:37 - 33:39 - Assassin - Headman - (6:02) - back to flat road for 1 minute. Recover if necessary, or keep high cadence and light resistance before next hill. Back to a moderate hill for 2 minutes, staying in the saddle. Roll back into a flat road for 1 minute. At 4 mins into the song, go back to a moderate hill with switchbacks to gain speed through the end of the song.

33:40 - 38:10 - More Human Than Human - White Zombie - (4:29) 1 minute Recovery. Second big hill, moderately hard at 1:00 into the song for 1 min 30 sec, then roll back to a flat road for 30 seconds for a brief recovery. at 3:00 into the song, prepare for short accellerations on a flat road, adding resistance every 20 seconds without losing speed.

38:11 - 41:03 - Bacchus - Galactic - (2:53) - Our last steep hill (mod/hard, at 85% MHR). Climb through song.

41:02 - 44:55 - Armistice - MuteMath - (3:53) - Finish with two minutes engaged in fast flat road, and begin to slowly decrease resistance to cool down.

Calorie Count for the Day:

Cereal for Breakfast + multi- vitamin - 337

LC 3 Meat pizza for lunch -  390

Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip - 200

Dinner:- 650 (pasta with wheat noodles instead of my spaghetti squash)

Calories Consumed - 1577
Calories Burned at the Gym - 945
Remaining calories for the day........................632

No Sugar Challenge!

This post was originally part of my 5th day of the 14 day food challenge post, but as I finished writing it, I thought it deserved to be a stand alone post. So, here goes....

Another Tip of the Day:

Start making small changes to your diet. Starting today, pick one thing you know isn't good for you but you eat all the time. A few examples: SUGAR, soda, most all fast food, salty foods, all fried foods, white carbs (white bread, white flour, white rice, white pasta), high fat beef, etc....

A healthy lifestyle starts with making good decisions! The first thing I started dropping from my diet was sugar, probably about 6 years ago when I did the South Beach Diet (which I thought was a great kick-start to healthy eating. It strips everything bad away, and gradually lets you add back in moderation). And I'm not kidding, quitting sugar was KILLER for the first couple weeks! But I just focused on not eating sugar until I had my cravings under control. I would watch the sugar content of juices and other sugary drinks that I drank (instead, drink water),  stopped getting bags of "bite size" chocolate to keep around the house (because everybody knows, you don't eat just 1 or 2, it's like a hand-full that adds up to more than a regular candy bar), and instead, I would eat some strawberries. I stopped putting sugar in my coffee, and avoided ice cream, cakes, pies, sugary cereals (fruity pebbles was my morning weakness), and ANYTHING of the like for at least 1 full month, or at least until I wasn't thinking about them anymore. Then very slowly add minimal amounts back into your diet. I'm not saying I never eat ice cream, but it is definitely less than once a month when I have any....then sometimes I feel guilty. I still stay away from fruit juices (rather have the real thing), but occasionally I'll buy a quart of orange juice or cranberry juice - but only drink a little every now and then - definitely not something I buy at the grocery store every week. Chocolate milk on the other hand, is hard for me to rationalize. But I still only buy it about maybe once a month.

Just came across this article, and couldn't believe how perfectly fitting it was! Pay close attention to the last sentence of the last big paragraph....

".....and has even lost some weight." 

Well, who woulda thunk it?

No Sugar Challenge! 

So go ahead and give it a try. No sugar. One month. Can ya hang??? Commit to change and DO IT!

But if you mess up, so what? Forgive yourself, jump back on it, and be conscious about not letting it happen again too soon.

Day 4 of 14 Eating Challenge

My Tip of the Day: If you don't wear a heart rate monitor while working out - get one ASAP! How else are you going to know what you are doing? Plus it helps you keep up with how many calories you burn during your workouts. And it lets you know if you are eating enough (or too much) during the day, like I did yesterday. This is the Heart Rate Monitor that I wear, and so far, I've really liked it. And looks like it is on sale right now on Amazon (just click the picture). I think I paid $85 for it. But Polar is another great brand.

And....if you aren't working out now - START TODAY! You only live once, you only have one body - be the best you can be!! (I sound like an Activia commercial mixed with the Army slogan ....or something...)


Back to the food: Had a very hard time getting up this morning. Another couple hours of sleep would have been spectacular.
Started off the day at 6:15 with a half glass of chocolate milk - 90 Cal
Next, Cereal at 337

Get to work, have some coffee and a big glass of water - 10 Cal

First song of the day: April 26, 1992 by Sublime. This song takes me waaaaaaaaay back! I will always love Sublime. Can't play it in any Spin class though.

Brought a salad for lunch today (can't ever go wrong with a bowl full of raw veggies). Most of the same ingredients: romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, slivered almonds, and shredded cheddar cheese.  Traded out the grilled chicken for 2 slices of turkey meat, and traded dressings again for lite balsamic viniagrette. Tall glass of water. 244 Cal

Planning on skipping the gym today because a) I kinda over-did it yesterday, and I need a little time to recover, and b) Jessica and I have plans to eat at Pan Asia tonight - sooooo good!

Get home from work and see the almsot empty bag of Zapp's Spicy Cajun Crawtators chips Jonas left on the counter. Had to eat the rest! So good! 150 Calories. Not too bad. (This is why I fuss when he buys stuff like this - I have no will power not to eat it! If it's not here, I won't eat it!)

Then I have a few pieces of pineapple - about 28 calories.

Head over to meet Jess at Pan Asia and have tha Pad Thai. I have no idea how many calories are in this, but I'm guessing around 700. We also split a bottle of Guenoc Chardonnay (wine is half off on Wednesdays there!) about 200 calories.

Tally for the Day:
Choc Milk and Cereal - 427
Coffee with fake creamer stuff - 10
Salad for lunch - 244
Zapps - 150
Pineapple - 28
Dinner - 900

Total for the Day - 1759 .....not to great, but not too bad considering yesterday's count.