Miscellaneous Monday (in honor of Tony)
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Weight Loss
This morning thinking about what I wanted to blog I had a ton of different and completely unrelated thoughts running through my head. I decided that I would just write about all of them, and in honor of Tony Gentilcore I named the post Miscellaneous Monday. Enjoy!
1. Anna and I spent a quick weekend in Maine during Halloween, just spending time with our families. I of course checked out the local Hannaford to see what kind of food options were available since I hadn’t shopped there in years. I was shocked at some of the fantastic options, at such better prices than Connecticut (shocker I know, but seriously, so much cheaper). In the “Natural Food” section they had raw cheese, full fat Greek yogurt (which is usually available at natural food stores, but rarely in a traditional supermarket), all manner of almond and hemp milk, tons of sprouted grain products including breads, English muffins and wraps, quinoa and more. Needless to say I was very impressed with the selection.
So if you live in Maine, especially around the Lewiston-Auburn area you have no excuses when it comes to high quality food selection. Not only that but there are tons of small local farms for quality produce, meat and eggs in addition to many small natural food stores (like Axis Natural Foods in Auburn). Maine is a healthy eater’s dream.
2. Speaking of almond milk, I just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago, and I must say I was very impressed. After some more reading on problems with dairy, I am cutting my consumption down to Greek yogurt and whey protein, with the very occasional cottage cheese snack (I plan on writing a large article about the topic, just have to find the time). I haven’t drank much milk in a long time anyway, but I was looking for a healthier alternative. Soy milk was definitely out of the picture because it sucks, rice milk tends to be quite high in carbs and sugar for my taste, so I thought I would give almond milk a try. I bought Pacific Natural Foods organic unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and even by itself it was quite good.
Like I noted in a recent blog, I have been experimenting with a small protein shake before I train. Instead of water I have now been using 8oz of the almond milk, with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, cinnamon to taste and a banana, or I blend the milk, protein and cinnamon with an apple. It is absolutely awesome and helps to keep my energy levels up while I train. I highly recommend you give it a try.
3. For a completely random occurrence yesterday Anna and I were doing our usual Sunday grocery shopping. I was grabbing some eggs when I hear Anna start to talk to someone behind me. I turn around to see her talking to our friend Cassandra Forsythe. Talk about random! Cass works at a gym not too unlike CP just down the street, but still what are the chances? We chatted for a minute, of course talked about some nutrition stuff, about her pregnancy and just life in general. So this isn’t so much an important comment, just an interesting one.
4. Use your lazy Sunday to prepare yourself for the week. I know it has been written about ad nauseam, but it really can make a huge difference in your food consumption for the week. Last night Anna and I made her chili recipe, cooked a family pack of chicken breast, and chopped our veggies. This makes our daily food prep so much more convenient and so much faster. Just do it.
5. If any of you are worried about the usual holiday weight gain, utilize tip #4 to control your food choices and intake. If that isn’t enough, don’t forget about Mike Roussell and Alwyn Cosgrove’s awesome Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0. This product will help strip those holiday pounds off and more, and would be perfect to start as your New Year’s resolution because it works, plain and simple. Get it HERE.
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Posted on November 9th, 2009 by Brian St. Pierre
6 Comments
November 9th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Hey Brian!
I’m an avid reader of your blog. It’s very well written and I’m glad to see the nutrition side of the spectrum talked about too.
I just read you started drinking almond milk. I’ve also given up dairy (save whey protein and yogurt). I switched to coconut milk. You can find it at Whole Foods (and possibly other natural food stores) The brand I buy is SODelicious. It has MCTs and I think it tastes better than almond milk.
Just a suggestion.
Keep up the good work!
Kelsey
November 9th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Brian,
I am curious for your write up on milk to come out. It seemed from past blogs that you were all over dairy consumption as a positive aspect. I don’t drink to much milk, but I love my yogurt and cottage cheese.
david
November 9th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Brian,
I too limit my dairy consumption, mostly to the occasional bit of whey protein and Greek yogurt.
As far as Greek yogurt goes (at least the “commercial” kind to be had in most supermarkets), does this still have all or almost all of the problems inherent in conventional store bought milk?
Obviously the protein content tends to be higher in the yogurt, but as far as a lot of the reasons store-bought milk seems to get skewered, I am guessing the Greek yogurt still suffers these same issues (unless you’re pasturing your own cow and making your own, hah, hah).
I realize there’s only so much time in your day, but it would great to see a bit about this in a future post like the one you mentioned might be in the works.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Thanks for the Chili recipe. It looks awesome, it will be tried for dinner tonight. Hope all is well with you.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Great blog Brian. A good portion of my day is catching up on what you, Tony, and Cassandra have to say. Wanted to let you know I made the blueberry apple crisp last week and it was a big hit. Even with my mother in law! Thanks a bunch!
November 11th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Brian,
For an even better alternative to milk, try coconut milk. Great blog.