You Asked, I Answered
Question 1: Any recommendations on protein powders? Or at least protein types. Been using a great whey/casein blend for a while, but looking to get away from it as per the dairy issue.
Answer: For protein powders there are a lot of options, it just really depends on what you can fit into your budget. If you are a fan of whey, like I am, then I would encourage some products like this:
- Whey Cool by Designs for Health
- BiPro by Davisco Foods
- Grow Bioactive Whey by Biotest
Obviously there are a TON more choices, but I just chose 3 good products, with different price points.
I would rank Whey Cool (and products like it such as Warrior Milk) as probably the Cadillac of protein powders, but you pay an arm and a leg for it.
I think BiPro is another fantastic product, maybe a slight step down from Whey Cool, but it is more reasonably priced, though still not cheap.
If Whey Cool is the Cadillac, then Grow would be the Buick. It is still a quality product, but it does contain some sucralose, which I am not really a fan of, but it is also the most reasonably priced whey here, and it tastes great.
It really all depends on your budget, and how much you are willing to spend on protein powder. To me if you start getting a lot cheaper than Grow, then I start to wonder about the quality of the product, it might still be good, but I certainly have my doubts.
If you want to get completely aware from dairy-based protein powders, see the next question.
Question 2: Do you have any recommendations for affordable rice protein powder that doesn’t taste like dust? I got some vanilla rice protein powder from Whole Foods, and I use lots of fruit, but I keep feeling like I’m drinking a chalk shake. Sun Warrior rice protein powder gets good reviews, but is expensive.
Answer: Unfortunately most rice protein powder is awful, in my opinion. I tried Sun Warrior and personally was not a fan, but I am also used to some delicious whey. I too have heard good things, and have had a few clients who really like it, so it is probably the best rice protein powder out there, but you do pay for it.
Other options would be some egg protein, or hemp protein like Hemp Pro 70 by Manitoba Harvest. Hemp certainly has a distinct taste, and is a little nutty, but I still prefer the Manitoba Harvest over the Sun Warrior myself. Give each a shot and let me know what you think.
A Delicious Deviation
For my wife and I, Sunday mornings are often a departure from the norm. Every Monday through Saturday we are up early, making the same breakfast, doing the same things, you know, in our routine. Sundays however, allow for more time and creativity, and this is where meal experiments can really shine (or fail, but at least it was worth a try).
This past Sunday Anna and I were not in the mood for eggs, so we popped open our copy of the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook, and perused the breakfast options, looking for something interesting. Lo and behold, we stumbled across a delicious french toast and parfait recipe that looked absolutely awesome.
Since we didn’t have every single ingredient, and you know I am going to modify it anyways, we made that recipe BSP style. It called for some whole grain bread to be cut into 1-inch squares, so we used some sprouted grain Ezekiel bread. We mixed that with some omega-3 eggs, and added cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Top it off with a little maple syrup, and it was awesome.
The parfait portion called for cottage cheese, yogurt, and strawberries among other things, and we didn’t have any of it. So instead we subbed in plain Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese and regular yogurt (and added a packet of Truvia for a little more sweetness), used blackberries for the strawberries, and it to was incredible.
The point of this post is to show that eating healthy does not have to be boring or monotonous. Too often people get stuck into healthy eating ruts, including me, where they eat the same meals over and over and over again. Variety is the spice of life, people. Continuity certainly has its place, but there is something to be said for stepping outside your comfort zone and trying a new recipe and just seeing what happens.
In the end it was a phenomenal breakfast, not only did it taste great, it looked the part too.
For more recipes like this, definitely check out Gourmet Nutrition and the complete Precision Nutrition System.
One-Upping Tony Gentilcore
I teased on Friday that I would show the video evidence of me pulling 615, to stay ahead of Tony on the staff leaderboard (though still behind EC, who pulled 640). Well without further ado, here I am:
PS - I know it isn’t the world’s prettiest lift, it was a max effort, and it was 615lbs, it happens. I do not recommend training like that, but some thoracic rounding when maxing out is just fine.
PPS - Yes, that is Pearl Jam playing in the background, and they are the greatest America rock band of all time.
On a totally unrelated note, I watched two totally awesome movies this weekend. I finally got around to seeing the very charming and incredibly likable (500) Days of Summer, and the visually arresting Avatar.
(500) Days of Summer was very charming, as both leads were excellent. It will put a smile on your face for so many wonderfully touching parts, and yet it will break your heart at so many others, while making you chuckle throughout. In many ways it reminded of me of Garden State, in that it had a charming tone, two wonderful leads and a great story.
Avatar was just amazing to watch. The story is nothing new, but the visuals are on a level that has never been seen before, and I was absolutely blown away by it. Obviously I am like the last person in the country to have seen this movie, so I am hardly telling any of you something new, but if you have not seen it yet, do yourself a favor and find an IMAX 3-D to maximize the experience.
Uhh…Random/Interesting Stuff?
A CP client sent me a link to a Harvard website all about running. As I am sure you know, running is certainly not my favorite thing to do, and I am quite fond of the Mike Boyle quote “You have to be fit to run, not run to be fit”.
That being said, this website is quite fascinating. It is looking at the history of human evolution, and the fact that humans have been running for millions of years without the aid of the modern running shoe. It looks at the running mechanics of people who have never worn shoes in their lives, compared to the running mechanics of people in shoes.
It shows the different ground reaction forces, feet angles, and the resulting differences in the way our bodies absorb these forces and changes. It is really interesting, and really expands on the topics covered in Born to Run (which I reviewed HERE, awesome book by the way). I highly recommend you check this site out, especially if you are a runner.
This may sound dry and boring, but it is written for the lay population, and has lots of videos and charts to show the data, and it is very eye-opening and makes me even more certain that for most people, getting out of your shoes as often as possible is a fantastic idea.
On another note, Tony, Pete and I just completed a month of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program, and I must say, I came away impressed with the results. All three of us have set some PR’s after finishing this program, and that is quite a feat.
Pete increased his box squat by a whopping 50lbs (granted, his max had probably gone up some before this program, he just hadn’t tested it), his bench went up by 20lbs, his trap bar deadlift went up 40lbs and his 3-rep max chinup went up 12lbs. These are some remarkable gains. I will also note that since July I have helped Pete put on 18lbs, so that has certainly helped his gains.
Tony finally pulled 600lbs on the trap bar, which was a 25lb PR for him, improved his 3-rep max chinup by 6lbs, and was able to up his bench by 5lbs as well. He didn’t test his back squat because his knees would probably explode. For someone with over 12 years of training experience, this is incredible progress for 1 month of training.
Now my testing was a little hit or miss. With Tony pulling 600, that meant he was now 5lbs ahead of me on the staff leaderboard. This was unacceptable. I attempted my bench, but after a night where I had to get up at 1 and at 5:30 to take the puppy out to pee (she is only 15 weeks, she can’t hold it that long), I bombed out miserably.
Considering I am also about 20lbs lighter than I was when I set my bench PR of 345, it probably wasn’t going to happen anyway. My trap bar was a different story, and since the video evidence of me dominating Tony needs some formatting, you will just have to wait until next week to see me setting a PR pull. I also plan on testing at least my chinup next week, as I can’t be the only guy on staff who’s total weight is under 300lbs, and possibly my box squat as well, so stay tuned!
Have a great weekend everybody!
Vanilla & Berries Delight
As many of you know I used to eat cottage cheese like it was my job, often twice per day. I had a recipe that I ate nearly every single day, and I loved it. Now that I have cut back on my dairy consumption, and no longer really eat cottage cheese, this delicious meal was no longer an option.
So I have decided to do something about it. I have created a non-cottage cheese smoothie version, which I personally think is absolutely delicious. If you love vanilla and you love berries, you will absolutely love this smoothie.
Vanilla & Berries Delight
- 6-8oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 scoop vanilla protein
- 1/2 cup wild frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 tbsp milled flax seed
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
- ice cubes as desired
Now if you are a guy who needs a few more calories than this provides, then I would add in 6oz vanilla Greek yogurt, and maybe bump the flax to 2 tbsp and the walnuts to 1/4 cup, or you can just do any one of those things, depending on your needs. You could also add in some old-fashioned oats or quinoa flakes if you needed to bump up the carbs.
If you are a woman, or anyone looking to keep calories lower, you could keep it as is since it is only about 360 calories, or you could cut walnuts down to 1 tbsp and berries down to 1/4 cup each if you really needed to.
The point is, do not be afraid to make changes or experiment based on your needs and desires. Enjoy!
PS - A lot of you have requested that I add a Recipe Categories feature. Well take a quick peek to your right, as it is finally here. As I continue to blog I will add old recipes to that category as well, so that way all of my recipes will be much more easily found!
A Day In The Life: Take 4?
With my recent decrease in dairy intake and other dietary changes, I have had some requests for another Day In The Life installment, showing my personal food intake. One thing I want to remind everyone is that these are example days, not every day is the same. Feel free to use my exact meals, or experiment with your own, as food is one of the great joys of life, eating should be a pleasure, not a mindless feeding.
Wake @ 6 - take puppy out to walk/pee
Breakfast @ 6:30
Omelet
- 1/2 tbsp Barlean’s coconut oil
- 5 whole omega-3 eggs
- 1 cup mixed frozen peppers (red, yellow, green) and onions
- dash Redmond Real Salt
- 1-2 tbsp black bean & corn salsa
Oatmeal
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup Wyman’s wild frozen blueberries
- 1 tbsp milled flax seed
- 1 scoop Biotest Superfood
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Beverages
- 3oz POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
- 12oz water
- 1 cup black coffee
Supplements
- 1 multi-vitamin
- 3 fish oil pills (1.8 grams EPA/DHA)
- 2 borage oil pills (600mg GLA)
- 4,000 IU vitamin D
- 500mg Curcumin
- 1 probiotic
Pre-Training @ 9:45 (while driving to CP)
- 6-8oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 scoop chocolate whey protein
- 5 grams creatine
- 1 cup frozen dark cherries
- 1 tbsp milled flax seed
- 1 tbsp raw cacao nibs
- 2 tbsp walnuts
- 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
Beverage
- 12oz white, green or black tea
Train @ 11-12 - lots of water
Post-Training Lunch @ 1
- 1 Large Serving of My Wife’s Chili (makes 5 large or 10 small servings)
Dinner @ 5
Greek Yogurt Special
- 16oz 2% Plain Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup Wyman’s wild frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp almonds and pecans
- 1 packet Truvia
Late Dinner @ 9ish
- 1 chopped chicken breast
- 2 cups mixed frozen veggies (broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, onions, red pepper, corn)
- 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, sprayed with the Misto
- seasoned to taste
Beverages
- 8oz water
- 4oz Red Wine
Supplements
- 3 ZMA before bed
That is an example day, though half the time at breakfast I replace the oats with 1/2 Ezekiel English muffin with 1/2 tbsp Manitoba Harvest hemp seed butter and 1 tsp organic fruit spread, with a banana. I also eat a lot of Ezekiel wraps after training when we haven’t made chili. I have a bunch of tasty recipes, and I have one with a piece of fruit like an apple or an orange. I also drink a ton of water throughout the day, along with another 2-3 cups of white, green or black tea.
I hope this helps some of you find some good recipes, and see that eating healthy is also delicious!
Reading Without Reading
Now that we are truly in the midst of the busy season at CP, downtime is a scarce commodity. I love to read, in fact it is one of my favorite leisure activities, been that way since I was a wee lad. Unfortunately these days there is little to no time whatsoever to sit down and enjoy a nice book.
On the bright side however, is the fact that I spend approximately 2.5 hours per day in my car. The first impression of that statement may not seem like such a bright side, but we can make those hours mighty productive if we chose to. I use that time to dictate some of these here blogs on my Dragon Naturally Speaking, I listen to sports talk radio and most recently I have been listening to audiobooks. This has been awesome.
My queue of books seems like it grows daily, and I am barely able to even chip away, so this has been more or less life-changing. This all started a while back when I listened to EC’s copy of Born to Run, which I reviewed HERE.
That book really got me interested in pursuing this route further, and I have finally come around to making it happen. I have found that the best way to do this is to join Audible.com. You can download the mp3 versions of these books rather than on multiple cd’s. This allows you to download it straight to your iPod, and it goes in as one file, rather than 15 tracks per cd. There is also no waiting for the product to ship, and you have less “things” lying around your house. For the final touch, it costs significantly less.
Tony has been trying for over a year to read some of Malcolm Gladwell’s stuff. I have really wanted to, they were just stuck behing other books on the list that I just could not seem to finish, so audible.com came to the rescue. In the past few weeks I have listened to Blink and Outliers, and plan on getting the Tipping Point soon as well. Blink was very good, but I thought Outliers was fantastic, definitely a must-read (or listen) and both books are read by Mr. Gladwell himself.
I am about to start working on Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Tony is loving it, so I thought I would give it a listen. I have to head up to Bangor, Maine tomorrow so needless to say I will probably finish the book by this weekend.
To wrap up here is a quote I borrowed from Mike Boyle’s post about listening to audio books during your commute:
“A study at USC has shown that if a person drives at least 12,000 miles a year ( as likely someone would in any metropolitan city) and uses this method of education (audio books), in a matter of three years he or she would have the equivalent of two years of college education”.
That’s pretty sweet considering I drive 750-900+ miles per week!
Omelets Made Easy
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love my omelet for breakfast. I eat the same omelet usually about 6 mornings per week for breakfast, I just love it that much. I have mastered my technique for rapid omelet making, and I am also known for eating quite rapidly when I am hungry, so overall I make and eat my omelet within 15-20 minutes (this also includes an Ezekiel English muffin with natural peanut butter and a banana).
Now I have always made the time in my morning preparation to eat this omelet. I did this even in college. A lot of people though, aren’t willing to sacrifice 10 measly minutes of sleep to make and eat this omelet rather than a bowl of cereal or a Pop-tart. Fortunately for those of you, a client of mine has come up with a brilliant solution.
We will call this client “Pete”. Pete is notorious for being one of the world’s slowest eaters, and he isn’t much of a cook either, so making and consuming an omelet traditionally-made took him roughly an hour every morning. Which is ridiculous. So Pete decided to do something about it.
Using his Magic Bullet, Pete blended up his 5 omega-3 eggs and 1 cup of mixed frozen peppers and onions and a tablespoon or two of salsa while his pan was heating. He then tossed the blended concoction onto the pan, which cooked much faster now that it didn’t have to heat full chunks of frozen veggies. He was able to cut his cooking time in half.
Now that his omelet was nice and smooth with minimal veggie chunks to chew, Pete was able to eat his omelet much faster as well. His new cooking and eating time was now about 25-30 minutes (including an Ezekiel English muffin with natural peanut butter and a banana, yes he eats the same breakfast as me), which for Pete is practically a world record.
This has been a huge morning saver for him, allowing those few extra minutes of sleep he craves, as well as giving him more time to make the rest of his meals for the day before heading off to work. With a little dedication, even the least likely of us can succeed.
Saturated Fat and Chocolate Cherry Bliss
An interesting tidbit came across my path today, as one of my favorite bloggers announced the release of a meta-analysis by one of the most prominent lipid researchers in the entire world, Dr. Ronald Krauss. The meta-analysis looked at the observational studies evaluating the link between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease. Surprise, surprise they found absolutely no link between the two, quoting:
“A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.”
To check out the study for yourself, click HERE.
After 40 years of bullshit advice, is the medical community finally going to come around? We shall see.
Finally, I want to leave you guys with a nice smoothie recipe for the weekend. I “borrowed” and modified this from the new Warp Speed Fat Loss diet template, so if you are a cherry fan, take note!
Chocolate Cherry Bliss
- 6oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or unsweetened chocolate if you can find it, or water)
- 1/2-1 cup frozen dark cherries
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp walnuts
- ice as desired
This is absolutely delicious, and is a great treat if you are craving something a little sweet at the end of the day. You could spice it up even more and add 1 tbsp raw cacao nibs as well.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Steaz: Ready-to-Drink Green Tea
While in the midst of Warp Speed a CP client came across a gem of a product at Whole Foods and sent me a picture (oddly enough, this is the same product that another client had asked me about, but this was the first time I actually saw it).
Thank You Danny & Chris
Steaz is a naturally sweetened (stevia and erythritol - the sweeteners in Truvia), calorie-free sparkling organic green tea. It is delicious. It is especially delicious if you are on a lower-carb diet for a New Years resolution.
It is certified organic, and was just introduced to market in October. After receiving that picture I headed off to Stop & Shop as planned on Sunday. As I was perusing the “natural food aisle”, as is my wont, I just happened to spot this exact drink sitting in the refrigerator: jackpot!
We tried the blueberry pomegranate, and it is excellent, and I have been told (but have not tried personally) that the orange is to die for.
Steaz sparkling green tea has received two Best of 2009 awards from BevNET, the leading online community website for the beverage industry. It won Best New Organic Product of 2009 and Best New Carbonated Beverage of 2009.
Most calorie-free green teas are artificially sweetened with health-poor aspartame or sucralose (Splenda) and actually have very little green tea or antioxidants in them. Steaz sparkling green tea has 120mg of green tea antioxidants per bottle, which is very good as a normal cup of fresh brewed green tea has about 195mg.
The Healthy Beverage Company (www.steaz.com) is the maker of USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified Steaz Iced Teaz, Steaz Sparkling Green Teas and Steaz Energy drinks and shots. According to SPINSscan Natural, Steaz is the best-selling natural Energy Drink brand in the U.S., based on total dollar and unit sales. Steaz beverages are sold nationally in natural, specialty, gourmet and club stores, as well as food service outlets. Steaz is also sold in retail grocery stores such as Whole Foods Markets, Safeway, Stop n Shop, Wegmans, and Shaw’s supermarkets. Recently, Steaz Organic Iced Teaz were launched in all Target Stores nationwide.
So if you are interested in some calorie-free sparkling certified organic green tea that is ready-to-drink, while also supporting a good company that sources from fair-trade farmers, then give this one a shot. Enjoy!
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About Me
Brian St. Pierre is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN). He received his degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition with a focus in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Maine. With his contagious passion and enthusiasm, Brian is a young and exciting new face in the industry. -
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