Shakeology Cleanse, Day 1

So I've decided to do the Shakeology 3-day cleanse...again.  This round was partly planned yet partly spontaneous.  I planned at the outset of this round of P90X to do a Shakeology cleanse between Phases 2 and 3, but when I finally made it to the Phase 2 recovery week, I was no longer sure.  Last time I did the cleanse I was in the low 180s and used the cleanse to effectively get myself below the 180# threshold, and it worked; I haven't been back to 180 since.  However, this time around I'm in the mid 170s and am still gradually losing weight on my diet, so I'm concerned that a cleanse now won't be as worthwhile.

So at the beginning of the week I was no longer sure that I was going to do a cleanse like I had planned, and that's where the spontaneous part comes into play.  I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 174.x pounds, down from 176.x yesterday, and decided to go for it.  If my weight is on a downward trend, then now is the perfect time to ride that trend out.  Plus starting now gives me two days over the weekend to recover to more normal eating habits.  I learned last time that going straight off of the cleanse into Phase 3 is not a good idea.

At any rate, I'm 3 shakes down into Day 1 of the cleanse, and so far so good.  It's important when doing this regimen to effectively employ your meal timing.  After all, you only get four meals a day (three shakes and a salad), so the spacing of those meals becomes important.  For some reason I wasn't planning properly and was somehow adding in an extra meal.  It wasn't until I put it on paper that I realized what my meal timing needed to be: 7a, 11a, 3p, and 7p.  I'll get to eat my salad in a little less than two hours now, and I've got to say that I'm looking forward to eating some solid food.  I'm also curious to see how satiated that salad will leave me between 7p and when I go to bed three hours later.

I'm not feeling particularly hungry, but the thought of not being able to eat again till 7p is more annoying than anything.  For someone who has been fasting every weekend for 24h, this is not too bad, but again, it's the thought that I "can't" eat something that bothers me the most.  Not that it's hugely different from when I'm eating normally; after all, when I eat at 1p I tell myself I can't eat again until 5p.  Then again, I'm typically not hungry until 5p when eating normally.

I'm modifying from the strictest sense of the cleanse a little--I'm mixing my Shakeology with 1 cup of low-fat milk.  It ups the calorie content a little (though I'm still below 1200 cal/day), but more importantly, it ups the protein content of each meal to almost 30g.  One of the things I want to make sure of is that I don't neglect my daily protein needs.

Other than that, I was concerned about how low my carb intake would be every day--119 g/day.  It's really not that far off from the 130 g/day minimum recommended by the American Dietetic Association, but such a low carb intake might explain why I was feeling the way I was when I did this the first time.

Well, I'll log in tomorrow and write about my Day 2 experience, but so far so good!

13 seconds away from a free lunch...with a three-star admiral!

There I am, lap two around the base, rounding the final bend toward the finish line when the monitor calls out

"Nine minutes!!!"

I can see the finish line in the distance.  If I can get there in 20 seconds, I will have maxed the PRT...a feat that I have never accomplished.  Granted, the standards are lower now in my old age; I only have to do 90-something crunches, 80 push-ups, and run a mile-and-a-half in 9:20 seconds, but I'm flying.  Twenty seconds away.  I can make that!

"Nine thirty-one.  Nine thirty-two.  Nine thirty-three!  Way to go!!!"

"Damn it!!!!!"

Okay, so I'm not all that hot and bothered about not having the Admiral pick up my lunch.  It's just that I've never been 13 seconds away from maxing the PRT.  However, putting it all into perspective, last time I ran the PRT was April 19th.  I think I was one month into my first round of P90X at the time, weighed 187 lbs, and scored an overall "Excellent High," doing 101 crunches, 66 push-ups, and a mile-and-a-half time that was over 10 minutes.  In six months of doing P90X and Insanity, I managed to max both push-ups and crunches and shaved easily over 30 seconds off of my run!  I might not be rocking a six-pack yet, but I can honestly say that between P90X, Insanity, and Precision Nutrition, I am in the best shape of my life!

(Oh, and since I ran the make-up PRT, I was running with a very small group of like 6 or so people.  So, yeah, I got the #1 card on the run.  I've never taken first place on the run before either!)

Done--PN Certified!!!

I realize that it has been forever since I've written anything, but hey!  We all get busy, right?  Well, one of the things that has been keeping me busy is Precision Nutrition Level 1 certification, and I've gotta say that I'm glad to be done!

I haven't written about it yet, but Precision Nutrition has significantly impacted my life ever since I learned about it back in the middle of the year.  I learned about it as I was researching recovery drinks for the workout group I was involved with during my first round of P90X, and I just got sucked into the articles.  The PN website has a wealth of absolutely free articles that address the gamut of health and fitness.  In fact, you could probably learn just about everything there is to know about the PN system for free just by reading all of the articles.  But that would take forever, and I wanted a more concise and structured presentation of the fundamentals of the system, so I ordered the Precision Nutrition System, and down the rabbit hole I went.


I've got to be honest, I was skeptical at first.  The product information website did that whole "flood the potential customer with information" thing that I've seen in other, less reputable products.  The price offer even does that "display the retail price and markdown" thing and the "post the availability status" thing to generate a sense of limited availability.  I knew that what I read online was quality material, and the materials that were advertised to come with the system seemed worthwhile, but I remember being a little put-off by the presentation of the system.  Still, I figured that I've made $100 mistakes before, and while this could have been another, it turned out to be well worth it.

There are a number of successful nutritional models and programs out there, of which PN is just one of them.  However, the system focuses on eating healthy, whole foods and minimizing supplements.  It teaches healthy eating habits over systems and points and really codifies what good nutrition is in a sea full of conflicting guidance.  As far as I can tell, Precision Nutrition is perhaps the most comprehensive and practical nutrition system out there, and I say that from experience.  Thanks to Precision Nutrition, I've improved my diet, streamlined my supplementation, and have maintained my weight in the mid-170s ever since finishing my first round of P90X four months ago.

With a program as amazing as Precision Nutrition, naturally I wanted to share what I've learned with others.  There was only one problem: PN teaches you the foundation of good nutrition and how to customize your nutrition if you so desire, but the system is not really geared toward teaching others.  Sure, I could tell people what the system says, but then I'm giving nutritional advice, and I didn't exactly feel qualified to do that.  But then I saw that PN would be offering a certification course toward the end of this year.  The way I saw it was pretty simple: the PN system teaches you how to eat better, and PN certification would teach me how to teach others.

The program was VERY comprehensive.  The text was seventeen chapters long, half of which was devoted to biological function and the other half to PN coaching.  I learned more than I ever though I would about mitochondrial function, Krebs Cycle, transport proteins, and metabolic pathways.  By the time I got through all of the material, I felt ready to take the exam.  After years of short-answer exams, I figured a 100 question multiple-guess exam would be cake.  When the very first question asked me to identify which chemical was "cardioprotective," I knew I was wrong to underestimate the exam.  They weren't kidding when they said that this would be equivalent to a masters course in sports nutrition!

But all that's behind me now, and I have the "omini-domini" from Precision Nutrition to go forth and teach.  I plan to offer my services to any of my customers on TeamBeachbody.  And if anyone reading this wants my help to improve their overall nutrition, let me know.  I'm sure we can work something out!

Shakeology: Just How Healthy Is "The Healthiest Meal Of The Day"?

I had to think really hard about whether or not I wanted to write this article.  After all, I've been drinking Shakeology almost daily for the last three months and can't argue that it has helped me achieve my health and fitness goals.  But little by little thoughts started to creep up causing me to question why I'm drinking Shakeology.  It got to the point where I could no longer ignore my curiousity, so I dug.

What first got me doubting my cornerstone of health was a comment on the Team Beachbody message boards.  At one point, while doing P90X, the discussion turned to Michael Pollan's Food Rules--a book of concise rules that anyone could easily understand and follow to improve one's diet.  One of the food rules is "don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."  As much as I love Shakeology, I'd have to admit that it would be difficult to explain to great-grandma the concept of a meal in a glass.

And then I started on the Precision Nutrition (PN) system.  In it I learned a number "habits" to develop to improve my diet as well as a number of practical techniques to make improvement a reality.  Almost immediately I found myself cooking my own meals from whole foods and eating vegetiables with every meal.  No doubt my diet was improving.  Along those lines, the PN system is very conservative in it's recommendation of supplements; they don't even recommend a multivitamin!  The concept is exceedingly simple--your food choices should be the primary source of your nutrition, and you should only supplement for very specific reasons.  Sadly, there's not a whole lot of room for Shakeology in that plan.

But PN is not without supplement recommendations entirely.  It does recommend a greens supplement.  Well, hey!  Shakeology has a "phytonutrient super-green blend."  Maybe that was the key to keeping Shakeology in my diet.  Well, before I could hit the "I Believe" button, I had to see how it stacked up compared to other greens supplements.  After all, Shakeology's super-green blend is only a portion of it's overall ingredient list, which numbers over 40 discrete items.  Is there enough greens in Shakeology to make it an effective greens supplement?

It turns out, no, not so much.  No doubt, Shakeology contains a number of phenominal and exotic ingredients that you're probably only going to get from Shakeology.  However, 1000 milligrams of lettuce, tomato, spinach, chick pea, black olive, onion, and carrot powder does not a salad make.

I looked at each individual ingredient in Shakeology's super-green blend to see how much of each ingredient you would have to consume in order to achieve any useful benefit.  While some of the ingredients in the super-green blend have no minimum dosing recommendations or established values, like blue-green algae, of all the supplements I could find dosages for, you would have to consume a minimum of nearly 36.5 grams/day to receive the benefits of all the ingredients contained in the super-green blend; the blend in Shakeology totals 1.8 grams.  Chlorella alone has a recommended minimum dose of 5 grams/day for maintenance, according to chlorellafactor.com.  While Shakeology contains a number of potent ingredients, you could easily make an argument that it doesn't contain enough of them to offer any real benefit.

If the low levels of any particular ingredient are cause to question the health benefits of Shakeology, then there needs to be something else to support the health claims.  Perhaps there's some sort of synergy in all of the ingredients that results in health benefits unique to Shakeology.  While Shakeology has a slew of positive customer reviews and claims the support of no less than 100 doctors, unfortunately it is lacking in supporting research.  The only study that was conducted was an uncredited, independent 90-day study.  The study revealed a number of health benefits, to include lower total cholesterol and LDL levels, but there are products out there that have more compelling research backing them.  Though it has positive implications, one study of unknown origin can hardly be considered conclusive.

What then, does that mean Shakeology is bunk and is not worth drinking?  Not necessarily.  Comparing Shakeology's micronutrient content to other greens supplements, Shakeology is comparable if not better in certain categories.  Shakology does make for a tasty and filling shake, so from a satiability and sustainability standpoint, Shakeology works very well.  Shakeology is low on the glycemic index and is gluten free, which allows people with gluten sensitivities to have a healthy meal that is easy to prepare.  And having personally done the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse with great results, I can absolutely say that Shakeology does have its merit.

So what's the bottom line?  My current position on Shakeology is that it has its place and will remain in my nutritional arsenal, though I will not be using it every day once my 30 day supplies run out.  The numbers don't lie, and Shakeology's macro and micronutrient content make it a worthy contender as a meal replacement, probably the best there is.  I think Shakeology is most beneficial for those with average diets, and by "average" I mean that they've done nothing, or little to improve it.  If you're eating a modest breakfast like cereal or oatmeal or (gulp) fast food breakfast sandwiches/bagles/donuts, a sandwich for lunch, a microwave dinner, and granola bars for snacks like I was, then Shakeology is probably for you.  If, however, you have taken significant steps toward improving your diet, such as eating vegetables and lean protein with every meal and prepare your own meals using whole ingredients, then Shakeology might be a little overkill.

I tend to travel a lot, and there's no doubt that my nutrition suffers when I travel.  So I will keep a supply of individual travel packs on hand for when I travel so that I can guarantee that I have at least one decent, nutritious meal when I'm unable to prepare my own meals.  That's how I intend to use Shakeology from now on.  You'll have to decide for yourself if Shakeology fits your lifestyle and where.  And if you need help with that, feel free to contact me.  I'll be glad to help you determine if Shakeology is for you!

Mmmmmmm....coal tar!

Have you had your coal tar today?  No?  If you took your multivitamin today, chances are you did!  Yay!!!

I'm starting to realize that I am pretty ignorant about my supplements.  I'd like to think I'm not alone.  Let's face it, it's almost cliché to think of a daily multivitamin as "insurance" against a sub-par diet, and of course, every American diet is sub-par, right?  Even if you think you eat a healthy diet, can you really be sure you're getting all of your Vitamin D3, zinc, or molybdenum?  And let's not forget coal tar!

How many of you knew that vitamins fall under one of six categories?  I didn't.  All vitamin supplements can be classified as "strictly synthetic," "nature-identical synthetic," "natural source," "food cultured," "food based," or "bacterial fermentation."  Not surprisingly, most vitamin supplements are either strictly synthetic or nature-identical synthetic, both of which are synonymous for "made in a lab."  The key difference between strictly synthetic and nature-identical synthetic is something called optical activity.  Optical activity is a technical term that refers to the shape of the molecular chain that comprises a particular vitamin.  While a synthetic vitamin might have the same chemical composition as the real deal, it's shape might not conform with a form that is compatible with the enzymes our bodies use to process it.  Therefore, since the optical activity of strictly synthetic vitamins differs from natural or even nature-identical synthetic vitamins, the bioavailability of strictly synthetic vitamins is lower than other forms.

But just because a vitamin is nature-identical doesn't mean it's all that great for us.  As you probably know, most Vitamin C supplements are comprised of ascorbic acid.  Guess where we get ascorbic acid from?  Oranges?  No.  Coal tar?  No, but I'm getting to that.  Corn!  That's right, ascorbic acid is typically derived chemically from corn/rice starch or corn sugar.

Coal tar is where we synthetically get Vitamin B-1 (thiamin).  Hydrochloric acid, the strongest of acids, is added to coal tar to cause it to precipitate.  The precipitant is collected and processed to create thiamin.  Yum!

The point here is that, just like I haven't given any thought to to my insurance coverages and deductibles (and probably should), I've never given any thought to my diet "insurance" until now.  We've always known that honest-to-goodness whole food is far superior to anything we can get out of a bottle, but maybe it's time we started to really look into the bottle.  Maybe we'll start to see that, not only are supplemental vitimans NOT a reasonable substitute for the vitamins and minerals we don't get due to our poor diets, but we'll start to see that they're light-years apart.

(BTW: if you're interested in reading about this topic in depth, check out the article All About Where Our Vitamin Supplements Come From.  I credit all of the information I wrote in this post to Ryan Andrews, who authored this article.  Any errors are my own.)

Now it's time to figure out if I should lower my deductibles!

Cooking in Bulk

I've always heard that cooking in bulk was common among the health conscious as it is a great way to minimize time spent slaving over the stove while allowing you to consistently eat healthy.  Okay, sure, but when you're a single guy who's used to microwave dinners and instant oatmeal, "cooking in bulk" pretty much always meant "make chili" to me (which I've never done).

Well, Precision Nutrition changed all of that.  Included is a "Quick Start" Guide, which has a shopping list and an example of how to prepare food in the kitchen.  Known as the "evening ritual," this food prep portion is supposed to take one hour, and when you're done, you'll have meals that will last you at least one day, maybe two!

What a pain in the ass that turned out to be!  No individual task was difficult, but I found myself constantly moving--getting out the ingredients, consulting the cook book, washing the vegetables, throwing them in the food processor, pre-heating the oven, yada yada yada.  While this whole experiment was supposed to take only an hour, it ended up taking me about two, and when I was done I was in no hurry to set foot in the kitchen again!  Cooking shouldn't be this demanding.

Here's a couple of things I learned that should immediately improve the experience next time.

• Start with a clean kitchen: obvious, right?  I found the reality to be quite different.  See, I've always been kind of a slob.  It's not terrible.  I mean, I usually put things away and I put my dirty clothes in a hamper, but I let little things creep up over time until the next thing I know I'm spending an afternoon putting things away.  The kitchen seems to be the epitome of my problems.  Dirty dishes set up shop in the sink (or counter tops when the sink gets full), my counters get crowded with food items that I have yet to put away, and the kitchen island accumulates all sorts of non-kitchen items (keys, mail, etc).  I found myself very frustrated having a lot of counter space but only being able to use a fraction of it, and I was also extremely frustrated having to clean pots/pans and utensils before using them because they were dirty when I started.  I have since cleaned up and organized my kitchen, but still...lesson learned!
• Cleaning the chicken: boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a staple of the PN system and any healthy diet.  It also should be easy to prepare, but somehow I managed to make it difficult.  My mother likes to "clean" the chicken, meaning she cuts off the fat and the otherwise undesirable looking portions of the chicken.  I've worked with raw chicken once, four years ago, so I really don't know what I'm doing with it.  From what I've found online, it seems like you can pretty much get away with just washing it and throwing it on the cooking sheet, but I didn't know that.  I tried pulling the tendons out but just ended up with small chunks of chicken all over the cooking sheet!  Next time around I'm gonna try cooking the chicken with minimum prep.
• Organize for the event: this goes beyond the basic having a squared away kitchen thing.  By this I mean you should read through the recipes you're gonna prepare, then pull out the things you're gonna need and stage them somewhere.  There's nothing more frustrating when you're working on a timed schedule and you can't find the damn quinoa!  It might take an extra few minutes, but I think the time saved would have been well worth it.

I'm going to be attempting a mini version of "the ritual" tonight, as I'm running out of pre-made meals.  I think this time I'm gonna chop the ingredients for the scrambled eggs tomorrow, prep the steel-cut oats, and make chili.  Hey, it's about time I tried it!

Giving MFP a Rest

Looking at my calorie tally for yesterday, and how it's shaping up today, I'm thinking about taking a break from MFP (myfitnesspal.com) for the rest of the week.  Hear me out...

After having finished P90X, I found myself with the body I thought I'd never have--169# and as fit as I was when I graduated from Marine Corps boot camp.  (Confirmed!  I did 12 pull-ups during the post-fit test, which was as much as I ever did in the Marines).  P90X, in conjunction with MFP, proved to be a winning combination.

So I know P90X works, and I know MFP works, but here's the deal: I'm going through a one week down time between P90X and Insanity, and I'm on vacation.  That vacation piece is the more significant factor.  During my down week I'll be in San Francisco, where I am actively planning to indulge in gastronomic delights.  I'm planning to gnash on Kara's Cupcakes, savor a sourdough bowl of clam chowder at Boudin's Bakery, put Krispy Kreme to the Pepsi Challange against Dynamo Donut, and find out what a real burrito tastes like by choosing a recommended spot from burritoeater.com (probably Gordo's).


And that's just in San Francisco!  When I'm in Palo Alto, I'm planning on having lunch at In & Out (not that there's anything special about the In & Outs in Palo Alto, it will just happen to work out that way).  Dinner will be at Kelley Brother's Brewery, where I absolutely must have a pint of Fossil Fuel Brewery's ancient ale (real Jurassic Park stuff here--they make their beer with yeast that was fossilized in amber millions of years ago)!


I suppose I could obtain nutritional info where available to input into MFP, but it's not going to change my plans.  I could estimate where nutrition info is not available, or even email restaurants directly for the nutrition facts if need be.  But (not) surprisingly, Kara doesn't post the nutrition facts of her cupcakes online.  I can't help but feel that there is something twisted about feeling compelled to account for the calorie cost of a cupcake while on vacation.  By doing so, aren't I missing the point?


No, I'm going to give MPF a rest this week.  After successfully completing 3 months of P90X, doubles at that, I think I've earned this week of not caring.  Besides, with Insanity looming on the horizon, I might need all of the calorie reserves I can get!