By: Michelle Kruse
If you haven’t checked out the recipes on the O’Keefe’s blog, make sure you do so. As the self-appointed head of the tasting committee, I must say the results were fabulous. Joan O’Keefe brainstormed some color and protein combinations and came up with some unique ideas. Disclosure – I am NOT a picky person. I like almost all foods, even the healthy ones. So, to make the tasting fair, we asked some of the world’s pickiest eaters (a couple of them are right here in our office) to give our recipes a try.
Remember the old Life Cereal commercials? Let’s see if Mikey likes it? Well, we’ve got a few Mikey’s on staff. But, even the pickiest eaters in our office enjoyed our recipes – especially those that included blueberries. The mandarin oranges were also a big hit. After some tweaks, the pumpkin recipe received a lot of favorite votes. It smells delicious, too. It’s comfort food that’s really, really healthy. It’s like pumpkin pie with huge health benefits, not huge guilt. I’m going to test that one on the kids tomorrow – I’ll let you know how it goes.
The goal of providing these recipes is to get people to enjoy whey protein. It’s one of the best things you can give your body. It’s one of the cleanest, purest proteins available and the benefits are astounding. In fact, I’m off to have my mid-day whey protein and some berries right now… I’ll be full until dinner time!
By Michelle Kruse
I’m over my disappointment from the marathon. I spent a week in Phoenix, AZ visiting family and friends and attending a great conference. The ADA subgroup, Sports Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition’s annual meeting was great for CardioTabs as well as for me to get some information about my nutritional needs-and hopefully resolve my cramping issues.
Now that the marathon is over, I’m focusing all my efforts on training for Ironman Kansas (70.3). I asked the advice of Sally Brown, RD of Ebodyfuel.com and Heather Fleming (nutritionist with conscious nutrition). Both think it’s possible that I’m not getting enough sodium and that my electrolyte replacement choice wasn’t good enough. I read so many papers about cardiovascular health and heart disease and follow that dietary advice pretty well. My dad had his first heart attack at 40, so salt has been missing from my diet for a LONG time. Since the majority of Americans get too much salt, who’d have thought I’d be getting too little? I’m a very salty sweater and I’m possibly not replacing enough of that salt lost during exercise.
I was told to try a mix of Cytomax and Carbopro for long workouts. I was also told to make sure I was consuming my CardioWhey within 30 minutes post-workout. Yes, even though I work for the company, I wasn’t following the advice perfectly. Doing this should aid in my recovery and help my muscles repair themselves between workouts, even help bolster a weak (post endurance workout) immune system. Yesterday, I biked 30 miles then ran two miles (pushing both kids in the jogging stroller – seriously tough). I used the Cytomax and no cramping yet.
Today’s swim should be a good test of the new formula. On Saturday, I’m planning to bike the 56 mile course for the half Ironman. I’ll use all three products and see what happens.
