The Promised Coffee-Alternative Review!

Here it is! Are you ready?

Okay, the product I found is called Teeccino. While the sound 'tea' is in the title, there is actually no tea in Teeccino. I suppose that is why they used two 'e's. Anyway, they have blended roasted chicory, barley and other items in order to come up with a full line of coffee alternatives. You buy it and brew it the same way you would with coffee but without the downsides of caffeine. They claim their product is high in potassium and soluble fiber (from the chicory), is alkaline forming, and is free from the chemical residues you typically find in coffee (especially flavored and decaf).

Their claims sounded so good I couldn't help but try it! I purchased their Mocha Herbal Coffee (they say that one is good for beginners because of the familiar chocolate flavor) and the Mediterranean Java Herbal Coffee. Yesterday I came home to find them waiting for me on my doorstep, yay! So of course I was anxious to try them. I decided to try the Java first because I wanted to know if I'd like it before making it for my morning commute. I didn't want to be cursing at a whole cup of "gross" on the way to work.

Anyway, I have a Keurig machine and found that this herbal coffee substitutes scoop for scoop like regular coffee. (Awesome, easy!) I brewed it and it came out that lovely dark brown that coffee does with a little bit of a creamy brown froth. So I took a sip of it black to get the full effect. Complex without being complicated, much like coffee is. It also tasted thick, which is one thing that I couldn't ever find in tea and that I liked so much about coffee. It was slightly bitter, but I think I can correct that by using slightly less in the brew pod. So I put a dash of milk in it to counteract that bitter and voila! I had a real cup of joe! It was dark and strong, complex and delicious and without any caffeine! I know that part is true because I fell asleep on the couch not more than 4 hours later!

This morning I made my travel cup of joe: I used 2 tsp of my regular coffee and then filled the rest of the brew pod with the Mocha (which smells so good I kind of want to chew it). On their website and on each bag of brew they mention that you should wean yourself off of caffeine slowly, even if you don't consume too much now. So that is why I blended the two this morning. Also, who wants to waste? I hate wasting food I've already purchased (referring to the bag of coffee inmy fridge). The combination was delicious; smooth, full and satisfying. Actually, it tastes more like coffee than coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I realized that as I passed a billboard.

I really would like to not have to drink coffee. I really do love it though, but where all the coffee characteristics I cherish can be found in this Teeccino stuff, I wonder if this will be my new juice? I also wonder if, after a couple weeks without coffee, I'll notice a difference having been freed from my daily cortisol-jolt. Am I sensitive without knowing it because I'm so accustomed to it? I dont know! But I'm curious to find out!

*Is this paleo? The ingredients include roasted barley, which we know is not on the list. But I dont think Father Caveman would begrudge me this coffee alternative. I think the water in which the barley has soaked would be better to consume than eating the barley itself or simply drinking coffee. And if we put all these on a scale, I believe Teeccino will lie as the lesser of these evils.

If you are interested in purchasing Teeccino please visit:
www.teeccino.com

Quick update...

I have quite possibly reached a turning point. I woke up this morning NOT wanting coffee! I find this odd considering my last post in which I was waxing poetic about it! I woke up with so much energy at 7am that I just couldn't face a cup of joe! I was concerned it would put me over the edge...no one wants to see me in person then!

Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll want to dive into the bold syrupy depths of a steamy cup. But today no way! It's now 2:30 in the afternoon and I have had no desire for coffee. I have had two cups of green tea today, spaced several hours apart, but that is not nearly the same.

I'd like to accredit this change to the PaleoDiet, but only time will tell I think. I'm now at the point at which I can absolutely feel a difference if I eat something non-Paleo. I can also tell that it screws you up for several days if you do not get back on the bandwagon instantly! I don't know if this is true for everyone, but it is for me at this point of my experiment.

That's the news for today! Just an update, like I said! Enjoy the spring rain that will bring us all May flowers!

Is Coffee Good, Bad or Both?

Yes, it's true. I mentioned in my last post that while I was following the caveman diet and doing pretty well, I was still indulging in my morning java. I have looked myself squarely in the eye and have asked myself if I was addicted to the brew, and I really do not think that I am. I do not drink it because I get a kick, I drink it because I love it's delicious qualities. If I could find a tea that was ballsy in the same way as coffee I would drink that. Tea is too watery to be a good substitute and then something like hot chocolate (which is not paleo anyway) is too thick and gives me headaches. Coffee is JUST right! I love it's texture, aroma, taste and it seems to be a harbinger of the new day in a similar way to my cat sitting on my chest begging for breakfast. See? Similar.

So a friend of mine and I were discussing the Paleo Diet, and in particular what was not permitted. She gave me a funny look when I said coffee and I nodded in agreement and then confessed to continuing to keep that on the menu. Today she calls me to tell me she is trying this new diet plan and then poses the following question:

"Doesn't coffee have cortisol in it?"

Cortisol is not actually an ingredient and you are not going to 'get it' in any food or drink you consume. Cortisol is a steroid! It is commonly known as the "stress hormone" and recently has gotten tons of bad press with various corisol-blocker diet aids on the market. The truth is that Cortisol is not all bad because it helps to make sure that our brain has enough energy to function, regulates blood pressure and regulates the functioning of our cardiovascular system. It's the effect it has on how our body uses proteins, carbs and fats that has people up in arms. Many studies have shown a direct, positive correlation between cortisol and abdominal fat (ie more stress = more cortisol = more abdominal fat). bummer. And as we know, there is also a correlation between abdominal fat and risk for heart disease, diabetes and more.

But how...and why? Unfortunately this flight-or-fight response instigator causes abnormally increased appetite ALL the while suppressing your metabolic rate (aka thermogenesis). Nice combo huh? But imagine you're a REAL caveman and there's a natural disaster; what do you do to prepare yourself? Eat everything you can, because you don't know when you will be able to eat again, and then store it the best you can. Cortisol is meant to be helpful, but with so many situational (work sources, business, children, family, taxes etc) stresses nowadays that our bodies are working overtime to create cortisol.

Alright now we can get to the coffee cortisol connection. We know now that we are getting too much stress from external stimuli, and then we go and drink our stress also! I'm talking about caffeine which is a biochemical that stimulates the stress reaction in your body! Weird but true.

So while this all sounds bad, and it is do not get me wrong, I will still drink my am cup of joe. However, there are some days that I know I won't appreciate it's flavor and I pass on it, looking to herbal, green or red tea to fill the hot beverage void. Are these the words of an addict? Hardly. But I certainly look differently at an afternoon cup of coffee. I suppose it really isn't that relaxing is it?

I did find two papers that I think you may find interesting. One explains the effects of caffeine and stress on the body. The other is a small study that studied whether cortisol responses could be reduced by familiarizing the body with caffeine on a regular basis. [Hint: They found, in their study anyway, that the cortisol response to caffeine was reduced, but not entirely eliminated, in healthy young people who consumed caffeine on a daily basis.]

http://www.teeccino.com/PDFs/stress.pdf
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/reprint/67/5/734

*Also, you may have noticed recently several articles in fitness magazines claiming that coffee can bolster your performance during a workout or race. Remember, caffeine is a stimulant that triggers your 'fight or flight' reaction. If you're sensitive to caffeine then sure, it can get you amped for your workout! So all the information previously stated is still TRUE.

Stay Tuned, a Review is Coming!
I stumbled upon a brand of coffee alternative that looks like it may be the real deal! I have tried the chicory coffee-tea, Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder and haven't been impressed. I will let you know what I think and give a full report :)

Food Food Paleo-Food Everywhere!

Before I get into the meat of today's entry, I'd like to give you some background in case you aren't terribly familiar with what I do. I happen to be terribly interested in nutrition and while I am of course interested in the truth I am also fascinated by food propaganda, food culture, and the emotional and psychological attachments we have to foods. Very interesting stuff! So in the name of science I have tried various diets to see why it is that they are popular. I have never tried Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or anything like that because they focus primarily on calorie limitation, I'll call it. What I get interested in is things like Raw Food, Detox Diets, Vegeterian, Zone...diet methodologies that are almost religious in their nature and have vast followings. Their followers swear that these diets not only assist weight loss but enrich their lives, make them better athletes, cleanse their souls and some even say they cure cancer and many of the big scary diseases plaguing our nation today. Each one has solid scientific data to support it. So I have tried all the methodologies I just listed. I wanted to know what it felt like to do each of these for myself. I wanted to know what each one would do to my spirit, energy, body and performance? I wanted to be 'in their shoes' to see for myself.

Well, I am trying a new one now. I have been on the Caveman or Paleo Diet now for two weeks. I should, maybe, have planned a little better because I allowed Easter to fall on my very first Paleo weekend. Oops.

Now, to give a quick lesson in Paleo without too much detail let's start with what it is. The idea here is to eat like human beings 10,000 years ago ate. The theory is that our bodies have not evolved as quickly as our food and science has, so our digestive systems, not matter how adaptable, are not able to digest foods that only became available due to agriculture and animal husbandry. The 'non-paleo' foods include all grains (wheat, oats, barley)and grain based foods (bread etc), corn and corn by-products (corn starch, corn syrup), all beans, legumes (inlcuding peas and peanuts), sugar, alcohol, coffee, and dairy products of all kinds. What I found is that if you look at this list of can't-haves and you panic wondering 'what will I eat?' than you need this diet badly. If you panic it means that you can't imagine your day without bagels, bready sandwiches, cookies, and pasta and that means you CLEARLY do not eat enough fruits and vegetables to start off with!

After doing alot of reading about going Paleo, it doesn't seem that there were many negative side-effects to start off with. If you don't have many vegetables in your diet already, I could see how it may take a couple weeks to adjust fully to the influx of fibrous food sources. The other side effect was a sensation of weakness or lethargy in the first or second week as the body apparently adjusts to fueling itself using more complicated carbohydrate sources as well as healthy fats. No more sugar rushes to fuel you through your afternoon, but supporters state that there is no need for that because once you free yourself from the bloodsugar spike/fall roller coaster you will have a much steadier sense of alertness and energy (similar to the Zone).

So how is it going thus far? Of all the diets I have experimented with I like this one the best! I am currently feeling a slight weakness, I have been able to continue my regular personal workout schedule that includes at least 3 runs a week (including a 6-miler a couple days ago) and CrossFit workouts. To be honest, it's just this week when I felt a little wimpier (instead of strict presses I had to do push presses in order to keep the weight). So I am experimenting more with quantity and focusing much more on nutrient timing (ie banana comes AFTER the workout as opposed to it being a mid-morning snack).

I haven't in recent memory remembered getting a sugar rush. I have to admit that I don't very often recognize the effects of a blood-sugar spike, but I don't too often eat extremely sugary/simple carb foods. I have certainly felt nauseas post-dessert before but I always attributed it to being too full rather than to blood sugar. WELL, I will tell you this. My mother sent me home from Easter dinner with a canister of kosher chocoloate chip macaroons...which I love. So Monday night, against my better judgement I had four of them after dinner. About 10 minutes after finishing the fourth little yummy thing, I could feel my heart rate increase. I could feel my heart pounding when I put my hand on my chest and I started feeling a little bit pukey too be honest! Even when I had my cheat day on the Zone I did not feel this bad! [To be completely fair I may not have done the Zone 100% correctly because of the calculating and measuring I may have goofed a couple recipes, meals, or days up. So I am totally aware that I may have done the Zone incorrectly and therefore cannot completely compare it accurately. I can only report my own personal experience, slanted or not.]

So, to confess I do still drink coffee in the morning...and I do put a tablespoon of milk in it. I do mix a tablespoon of chocolate chips into my blueberries with coconut milk for dessert, but I'm finding I like them less and less. So while I'm not 100% paleo here, I am making strides in the right direction and am satisfied with what I've experienced thus far. Check back because I'll be keeping you posted! But don't be too surprised if future recipes are grain/bean/dairy free!

Eat cheaply NOT poorly!

I just found an article this morning regarding this new little recession of ours, maybe you've heard of it? Anyway, the article title stated a question, "Will this recession make you fat?" The answer is, only if you let it! Just like at any OTHER time!

Many studies have been done (I can give you a list or you can google it) that show that there seems to be a trend between lower levels of income and higher rates of obesity. So the theory here is that people that once had higher incomes will begin to get heavier as their income gets slashed. The assumption here is that people that ate well (or moderately fine) before will now start turning to McDonald's and macaroni and cheese to fill the belly-void. And that's where the trouble is.

First, don't panic. Our bodies are built to store fat to protect against adversity in it's many forms. Even if your budget is down to $15 a week, you can still make it work...but my advice is to AVOID what I affectionately call "bullshit foods". If you really enjoy a fresh bowl of salad for lunch with some sliced grilled chicken and carrots why would it, all of a sudden,make sense to jump over to McDonald's for a high simple-carb, high cheap-fat, low nutrition meal now that you have less money?

First plan of attack: thoroughly look at what you typically eat during the week.

What are the obvious cut backs that you can make? Maybe changing over from a name brand milk to a store brand? Those few dollars can end up making a difference.

Second: MEASURE!

Yeah maybe it's a pain to start off with but you'll get better at it. Instead of eyeballing how much pasta to make, or how much chicken to serve, measure it! Measure it into the pot and then divide amongst the family accordingly, predetermine how many pieces of chicken each person gets. It will help avoid throwing away that last cup of -insert food item here- because you already planned well enough to save enough for your lunch tomorrow.

Third: Become familiar with new cooking techniques as well as volumetrics to help satiate the urge to chew and to assuage the fear that one isn't eating enough!

It's not just the quantity of the calories you eat, it's the nutritional QUALITY! Your body seeks NUTRITION, not simply calories.
For instance, 1 cup of cooked spaghetti (which is considered one serving)has 221 calories, 8g protein, 2.5g fiber, and 43g carbohydrates. That's alot of simple carbs right there. To get the same amount of calories you'd have to eat more than 5 cups of cooked spinach! But just 1 cup of cooked spinach has 5g of protein (almost as much as the pasta!), 4g fiber (almost twice as much as the pasta), and only 7g of carbs. Not many people will eat all 5 cups and that's okay. Why? Because with the higher quality and quantity of nutrition in the spinach, your body doesn't need the extra calories!

Okay, which can you eat more of faster: carrot sticks or boiled carrot slices? It takes a bit more time to eat the raw carrot, so maybe start steaming your carrots for just a few minutes to warm them. But don't cook them so long that they lose their chew! There, now by eating the less soggy carrots you are taking more time actually eating thereby giving your body time to send out and receive the signal that you are getting full. Voila! You've just eaten less than you would have before, and it was just by cooking less! Easy!

Fourth: Take refuge in your freezer section!

Maybe that sounds odd, but the good for you things that usually hang out in the produce aisle have frozen, nutritionally-similar (sometimes even better) counterparts here. As soon as a veggie or fruit is removed from it's home (stalk, soil or branch) the produce starts to degrade losing valuable nutrients. The fresh produce spends time being shipped and stored, all thewhile losing nutrients while those meant for the freezer get their nutritional value frozen in time. Big BONUS here, frozen veggies/fruits are CHEAP! And they won't spoil in your crisper drawer :) I recently just found a 3lb bag of chopped broccoli for $2.50! That's certainly cheaper than if I bought fresh broccoli for $2.99 a head! Also, places like Costco and even WalMart sell ENORMOUS bags of frozen veggies for an even better discount...good if you have enough freezer space for them.

Lastly: Use your imagination, and start experimenting! Start discovering how you can get alot of flavor out of only a few ingredients!

You don't need 5 courses, or complicated recipes or even recipes with more than 5 ingredients in order to make a meal satisfying! For instance, try this: 2 cups of frozen spinach, 1/2 cup frozen zucchini, 1 sliced carrot, 1 can of tuna, a good squirt of mustard, a shake of red pepper flakes, a dash of garlic powder in your tupperware container. After all morning in the fridge at work and it should only take 1 minute to warm it all in the microwave!
When you're cooking at home think simply also. A can of tomatoes, some diced chicken, a chopped onion, some zucchini, and some seasonings and you can have quite a nice meal on only a few ingredients. You don't need to add cream cheese, or cream of mushroom soup or anything. Simple can go a long way. Start googling recipes and you will find that MOST of them aren't complicated, but PLEASE do not google 'easy' recipes. You will find casseroles filled with zillions of canned fake ingredients, and 'cream of cheese soup recipes'. Gross. Think finer-taste and you'll find the simple ingredients, you'll just have to discover new uses for old spices!

Enjoy!!

I have to share this...

This was written by Jon Gilson of againfaster.com. It's good to put things into perspective!

Dedication

You think you know pain, but you have no idea. The heart thumping, chest expanding, lactic acid burn of your last workout was a walk through the meadow.

Somewhere, there’s a guy who did it in half the time it took you. He suffered. Plasma forced its way into his lungs, causing him to hack on repeat. He choked down bile halfway through, and ended on his back, pupils dilated to the size of dimes.

While you were walking around, telling your friends how hardcore your workout was, Guy Number Two was still collapsed, the prospect of driving home as daunting as climbing K2 during a snowstorm.

When he finally stood up, he didn’t say a word.

CrossFit is a decidedly masochistic pursuit. To be any good at it, you have to enjoy the pain. You have to push back the threshold day after day, until last year’s traumas feel like an hour-long rubdown at the Canyon Ranch. One day, you find a threshold that takes the whole thing just a little too far, and you get scared to go back.

The men and women that decimate your times are not superhuman. They’re not particularly genetically gifted. Hell, most of the top CrossFitters in the world would get absolutely pummeled in your standard game of rugby, buried by larger athletes begat by larger parents.

What differentiates these individuals is not a gift, but an unreasonable desire to push self-imposed suck beyond its logical limits. What comes out the other side becomes legendary.

Like any human pursuit, we seek ways around the hard part. Limited range of motion and new techniques. Dropping the deadlift from the top, bouncing it off the floor. Squatting above parallel and not standing up all the way. Chicken-necking above the chin-up bar, and reviewing the tape to see if we made it.

We want the reward (speed) without the sacrifice (pain).

This is not conscious cowardice. It’s pure out-and-out rationalism. Atsomepoint, the next threshold is the one that takes it too far, leaving us in an exercise-induced hallucination that lasts a few moments too long. Our hearts bounce around our insides for one beat too many, and our lungs beg to explode for an unwanted extra second. Every exhalation coincides with a constriction of vision, and the cold taste of copper.

No sane human being would enjoy such a feeling.

Still, the glory beckons. Surely, with enough training and the right supplements, there’s a way around the Hard Part. Enough sleep and enough vitamin B will get you the sub-whatever time without the attendant pain. There’s no need to redline your heart rate or pop capillaries. No need to ache so badly at night that you can’t sleep. Surely, there are ways around this.

Fortunately, the steroids are a no-go, and the exercises are done correctly or not at all. The only way to legend is through ever-mounting piles of pain. The meadow has to tilt at 45-degrees, and he rubdown at the Ranch must be done with Brillo Pads. If you can talk, you’re not trying hard enough. If your nerves aren’t frayed and ready to rebel, you’ll never get there.

Do yourself a favor, and realize that there’s no technique in the world that will save you. There are no pills, no secrets, no passwords on the path to greatness. You’ve got to embrace the pain, push the threshold, and feel the suck, and then you’ve got to muster the courage to go back six times a week.

After all, the world is a lot brighter when your pupils are the size of dimes, and massaging your sternum with your heart starts to feel good after a while. The plasma finds its way out of your lungs, and eventually you’ll be able to drive.

Sometimes, lying on the floor is its own reward.

If you can't relate to this article in any way, how much progression in your fitness do you think you've made in the last year, or even the last month? Maybe, if you can't relate at all, you should rethink your current plan.

Get out of my own way!

Recently I've been noticing a trend. Lots of us need to get out of our own heads before we can do certain things well. Overthinking can lead to poor form, hindrance of coordination, and the dreaded "I can't do this"! At some point we ALL fall victim to it, but we can't let it dictate all of our workouts or endeavors. Sometimes all it takes is a little distraction to get around it!

Case and point? This past weekend's 5-mile Mudders & Grunters Mud Run in Yorktown, NY. I had been sick and had not run since TWO mondays before the race...that's a long time to not run and then dive into a 5-miler! I wasn't concerned about my time or the distance so much as I was concerned about the running driving all the phleogm out of my chest and then there was the fear of a relapse. Okay, maybe I was a little concerned about the distance. If it was a 5k I wouldn't have been too concerned.

Anyway, it was the most entertaining 5 miles that I have ever run. While it was the most physically demanding run that I have ever had the pleasure of completing, it was one of the easiest mentally. The entirety of the race was mud, so there was no time to think about anything else but foot placement and the ever increasing weight of my shoes! I also ran it much faster and more easily than I thought I would given my lack of training.

It just goes to prove that once you remove your "I can't"-brain from the equation you can do quite alot! Once you remove the nay-sayer you can let your strong body do what it does best; move! Your body knows how it should move, you just have to let it do it's thing! So next time you are trying to do pullups, pushups or trying to run a longer distance or at a faster speed, get rid of the nay-sayer. If you can distract yourself long enough to get the work done then you can prove to yourself that you ARE indeed capable of that task.

*However, please don't distract yourself to the point of endangerment! The point is to avoid the momentary thought of "can't" when faced with a daunting task. The point is not to fade out, not to lose focus, not to be mentally absent. Good luck!