Frequently, I recommend protein powder to supplement dietary protein, but my clients aren't always sure exactly what to do once they have it. That’s the topic of this post.
Why Protein Is Important
Protein has numerous functions in the body, starting with the obvious one that it can be converted to glucose for energy.
Because I’ve covered protein in previous posts, I’ll keep this part brief. Protein is used to form hormones, enzymes, blood, body tissue, hemoglobin, antibodies, transport proteins, and much more.
As protein enters the small intestine, it triggers CCK, a powerful satiety hormone. CCK curbs carb cravings significantly. People who don’t get adequate protein often have strong sugar cravings.
Protein provides the amino acid precursors for brain chemicals that have many functions. Those amino acids can, for example, raise dopamine and norepinephrine for alertness and improved mood. Eating sufficient protein can reduce the need for caffeine — which triggers the same brain chemicals. But while caffeine depletes those chemicals, protein increases their production.
Another example is tryptophan, used by the brain to make serotonin. Serotonin enhances satiety and mood.
And protein provides several B vitamins that act as catalysts in forming all three of the brain chemicals above.
Why Protein Powder?
I’m not suggesting that you give up real foods and use protein powder instead. But protein powder is convenient. It’s light and portable and needs no refrigeration. Here are some suggestions for specific situations.[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
Vegetarians / Vegans
Powdered protein is great for those who don’t want to eat meat. For vegans, who don’t eat any animal products, vegetable protein powder might be the best way to get high-quality protein in the diet.
Please recall that non-animal sources of ‘protein’ often aren’t. Nuts are not protein; they’re unsaturated fat. Beans, rice and quinoa are definitely carbs.
Vegans often experience sugar cravings. Vegetable protein powder could be a top method for vegans to stop cravings long-term.
Post-Training Fuel
As detailed in a previous post, refueling within 30 minutes is ideal. The best post-training meal is a combination of carb and protein in about a 3-to-1 ratio (the original research used 2 to 1).
Powdered protein will keep in a gym locker and mix with water as part of a solid post-workout “meal.” Just add good starch. Potatoes are excellent after workouts; other starches work, too.
Travel
Travel is an obvious time for the convenience of protein powder. A couple of years ago, I attended a 5-day seminar in a remote area. We were told it would feature only vegetarian cuisine. I brought 15 envelopes of raw vegetable protein powder and mixed one with water at the start of each meal. With my protein needs taken care of, I could enjoy the meal with no problem.
Conquering Sugar Addiction
For reasons explained above, having protein throughout the day can help you end sugar addiction by changing brain chemistry and preventing sugar cravings. Many brands of protein powder are out there, so find one with no junk — especially no sugar.
Don’t make the same mistake as a client of mine who had a serious sugar addiction. Instead of buying plain, unsweetened powder and mixing it with water (per my instructions), she bought French Vanilla and mixed it with orange juice. “The protein drinks are delicious!” she told me, but her sugar cravings got worse.
“Delicious” is usually a telltale sugar sign. Unsweetened protein — whey, pea, vegetable, soy, other — plus water won’t be delicious but will be helpful.
On the Go
Away from the office and a snack room, it might be difficult to find protein if you can’t stop for a meal. Depending on the hours you’ll be in the field, protein powder may help. Carbs are easy; we can find salads and other carbs almost anywhere.
Plan B
As suggested in a previous post, leave an envelope or two of protein powder in your car for emergencies. Take care of the protein and the rest of the meal will fall in place.
So skip granola bars, “energy” bars, chocolate-hazelnut spread, electrolyte drinks. The main benefit of protein powder is it’s a true protein source when ordinary foods aren’t available.
Georgia Green is a regular participant in Amy and my cycling classes at Life Time Fitness. I'll never forget the first day she walked in > tall, strong, with a great big smile – she looks like a fitness instructor – and came right up to me, with her hand extended; “Hi, I'm Georgia!”
Georgia and Mark set to test their gear.
What she didn't share with me, during our initial meeting, is that Georgia has committed to training and planning to spend a year riding 10,000 miles with her friend Mark and their 2 rescue dogs; Junebug and Biscuit. Amy learned that a while later, after one of her Saturday classes. Once I heard this amazing story I knew I wanted to have Georgia on the show 🙂
I caught up with Georgia while she was in Alabama testing her new touring bikes and the other specialised gear they'll need for their trip. We discuss her motivation to commit to this adventure and all the planning they've done to make this ride a reality.
I edit many of my interviews. When my guest misspeaks, has a few too many ums/ahs/likes/you knows or they run off topic. They tend to say “stop” and then ask “please edit that out”.
Although I've been asked multiple times, I never agree to let a guest listen and then approve the final recording. I also never agree to edit or delete anything just because a guest says; “I sound awful!” I've learned that people are just too critical of themselves > especially when they're not used to hearing a recording of themselves in conversation
But more frequently I'm editing myself out of the recording. That's right. Even after recording over 300 interviews I still; talk way too fast and my tongue get's all tied up, signal my agreement with the same, tired; “that's awesome” or “OK, so…” and it drives me crazy!!!!
So I edit it much of it out and you never hear it 🙂
Unfortunately none of us has an edit button we can hit during a live conversation or class presentation.
Like you, I love learning and improving. I've recently been going through an online training course to improve my speaking and presenting skills. The course is called How to Create a 1000 Watt PresenceLearn business communication skills for personal and career success by actress and communication coach Alexa Fischer. I really enjoyed this particular video (one of over 40 in the course) and Alexa has given me permission to offer it to you.
What grabbed me during the intro of this video is when Alexa says; “But unless you're a professional performer….” Aren't we all are Professional Performers? The PRO in ICI/PRO is short for Professional…. as in Indoor Cycle Instructor Professional.
I feel I am a Professional. Do you?
Here is the PDF she refers to that you can use to (as she says) compassionately critique your recording and then begin the process of improving your communication skills through changing how you speak. NOTE: the correct link to the Fricken Fillers video is here > it's broken in the PDF.
Here is a past Podcast that explains an easy way you can record your own class, using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can check out Alexa's complete training program here at Udemy.
Being that this is only my third post, you may not yet know that much about me, so let me summarize one more time. I'm a passionate spinning instructor who motivates through stories, emotions, and what I like to call triggers. I've always felt that the reason people come to my class over someone else’s is based on my approach and style. I spend most of the time digging around in their thoughts and pulling out emotions that fuel the fire to make them push harder on the bike. I wouldn't say that my stories are always rainbows and roses, and sometimes my metaphors cut close to home……..but that’s the point. I want to shake them out of the haze so they don’t “spend” and hour with me, thy “INVEST” an hour with me. And I think even the most die-hard cyclist would agree that all the instructions in the world on how to peddle that bike won’t mean a thing if that person isn’t invested in the workout both physically AND mentally. The bottom line is, if you're going to come to my class or read my posts, then you're going to learn about me and my journey, and I'm not just talking about the good parts. And by doing that, I hope it helps you tap into your entire toolbox of tricks in order to get your class to their highest level.
Without wasting anymore of your time (my first post summed up my brutal divorce and what it did to me) let me just say this one thing and move on. The year I spent trying to finalize my divorce was the most horrible, brutal, exhausting, and painful thing I have ever done in my whole life. But what I know now is it didn’t have to be. If I had listened, TRULY listened to the people around me then I wouldn’t have almost lost myself in that mess, I wouldn’t have been physically ill to the point that I feel as if 20 years of my life are gone, and most of all I would have been more present to the people and opportunites around me rather than obsessing over things that matter deeply to me (and any parent) but DID NOT matter to the judge (or poor excuse for one). But “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
The second paradigm shift I have been experiencing since May 9th, 2011 is with regards to being a parent or as I like to say being a “dad.” If you’re a parent than I could stop right now and you would get it, but if you’re not, let me explain a little more.
I can remember being around 10 years old growing up in a small town in Maine, and in the summer my mom and step dad wanting to walk with my brother and I after dinner. YUCK !! Being seen with my parents !?!?! How embarrassing right ? You probably all remember something similar to this in your youth. But then you have kids and YOU GET IT !! You now understand why a mom or a dad would have this obsession with wanting to spend time with you. You understand to reason they worry when you ask to do a sport or why they look panicked when you come home late. Once you are a parent, you understand (or at least I did) what it means to love someone more than yourself. I could not tell you what I ate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on May 9th 2011 or April 23rd, 2013 (the birthdays of my daughter Taylor and my son Brady), BUT I can describe for you their first sounds and every mind blowing emotion I had on those days when I got that first glimpse of their beautiful smiles. Had I known these things back when I was that little boy growing up in Maine, maybe I would have cut my mom some slack on those walks and not made sure to be a block ahead of them. But “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
These two examples are powerful to me because I lived them, but maybe they aren’t for you so let me try a different approach and then hopefully I can wrap this up in a pretty bow so you can decide if this is a “tool” for your instructor toolbox.
Do you know a reformed smoker who quit because the doctor said they had lung cancer? Do you know someone who lost a massive amount of weight because their doctor told them lose it or you will be gone in 3 months? How about a man or women who’s spouse said “if you cheat again I am leaving you” and the spouse smartened up? Why is it that we will do things we KNOW are bad for us and hurt others, and we will tell ourselves we “can’t stop,” yet when we are faced with losing everything, even our life, that we all of a sudden muster the courage and strength to give these things up?? I am as bad as anyone. The day after my daughter was born I taught class and I recall saying to them “I get paid to teach here but that’s not the reason I do. I do because I started having kids late (40 years old) and one day I plan to walk my granddaughter down the aisle one day.” Now for those paying attention, my daughter Taylor is only 4 years old and Brady is 2. So that means I have to do everything I can to stay healthy for probably at least another 50 years !! And if you ask how I know I will have a granddaughter, then ask me about the letter I wrote 20 years ago, mailed it to myself, and is still sitting in my safe. It was written to my daughter Taylor who I described to a “T” right down to saying she was part Asian. I have always known, and one day when she is old enough to understand the significance, she can open that SEALED and Post marked letter and read it herself.
But I am telling you now, I am a hypocrite. I say these things, yet the other day I was told that I need to stop drinking diet coke because it’s poison. I said “I know” but I only drink it when I have a meal. And at some point in that conversation I literally said “well if I found out it was making me sick then OF COURSE I would stop.” Then it hit me…….it is making me sick. One slow day at a time. Just like the person stressing over the mortgage bill is getting sick, and the person who can’t get of the couch is getting sick, and believe it or not, the person or people who are coming to our class and NOT working out are basically wasting their hour and likely on their way to less health, less energy, and less time on this earth with the people they love. It’s not as simple as “going to the gym.” I know that, you know that, and they really know that……..but if they aren’t really acting on it then the hour at the gym is nothing but wasted time. We need to do more than play the music and cue the sprints. We need to find a way, open a door, to whatever it is gonna take to convince them that this isn’t just a “class” or a place where they meet their friend before coffee and 2 hours of gossip. We need them to understand that this thing we do, peddling a bike for an hour, has meaning and DOES effect pretty much everything they will do that day, week, and year. Work hard, release endorphins and lose weight. Release endorphins and be in a better mood, have more energy, feel better with less aching. All those things will make you a better friend, spouse, dad. Those things will affect THEIR lives. More memories will be created, more love will be shared, more ideas are sparked, more friends are made, more passion is found, more more more more. We owe it to our students to find a way to make them understand this isn’t just an hour to waste. I wish someone had sit me down and slapped me until I understood the damage I was causing to my soul during the year of my divorce by wasting time on things that only mattered to me because I was hurting. I wish someone had found a way to make me understand what those walks meant for my mom because she won’t ever get that 10 year old boy back. And I hope anyone in YOUR lives right now who is saying “I could never do that” or “that’s impossible” have someone like you to sit them down and say “Unless you’re talking about WALKING to the moon, then please stop saying that’s impossible.” The next time YOU teach a class, I want you to pretend ( please forgive the dramatic analogy) that you are their doctor and it’s up to you to convince them that they can no longer take THIS workout lightly and that THIS workout matters because it does and chances are “They don’t know what they don’t know.”
PS My road to quitting diet soda starts this week for my two children and my grandchildren to follow. Happy Spinning!
Clients ask me about lactose all the time. A brief survey of facts about lactose had to begin with milk.
Many books and articles exist on the health problems associated with milk. They include breast, prostate and ovarian cancers; allergic reactions in infants; and increased risk of bone fractures, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, acne, ear infections, and constipation.
Obviously, the health hazards of milk deserve a full discussion of their own.
Monsanto has had a hand in this, but for brevity, this post will address lactose only.
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest lactose, the sugar in milk and other dairy products. It’s caused by a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme necessary for breaking down lactose.
The result will typically be gastrointestinal symptoms and signs, such as bloating, flatulence, diarrhea, nausea and even vomiting.
Lactose intolerance may be genetic, cultural (occurring more frequently in cultures that don’t rely on dairy products as a food source), and even exposure-related. Those accustomed to consuming dairy products frequently, especially as children, may experience higher tolerance overall.
Age can be a factor, as well. Some clients have noticed GI distresses due to dairy products as they get older.
Rates of lactose intolerance may range from 5% in northern European countries to as much as 90% in African and Asian countries, where milk and other dairy products are not consumed.
Some anti-dairy articles recommend milk products for Scandinavians only — and not even all Scandinavians, just blond-haired ones.
Is Lactose Hiding In Your Food?
Unexpected foods may contain lactose. A client who was working hard to get away from sugar had planned to try stevia, but reported to me that she couldn’t use it because she was lactose intolerant.
That made no sense until the next time I visited Trader Joe’s, which is where the client had gone for her groceries. Trader Joe’s carries 2 types of stevia. One is in a small plastic bottle that contains 100% pure stevia. The other is in a much larger bottle and contains stevia plus lactose as a sweetener.
Now, I just don’t get adding sweeteners to sweeteners, but I’m the die-hard Sugar Patrol, so don’t ask me. People even add sweeteners to fruit — frozen, canned, dried, baked — another thing I don’t get. But I digress.
At any rate, there’s more to be said about stevia, since some people may have a sugar reaction to it. That can include, but is not limited to, later cravings for sugary foods. But let’s save the stevia discussion for yet another post.
Bottom line, lactose is an added sweetener used in certain foods. Read all labels.
When Clients Quit Sugar, What Happens?
This brings us to Lactose as Sugar.
As a sugar addiction expert, I’ve seen a common pattern in client food logs. Someone who’s in the process of kicking sugar might start eating more milk products — cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and so on.
It’s worth noting and stopping if you’re serious about quitting sugar.
As mentioned above, the negative heath consequences of dairy products are many. Whether you’re lactose intolerant or not, subbing lactose for the sugars you’re trying to quit can and will be counterproductive. Lactose can have the same effect as any other sugar on someone who is sugar-sensitive.
If you’re quitting sugar, quit lactose, too. Your vigilance will reward you.
Social Media has grown to become the primary method of marketing for Indoor Cycling Studios. Which makes sense. Many of your prospective customers are active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – and you can't beat the cost. All it takes is posting a few pretty pictures or clever sayings and SHAZAM! you get a bunch more loyal customers… right?
OK, it's really not that easy. I talk with studio owners every week who feel completely lost, with no clear strategy about how they should be using Social Media.
One common question I get is; “how can I know if my efforts at attracting, engaging and then converting followers are actually working?”
Instructor Cassie Piasecki is what I would describe as a Social Media Expert. She's responsible for all of the social promotions for Grit Cycle – a year old studio in Costa Mesa. CA that's crushing it. Part of their success, I'm guessing, comes from Cassie's obsession with everything social.
You can check out and then steal many of Cassie's ideas by following her blog | Facebook | Grit's Facebook That picture of Cassie is a fabulous idea all by itself – from Cassie's Instructor profile. Notice how it communicates some of her personality and personal interests? Check out all the other Grit Instructor profiles here.
I was excited to record this episode of the podcast with Cassie and share it with you.
[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|Schwinn-Instructor|PRO-Visitor|PRO-Studio|28 Day Challenge'] Enjoy!
Are these interviews helpful to you? Please let me know what else you'd like to learn by posting a comment below[/wlm_private]
