I think I can..
When they sent handsome, young Jeremy of Pristine, to pass me some Yogood samples to try, I took one look at his fit form and thought, hmm, how apt! Getting someone lean and trim to be the face of your health food range is a really good marketing strategy .. ya think?! Jeremy, are all your colleagues as fit as you ar? I know a few single hot female bloggers to introduce if you like ;)
Anyway, I digress. Back to the muesli. Every evening, me and my husband run, as we will soon be taking part in the KL marathon. We try to vary our location (more often than not, it includes hill sprinting, fire walking, glass swallowing, red sea parting... :P kidding ! but erm, sometimes it feels like that .. ) but will still invariably bump into people we know, all training equally hard for the upcoming race. Now with regards to breakfast and health food, I have never been big on cereal or muesli. However, I figured that Jeremy passing me the muesli samples was as good a chance as any to see if my performance on the road improved at all if I added health grains to my diet.
Here is the verdict.
Breakfast 6.45am
I swapped Kaya, Butter, Brown bread (3 slices) for, 40g (approx 1 bowl) of Gourmet muesli Cran&berries with low fat milk.
With my normal diet, I am usually starving by 10.00am.
The Gourmet muesli Cran&berries lasted me till lunch time, believe it or not. I found that whilst the kaya butter bread gave me a burst of energy (no doubt peak in blood sugar), the muesli actually stayed a heavy mass in my gut for longer. Not only that, the 40g serving is approx 133kcal only, add on low fat milk, it can't be far off from the no. of calories in 3 slices of kaya butter toast?
So far the muesli wins in terms of performance.
How about taste wise? Erm, I cannot lie.. Kaya Butter Toast tastes a hell of a lot better than muesli but having said that, the huge amount of Cranberries and a mix of blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and orange blended with sultanas and raisins and roasted whole almonds really pumps up the taste and fruity aroma in this product!
I am still a kaya butter bread girl, but I can see how Yogood gourmet muesli could give the other boring muesli's out there, a run for their money.
Snack at 6.15pm, before my evening run.
It's no rocket science that if you are hungry or dehydrated, your performance will be drastically compromised during a run. As such, I am constantly drinking water throughout the day and just 30 minutes before my run I have an isotonic drink and a Snicker bar (or whatever other chocolates are in the fridge - I don't take Powergels, until closer to race-time, because they are just too bloody expensive hah..! Unless of course Nestle..ahem, Kim! ..you are reading this and want to sponsor me some GELS:P .. joking la.. Kim, I'll talk to you later :P). Anyway, the objective is to have some fast release carbo/energy and electrolytes without burning a hole in your pocket, so chocs will do just fine. Well, swapping the Snicker bar for the Choc & nuts muesli bar, I found it just as effective in giving my body that boost for my run. The plus point was I felt less bloated/more alert on the muesli bar and it was less sweet, making me feel less sick after eating the whole damn bar at one go. Performance wise.. same,same. Both equally good. I have enough energy to complete my 1.5hr run and that makes me happy.
Final verdict on the muesli's - a healthy, tasty and efficient energy alternative to all those sugary snacks you take a day. If you can hack the grains long-term, I guarantee you will see an improvement in energy levels/alertness/health and in the long run, your body will love you for it.
Snack at 7.00pm, before weights training.
Akan datang. I plan to take a Muesli Choc Bar before my hour long weights training session tonight and see how I fare. I normally take the Powergel.. (ok,ok.. so sometimes I have to spend on the gel.. but I get a good price.. thanks Kim! hehe..)
Oral Fixation.
Finally, the new product that Pristine is carrying is called the Oral fixation mints mojito mint!
This product is from the United States and the mint is slightly sourish, minty and refreshing (minus the alcohol!) .. just like a mock mojito. The mint uses sorbital which contains two thirds the calories of sugar, and is not as sweet. It is poorly absorbed by the body, so it does not raise insulin levels as much as sugar. The thing I like most about the mint is that it comes in a really cool, slim container that looks slightly thicker than a business card. Easy to slip into that itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny handbag, if you ask me.
This product is from the United States and the mint is slightly sourish, minty and refreshing (minus the alcohol!) .. just like a mock mojito. The mint uses sorbital which contains two thirds the calories of sugar, and is not as sweet. It is poorly absorbed by the body, so it does not raise insulin levels as much as sugar. The thing I like most about the mint is that it comes in a really cool, slim container that looks slightly thicker than a business card. Easy to slip into that itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny handbag, if you ask me.
There are many more Pristine, Yogood products in the market, but these were the few that I particularly liked. With that, I bid you good evening and happy training!