Gam Jams Review: Recovery drinks - Slimfast*

*Target-brand Slimfast, actually.

In my running days, I remembered reading a message board post about breakfast for those who run in the morning. One guy had a little bit of granola and then headed out the door for his run. Upon his return, he usually only had a can of Slimfast and then headed to work.

Wait -- if you're running, you surely don't need Slimfast, do you? Well, not as a meal replacement, which is how it's marketed. And certainly a cyclist won't be replacing any meals with Slimfast. But a cyclist can use it after a race or hard workout.

Check the labels sometime -- Slimfast against a designer recovery drink like Muscle Milk or Powerbar Recovery. They're awfully close. Lots of protein, some vitamins, some sugar.

Price-wise, there's no comparison: $6.99 for four 8oz Powerbar drinks or $4.59 for six 12oz Target-brand Slimfast drinks.

And the win goes to Target. During multiple-race weekends, I pop one immediately after each race and chase it with good food and Gatorade. It's easy to skip out on refueling after a race, because you want to start talking to teammates and other riders and such. But it's not too hard to remember to get to the cooler, drink a funny-tasting can of Target-brand Slimfast and then talk to everybody.

Plus, it's way cheaper. At our house, cheaper = instant popularity.