healthy

And the Race Goes On!

I ran in the California International Marathon this past Sunday. It was an AMAZING event that took place in Sacramento. The race started 26 miles away from the finish and the runners crossed the line in front of the capital building. The weather was terrible! There were 38 mph winds and pouring rain the entire race! Leading up to the race there were flood warnings all over the news and talk about a terrible storm scheduled to hit during the hours of the race. After months of training, I could have taken this as very disappointing news because my goal of breaking 2:30 was out the window due to the high head winds expected, but instead I put my battle face on.  Read More…

Summer Training and Summer Nutrition

Summer is here!  I love this time of year!  The very beginning of summer is the best.  Three months ahead of vacation, sun and fun.  My summer running training is always a blast also.  I love the feeling of getting up early to avoid the heat and finishing my runs with the sun beating on my back.

This summer my training kicks of with preparation for the Olympic trials 10k, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon.  My legs have been feeling great and my workouts have been a breeze so I can’t wait!  The race will be on the track, so that means 25 laps!  As I have gotten older, this race scares me less and less because of the strength that I have built over the years, especially now that I have done a marathon.  When I was in college though, I will never forget toeing the line for my first 10k on the track.   I was so scared!  When the gun goes off however and the race starts at a steady pace (rather than a sprint), I quickly learned that I need to just find the right my pace rhythm and the laps just fly by.

Fueling for this race and for my training is the most important part of being a runner.  I obviously want to keep my bones strong and healthy in order to prevent injuries, but more importantly a lifetime of health.  I measure my nutritional success by keeping track of my menstrual cycle.  While us girls don’t usually like talking about our menstrual cycle, it is very important as athletes.  If we lose our period, we lose estrogen and estrogen is what helps us absorb our calcium keeping our bones strong.  It may not seem like a big deal if we lose our period on the outside, but inside we can be compromising our bone health.  Read More…

It doesn’t affect people like me, does it?

I always thought that bone disease was something that didn’t affect people like me—by me, I mean young people.

It wasn’t until I began working at the American Bone Health that I realized that everything that I do now, as a young adult, will impact my health in the future. Growing up, I took my health for granted. I just thought that I was born healthy-I didn’t think that what I was doing contributed to my health. I was a very active child, adolescent and young adult. I ran track for 4 years, I played soccer for 10 years and I did karate for about 2 years—I was pretty athletic. I ate pretty well—I didn’t like milk growing up, but I LOVED orange juice and luckily for me, my mom always bought calcium fortified orange juice. So I guess that made up for the milk that I was lacking.

I write all this to say that I unknowingly was preventing myself from the risk of bone disease as an adult. With healthy eating habits and frequent exercising, even as a young adult or child, one can prevent their risk of getting bone disease as an older adult. Although bone disease is more prevalent in older populations, our lifestyle patterns that we live now, have a long lasting effect on our health in the future!

Green is good!

This summer, smoothies have become my favorite go-to snack. The great selection of produce in season right now and the ease of single serving-size blenders (I bought one made by Hamilton Beach at Target for only twelve dollars!) make smoothies a great option for a healthy, on the go treat.

In the month of July, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are perfectly ripe for the picking, so I take a sunny Saturday afternoon as opportunity to go to the local farmer’s market to stock up. These berries definitely pack their fair share of antioxidants, but to add a real punch, I also buy a bundle of kale or spinach to add to my smoothies.

You may be thrown off by the thought (or the green color) of this revamped smoothie, but the taste is even better than the same version sans-leafy greens! Plus, the green addition lends a long list of nutrients to your smoothie. If you choose to add spinach, for example, you will be contributing vitamins and minerals essential to bone health such as vitamin K and magnesium, among others. To really load up on bone-healthy nutrients, I like to make my smoothies with almond milk or plain Greek yogurt since they both have great consistencies and contain about thirty percent of the daily recommended value of calcium. What’s more, these fruits and veggies contain significant amounts of dietary fiber, which is good for digestive health and for keeping you full.

Hopefully these seemingly endless benefits will inspire you to try this nutrient-dense concoction! Be good to your bones and your taste buds; enjoy!

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