Vitamin D and Calcium

Vitamin D and Calcium

We’ve all heard about the importance of getting calcium, especially as women, to help promote optimal bone health. Vitamin D has also been shown to be important in building and maintaining good bonehealth.

But did you know that the newest research is showing that Vitamin D is not only important for your bone health but for your overall health.

Current research is showing that optimal levels of vitamin
D in the body help to lower the risk for hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and anxiety/depression.

Most of the research is showing that you want a Vitamin D blood level >43 to see the benefits to your health. One of the studies that is widely held as being foremost in the study of vitamin D has been held here in Utah. It found that overall about 2/3 of our Utah population is deficient in Vitamin D

How much Vitamin D do we need and how do we get it?
The current recommendations are for 6oo IU’s per day, but the current research is saying that we need anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 IU’s per day. Have you vitamin D checked at your next doctor’s appointment.

Sources of Vitamin D

-Sunlight...the BEST source! during the summer, in ten minutes you can get 10,000 IU of Vitamin D (this is of course with bare minimum clothes and no sunscreen).

-Some fortified foods

-Diet milk, cod liver oil, salmon and fortified cereals: However, these will only get you 40 to 100 IU’s per serving.

-Supplements: 1,000 to 2,000 IU caplets. Also if you take Viactiv (the calcium supplement) you will get 500 IU’s per chocolate chew (You should take two chocolate chews per day if you are not drinking milk or eating dairy products).

The bottom line is: spend time outside and get your Vitamin D so you can not only have good bone health but also good overall health and wellness.

FYI: The current recommendations...

-19-50 year old females are 1,000 mg of calcium per day (if you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should get about 200-300 additional mg of calcium per day)

-Milk, yogurt, and cheese are rich sources of calcium and are the major food contributors of this nutrient to people in the United States.

-Nondairy sources include vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage, kale, and broccoli.
-Most grains do not have high amounts of calcium unless they are fortified; however, they contribute calcium to the diet because they do have small amounts and people consume them frequently. Foods fortified with calcium include many fruit juices and drinks, tofu, and cereals

Cardio exercise to strengthen legs

Thanks to Lisa for the request for

exercises to strengthen and tone the lower body!

Here are a few cardio exercises to try. Don't forget frequency and duration! Keep in mind your heart rate needs to be in the target zone for 20-30 minutes 3-5 times a week for weight maintenance, 5-7 times a week for weight loss

-Stairs: Usually free if you have them in your home :) Whenever you go up, make sure your entire foot is on the stair for stabilization. Plant your foot, them roll from heel to toe to prevent injury. For increases exertion, use a faster pace or take 2 at a time. My FAVORITE is to go to a high school and run the stadium stairs.

-Hills: Walking or running up hills requires a greater activation of your butt muscles and all of the muscles in your hamstrings. These exercises will strengthen tone and sculpt all of the major muscles of your butt, hamstrings, calf and quadriceps.

-Cycling: Riding a bike is an incredible exercise for your hips, thighs and glutes, whether you ride outside or indoors at a spin class or on a stationary bike. The plan: On your next cycling workout, pay attention to your technique; get your glutes involved by leading with your heel when you push down on the pedals. On the upswing, pull up on the pedal (if you've got foot straps) to make sure you're using every part of your legs during your workout. Isolations are another option: Increase your resistance, lift your butt off the seat and slowly pedal using ONLY your legs (your body shouldn't move or bounce).

-Kickboxing: In kickboxing, all those kicks (side, roundhouse, back and fronts kicks) will target your butt, quadriceps and hamstrings. Check your local gym, rec center, or buy a great video and invite friends to your home, or local church, etc.

ENJOY!!

Reference: Paige Waehner, About.com Guide Updated March 26, 2010

Boost your mood: How exercise can improve your life!

How exercise can improve your life!

(The Mayo Clinic SAYS!)

The merits of regular physical activity — from preventing chronic health conditions to promoting weight loss and better sleep — are hard to ignore. And the benefits are yours for the taking, regardless of age, sex or physical ability. Need more convincing? 1. Exercise improves your mood.
Need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help you calm down.

Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out. You'll also look better and feel better when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. Regular physical activity can even help prevent depression.

2. Exercise combats chronic diseases.
Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent osteoporosis? Physical activity might be the ticket.

Regular physical activity can help you prevent — or manage — high blood pressure. Your cholesterol will benefit, too. Regular physical activity boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol while decreasing triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly by lowering the buildup of plaques in your arteries.

And there's more. Regular physical activity can help you prevent type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.

3. Exercise helps you manage your weight.
Want to drop those excess pounds? Trade some couch time for walking or other physical activities.

This one's a no-brainer. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn — and the easier it is to keep your weight under control. You don't even need to set aside major chunks of time for working out. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk during your lunch break. Do jumping jacks during commercials. Better yet, turn off the TV and take a brisk walk. Dedicated workouts are great, but physical activity you accumulate throughout the day helps you burn calories, too.

4. Exercise boosts your energy level.
Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Don't throw in the towel. Regular physical activity can leave you breathing easier.

Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. In fact, regular physical activity helps your entire cardiovascular system — the circulation of blood through your heart and blood vessels — work more efficiently. Big deal? You bet! When your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you'll have more energy to do the things you enjoy.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep.
Struggling to fall asleep? Or stay asleep? It might help to boost your physical activity during the day.

A good night's sleep can improve your concentration, productivity and mood. And you guessed it — physical activity is sometimes the key to better sleep. Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. There's a caveat, however. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you may be too energized to fall asleep. If you're having trouble sleeping, you might want to exercise earlier in the day.

6. Exercise can be — gasp — fun!
Wondering what to do on a Saturday afternoon? Looking for an activity that suits the entire family? Get physical!

Physical activity doesn't have to be drudgery. Take a ballroom dancing class. Check out a local climbing wall or hiking trail. Push your kids on the swings or climb with them on the jungle gym. Plan a neighborhood kickball or touch football game. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and go for it. If you get bored, try something new. If you're moving, it counts!

Are you convinced? Good. Start reaping the benefits of regular physical activity today!
http://www.mayoclinic.com/

Shoulder

Over Head Press: shoulders

Start with toes and knees forward, knees slightly bent.

Pelvis tucked under to protect your back.

Extend weights (1-10 lbs in each each) overhead

Glance up with eyes, you should be able to see the weights.

If you CAN'T, Bring them forward so you CAN see them

Bellybutton is sucked in toward the spine, then up towards the heart.
Bring down slowly...squeeze your traps (sides of back)
Do 8-14 reps.
2-3 sets.

ENJOY!

Food Journal

Hey Everyone!

Today's quick tip is the Food Journal! NO dieting involved, no effort involved, EASY breezy. All you do is write down EVERYTHING you put into your mouth. Don't forget to write down the quantity AND time.

Do it for a week, then look back on each day to see what eating patterns you have established.

For example, I get sooooo hungry around 3:00pm. Now I can be prepared with a HUGE glass of water to curb the craving, or an activity to take my mind off it! Honestly, it becomes almost-a-diet because sometimes I get too lazy to write it down, so I just won't eat it.

Try it out! Write a comment if you've tried it, or have concerns about it.

The best part about it is it's free and easy!

Good Bye Wings: Tricep extension

Have you ever waved "Hi" to someone, and your arms KEEP waving?! If so, THIS exercise is for you!

FOCUS:
1. Elbows MUST stay close to the ears
2. Pelvis tucked under
3. ABs sucked in and lifted up to the heart

BEGIN:
1.Using light weights if you're just starting out. 2-5 lbs for EACH hand is good. 8-10 lbs for advanced.
2.Extend both arms over head (weights parallel to the ceiling). Elbow tight to the ears
SQUEEZE the back of your arms (triceps)

Oops! Do you see my wrists?? Make sure yours DO NOT do that! They should be in a straight line from the forearm!

3.Slowly bring the weights down, elbows pointed to the ceiling.

4. ELBOWS MUST stay close to the ears!!

5.Over exaggerate a tucked pelvis to protect the lower back from injury.

Safety First People!!

Um...sorry about the "crazy" eyes! My sweet hubby took these pics super fast for me! I guess it shows my "REAL" side!! Mu-whaa (evil laugh!)

Hey everyone! Since today is Labor Day, today's tip is to go back to each of the workouts and do each of them sometime throughout the day!! I will post a new workout tip tomorrow.

AND....If there's an area you'd like me to target, put it in a comment so I know!!
Happy end of summer :) Lacee

Delicious (and easy) Breakfast Wrap!

Breakfast Wrap

Ingredients:
• Whole Wheat Tortilla
• Peanut Butter
• Honey
• Shredded Wheat Biscuits (the big ones)
• Any flavor of lite yogurt
• Banana
• Trail mix (preferably one with nuts and dried fruit), optional

Directions:
Take one shredded wheat biscuit and crush it in a bowl, add to that the lite yogurt and set aside.
Take the whole wheat tortilla and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on it. Then on top drizzle a little
bit of honey (this is just to give a little sweetness so don’t use too much). Add the shredded wheat/
yogurt mixture to the tortilla. Cut half a banana on top of shredded wheat and then put a little bit of
trail mix or granola on top. Wrap up breakfast wrap and enjoy!!!

(1 serving=1 tortilla=about 250-300 calories, perfect for breakfast).

What's your eating personality? by Jalaine

One of my favorite books ever is-- Intuitive Eating.

It’s a great book that introduces you to a new way of looking at food and dieting. It basically teaches you how to re-learn how to listen to your body’s hunger, fullness and craving signal’s and step away from chronic dieting. In the following weeks I will be going over in detail each of the types of eating personalities and then how to become an intuitive eater. But to begin with here are the personalities in a nut shell. Which one are you?

The Careful Eater
Eating Style: Anguishes over every morsel of food allowed into the body. Grocery trips spent scrutinizing
the food labels. Interrogation of waiter when eating out. Most of his or her’s waking hours are spent planning the next meal or snack. Appear the be the perfect eaters-very health conscious. Make choices based on health.
The Problem : There’s nothing wrong with being a careful eater and showing interest in your well being. The problem occurs when diligent eating (almost bordering on militant) affects a healthy relationship with food and ultimately negatively impacts the body.

The Professional Dieter
Eating Style: Perpetually dieting. Usually have tried the latest commercial diet, diet book, or new weight loss gimmick. Dieting takes form of fasting or cutting back. Know A LOT about food portions, calories and “dieting tricks”. Most now a days are well versed in carbohydrates. Make eating choices for the sake of losing weight, not necessarily health. Usually if not on a diet they are planning their next diet. Hope that it will be a good day.
Problem: Hard to live like this. Yo-yo dieting makes it increasingly harder to lose weight because your metabolism slow down.

The Unconscious Eater

Often engages in paired eating. Numerous Subtypes of the Unconscious Eater

The Chaotic Unconscious Eater: Often lives an over scheduled life, too busy, too many things to do. Eating style is haphazard. Whatever is available will grab- vending machines, fast food, etc. Nutrition and diet not important at the critical moment. Find it difficult to identify their biological hunger.

The Refuse- Not Unconscious Eater:Vulnerable to the mere presence of food, regardless of hunger. Usually not aware they are eating or how much they are eating. Social outing usually revolve around food.

The Waste- Not Unconscious Eater:Values the food dollar. Eating drive is influenced by getting as much as you can for the money. Especially inclined to clean their plate, as well as others.

The Emotional Unconscious Eater: Uses food to cope with emotions, especially uncomfortable emotions such as stress, anger and loneliness. View their eating as the problem when it’s often a symptom of
a deeper issue. Behaviors can range from grabbing a candy bar to chronic compulsive binges of vast quantities of food.

Problems:Unconscious eating in its various forms is a problem if it results in chronic overeating (which can
easily occur when you are not aware of it). Keep in mind that somewhere between the first and last bit of food is where the lapse of consciousness takes place. As in, “ Oh, it’s all gone!” In some cases it can exist at such an intense level that the person is not aware of what is being eaten, why he started eating, or even how the food tastes.

Intuitive Eater

Intuitive Eaters march to their inner hunger signals, and eat whatever they choose without experiencing guilt or an ethical dilemma. Toddlers are a great example of intuitive eaters. Honors hunger, respects fullness, and enjoys the pleasure of eating.

Problem: Nothing is wrong with this type of eating.