Calcium

I think we all know it's important to get calcium from our diets and/or supplements, but did you know that in this case, bigger is not always better.

I don't drink milk and am aware that i'm probably not reaching my RDA of calcium.  To counteract this, I had been taking a 600mg calcium plus Vitamin D supplement daily.  However I just ran out.

While perusing the shelves at the local Walgreens I noticed many different varieties and dosages of calcium, ranging from 500mg to 1200mg.

Something in my head told me that your boday can absorb no more than 600mg calcium at a time, so I wanted to check.

The data I found actually indicates that calcium is best absorbed in dosages of 500mg or less.  Given that a woman my age needs approximately 1000mg, my best bet is to take two doses of 500mg, one in the morning and one at night.

Why then would they even sell a dosage over 600mg that apparently ends up being flushed from your system?  Well, I don't know.  Marketing perhaps?

In summary, stick with about 500mg at a time.  When I finish my 600mg bottle i'm going to switch to 500mg, no sense in throwing away 100mg each time I take a supplement, right?

Eater Beware!

Here's another food that people think is the healthy option when in fact it may not be.

WRAPS

Ever looked at the nutrition facts on some of the wraps sold in supermarkets?  I'm shocked by the calories and fat that this "healthy" alternative often contains.

Problem is, when you're ordering a sandwich as a wrap you have no idea what brand/variety the shop is using.

A better option may be choosing Rye, Whole Wheat or Pumpernickle for your sandwich.

While you may not always have a choice, education and awareness is still key!

10 Diet Foods That Are Worse Than You Think

Fitness magazine posted this great article on facebook and I wanted to share the highlights.

Education is key to any weight loss effort.  Without this, you may fall victim to many of the food gimmicks claiming to aid in weight loss.

Here are a few examples..
Yogurt - low fat flavored yogurt can contain as much as 16 grams of sugar
Sugar-free Cookies and Candies - no sugar often means more fat
Trail mix - depending on the ingredients this can be high in (bad) fat and/or sugar
Veggie Chips - check the label, they're not much better than potato chips
Granola - high in calories
Sushi - watch out for mayo/cheese/fry
Smoothies - some contain hundreds of calories, lots of sugar and little to no protein and/or fiber
Diet drinks - this article says the artifically sweetened sweet stuff my cause other cravings
Fat-free Salad Dressing - your body needs some fat to digest veggies
Ground turkey - make sure it's extra lean otherwise it could be worse than ground beef

Check out the whole article here.

Turkey Burgers....Yum!

Last night I actually cooked dinner which is a rarity because a) I never have time and b) I live by myself.  But, I had a friend over so I made turkey burgers with roasted sweet potato pieces.  Yum!

The turkey burger recipe is so delicious (and easy) I just had to share!

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers
1 pound ground turkey (I can rarely find 1 pound so this time it was 1.19lbs)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
dash of garlic powder

In a small bowl mix together the honey, soy sauce and garlic powder.

In a seperate bowl mix together the celery and the turkey.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of the soy/honey mixture in to the turkey. (reserving the rest to brush over the burgers as they cook, ideally on the grill)  Mix together.

Make patties and cook.  I used my Foreman grill as it's winter and cold and I don't have a BBQ.  I have also baked them but be careful as it's easy to overcook turkey and it gets dry fast.  When using my Foreman grill I don't brush them with the soy/honey mix because most of it runs off and makes a mess and smokes.  This time I served the extra as a dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

The whole batch has about 1196 calories.  I made 7 burger so that came out to about 170 calories/burger.  Not too shabby!

Spinning Ride (Jessica 4 AM)

This one has been in heavy rotation the past few weeks.  It has catchy music and seems to go by pretty quickly.

In general, my explanations of what I do during each song are vague.  I go in to a class with an idea of what goes with the song but then play off emotions (their's and mine) to determine exactly what I'm doing.

Viva la Vida (4:04) - Warmup
September 99 (3:41) - Fast climb, hand position 3, light/moderate resistance, fast legs
Good Girls Go Bad (3:15) - Sprints (30s at :45, 1:40, 2:40)
Meet Me Halfway (4:44) - Seated climb
Bad Romance (3:58) - Standing climb
Jump - FloRida (3:29) - Jumps
Heat of the Moment (3:52) - Fast climb
Forever (4:38) - Seated Climb
Bad Medicine (5:17) - Standing Climb
My Life Would Suck Without You (3:34) - Sprints (on chorus) two 30's, then final one minute
China Grove (3:16) - Fast climb
Aganju - Cool down

Enjoy!  Questions or comments, get in touch.

Two Food Posts In A Row

Found another goody and just had to pass it on.

Once again, it's Jell-O brand.  This time they have these new single serve chocolate mousse cups (sugar free!).  It's called Jell-O mousse Temptations.  They do have 2.5-3 grams of fat though.

These come in three flavors Choclate Indulgence (pictured and the only one i've tried), Caramel Creme, and Dark Chocolate Decadence.

From what I hear the Dark Chocolate Decadence is pretty tasty as well.

I found them in the Jell-O refridgerated section of my supermarket.  Keep an eye out!

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great new year's eve and a fun celebration.

Unfortunately I came down with a cold on NYE, so I kept it pretty low key.  I also got roped in to teaching two spin classes on New Year's Day, so I had yet another reason to keep it pretty tame.

So here I am on New Year's Day and of course it's resolution time.  I don't usually make resolutions, but this year I'm setting some goals for myself.  Some are concrete, others are more along the lines of gradual changes.

Of course fitness is on my mind.  I have my six hour spin-a-thon coming up the first weekend in March.  And as I've mentioned before I'm hoping to attempt my first half marathon, in addition to my first road race.  Last year my goal was a 5K and while I didn't run an official race, I did reach (and surpass) that goal in terms of distance.  This year, with my life back in order, I plan on doing the official 5K, then hopefully a 10K and then the culmination in the half.  We'll see how that goes.

This past year taught me ALOT.  Losing my job and being out of work for seven months made me so much more aware of things...what I was doing, how much things cost, and how I could get by with so much less.  Now that I have a job again, I think my appreciation for the little things (such as a salary) have skyrocketed.  I'm really excited to continue to explore my feelings and take each day one day at a time, savor the little things and see what 2010 has in store for me.  I'm so curious!

Looking forward to sharing my 2010 with you and wishing you all a very happy new year!