How many of you can honestly say you are incorporating two 8 oz glasses of milk per day into your daily diet?
Mommys everywhere pay attention - At my checkup last week, my doctor wasn't concerned about my ambitions to run a marathon, she was concerned about the amount of calcium I was consuming and what types of supplements I was taking to avoid injury and doing (possibly) permanent damage to my body.
Why is this point particularly important to mommys in particular? Because if other moms are anything like me, I rarely worry about my daily consumption of calcium and Vitamin D. I'm too busy worrying about my children's calcium consumption!
I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, good whole foods and I do eat cottage cheese and cheese occasionally. Sometimes yogurt if my children don't eat all of it first. Guess what? None of that is as good as a glass of plain old milk.
You know what sucks about this? I am a mama post-two-pregnancies who is trying to maintain a healthy diet and waistline, sometimes fat-filled calcium products, like the ones in our fridge (full-fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese) don't exactly fit the bill of what I crave or what I want in general.
In fact, as I'm sure you're aware, several diets out there tell us to avoid calcium products, some for certain lengths of time and others all together, because of the points I made above (lots of fat and calories).
This is really foolish!
Calcium does a myriad of important things for our bodies - The two most concerning to me being an avid runner is protecting bone health and strength. Any work out routines or tips/tidbits I share on WhoLey NicoLey will require attention to both these items and moving forward, I promise to include some fun recipes that include our good friend Calcium!
Without further ado - A great suggestion, although highly unoriginal, from my doctor - Yogurt Smoothies.
1 Cup Plain Yogurt (I recommend Greek Gods) 1 Cup Strawberries 1/2 Cup Milk (I recommend Organic milk) 1 Cup of Ice BLEND and SIP liberally
The Vitamin C in the strawberries will help your body absorb as much of the Calcium and Vitamin D that it possibly can!
No, no, I'm not talking about the terrible ear worm by 'NSync (sorry, I just had to), I'm talking about soda, pop, coke, whatever you want to call it - It's dirty and so incredibly terrible for your health. Today I want to discuss why we (by we I mean, you, occasionally me) continue to drink it. And also offer some better alternatives.
My co-worker and I were discussing pop this morning and he brought up a good point - What if all food companies were forced to market and name their products for what they actually are and what they do...Example: Instead of "Coca Cola" on the can it reads - High Fructose Corn Syrup in a Can! 30 Tbsp of Sugar in a Can! Get Your Monthly Dose of Aspartame in ONE CAN (Warning: Also linked to causing Cancer)! DRINK ME to Easily Pack on an Extra 10, 20 or even 50 pounds!
You get my point.
Do you think as many individuals would continue to drink it if it were labeled this way? You're right, maybe they would... I mean, all the health risks are printed right on the packs of cigarettes and bottles of alcohol... But, I'm willing to bet not quite as many would if we were to be more frank with our warnings.
The worst thing about consuming soft drinks are the lingering effects. You don't just drink and it passes, the consequences of the chemicals contained in soda stick around for a while...
Here’s some of the ingredients that are contained in some of your fav go-to refreshments and their negative health effects: (Courtesy of www.oleda.com):
Phosphoric Acid: May interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.
Sugar:Soft drink manufacturers are the largest single user of refined sugar in the United States. It is a proven fact that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA (recommended daily amount) of sugar.
Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side
effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.
Obviously something is going to "get us" someday, right? But, I'm a believer in putting good fuel in your body and being in control of yourself - Why not choose to do the body good?
Without further ado - Here are my favorite go-to refreshments that are much healthier and equally (if not more) refreshing.
WhoLey NicoLey's Citrus Spritzer Fill 1 Large Tumbler with a Liberal Amount of Ice Pour Sparkling Water (Soda Water) Over Ice Squeeze Juice of 1 Lime Wedge, Lemon Wedge and Orange Wedge into Sparkling Water and stir the wedges, juice, ice and soda water together Insert Straw and ENJOY! Very little calories, a LOT of refreshment and best of all, it's proven that fruits and COLD beverages will naturally energize your body. Iced Tea Before you turn away or mock my unoriginal-ness of this suggestion, I just want to point out that sometimes we forget about the most simple things and how delicious they can be! Hear me out... Bring a small pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Place two of your favorite tea bags in the water and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Put the tea in a pitcher and store on the refrigerator - If you want a glass immediately, simply serve over ice with honey or a touch of raw sugar. Gang, there are THOUSANDS of teas out there! Mint Tea has been my go-to this summer as it is so delicious and refreshing! Tea and Mint have fantastic health perks too (particularly gastrointestinal for the mint). Not to mention the added health perks of honey, especially locally purchased honey. Fun Fact: Local honey contains natural antibiotics to any infections taking place in your area. Bees really are amazing little buggers (no pun intended, sorry for my cheesy-ness today). Sip liberally - And quit with that dirty pop (don't lie... you know you're jammin' to that song right now)!
Cheers,
NCB
This is me (post children!) and my wonderful hubby
Anne-Marie Slaughter recently wrote in The Atlantic an article, which received a ton of press (good and bad) entitled, Why Women Still Can't Have It All. Although Slaughter's article was extremely well composed and took a lot of courage on her part, considering she is a proclaimed and esteemed Feminist icon, being a full-time working mother of two young sons, and let's not forget a wife, I disagreed with the main point behind Slaughter's article:
"The women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are either super human, rich or self-employed."
It's true, American society places a ridiculous standard on women, especially on women with children. For example, we live in the most obese country in the world, and yet if a woman is carrying a little extra weight after having a baby, she is labeled as fat, or worse, inferior to her counterparts.
It's also true that women place a high standard on each other. We are constantly comparing ourselves to the woman in front of us, behind us, beside us, above us or below us. We will get much further if we put all our differences of opinion aside and stick together. Obviously.
I'm here before you today to proclaim becoming a mom doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your...
Dreams of having a career.You can. Slaughter proclaims in her article, extremely well, that it's OK to take "investment intervals" throughout the life of your career to take care of your children and be the best mother you can possibly be. The heavy burdens of child rearing are short-lived and once they're gone, they're gone. You don't get that time back. You have plenty of time to climb the ladder once your kids are off to college. And better yet, women now more than ever are having fantastic encore careers in our retirement years. So hang in there, mama. Your time will come if you want it! Don't ignore your feminine aspects!
Body. My father always told me "you are in control of you". If you eat chocolate chip cookies everyday while pregnant, you're going to get fat and stay fat. Sorry if that's too blunt or offensive, but I speak truth here. Also, just because you are pregnant, doesn't mean you are not able bodied. Most doctors will encourage light-to-moderate exercise, good nutrition, supplements and lots of water consumption. Post bab(ies) I am 20 pounds lighter than pre-pregnancy weight. If I can do it, so can you.
Marriage. Having children is earth-shattering and life changing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. However, as long as you're with the right person, and/or you've chosen the right partner, having children should bring you closer together, not drive you apart.
I am a self (and several others) proclaimed SuperMom. And guess what? I'm not rich, super-human or self-employed. Stick with me, you can get there too!
Prior to starting I have to give a thank you to the people that believed in me enough to inspire me to begin this journey: A. Archer, A. (DeVaan) Sellers, you have been friends of mine for so long and remain dear to my heart always.
... "You are SuperMom"... said a friend to me recently. "You have to start a blog and keep it focused on the whole food kick, working out and fitness stuff. Mom's will eat this stuff up."
And so, here we are.
I am making a commitment to blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday/Saturday/OR Sunday evenings. All my posts are dedicated to mothers all around the world, however, I'm sure that anyone will find the information presented useful.
My goal is to inspire others to want to live a better life. I recently told a close friend that life is too short. If you're unhappy with aspects in your life, change them. If you want to go somewhere, go. If you dream of doing this or doing that, do this or that.
Here's to leaving all excuses behind and stepping forward with the best foot possible.
