Since I've gone plant based this last month, I've had to find an alternative to my beloved Quest Bars...and I think I have finally found my new addiction. I've found that I really like Clif bars! I don't think in terms of the traditional protein obsessed dieter that they would be considered "macro friendly" because there are a lot of carbs and not a ton of protein. The particular one I have on hand right now is the Chocolate Brownie flavor and it has 4.5 grams of fat, 44 carbs and 9 grams of protein. I like Clif bars as desserts and sweet snacks because they have a texture that reminds me of oatmeal cookies and dessert-like bars. It gives me my sweet sugar fix in a nice sized bar that's really satisfying. I like that they are a lot cheaper than Quest Bars. Clif bars are 98 cents and Quest Bars are usually $2.29 per bar.
Clif Bars come in a ton of different flavors. Some are fruit flavored but I like more decadent flavored bars like White Chocolate Macadamia because it tastes like a giant cookie. I like to warm them up in the microwave too.
The only problem that I have with Clif bars are that they can be high in fat if you buy certain nut based flavors. I also have a little bit of concern for the soy ingredients that appear on the label. The protein in the bar is made up of soy protein isolate. There are a lot of shady things to look out for in soy. The fact that 70% of the ingredients in a Clif bar are organic helps lessen the effects of the soy. Soy can mess with the hormonal balances in your body especially if you're a male. Soy doesn't really have a good reputation but I don't think it's something to be overly concerned about.
I've already cut of 100% of all meat and dairy products in my diet and I feel that if I restrict too many more things that it won't be a very healthy way to live. (352)
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
The Western Diet
I know I have touched base a lot on the eating habits and patterns of modern America, but it seems like the best thing to talk about. How are we going to fix our dietary issues as country if we constantly brush them under the rug?
I want to talk about the Western Diet. It's basically the nice term for the fat filled-meat inclusive diet. According to the FDA, the average American diet doesn't even fall between the guidelines. Apparently, our "average" diets consist of 50% carb, 35% fat, and 15% protein. The FDA recommends that our macros sit at 55% carb 30% fat with 15% of our calories coming from protein. I think it's safe to assume that most of the fat calories come from oil and meat. Most of the carbs probably come from soft drinks, bread and candy. If you try and dissect a typical fast food meal in your head, what comes to mind? In my mind, it makes total sense. The bread being the refined carb, the meat being the very little protein that Americans consume and the rest of the patty being a source of fat, along with the fries. The large pepsi or whatever somebody would choose to order to wash it all down would be the 3rd source of refined carbs (French fries being the second, but that's mainly a source of fat)
Looking beyond macronutrients, have you ever looked up an ingredient list of a fast food meal? How I bet there are 65+ ingredients in your meal alone. How many of those ingredients do you think are chemicals or preservatives? Probably a lot. The modern American diet. Is careless. There is no caution or safety towards American's health status. The food industry is not out to make a healthier generation for us or our families, the food industry wants your money so much that they will do anything to keep you coming back. Oreo filled Chips Ahoy Cookies? Reese's Oreos? The Pizza Hut Cinna Sticks? The triple whopper? Obviously all marketing techniques to make something look new and exciting. And yeah, I've fallen for it before. Being a little kid I saw commercials for Kid Cuisines and Cinnimini's at Burger King. Any time my mom offered to get breakfast or pick up something for lunch, I could never decline. Hell yes 5 year old Sarah wants that Barbie toy in her happy meal, of course I want the 6 piece chicken nugget because 4 is weak and have you SEEN those new flavors if Artic Rush (formerly grew up knowing them as "Mr. Misty's"
In the last 3 or so years, I have not taken my family up on any offers for fast food. Since deeply educating myself on topics like these, it's repulsive to even think about fast food. Even though it's been years since I've had fast food, I still crave it sometimes. Constantly being surrounded by food ads and new restaurants opening up, the temptation is real. Then I think about the Food Inc documentary and the truth behind fast food and I'm instantly repulsed.
The Western Diet is majorly flawed and I hope to see some kind of action to change the direction the diet in this country is headed. (544)
I want to talk about the Western Diet. It's basically the nice term for the fat filled-meat inclusive diet. According to the FDA, the average American diet doesn't even fall between the guidelines. Apparently, our "average" diets consist of 50% carb, 35% fat, and 15% protein. The FDA recommends that our macros sit at 55% carb 30% fat with 15% of our calories coming from protein. I think it's safe to assume that most of the fat calories come from oil and meat. Most of the carbs probably come from soft drinks, bread and candy. If you try and dissect a typical fast food meal in your head, what comes to mind? In my mind, it makes total sense. The bread being the refined carb, the meat being the very little protein that Americans consume and the rest of the patty being a source of fat, along with the fries. The large pepsi or whatever somebody would choose to order to wash it all down would be the 3rd source of refined carbs (French fries being the second, but that's mainly a source of fat)
Looking beyond macronutrients, have you ever looked up an ingredient list of a fast food meal? How I bet there are 65+ ingredients in your meal alone. How many of those ingredients do you think are chemicals or preservatives? Probably a lot. The modern American diet. Is careless. There is no caution or safety towards American's health status. The food industry is not out to make a healthier generation for us or our families, the food industry wants your money so much that they will do anything to keep you coming back. Oreo filled Chips Ahoy Cookies? Reese's Oreos? The Pizza Hut Cinna Sticks? The triple whopper? Obviously all marketing techniques to make something look new and exciting. And yeah, I've fallen for it before. Being a little kid I saw commercials for Kid Cuisines and Cinnimini's at Burger King. Any time my mom offered to get breakfast or pick up something for lunch, I could never decline. Hell yes 5 year old Sarah wants that Barbie toy in her happy meal, of course I want the 6 piece chicken nugget because 4 is weak and have you SEEN those new flavors if Artic Rush (formerly grew up knowing them as "Mr. Misty's"
In the last 3 or so years, I have not taken my family up on any offers for fast food. Since deeply educating myself on topics like these, it's repulsive to even think about fast food. Even though it's been years since I've had fast food, I still crave it sometimes. Constantly being surrounded by food ads and new restaurants opening up, the temptation is real. Then I think about the Food Inc documentary and the truth behind fast food and I'm instantly repulsed.
The Western Diet is majorly flawed and I hope to see some kind of action to change the direction the diet in this country is headed. (544)
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Carbohydrates....again.
In light of my last post about the food industry, and after doing extensive research, I've realized a lot about society.
A large percentage of the population is overweight and obese, yet nobody sees the insanity of the typical American diet. It's filled with meat, dairy, fats and oils. As soon as somebody wants to make a change in their diet, the first instinct they have is to cut out carbs. Society has trained us to fear carbohydrates. It's a common misconception that carbs make you fat. I even thought that for a while, and I'm pretty sure I talked about it in a few older posts. Then I asked myself this; why would it make sense to cut out carbs when your main form of energy preferred by your body are carbs? You'll eventually starve your body of it's most valued macronutrient and yes you'll lose weight but the reason for the weight loss is loss of water weight, because we all know that water is stored in our muscles. Let's say you start a low carb diet and follow it for 6 months. Yes, you will lose weight because you are depriving yourself so far that it will make you sick enough to lose body fat. You will be in a state of ketosis. But what happens after you no longer continue the diet? All of the water weight will result in weight gain along with the increased carbohydrate intake. This will result in that person gaining all of the weight back, and maybe even then some because their body will try and make up for the deprivation they had experienced. My dad had lost a lot of weight about 10 years ago following Dr. Atkin's diet and he gained it all back. He recently just started on it again and has lost 6 pounds so far. He's addicted to fast food and junk. If the diet was so easy to follow and so sustainable, he would have kept the weight off. This is why I believe that low carb diets are bad way to lose weight or become healthier.
Bottom line: carbs are not bad, so don’t deprive yourself of
what your body prefers.
(367)
Tough Competition
The best runners in the state are getting faster and faster each year, making it harder and harder to qualify for state and even regionals. No matter what event, or even race (if you're talking cross country) the competition is insanely difficult each year. Since extending the cross country race course, it's been said that it's a good thing because the girls' times are so fast, it's hardly a race. The top time in the state for a 4,000 meter course is somewhere in the low 13 minute range. Which is crazy. That's about a 5 minute mile pace...held for two and a half miles. Even in track, the 3,000 meter times are crazy fast. The best times for girls are in the upper 9's. That time is LESS than a 5 minute mile pace! In the 1500 meter race, some of the best times are 4:30 and under. A four and a half minute (almost) mile is extremely hard to pull off.
As the competition becomes tougher, I feel conflicted. Part of me sees it as a good opportunity to push myself harder, making myself think "If other girls can pull off a 4-something mile, I can at least try for a 5:45" and part of me wants to just throw my hands up and quit, because I know I'm not a natural born runner. It's tough when you're competing against so many natural born runners where everything just comes so easily for them, and I'm over here pushing myself really hard just to get a semi-decent time.
I'm choosing to work harder to try and keep myself ranked in the middle of all of the competition. I already know a mile under 5 minutes will never happen for me, because I know that my body just isn't capable of pulling it off. I am going to focus more on trying to cut off 10 seconds per race, slowly until I can reach my goals.
Hopefully since I'll be training for 5K's, it'll help translate over into next track season to help get my times down in my events. I'm hoping to continuously run all year round, and not make the mistake of taking too long of a break. I feel like it's really hurt my progress. (378)
As the competition becomes tougher, I feel conflicted. Part of me sees it as a good opportunity to push myself harder, making myself think "If other girls can pull off a 4-something mile, I can at least try for a 5:45" and part of me wants to just throw my hands up and quit, because I know I'm not a natural born runner. It's tough when you're competing against so many natural born runners where everything just comes so easily for them, and I'm over here pushing myself really hard just to get a semi-decent time.
I'm choosing to work harder to try and keep myself ranked in the middle of all of the competition. I already know a mile under 5 minutes will never happen for me, because I know that my body just isn't capable of pulling it off. I am going to focus more on trying to cut off 10 seconds per race, slowly until I can reach my goals.
Hopefully since I'll be training for 5K's, it'll help translate over into next track season to help get my times down in my events. I'm hoping to continuously run all year round, and not make the mistake of taking too long of a break. I feel like it's really hurt my progress. (378)
Monday, March 30, 2015
Ignorance of Consumers
We all know the expression "ignorance is bliss". But is it really? Ever since Ms. A showed us Food inc, (which was right up my alley, I found it really interesting.) It also got me thinking about what else the food industry is lying about, or concealing simply for their own benefit of making revenue.
There are a lot of mixed messages sent by the food industry. A huge issue used to be the egg debate. Are eggs good for you? Are they bad? There are a lot of conflicting studies and findings regarding eggs. So many more similar issues make it hard to know what is healthy and what isn't.
Not only are mixed messages an issue, but the ethical side of food is a huge issue too. The consumers don't have the slightest clue of what goes on behind closed doors. We have no idea how many animals are tortured in slaughterhouses every single day. Most people who do know, don't want to actually think about it. The food industry won't willingly share what goes on inside of these slaughterhouses because if you knew, you wouldn't want to eat it.
I have done a LOT of research on the meat and dairy industry over the past week or so and it's completely changed my outlook on food. It goes beyond ethics for me, don't get me wrong, animals' lives matter to me, but there are also a lot more factors that have driven me away from animal products.
I have learned that milk, (I'm lactose intolerant anyways so I don't drink milk. I do [did; as of 9 days ago] eat a lot of Greek yogurt and string cheese.) is legally allowed to contain up to 750,000 somatic cells PER milliliter. Click here to watch the truth about milk Somatic cells are pus cells found in cows; and somatic cells are the same cells that are in zits...yummy. There is also the ethical side of how dairy cows are treated, which is also shown in the video linked above. I really am more aware of the food that I put into my body and really think about the quality of product that I consume.
I of course didn't stop there, I also watched several videos about eggs, which by the way, explains some of the egg debate that I mentioned at the beginning of this post! I continued research about meat in which I discovered the shocking fact that a hamburger only contains 2.1-14.2% of ACTUAL MEAT. WHAT? To find out what's making up the other 86-98% of the burger, the video does a great job of explaining. I also wanted to know about fish, too. There were some pretty interesting things I learned about mercury levels in fish
Being an informed consumer is the most powerful thing you can do as a consumer. If you do your research and find you don't like what you see, you can literally change the food industry. Don't support things you don't believe in or don't feel comfortable consuming. I recently made the switch to better my health in the long run. (521)
There are a lot of mixed messages sent by the food industry. A huge issue used to be the egg debate. Are eggs good for you? Are they bad? There are a lot of conflicting studies and findings regarding eggs. So many more similar issues make it hard to know what is healthy and what isn't.
Not only are mixed messages an issue, but the ethical side of food is a huge issue too. The consumers don't have the slightest clue of what goes on behind closed doors. We have no idea how many animals are tortured in slaughterhouses every single day. Most people who do know, don't want to actually think about it. The food industry won't willingly share what goes on inside of these slaughterhouses because if you knew, you wouldn't want to eat it.
I have done a LOT of research on the meat and dairy industry over the past week or so and it's completely changed my outlook on food. It goes beyond ethics for me, don't get me wrong, animals' lives matter to me, but there are also a lot more factors that have driven me away from animal products.
I have learned that milk, (I'm lactose intolerant anyways so I don't drink milk. I do [did; as of 9 days ago] eat a lot of Greek yogurt and string cheese.) is legally allowed to contain up to 750,000 somatic cells PER milliliter. Click here to watch the truth about milk Somatic cells are pus cells found in cows; and somatic cells are the same cells that are in zits...yummy. There is also the ethical side of how dairy cows are treated, which is also shown in the video linked above. I really am more aware of the food that I put into my body and really think about the quality of product that I consume.
I of course didn't stop there, I also watched several videos about eggs, which by the way, explains some of the egg debate that I mentioned at the beginning of this post! I continued research about meat in which I discovered the shocking fact that a hamburger only contains 2.1-14.2% of ACTUAL MEAT. WHAT? To find out what's making up the other 86-98% of the burger, the video does a great job of explaining. I also wanted to know about fish, too. There were some pretty interesting things I learned about mercury levels in fish
Being an informed consumer is the most powerful thing you can do as a consumer. If you do your research and find you don't like what you see, you can literally change the food industry. Don't support things you don't believe in or don't feel comfortable consuming. I recently made the switch to better my health in the long run. (521)
Friday, March 20, 2015
Injuries Part 2
After hurting my foot only a week before the first day of track, I was terrified that I would have to sit out the first few practices. All week I focused on healing.
Whenever I get injured in the leg/foot area, I take extra caution to stay off of my foot and to make sure I do everything I can to speed up the healing process.
Whenever I get hurt, the first thing I do is pretty much self diagnose the issue because it's never bad enough to go to a doctor. Sometimes I'll have the athletic trainer look at it to get a solid opinion on it. The next thing I try to do is tape up the area so I can get extra support and stability. My favorite type of tape is a roll of plain athletic tape because it's stiff enough to give me the extra support I need but flexible enough to move with my foot. I use KT tape sometimes but it really just leads to disappointment because it ends up falling off or sticking to my pants or socks instead. It's super expensive for what it actually is, so I use it sparingly.
The next thing I usually do is ice it of course. I'm not the type of person who can just set an ice pack on a towel and put it on the injured spot, I like to put the ice pack directly on my skin, let it burn for about a minute or two and then take it off for a few minutes and then re-apply it until that spot feels numb. Although I wrapped an ice bag around my leg and just let it sit there for 2 1/2 hours straight. Apparently it's "detrimental" to do that...oops.
Lastly, I'll take some Advil to ease the pain and inflammation. I don't take it very often because I feel like it can only do so much before it doesn't make a difference.
Too many girls these days are weak. I don't mean physically weak, I mean mentally. Most of them just quit on themselves as soon as a muscle becomes sore. There is a major difference between a legitimate injury and soreness. Too many of them can't tell the difference. Sitting out of half a season is not an actual option for a cure to being sore. As soon as you realize the difference, the better off you'll be. (407)
Too many girls these days are weak. I don't mean physically weak, I mean mentally. Most of them just quit on themselves as soon as a muscle becomes sore. There is a major difference between a legitimate injury and soreness. Too many of them can't tell the difference. Sitting out of half a season is not an actual option for a cure to being sore. As soon as you realize the difference, the better off you'll be. (407)
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Injuries
Injuries. Everybody gets them. It's one of the biggest roadblocks of being an athlete . I realized I run a heath and fitness blog, but have completely left out blogs about injuries. I thought today might be a good day to start. To get to the actual point of the blog, you may have to skip to the second part of this themed post for advice on how to overcome injuries. But first, I feel like I should build up my ethos with my own history of injuries.
I consider myself extremely lucky. Not only have I been given the support and materials to become an avid runner but I have been lucky enough to have a strong body to carry me mile after mile. I have never had any major accidents that have left me seriously injured, and I'm extremely grateful for that. When I had first started running long distance, I had run crazy mileage in a short amount of time. 2 summers ago I had run almost 400 miles in 3 months. It put a lot of stress on my legs and I developed shin splints. My legs were tender and painful when I ran, walked or put any amount of pressure on my leg. I had tried almost everything to help ease the pain. I decreased my mileage from 50 miles per week to about 30 or less.
I had also strained my hip flexor a few months later in my very last cross country race of the season. In track, I had some minor issues here and there but nothing that kept me out of practice and meets. I also haven't had many lifting injuries. I have pulled muscles and strained some but I've always been able to bounce back quickly.
Almost 5 Monday's ago, I went for a run. It was warmer but still cold enough to have some ice spots. I dodged them carefully and went on my way. It was only until after my run that I noticed my left foot was extremely painful to walk on. I thought it was my ankle because I had some swelling and discoloration in that area but I noticed the real pain was along the side of my foot behind the base of the 5th metatarsal. It hurt to walk up the parking lot into school, to walk up the stairs and to even get in and out of the shower. It was almost impossible to get from class to class without noticeably limping. The worst part was that I got hurt 7 days from the first day of track. That took almost 2 weeks to fully heal. Just when that happened, I was struck with yet another injury. Welcome to injury season.
(To be continued) (461)
I consider myself extremely lucky. Not only have I been given the support and materials to become an avid runner but I have been lucky enough to have a strong body to carry me mile after mile. I have never had any major accidents that have left me seriously injured, and I'm extremely grateful for that. When I had first started running long distance, I had run crazy mileage in a short amount of time. 2 summers ago I had run almost 400 miles in 3 months. It put a lot of stress on my legs and I developed shin splints. My legs were tender and painful when I ran, walked or put any amount of pressure on my leg. I had tried almost everything to help ease the pain. I decreased my mileage from 50 miles per week to about 30 or less.
I had also strained my hip flexor a few months later in my very last cross country race of the season. In track, I had some minor issues here and there but nothing that kept me out of practice and meets. I also haven't had many lifting injuries. I have pulled muscles and strained some but I've always been able to bounce back quickly.
Almost 5 Monday's ago, I went for a run. It was warmer but still cold enough to have some ice spots. I dodged them carefully and went on my way. It was only until after my run that I noticed my left foot was extremely painful to walk on. I thought it was my ankle because I had some swelling and discoloration in that area but I noticed the real pain was along the side of my foot behind the base of the 5th metatarsal. It hurt to walk up the parking lot into school, to walk up the stairs and to even get in and out of the shower. It was almost impossible to get from class to class without noticeably limping. The worst part was that I got hurt 7 days from the first day of track. That took almost 2 weeks to fully heal. Just when that happened, I was struck with yet another injury. Welcome to injury season.
(To be continued) (461)
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