Nutrition Tuesdays: Are YOU Getting Enough Calcium?

Bonjour! 

Let's get right down to it:

 

You need at least 1,000 mg of CALCIUM per day (source).

And, if you are over the age of 50, you need 1,300 to 1,500 mg of calcium per day (same source).               

Calcium is one of the most important minerals because: 

                "Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in periods of growth in children and adolescents, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time"

               - Office of Dietary Supplements (source).

(source)                

Calcium is so important in the process of building strong bones, and when supplemented with exercise, it can have a dramatic affect in keeping your bones healthy for life! 

               "One of the best methods to maintain current bone mineral density is through physical activity. Activity increases the physical stresses on bone. These stresses help activate the osteoblasts and favor bone deposition (source)."

               Here are some food options that will naturally increase your calcium intake: 

              Skim Milk/Skim Milk Products - this is the ultimate source of calcium, boasting of 504 mg of calcium per cup! The only unfortunate thing about milk is that the majority of the calories in it are sugar calories. (source).

              Skim milk does, however, work as a great post-workout meal; because of the sugar, it offers a great combination of sugars to protein, and is quickly absorbed into the body.

              Spinach - Spinach has anywhere from 250 to 295 mg per cup! This is great news for those who are lactose intolerant! Dark green veggies also have good amounts of calcium, but spinach and other collard greens have the highest percentage per cup.  (Source)

         

The salad on the right has 2 cups of spinach (about 500 mg), and the salad on the left has 3 cups! 

     

                  Beans - Beans (especially soy beans and white beans) boast about 200-250 mg of calcium per cup. They are also high in protein and fiber! Beans make a great addition to salads, and you can also blend them in a food processor with some olive oil, lemon, and pepper to create a veggie dip.(source)

This salad has 2 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup of kidney beans, and 2 tablespoons of white bean hummus!
Lots of calcium in this nutritious lunch :)

 Try your best to obtain your daily vitamins through FOOD! Obviously, all organic, natural vitamins are great when FDA approved, but many supplements are NOT FDA approved and can actually harm you.

(source).

Have a great Tuesday! 


<3 Beth

Can't sleep?? Try these stretches!

For me, good sleep is hard to come by. I have a difficult time relaxing, and my mind thinks and spins and goes and goes at like a million miles an hour. Sometimes it takes at least 20 minutes of lying in bed to actually fall asleep. 

But sleep is so so so important! It helps our bodies recharge, heal, and prepare for the next day. 

If you are having a hard time falling asleep, try doing these stretches after you have brushed your teeth and are about to get into bed. It will help re-align your spine and allow your muscles to relax/stretch after a long day!

Some eats from the weekend: 

(of course, I can't go 7 days without going to Olive Pit - rare ahi Mediterranean salad with balsamic/lemon dressing...SO GOOD!)

Sleep well and stay clean!!!

<3 Beth

How I (almost) Survived the Youth All Nighter

As Joel is the youth pastor at our church, I get to participate in all of the fun events - well not just cause he's the pastor, but because I love high school students almost as much as I love red velvet ice cream (if that sounds bad/offensive, go buy some blue bunny brand red velvet ice cream, taste ONE spoonful, and then see if you can put it back in the freezer. I guarantee that you will not be able to put it in the freezer and you will eat the entire carton before you know what hit you.)

Anyways! 

The all-nighter consisted of a few activities: 

Scavenger hunt (picture/video/item): This consisted of taking four crazy/awesome h/s girls and competing to see who could win the most points by checking off as many items on the list as humanly possible. 

And we were a very competitive bunch, so when our team lost by 7 points, believe me, we wanted to shed some blood (figuratively speaking of course). 

Broom ball: a game that involves a bunch of small soccer-like balls and hockey/broom sticks, sneakers, and ice rink, and two goals. This is like the ultimate youth game. Especially when it was the 100 youth kids against like 17 leaders. 

Victoria, me, and Michelle were the goalies. 

We were slaughtered, to say the least. When you have like a million high school boys hitting/punching/pushing their way through you to the net, there is a lot of falling/bruising/yelling going on, and let me just say that I got THE MOST INTENSE WORKOUT OF MY LIFE as the broom-ball goalie. 

Do you know how DIFFICULT it is to not slip on the ice, let alone run/fight against ravaging teenagers? 

 The rest of the night included random games/fun times. 

(Joel loves scaring teenage boys with the megaphone)

There was also a huge bounce house thing that people were on until FIVE in the morning. 

Let's just say, around three, this is what happened to me:

I justify falling asleep during my leader duties because I had to wake up at 8 to be back at the church to teach a pilates/yoga class. 

Hence: How I Almost Survived The Youth All-Nighter. 

<3 Beth

Brinner: Vegan Pancakes!

Hello Beauties! 

I first of all want to say thank you to all of the positive feedback I have received since launching The OC Fit Girl!!! Your support means so much :)

Now onto the good stuff: 

On my way home from work, I was drumming up what I could make for dinner that wouldn't force me to run to the grocery store (I know, I'm lazy!). Due to this whole Look Better Naked Challenge, I haven't had much sugar (except the peanut butter bites!).  I do get ONE cheat day a week, and my go-to splurge is pretty much always dark chocolate _____ (enter anything you can think of); this week I chose the PB Cups! 

Anyways, I was CRAVING sugar, and as I was daydreaming about all of the food in my fridge/pantry (is it weird that I do this often?), a fabulous idea donned on me...

BRINNER!!!!

(For those of you that don't know, brinner = breakfast for dinner!). 

So here, my friends, is a brinner recipe that fits in the LBN challenge guidelines (sound too good to be true?):

Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Oat Maple Guilt-Free Pancakes!!!

Try saying that 5 times fast without falling over :)

Here is what you need to create this LBN-approved Brinner:

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tbs. Maple Syrup

1 Oats

2 tbs. Flax Seed

1 Mashed banana

1 cup Almond milk (regular milk will work fine as well) warmed

2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup of all natural warmed peanut butter (smooth or crunchy...your choice!)

Cinnamon (a few dashes...your preference!)

Grape seed oil

Directions: 

In a bowl, combine the warmed almond mild with the flax seed - let it sit until the flax seed is soft.

In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix them together.

Add warmed peanut butter and banana to the almond milk and whisk until combined, then add the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk.

Combine the two bowls together and mix until smooth.

Add grape seed oil to the pan/griddle, pour the batter, and let 'em cook! They will cook quickly (I burned the first one!), about one minute on each side should do the trick. They do not have egg in them so don't worry if they are a little underdone!

Add some berries, a little peanut butter, and 1 tbs. of maple syrup and voila!!!!

Yummy-ness in your mouth :)

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites!

Here is a recipe for a super rich, indulgent dessert that is both guilt-free and satisfying!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites

Here is what you need (makes five bites):

Dark chocolate (74% Coco or higher!)

All natural peanut butter

A few dark chocolate M&M's (for crunchy texture)

Directions: 

Melt chocolate and M&M's in a double boiler until very very smooth

Place foil/cupcake sheets into a cupcake baking tin and press along the sides until smooth. 

Take a spoon and place a bottom layer of chocolate in the foil/cupcake sheets. 

Take a scoop of peanut butter and layer it above the chocolate. 

Pour remaining chocolate over the peanut butter. IMMEDIATELY transfer to a freezer for 30 minutes. 

Then enjoy them! 

<3 Beth

Competitive Genes

I'm a bit competitive. 

I mean, I enjoy staring down the person next to me to imply "it's on," even if we are simply running on parallel treadmills at the local gym. 

It's a good thing Joel lives with me, as he constantly laughs at my feisty nature to ensure that I don't take myself too seriously. 

Anyways. Sometimes this competitive nature gets the best of me, and actually ends up harming me/my body. 

Take Monday, for example. 

I put my running shoes on, intending to run at our little apartment gym, until Joel told me it was closed. I was soooo deflated, I almost forfeited my run for Pilates. But I decided to take a risk and run on the street. 

(I haven't run on a street in over two months because I pulled/strained my calf muscles)

So, I begin running, and I think, oh yeah, I forgot how good this feels! Go faster. Go faster! Oh, your legs hurt, ah, who cares, you can push through it. Embrace the pain! It's good for you! Do you think it will be EASY to run 13.1 miles at race pace? Keep going! You can do it! 

And there you go. Mental challenge = competitive need to succeed. 

Well, this is what ended up happening: 

Thank you Target for frozen peas.

My shins are SO SO SO sore, I could barely walk today! Serves me right. I probably won't be able to run until the weekend! 

I had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Lauren Thompson for lunch today (it is so cool to have your best friend work two miles from where you work!): 

That, my friends, would be a veggie sandwich on honey oat bread. This beast of a sandwich only has like 450 calories! And I was FULL for the entire duration of my work day. 

Love that.

Dinner tonight = whatever we had left in the fridge from the last Ralph's trip: 

All-lean chicken sausage with green-leaf lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, and blue cheese crumbles. 

Remember ladies: portion control! Just because your man's food is almost falling off of the plate doesn't mean yours has to! 

Joel is laughing at me as I write this.

After dinner we headed to TRIBE, the young adult gathering organized through our church: 

Joel and I were in charge of snacks,  so I tried to include some healthy fruit & veggie options (notice that the cheese tray is almost completely gone and the veggie tray is practically full!) Joel's snack won in popularity, but I have to stand by my watermelon bowl, strawberries, and veggie tray as the best snack options for a ten-minute-omg-we-are-almost-late grocery run. 

 Sorry. The competitive genes are always flowing. 

Got to go do some yoga before bed! 

<3 Beth

When I grow up, I want to be...

Did anyone else see The Dark Knight Rises? 

I had a revelation while watching this film: 

I have forever sought a career that would fulfill and sustain my adventure-craving personality, and when Ann Hathaway broke through the window to rescue Batman in that super-hott-leather (okay plastic) suit, I realized that all I want to be when I grow up is Batman's cat-wife-sidekick-thing. 

Joel and I love this Greek place called The Olive Pit. On Sunday after church, we managed to slyly coax our good friends to go to lunch with us, and then casually mentioned "Olive Pit?", and when they gave us the affirmative, we I giggled and clapped with joy. 

I don't know how Joel holds his emotions in so well.

Don't you think my shelves are so neatly organized? I spend so much time organizing them every day. 

 So, to Olive Pit we went! 

 I got the Mediterranean lamb salad - TO DIE FOR. Literally. If I only had one meal to consume before my death, I might choose this salad. 

We had some super-cute company with us on this Sunday adventure: 

How cute is that dress???

I might mention that I failed to run on Sunday. I planned on doing 3 miles, but I decided to lay in front of the air conditioner and read blogs instead. 

  

Do as I say, not as I do :)

Until tomorrow, friends!