Proper Nutrition Leads to Olympic Level Results

Before I begin, I’d like to send my thoughts and prayers to all the people affected by the recent events at the Boston Marathon. This was senseless and tragic, especially at an event surrounded by so much hope, pride, and community support.




The other day I had to get an oil change, buuuuuut didn’t remember to bring anything to help pass the time. I can only look at an iPhone for so many hours before my eyes burn. I scanned the magazine table, and Score! A nutrition special volume of “Outsider” magazine, full of food ideas and nutrition tips from and for professional athletes. I’m no Olympian, but if I get the chance to learn about how they fuel up or slim down, you’d better believe I’m taking it because it must work. Obviously.


One article featured a nutritionist who works with athletes living at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Apart from their training regimens, the most important thing athletes do here is learn how to eat properly to get the most out of their training. Even Olympians are human, and burning 2,000 calories during a workout doesn’t make it okay to finally splurge on that bacon burger with donuts as buns.....whaaaat? Anyway, the article’s author condensed what he learned at the Training Center into simple pointers we can all use.


I won’t list all of the points here (because it’s a REALLY interesting article and you should read it), but I will mention those that seemed most beneficial to us non-Olympic level athletes. One: find out if you have any sort of vitamin or mineral deficiency and fix it. For example, deficiencies in Iron and Vitamin D are very common and can be responsible for symptoms like fatigue and muscle inflammation. Two: whole foods (not the store) are the best sources of nutrients. Don’t be afraid to do a little research before running to Trader Joe’s to buy a supplement. Three: try not to make any food your enemy. Eating out, alcohol, appetizers, and desserts are going to be part of the rest of our lives, so we might as well get cozy with that fact and work on maintaining a balance.


This is an awesome article.

Do yourself a favor: http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/nutrition/The-Secret-Food-of-Athletes.html 


Happy reading!


Katie

Where are our Priorities At?

As you all know I do not like to touch on political/societal issues as I really want to keep this blog focused on life and living it the best with the most fulfillment that we all can.

I just read a story that made me want to vomit and I felt compelled to share it all.

I will include a link to the article below, but I have to warn you, it is hard to read.  I will provide a brief summary for those of you who do not think you can stomach the full article.

Essentially this Dr. named Kermit Gosnell has been operating an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania since 1979.  Pennsylvania law prohibits abortions past 24 weeks.  Dr. Gosnell's practice focused on performing illegal abortions, ones past the 24 week mark. 

The way he performed these abortions was that he would give the women medication to induce labor.  Once the baby was born he would cut their spinal cords in half with scissors. 

His primary clientele were women who were very poor and often minorities.

It is believed that he performed 100's of abortions this way.  At least two women died while being treated at his clinic.

His staff was untrained.  He had a 15 year old high school student performing work that only a licensed medical professional with years of training should do.

Many women who came to his clinic were infected with diseases from Dr. Gosnell reusing unsanitary equipment.

The list of atrocities goes on and on

If you would like to read the entire article I read, click here.  Again I must warn you it is very very hard to read.

Throughout all this going on for the last 30+ years, reports were filed, complaints were made, and yet nothing was done to shut this down!  Dr. Gosnell should have been in jail years ago, yet he was allowed to continue on doing what he was doing, and nothing was done!

Why?

My next question, how come we have not heard about this?  Why is this story not national news?  Why does our National Media put a higher weight on where Jay - Z and Beyonce choose to go on vacation than alerting the public that there are Dr. Gosnell's out there doing horrible things and encouraging us all to be vigilant?

My final question, what is our responsibility?  If the media is an industry and it supposedly gives us, the consumers, more of what we want to be informed about, does that mean we as a society have become so disconnected that Jay Z's vacation and the fight at the Dodgers baseball game has become so important to us that it allows the Dr. Gosnell's of the world to operate free from the public eye?

 Does it mean that we are failing in not putting enough pressure on our political leaders to stop bickering and focus on holding agencies accountable that should be put in place to stop the Dr. Gosnell's?  It seems with each passing day we become more ok with the fact that politicians fabricate, twist, embellish, and just plain out lie about the truth.  These are the people that represent us and we as a society are ok with that?

What can we as a society do to change to help ensure a case like Dr. Gosnell's never happens again? ( I guess I had one more question ;) )

I believe that we need to all step back and acknowledge the  power that each and every one of us posses - the power to change - the power to do good.

We posses weapons of change that we did not several years ago, mainly social media.  We live in a world where an unknown can become a household name over night after their video goes viral on Youtube.  We make this happen by passing on information, we have the power to spread information.  With this power, we can make hero's, we can right wrong's, and we can bring about change.

What ways can we use the power of social media to better hold ourselves, our elected leaders, and our media outlets accountable? 

How can we better be the change we wish to see in the world?

I would love to hear your thoughts, please share below.

Note this is a very sensitive topic please be respectful of everyone's thoughts and feelings.

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Feel the Burn (out)

Feel the Burn(out)

This week started out rough. I’m fairly certain I overdid it on the physical activity over the past weekend. Between a Saturday morning circuit class, running around like a mad woman during a two hour soccer game the same day, and then attempting a training run the next morning that I had to cut short, I was totally spent. I was excited about all this planned activity, thinking how great it was to be burning all these calories, but not thinking about how it would affect my body, mind, and ability to get through the rest of the week.

I took Monday off, but Tuesday morning was the first time in for as long as I can remember that I didn’t have fun working out with my regular group. I know rest is important, but I’m starting to realize how much, and hopefully you know or can learn too. I still struggle with the “feeling guilty for taking a day off” thing, but how bummed would I be if I got a serious injury that put me out for a month, or six? I’d be super miserable, and would probably take to hibernating.


Proper rest and recovery days require a bit more effort than sitting on the couch eating peanut butter from a jar. I’m not an expert, but I know when I use my foam roller it makes a world of difference in my level of soreness and recovery time. Same with staying hydrated, stretching, icing and heating, and low impact activity like hiking or pilates during your down time. You want to feel fresh and excited to work out again, not dread it because you also gave your diet a day off and binged on pizza.

Here is a great article I found by Jeff Kuhler that breaks down proper recovery technique very simply.

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/7-essential-elements-rest-and-recovery#.UVSIZu_HI78.email 


This stuff works and you’ll be physically and mentally stronger because of it.


Happy Reading!

Katie