How many whole grains do you eat?

There's been a lot of emphasis lately on eating more whole grains, which are foods that are less processed and contain more of the natural nutrients found in the grain. Whole grains also have more fiber than processed grains. Current guidelines are to make sure that half of your grain choices are whole grains.

Try this:

• Instead of cornflakes, eat shredded wheat. Even Frosted Mini Wheats are a whole grain!


• Instead of white bread, eat 100% whole wheat bread. If you need a middle step, try bread made with whole grain. It has less whole grains than 100% whole grain bread, but more than white bread.


• Add brown rice to a rice pilaf recipe.


• Try 100% whole wheat pasta. I like 100% whole wheat tortellini - and my family can't tell the difference!


• Look for Triscuits - they're one great-tasting cracker that's made from 100% whole grains.

Let me know your favorite whole grains as well!

Running at night

I don't usually run in the evening, for a variety of reasons. I'm cooking dinner, talking with my kids, winding down from a busy day, it's too dark, it's too cold - the list of reasons NOT to run goes on and on.

But now I'm leading a training group for the More half-marathon in NYC, and one of our weekly sessions starts at 5:30pm. Last night it wasn't quite dark as I drove to our meeting site, but by the time we headed out the door 15 minutes later, full darkness set in.

What a great run! It was lightly snowing, there was about 1/2 inch of fresh snow on the sidewalks, and it wasn't too cold (about 25 degrees). It was almost surreal to run along, hearing your footsteps crunch in the snow, and see your breath puffing in and out in the cold air. The time and miles flew by, and I felt like I was floating along above the snow.

As one of the women said, the hardest part about running is that first step out the door. Take that step, and the rest is easy and a joy.

Staying strong for the activities you love

I talked with a 4o-something guy today in the gym. He told me he plays squash 3 times per week and stays active with skiing. He used to be a runner, but now it takes too much time away from his family. Today he was in the gym because over the summer he had knee injuries, and now his shoulder hurts. Starting to feel like he's getting older and falling apart, he decided it's time to add in strength training and stretching to his weekly routine.

He's absolutely right.

It's not enough to shoot hoops, play tennis, practice clogging or line dancing, or even do your usual 3-mile daily walk. We need to participate in strength training 2-3 times per week, plus daily stretching, in order to stay strong and injury-free. The biggest complaint is that we don't have time to go to the gym. My response: you'll have lots of time when you're injured and can't play your sport for a few months.

You don't even have to join a gym. Schedule a few sessions with a personal trainer and learn how to use bands and stability balls at home. Strength training can take as little as 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week. Get up 10 minutes early and stretch in the morning, or stretch while you're watching TV at night.

Bottom line: there are no excuses when it comes to incorporating strength training and stretching into your routine. Not if you want to keep skiing, playing raquetball, or biking.

Vitamin D and.....heart disease?

We've known for years that vitamin D works with calcium to help make our bones strong and dense. That's why vitamin D is added to milk. In the last few years, research is turning up new functions for vitamin D, with the lastest being protection against heart disease.

Some experts believe that 1/3 to 1/2 of all adults in the US are deficient in Vitamin D. No wonder - many people don't drink milk, vitamin D isn't naturally present in many foods (cod liver oil, anyone?), and the process of converting sunlight hitting our skin into vitamin D slows down as we age.

Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to high blood pressure, and it also may increase inflammation that can lead to heart disease. Research is ongoing to find out optimal amounts of vitamin D supplementation, because too much can be toxic. For now, I recommend these three tactics:

1. Drink 3-4 cups of skim milk fortified with vitamin D per day.
2. Take a multivitamin supplement that contains vitamin D.
3. Ask your doctor to test your blood levels of vitamin D - and to recommend a supplement if necessary.

Why run?

I had this crazy idea to start a training group for women over 40 to run or walk the More half-marathon in NYC on April 6th. I thought it would be great if I could entice 5 women into the program.

I've had over 60 women express interest. Wow! You have to remember that we live in Vermont and upstate New York, and the highest temperature on the day of our kick-off meeting was zero.

Why would women want to run or walk throughout the winter to train for a 13.1 mile race? Here are some of their reasons:
- to get more fit and healthy
- to accomplish finishing a half marathon
- to increase motivation to commit to an exercise program
- to have fun with a group of like-minded women
- to have something just for me!

They show up at 5:30 am, when it's dark. They show up again at 5:30pm - when it's once again dark. We also have training sessions during the day, which means juggling work, kids, and family schedules. We walk and run outside as a group, saving the treadmill for those times we can't make it to a group session.

We've met new friends, learned stretching techniques, purchased 'technical' clothing that wicks away sweat, and experienced the satisfaction that comes from committing to a difficult, yet important, goals.

These women are wonderful as a group and as individuals, and I'm thrilled to help them reach their goal: the More half-marathon finish line on April 6th!

Mindless eating

I met with a new client today, who immediately told me that keeping a food journal was difficult, but enlightening.

Let's back up. Whenever I talk with someone about nutrition counseling, I ask them to keep a food journal for a few days before our first appointment. That way they can clearly see in black and white exactly what they're eating throughout the day, and I get a good snapshot of their usual eating habits.

Today's client took the food journal a step further. He was so apalled at the amount of food he ate, that after the first two days he started eating less. He noticed that he ate without being hungry, especially when watching TV, so he started portioning out his food and paying more attention to why he was eating.

He grabbed onto the idea of the food journal, and put it to work helping him restructure his eating habits to meet his goals of weight loss and improved health. Perfect!

Keeping a food journal is one tried and true method to not only learn more about your eating habits, but to also make changes in the way you eat. You can keep a paper and pencil food diary, or use an online tool such as www.fitday.com

Make sure to capture this information:
1. time of day
2. location (are you driving in the car, sitting in bed watching TV, or working at your desk?)
3. What you're eating and drinking
4. How much you're eating and drinking
5. Why you're eating and drinking. This last one can be difficult to answer, but persevere. The answer we're looking for is hunger, not boredom, it's time to eat, everyone else is eating, or stress.

Keep a food journal for a week. It's the first step on the road to changing your eating habits.

January challenge completed!

I conquered my January challenge this past weekend with the help of my sister Diane. We ran the Chevron Houston marathon in 4:41:05, which beat our goal finish by 4 minutes! The credit goes to the wonderful weather (45 at the start, mid 60's for the high) and almost flat course. Sure, there were aches and pains - there always are - but we never felt horrible or that we couldn't finish. We even sped up at the end, passed a few people, and finished with smiles on our faces!

We always like to finish in the top 50% of our age group, which is more difficult now that we're at the tail-end of the 40-49 group. Here are the stats:
- Place within division: 125 / 268
- Place within gender: 1035 / 2093

Now I've completed 8 out of the 12 monthly challenges I set for myself during this year before I turn 50:
- June: ran in the Green Mountain Relay Race
- July: ran a 5K trail race in Rutland
- August: completed an olympic distance triathlon at Lake Dunmore
- September: a bike century in Saratoga, NY
- October: Cape Cod marathon
- November: hiked up to the top of Mt. Equinox with my husband Mike
- December: I love Woodford snowshoe race

I don't have anything planned yet for February, but am thinking about cross-country skiing.

It feels great to set goals, and even better to cross those goals off my list when they're completed. Onward and upward!

No artificial anything

I just love these words on food labels. Whenever I see them, I have to stop and read more. The one that caught my eye yesterday morning at Shaw's was for Dannon All Natural yogurt.

The problem is that the word 'natural' has no real meaning when it comes to food. Processed foods can be natural. So can sugar, or maple sugar, or white flour. Natural sounds warm and fuzzy, but it's really a marketing term.

So I read the ingredients on the label. Cultured grade A low fat milk, sugar, peaches, water. Since this is yogurt, it's good that the first ingredient is milk instead of sugar. I think what's really going on here is that the yogurt contains plain sugar - not high fructose corn syrup, which has been labeled 'evil' by many people. A 4-oz container has 110 calories, which is about twice the calories in one cup of plain yogurt, or one cup of yogurt sweetened with sugar substitute. Sugar substitute isn't 'natural', and most people won't eat plain yogurt because it's not sweet.

But what about the rest of the ingredients? The label says it contains <1% of corn starch, natural flavor, pectin, locust bean gum, lemon juice concentrate, annatto extract. Are these all natural? I suppose it depends on your mindset. Cornstarch is a thickening agent ground from the kernel of corn. Not bad.

Here's the definition for natural flavor:
"The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."
That doesn't sound so good, does it?

Annatto is a red coloring made from achiote trees in Latin America. Sure, trees are natural, but by the time they actually make annatto it's more chemical than anything else.

What's my point?
- Read the list of ingredients whenever a product says it's all natural. Sometimes it is - and sometimes it isn't.
- beware advertising for "no artificial ingredients" because it's just too complex
- choose plain yogurt and flavor it yourself with an all-natural apple or peach.