Thursday, June 28, 2012

my less serious day: calcium edition

Osteoporosis runs in my family and my small frame puts me at high risk of the disease. Today, I tracked my calcium intake. Percentages of the recommended dietary allowance (1,000 mg/day for men & women 19-50 years of age) of calcium for each food is indicated in parentheses below. Today, I consumed 128% of my daily calcium recommended dietary allowance. No worries though, anything between 100% - 250% can be safely consumed.

Bones of steal, baby.

Wearing.

Jeans: GAP; blouse: Banana outlet; necklace: LOFT; flatforms <3: Blowfish.

Doing.

This morning was my day off of running and I hit the stationary bike for a 35-minute ramp interval ride followed by a 15-minute walk with the pup. I also took L on a 10-minute walk on my lunch break. The day concluded with a 60-minute Body Pump class followed by one more 15-minute walk.

Eating.


Pre-workout I had 1/2 banana (0.25%), 1/2 mug of black coffee, and 1 pint of water. For breakfast I had this bowl (x2) of Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice cereal (0%) mixed with Post Great Grains Raisins, Dates, & Pecans (0%) and Post shredded wheat (0.5%), 1/2 sliced banana (0.25%), and almond milk (90%; this is 2 cups worth of Silk Original Almond milk, conservatively - i like it milky). Breakfast calcium total: 91%.

Note: If not for drinking this almond milk and this quantity, I would have not made 100%. This brand of almond milk has 50% more calcium than dairy milk. Consuming my cereal with 2 cups of dairy milk would have put my daily total at about 83%. And because I can't consume soy products, almond milk is the choice for me!


Lunch was a romaine lettuce (0%) salad topped with tomatoes (1%), carrot (1%), 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese (8%), 2 hard-boiled eggs (5%), red wine vinegar, and Sriracha. Lunch calcium total: 15%.
 

My afternoon snack was a Pink Lady apple (1%) and almonds (5%). Snack calcium total: 6%.


Dinner was a baked sweet potato (4%) sprinkled with cinnamon, roasted eggplant (1%), baked chicken topped with Italian herbs (1%), and feta cheese (9%). Dinner calcium total: 15%.


Dessert was dark chocolate pudding mousse (Jell-o brand) (0%), peanut butter (0.5%) and Post shredded wheat (0.5%). The shredded wheat was dipped in pudding/peanut butter goodness, clearly. Dessert calcium total: 1%.

Note: this post represents what happened in my world on Wednesday, June 27. 

Previous special edition my less serious day posts:

13 comments:

  1. This is awesome! It's really important to get enough calcium, especially as a woman.
    However, I do want to point out that only 500mg of calcium can be absorbed at one time, and that's every 4-6 hours. So while it's great you're getting 900mg of calcium from the milk, you're probably not absorbing a good chunk of it!
    Just so you know :)

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    1. thanks, katie. i actually had NO idea about this absorption thing - so i am really glad you pointed it out. does this mean i get an extra bowl of cereal in the evenings now? :)

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  2. NICE SHOULDERS girl!!! Love 'em! Those are some beautifully strong arms! =)

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    1. oh man. this comment made my morning. thanks sable! strong arms are my very favorite thing!

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  3. This is such a fabulous post. Calcium is something that I feel like people often forget about and it's SO important.
    I really should keep track and see how much I'm getting one of these days. I drink Silk almond milk and eat a lot of leafy greens, so I'm sure I consume an adequate amount, but it would be nice to know for sure!
    And I'm loving your outfit, as always. (:

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    1. thanks, emily. i agree it is so important and i don't regularly track my calcium intake either. i hope this post encourages other to check in and see how much they are really getting.

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  4. I can relate to having osteoporosis run in the family! Never a good thing, and I already don't have good bones so I try to get lots and lots of calcium! Your salad looks like an absolutely amazing combination, we have very similiar tastebuds! :)

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  5. You look so cute - love those shoes! It's great that you monitor your calcium intake... I should really be better about that...

    Hope you have a great weekend :)

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  6. I know this has nothing to do with calcium, but seriously, can I please raid your wardrobe? You always have THE. cutest. clothes. I wish I had more of a sense of style!

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  7. This is awesome - I have not tracked my calcium content in so long because I assumed that because I always have dairy I meet my requirements, but that's not necessarily true. I have cut down on dairy a LOT, so just because it is still in my diet doesn't mean I'm meeting the requirements. I need to do a day when I track my intake - if I remember I'll do it next WIAW and credit you for the inspiration ;). I am the same, small framed and although it doesn't run in my family I am aware of the risk! Thanks for the reminder, girl!

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  8. Your meals look amazing!!! Especially your dinner and that chocolate mousse combo! So yummy! Calcium is so important and something we tend to forget to track since there is so much focus on calories, fat, protein, etc...Thanks for covering this topic too!

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  9. Hi, I just wanted to say- I too consumed well over the recommendation for calcium for a long time , thinking this would be good to help prevent osteoporosis. However, It turned out I'd literally not been absorbing any of this calcium due to having profoundly low levels of vitamin D. I now actually have osteoporosis and have sustained stress fractures- and I'm only 19 years old:/.
    So please remember to keep an eye on your vit D intake too!

    LOVE your blog BTW:)
    Xxx

    Sarah

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  10. I sometimes take calcium supplements because I don't eat a lot of dairy!

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