Week 2- You are the steward of your health

I think I’ve already shared with you that two weeks ago I broke my arm skiing in Park city, Utah.  I broke my right arm so it’s made it really difficult to type and I apologize for sending less emails and updates than usual.

It probably doesn’t surprise you that I’m super anxious to get out of this cast and one of my top priorities has been to get the nutrients needed to heal as quickly as possible.

It was disappointing to me that my orthopedic surgeon never asked anything about my diet and nutrition nor did he order or check whether I had had a DEXA scan to check for osteoporosis (I have had one and my bone density is slightly below normal.)

It is additionally disappointing that for the most part medical professionals often ignore the importance of good nutrition.  They tend to give us a Band-Aid and send us on our way.

I am hoping to lead you to understand how important it is for you to become a wise steward of your own health and nutrition.

A seldom used tool on my fitnesspal.com are the columns of information that follow your food entries on the daily food diary. Did you know you could choose what items to track? If you go to my fitness pal.com and choose settings then choose diary you will find a scroll down menu of various elements you can track.

What I would like you to do for our challenge this week is choose items to track that will most benefit your health. If high cholesterol and heart disease run in your family you might want to track trans fats, cholesterol or salt.  In diabetes runs in your family you might want to track carbohydrates or sugar. If you have a tendency to break bones you might want to track calcium and protein.  If you have problems with constipation you might want to track fiber. If your family history and your personal health raise no red flags you might want to keep the standard default settings.

Once you have reconsidered what items you want to track in your daily food diary I want you to choose one column to focus on this week. I’m focusing on protein as that is one of the main things needed when your body is trying to rebuild and repair.  Once you’ve chosen which column to focus on I want you to focus your efforts on meeting or exceeding the daily allotment for this nutrient.  FOR EVERY DAY YOU MEET OR EXCEED THE MINMUM REQUIREMENT IN THE COLUMN YOU HAVE CHOSEN YOU EARN THE DAILY BONUS POINTS!

So yes ladies there is more to my fitness pal.com than tracking calories and exercise! I encourage you to make this a lifelong tool for focusing one by one on the various nutrients you need in your diet and improving in each area!  Good luck to you all!