There have been a spate of apps and websites devoted to helping people keep up their motivation and improve their fitness recently. I love this trend and would like to share some of my favorites with you. As a good food lover, I’ve also been looking for an app that relates to healthy eating that I can get behind but have yet to find one I like! The majority of apps and websites for food are devoted to counting calories, which isn’t the best measure of a healthy diet! 2,000 calories of cake, donuts and ice cream have nothing on 2,000 calories of vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, almonds, etc. I’ll get back to that in a minute, but first my list of favorites.

MapMyRun: I started using this online awhile ago as a way to find different running and biking routes in my area. I now use it to help create my own routes so that I can plot out the distance I want to travel on any particular day. It’s nice to be able to see elevation, distance, and even a satellite image of the area as you are mapping so you know just what you are getting yourself into! I use the free version of the site, but there are more functions available to those who choose pay to become a “Pro” including the ability to print out your maps and have access to training plans. There is also a smartphone app which, to be quite honest, I can’t get it to work the way I want it to. When I first downloaded it I was able to track my movements and for some reason with the newest version I can’t figure out how to do this (perhaps because I don’t pay?) Instead I use the next app when I’m out running, walking and biking to track my milage.

RunKeeper: I love this app and the website that goes with it! Once again you need to register, and there are both a free version and the “Elite” version you can pay to join. I use the app to track my outdoor workouts, and can use the well organized website to look back at my previous workouts. You can view fitness reports showing your milage for different activities as well as totals by day, week, month or the past year, as well as being able to separate out just one type of activity. Another option which I love is that you can have a “Street Team” of friends. The “Street Team” can view each others activities and cheer each other on by leaving comments as you each reach new goals of distance or time. There is even a feature to take pictures while using the app on your smartphone, those pictures will then be incorporated into the record of your outing.

Earndit: Last but not least is the motivational website, Earndit. Earndit takes the information from other tracking tools (like RunKeeper, MapMyRun, Fitbit, Nikeplus, FourSquare, Garmin, and a few more) and gives you points for each activity. You get 10 points for each mile on foot, 3 for each mile biked and others for going to the gym, rollerblading, and more. So what do you get for your points? Various companies sponsor “challenges” for which you get entered into a drawing for a gift certificate by reaching point goals for the week. You can also redeem your points for discounts from these sponsors OR donate points towards things like a goat from Heifer International. With Earndit you can also “follow” other people that you know, and create your own personal challenges with them alongside the challenges that are sponsored. Racking up your target points each day or week can become a fun way of motivating yourself to park on the far side of the lot at the mall and walk a few more steps each day! I really love the idea of this and love that each point counts!

While I really like these three, I still feel that there is space out there for a healthy eating app. The app I envision would award points for consuming more vegetables and fruits, as well as points for every time you were able to pass up an open bag of chips. The problem of course is that there is no one perfect healthy diet. We are all unique people with differing appetites and needs. There is also a segment of the population whose disordered eating pattern and eating disorders make this kind of tracking a path towards unhealthy obsessing. Apps and websites like MyFitnessPal and SparkPeople tend to focus solely on calories and in my experience, give a very low target number for people who are really active. For example, the Spark People website says that I should only consume 1500 calories per day; I typically eat a LOT more than that and on a day that I have a long run, about twice that amount!

So until something better comes along (or I come up with something and convince my husband to write the app), just stick with the basics; Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, keep sometimes foods at bay, and stay active!

Okay, I’ll admit it, I have Olympic fever! I don’t know about you, but this happens to me every 2 years. I get caught up in the personal stories of the athletes and their struggles to make it to the games. It would be so easy to be sucked onto the couch for the entire length of the games, especially since the events are spread out so that you can watch at almost any time of day for 17 days straight. I also love hearing the stories about what the athletes eat (who can forget hearing that Michael Phelps eats so many thousands of calories a day?) but it’s important to remember that if you are not a competitive Olympic athlete, you probably shouldn’t be eating exactly like them!

If you have Olympic fever like I do, why don’t you use that excitement to throw down a healthy challenge for yourself? It’s only 17 days, what do you have to lose? The opening ceremony isn’t until Friday night so you still have some time to plan out your challenge. Think about what your biggest obstacles are, to leading a healthy life and write them down. Once you have those, write down all of the ways that you can overcome those obstacles. One example might be that you never have time to cook healthy meals. To overcome this, you can plan to spend time in the evening when you would usually watch TV to scout around some quick healthy meals and write out a shopping list. Remember that a plan is your biggest ally when overcoming difficulties!

Use SMART goals to map out a plan for yourself and here’s where the Olympic fun can come in. Come up with a point system for yourself around your goals. If we use the example of cooking healthy meals, give yourself 10 points every day that you reach that goal and 5 on the days that you just barely get dinner on the table but still didn’t resort to take-out, and 0 when you gave up and just got McDonalds. Decide how many points will equal a gold, silver or bronze medal and what kind of reward you will give yourself for achieving each. Maybe you can plan a spa day for gold, a massage for silver and a pedicure for bronze. This could also become a competition between family members or friends, with each person working on their own personal goals.

Go for the gold – remember to encourage yourself while you’re at it, and reward all of the small victories along the way!

2012 Olympic gold medal – Image from www.london2012.com/medals/about/

I wanted to follow up on some of the things I’ve been doing since my post about beating the heat while exercising this summer. The past few weeks have been hot (as you all know) but I am not willing to totally give up on exercising because of it! Here is my take on what has worked well for me recently.

Since I don’t belong to a gym, heading indoors isn’t really an option for me. My primary defense has been in scheduling. For the most part I’ve tried to get my runs done as early as I can. Since my kids are up at the crack of dawn every morning, it’s been pretty easy to get up and out the door on the early side. I’m typically finished by about 8:00 am and I’ve mapped out some enjoyable shady routes for that time of day.

I’ve also been taking it easy, going slow, and making sure to cool down well during and after my runs. I’m fortunate enough to have some outdoor showers on my long routes and it’s been fantastic! I know that not everyone is willing to douse their head in cold water mid-workout, but if you can, you are in for a real treat! If you don’t have access to a shower, you can always have a pitcher of water stashed halfway through your route ordesign a route that doubles back by your house where you can use a hose. I urge you to try this because it makes such a difference! Just last weekend I was lucky enough to have my friend Marcia join me for a 6 mile run and I think she will attest that the second half was much more bearable due to our wet heads! I also like to hop right into a cool shower when I get home.

I did try pre-cooling by drinking an ice slurry on a few occasions, but I had a really difficult time trying to quickly consume something that cold – brrr! This might still be an option for some people, but personally I found it difficult. I’ve had better results with cold beverages during my exercise. It’s hard to keep ice water actually icy over a long period when it’s so hot out, but I’ve found that if I fill up my water bottle with ice and then add a little water, the ratio of ice to water is so high that at the very least the water is still cool after 30 minutes. As an added bonus I’m basically holding an ice pack as I run! I have also tried putting a cold pack (the kind that are still flexible when frozen) in my helmet when I’m out on a bike ride. I wrap it in a paper towel or cloth before I slip it in and boy does that feel great on a hot day! If you don’t have a flexible ice pack, you can get the same result with a bandana tube filled with ice (then you’d get the benefit of water dripping down your neck as it melts too!)

Make sure you keep hydrated throughout these super hot days, and be aware for the signs of heat sickness. Staying safe is the first priority, but the second is making sure you can continue to enjoy exercise right through this hot weather! If you have other tips and tricks for surviving the heat, I’d love to hear from you!

My lifeline on a hot day

Have you heard of the terms ‘mindful eating’ or ‘mindless eating’? There may be an obesity epidemic in our country right now, but I also think there is a mindless eating epidemic. People everywhere are eating constantly without even tasting what’s in their mouths. In their cars, the movies, on the beach, in the grocery store, watching TV, walking down the street, at work… wherever you go people are eating. The problem is that when you eat mindlessly and don’t experience what you are actually consuming, you won’t be as satisfied by it and will end up eating more without even realizing it.

Mindfulness and mindlessness carry through all aspects of the day, not just eating. Take notice of how many times you are not in the present moment throughout your day. Are you thinking about what is coming next or what has already passed? How many times have you been driving and found yourself at your destination without remembering the journey? Or have you read a page in a book only to realize that you have no idea what it said? Very often these all-consuming thoughts are of things we cannot do anything about at the moment. When you are watching your child’s little league game, it makes no sense to worry about the laundry, or other work that you need to get done, it is impossible for you to do anything about it at that moment. When it comes to eating, how often have you gobbled down your lunch (or any other food for that matter) between getting other things done and didn’t even taste it?

The real trick is to reverse this habit and start to eat mindfully. When you eat mindfully you will enjoy your food much more, and you will be better able to listen to your body for signals of hunger and satiety. Food is more than just nourishment, it is a delicious sensory experience; when we lose sight of this, not only do we miss out on the opportunity to enjoy it more but we won’t be as satisfied by it as we could be. One of my clients once told me that they looked for the food that would most “fill them up” the quickest and didn’t care about the taste – this is definitely not the way to become satisfied. Some people who mindlessly eat, even forget that they have eaten a meal and end up eating again.

How do you begin to eat mindfully? I like to guide my clients through an exercise where they spend time looking at, smelling, touching and thinking about the food in front of them. Then taking a bite, they chew slowly while really tasting and savoring the food that is in their mouths. Very often the response is something like “wow, I don’t think I’ve ever reallytasted a _______ !” Of course we cannot spend hours at each meal and snack slowly savoring our food, the world we live in won’t allow it. You can try to make a habit of making the first bite of everything you eat a truly mindful one. Before you put anything in your mouth take one minute to look at, smell, and touch your food while thinking of how it came to your plate. Where was it grown or made? Who prepared it for you? When you take that first bite really examine the way it feels in your mouth as well as the flavor and all of its subtleties. I think we can each devote about 3 minutes to this kind of activity and the payback will be huge.

If you are interested in reading more about this topic, there is a great book about mindless eating by Brian Wansink, PhD called Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, and you can also check out his website for a glimpse of all of the interesting studies regarding mindless eating his group has done. When it comes to mindful eating, I highly recommend the book Savor by Lilian Cheung, DSc, RD and Thich Nhat Hanh, and you can check out that website too. As with many things, just being aware of what you are doing can make a huge difference!

What do you do when life throws you a curve ball? Do you throw in the towel and say oh well? OR do you change things up and attack the challenge from a different direction? This week I hit a major roadblock. I am alone with my boys for a few days and I can’t just leave them at home for an hour or more while I go out for a long run. What to do? My first thought was that I could take my youngest on a long bike ride instead while leaving the older two at home. I have a trailer for the bike which works really well and he doesn’t mind going for a ride with some toys and books to look at, but then those plans were scrapped because I realized I didn’t have the connector for the bike trailer! Uh oh!

Instead of throwing in the towel, I came up with plan C. I could run back and forth on my street in front of the house with the boys home. Boring, but it would be easy enough to check on them, have them come out to ask me questions or let me know about any problems that arise. A bonus of this plan was that I could leave a water bottle at the end of the driveway for a quick drink at regular intervals. If this plan hadn’t worked out I could always have gone to plan D and popped a workout DVD in to get some exercise that way.

There are almost always some acceptable alternatives when life throws lemons your way. If you find yourself stuck somewhere with very limited dining choices, you can still usually find some options that won’t derail your healthy habits. If you are on the road this summer and think that fast food is your only option, think again. Use your smartphone to find the nearest grocery store. There you can pick up some water, yogurt, make a salad at the salad bar or maybe get a sandwich made at the deli. If you find yourself at a restaurant that you didn’t choose (with menu options that aren’t so health friendly) it pays to ask if they can make something not on the menu. Very often they will be willing to give you some plain chicken or fish (without the heavy sauces they usually use) and give you a side of whatever vegetables they happen to have.

There are almost always other options if you just make a little effort to look for them. These options might not be your favorite, they might not be the best, but it’s always better than the alternative of giving up and letting life take you for a ride. Take control!

Summer’s here and the temperature is rising! Yesterday in the Boston area the temperature was up to about 97 degrees and today will be much of the same. Last week I was talking about ways to beat the heat when exercising in weather like this so I have had to opportunity to try out some of the strategies I talked about.

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn and out by 5:00 am to get get a run in with some friends. It was already 77 degrees when I left the house and since the Sumer Solstice was yesterday, it was light out too. It felt like the middle of the day except for the fact that not too many other people were out. When I got home I knew this would be the perfect day to break out my new toy.

I bought this snow cone maker so that I could make some icy slurries for myself. I’m hoping that drinking down a slurry on hot days like this before exercise will help me make it through workouts with less discomfort. As soon as I took it out of the box my husband and three boys yelled “snow cones!” It hadn’t even occurred to me to use it for its intended purpose when I bought it, but on a day like this that’s exactly what I did! When I started to look for a syrup recipe, I was dismayed that almost every single one called for sugar, water and Kool-Aid mix. Since I would rather make something without a powdered mix, I decided to make a lemon simple syrup which would be both delicious and easy.

To make the syrup, mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Boil until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the zest of one lemon (I peeled large strips off with a peeler), and also the juice of the lemon whichI squeezed it into a small strainer so that pulp and seeds wouldn’t drop in. Allow the syrup to steep while it cools, once it cooled off a little I put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When you have let it cool completely, you can save it in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, either strain it before storing, or as you use it.

Lemon syrup as it steeps and being strained for use.

Once you have your lemon syrup ready, it’s time to make the shaved ice. There are plenty of fancy electric shaved ice machines out there, but the machine I got is really low tech and easy to use. It comes with some forms so you can freeze just the right size and shape of ice to fit in the machine. My kids had fun cranking out the ice and we got five snow cones out of one ice block. I then drizzled about three big spoonfuls of syrup over the shaved ice and stirred it around a little. A very refreshing treat on such a hot hot day!

Tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be more of the same. I’m planning to make an ice slurry by blending pineapple, banana, dates, and coconut milk, then pouring that over a large amount of shaved ice. I’ll drink about half before my workout and sip the rest during it so that I can keep cool. By using real fruit to make my beverage I’ll get not only the energy I’ll need from carbohydrates, but I’ll also be getting much needed electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals – plus it will taste delicious!

A week ago I talked a little bit about hydration as the weather gets warmer going into the summer months. Hydration is important, but it is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to exercising in the heat. Heat stroke is a very dangerous condition where body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. When you perform any vigorous exercise, your body temperature will rise (which is why you sweat) and exertion in the heat will speed this rise in body temperature. The symptoms of heat stroke are nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, headache, muscle cramps, and dizziness (although not all people will experience all of the same symptoms).

Prior to reaching 104 degrees however, you will probably begin to experience fatigue and the feeling that you simply cannot perform at the same level you had been. There are other conditions associated with high temperatures including heat cramps, and heat exhaustion. If you spend a lot of time out in the heat, it is important to review these different conditions to get a sense of the warning signs as well as what to do when you experience them or see them in others.

So, what can you do about it? There are several strategies that you can use to approach the summer weather and still fit in all of your active plans. The first thing is to not overexert yourself, especially in the beginning of the hot weather. Give yourself a little time to acclimatize to the heat and take it easy the first several times the weather gets hotter than usual. Secondly, make sure to lather on the sunscreen, and maybe change your route or typical location to include some shade. Additionally you can avoid the heat by either going outside earlier in the day before the full heat is on, or by heading indoors to exercise in an air-conditioned space.

Before you begin strenuous exercise outside, you can pre-cool your body. Basically, by pre-cooling the body prior to the start of prolonged exercise, it gives you a little more time before hitting the danger zone. What do I mean by pre-cool? There are several methods including immersion in cold water, wearing an ice vest or drinking an ice slurry. It’s important to also work on cooling down during your activity by making sure to take breaks when needed, and making your beverage of choice a cold one. I have also heard about people putting ice into a bandana that they tie around their neck, putting some ice cubes on a sponge and slipping that under their hat, or pre-chilling a wet hat in the refrigerator. While dunking yourself in a vat of cold water isn’t always practical, some of the other suggestions can be. The studies about ice slurries show that they work almost as well as the full body immersion, and who wouldn’t want an icy drink on a hot day? I’m planning to test this out on my next long hot run and I have some ideas about how to make slushy beverage which I’ll share when I work the best strategy. As I write this, it is rainy and 64 degrees so I haven’t felt like making slush, but since this is New England so I’m sure the weather will be changing soon!

The most important thing you can do is to avoid these conditions from happening in the first place. As I always say, “fail to plan and you plan to fail”. By planning ahead you can prevent a lot of these negative symptoms from happening to you!

How many of you think about hydration either when exercising or just in general? For some people this might seem like a non-issue, but for others this could be the difference between a very good day and a very very bad day! For the most part, thirst can be your guide. The exceptions are with the elderly and sick whose thirst mechanisms aren’t working as well and sometimes children, who “forget” to drink as they get wrapped up in their busy play schedule. When it comes to exercise there have been conflicting viewpoints about hydration lately and I think that most of this conflicting advice comes down to the fact that we are each very individual in our needs; hydration isn’t a one size fits all proposition.

You may have heard of hyponatremia, a condition of dangerously low sodium levels in the body which can be caused by over-hydration while sweating without replacing electrolytes (like just drinking tons of water without any other nutrition during endurance activities). This dangerous condition has lead many people to back off from hydration advice in attempts to not encourage over-hydration. The flip side of this issue is dehydration which can also be very dangerous in the extreme and will inhibit performance even in small amounts. What’s a person to do?

After feeling the negative effects of heat and dehydration during my last race, I have been thinking a lot about how to make sure I don’t encounter the same problems again. Part of my problem was that the weather changed at the last minute (when you are prepared for 66 and overcast, 85 and sunny makes a big difference!). Currently, many of us have to deal with wide variation in conditions from day to day as spring makes way for summer. One aspect of this is sweat rate, which will change as temperatures change and it’s important to recognize this (I’ll talk about heat specifically in another post). The best way to arrive at the amount of fluids that you personally need is to calculate your sweat rate and then use that information to try to keep within the range of fluids you need. The goal is not to exactly match the sweat rate, but to get into the ballpark so that you aren’t in the danger zone on either side.

Calculating sweat rate is actually much easier than it sounds. Weigh yourself before and after your workout without any clothing. Each pound of weight difference is roughly equal to 16 ounces of fluid and don’t forget to take into account any fluids you consumed during your workout. For example if your pre workout weight is 150 pounds and your post workout weight is 149 pounds but you drank about 16 oz of water during exercise, your sweat rate for that particular exercise session in those conditions was approximately 32 oz. It is important to note the weather conditions and duration of activity so that you will have that information for future reference.

Knowing your sweat rate, as well as how salty your sweat is (do you see white lines on your clothes when they dry or can you feel crusty salt on your skin when your sweat dries?) can help you when it comes to proper hydration and nutrition in endurance activities. This can be a very complex issue and I’ve only just brushed the surface here. It’s very important to pay attention to the way your body reacts in different circumstances. Planning ahead and trying different strategies to find what works best for you personally will be like money in the bank when it comes time to perform!

As I continue to evaluate those pesky “noes”, today the focus will be on the glycemic index. Have you ever heard of the glycemic index? Do you try to eat foods that are low on the glycemic index? If this is new to you, here’s a quick overview of what are low glycemic index foods and a list of glycemic index foods from Harvard Medical School.

There are quite a few diets that were created using the index. If you compare basic types of carbohydrates using this index it might generally point you to better choices (pumpernickel bread has a lower index than a french baguette) but overall I don’t think it is really a direct path to good health. There are many foods (like ice cream and pound cake) that are low on the index yet aren’t exactly on everyone’s list of top healthy foods! The glycemic index is really most relevant for diabetics who are trying to keep their blood sugar under control. Foods that contain fat, protein, and fiber generally will lower the rate at which food is digested and sugar will enter the bloodstream, therefore lowering the glycemic index (hello big juicy steak), but these three components are not the only hallmarks of a healthy diet! I have heard people say that they stay away from carrots, bananas, and sweet potatoes because they are too high on the GI but I don’t think there are many people out there who became overweight by eating those foods!

What it boils down to is this, you don’t need lots of complicated charts and indexes to follow a healthy diet! This is the kind of thinking that sells a lot of books. If you are told you need to buy someone’s book or follow a ‘special’ diet to be healthy, don’t believe the hype! Your best bet is to load up your plate with vegetables and fruits, add some lean protein (including fish, nuts, beans and low-fat dairy), if you are going to have a grain make it a whole grain and wash it all down with plenty of water. Top this recipe off with plenty of whatever physical activity you like best and call it a day!

After my post about tart cherries and going to the SCAN Symposium, I’ve been thinking more about tart cherries and anti-inflammatory foods in general. Along with the industry sponsored studies, there have now been a few more that were done without industry sponsorship which I like to see! As I said before, tart cherries have been shown to  ease muscle soreness by reducing inflammation in muscle tissue after intense exercise. It is important to remember that in all of these studies, the subjects consumed tart cherries (or juice) for at least a week prior to strenuous activity as well as afterwards. I still would like to see a study comparing cherries to other foods (for example raspberries are are said to have high amounts of the same anti-inflammatory found in cherries) but for now it’s cherries that we have the data on!

Since I like the taste of dried tart cherries, and my activity level can certainly support the extra calories, I decided to incorporate some cherries in my training for the half. I had about 1/3 cup (45g) of dried tart cherries every day. I have to say that despite all of the hard work I put in while training over the last few months, I really haven’t been feeling excessively sore! Of course I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t also taking my own advice and eating a ton of vegetables and other fruits in the meantime. I also make sure to have a recovery meal or drink soon after strenuous training, and have been spending some quality time with my foam roller. All in all I’d say it’s a winning combination!

What’s the best way to incorporate cherries into your day? I have sprinkled them on salads (especially delicious in combination with some cheese and nuts!). I’ve also mixed them with some dried cereal for a trail mix that can be stowed in a resealable container or bag. This is something I can have with me if I know I’ll be out and about all day so I’m prepared if I get hungry. Dried cherries are also delicious when cooked into oatmeal. I combine a half cup of old-fashioned oats, 1/3 cup dried cherries, a splash of vanilla, and 1 1/2 cups water (it’s important to add extra water because the cherries really absorb a lot of it), after it’s cooked, I top it off with some milk. Those are just three ways with cherries and there are many more out there. Please let me know if you have a favorite you’d like to share!