Day 20

Can you believe we're already to day 20?!?!  Only 10 left!  Time has gone so quickly!  

Alright, the weekend is upon us. The perfect time to rest, reset and prepare for the week ahead.  I need to spend some time menu planning today but it's going to be hard since I'm probably going to spend most of the day cleaning the house getting ready for tomorrow.  What's tomorrow?  Well, I'm hosting my annual carrot cake party in honor of my dad's birthday on Tuesday.  He loved carrot cake.  It was his favorite.  And he would have been 69 this year.  My friends are wonderful and come every year to hear the Eagles play endlessly and listen to stories about Papa and my life with him.  Oh, come on...yeah, right!  They come for the carrot cake and kindly indulge me with not complaining about the choice of music and politely asking questions about Papa.  All in all, it's always a great day!

So, am I going to have a small piece of carrot cake tomorrow?  Well, I'm just not sure.  I've allowed myself that option if I wish to take part.  I'll keep you posted.

Ok, moving on. 

Breakfast: I'm not sure If I'm calling it breakfast or pre-workout meal.  Whatever the case, it wasn't well rounded nutritionally.  Paleo pancakes 1.5 batches and fruit salad, topped with toasted pecans/coconut.  Yeah, it's the weekend...no veggies for breakfast!

Workout: Went to Target with the roomie then headed home for my date with Shaun T.  Plyometric Cardio Circuit today.  Felt pretty good.  My chest is tired from all those pushups yesterday...I don't mind.

PWM: Some frittata.  Hits my need for protein and veggies that I missed out on at breakfast.  Also has some sweet potatoes in it and I hear those are good for post workout.  

Lunch: A late lunch since my PWM was pretty filling.  Same as last night's dinner...burger patties with mixed greens, tomato, onions, bacon sautéed mushrooms.  A side of sweet potato crisps and a balsamic avocado.  Decided to throw in some more veggies, carrot sticks and cucumber.  So delicious and so filling.

Dinner: I'm babysitting tonight so it needed to be quick since I didn't get the kiddos down until a little after 7. Chicken breast over mixed peppers and squash, with mini meatloaves atop fresh peppers, cucumber and tomato.  A side of guac and we're good to go!  A lot of peppers, but that's what I had on hand and grabbed before leaving for sitting, so that's what I'm eating.  

Thoughts:

Ya know how I've been complaining about my leg cramps and how I was gonna wipe them away with my banana consumption?  Well, my dear friend Marci (who I met on the Uganda trip in 2011 and will also be on the trip in October) passed along an article about magnesium and how muscle cramping is often associated with low levels of it.  I did some further research and this is what I found:

Magnesium: What is it?Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Dietary magnesium is absorbed in the small intestines. Magnesium is excreted through the kidneys.

What foods provide magnesium?Green vegetables such as spinach are good sources of magnesium because the center of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives green vegetables their color) contains magnesium. Some legumes (beans and peas), nuts and seeds, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium. Refined grains are generally low in magnesium. When white flour is refined and processed, the magnesium-rich germ and bran are removed. Bread made from whole grain wheat flour provides more magnesium than bread made from white refined flour. Tap water can be a source of magnesium, but the amount varies according to the water supply. Water that naturally contains more minerals is described as "hard". "Hard" water contains more magnesium than "soft" water.
Eating a wide variety of legumes, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables will help you meet your daily dietary need for magnesium. Selected food sources of magnesium are listed in Table 1. 

Table 1: Selected food sources of magnesium

Food	Milligrams (mg)	%DV*
Wheat Bran, crude, ¼ cup	89	22
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce	80	20
Spinach, frozen, cooked, ½ cup	78	20
Raisin bran cereal, 1 cup	77	19
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 ounce	74	19
Soybeans, mature, cooked, ½ cup	74	19
Wheat germ, crude, ¼ cup	69	17
Nuts, mixed, dry roasted, 1 ounce	64	16
Bran flakes cereal, ¾ cup	64	16
Shredded wheat cereal, 2 rectangular biscuits	61	15
Oatmeal, instant, fortified, prepared w/ water, 1 cup	61	15
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce	50	13
Peanut butter, smooth, 2 Tablespoons	49	12
Potato, baked with skin, 1 medium	48	12
Blackeye peas, cooked, ½ cup	46	12
Pinto beans, cooked, ½ cup	43	11
Rice, brown, long-grained, cooked, ½ cup	42	11
Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, ½ cup	36	9
Vegetarian baked beans, ½ cup	35	9
Kidney beans, canned, ½ cup	35	9
Chocolate milk, lowfat, 1 cup	33	8
Banana, raw, 1 medium	32	8
Yogurt, fruit, low fat, 8 fluid ounces	32	8
Milk chocolate candy bar, 1.5 ounce bar	28	7
Milk, lowfat or nonfat, 1 cup	27	7
Raisins, seedless, ½ cup packed	26	7
Halibut, cooked, 3 ounces	24	6
Bread, whole-wheat, commercially prepared, 1 slice	23	6
Avocado, cubes, ½ cup	22	6
Chocolate pudding, ready-to-eat, 4 ounces	19	5

*DV = Daily Value. DVs are reference numbers developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers determine if a food contains a lot or a little of a specific nutrient. The DV for magnesium is 400 milligrams (mg). Most food labels do not list a food's magnesium content. The percent DV (%DV) listed on the table above indicates the percentage of the DV provided in one serving. A food providing 5% of the DV or less per serving is a low source while a food that provides 10–19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture'sNutrient Database Web site.
What are the Dietary Reference Intakes for magnesium?Recommendations for magnesium are provided in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences [4]. Dietary Reference Intakes is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and assessing nutrient intake for healthy people. Three important types of reference values included in the DRIs are Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intakes (AI), andTolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL). The RDA recommends the average daily intake that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%-98%) healthy people. An AI is set when there is insufficient scientific data available to establish a RDA for specific age/gender groups. AIs meet or exceed the amount needed to maintain a nutritional state of adequacy in nearly all members of a specific age and gender group. The UL, on the other hand, is the maximum daily intake unlikely to result in adverse health effects. Table 2 lists the RDAs for magnesium, in milligrams, for children and adults.

Table 2: Recommended Dietary Allowances for magnesium for children and adults [4]

Age (years)	Males (mg/day)	Females (mg/day)	Pregnancy (mg/day)	Lactation (mg/day)
1–3	80	80	N/A	N/A
4–8	130	130	N/A	N/A
9–13	240	240	N/A	N/A
14–18	410	360	400	360
19–30	400	310	350	310
31+	420	320	360	320

Data from the 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey suggest that substantial numbers of adults in the United States (US) fail to get recommended amounts of magnesium in their diets. Among adult men and women, the diets of Caucasians have significantly more magnesium than do those of African-Americans. Magnesium intake is lower among older adults in every racial and ethnic group. Among African-American men and Caucasian men and women who take dietary supplements, the intake of magnesium is significantly higher than in those who do not.

When can magnesium deficiency occur?Even though dietary surveys suggest that many Americans do not get recommended amounts of magnesium, symptoms of magnesium deficiency are rarely seen in the US. However, there is concern that many people may not have enough body stores of magnesium because dietary intake may not be high enough. Having enough body stores of magnesium may be protective against disorders such as cardiovascular disease and immune dysfunction. 

The health status of the digestive system and the kidneys significantly influence magnesium status. Magnesium is absorbed in the intestines and then transported through the blood to cells and tissues. Approximately one-third to one-half of dietary magnesium is absorbed into the body. Gastrointestinal disorders that impair absorption such as Crohn's disease can limit the body's ability to absorb magnesium. These disorders can deplete the body's stores of magnesium and in extreme cases may result in magnesium deficiency. Chronic or excessive vomiting and diarrhea may also result in magnesium depletion.

Healthy kidneys are able to limit urinary excretion of magnesium to make up for low dietary intake. However, excessive loss of magnesium in urine can be a side effect of some medications and can also occur in cases of poorly-controlled diabetes and alcohol abuse.Early signs of magnesium deficiency include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. As magnesium deficiency worsens, numbness, tingling, muscle contractions and cramps, seizures (sudden changes in behaviors caused by excessive electrical activity in the brain), personality changes, abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur. Severe magnesium deficiency can result in low levels of calcium in the blood (hypocalcemia). Magnesium deficiency is also associated with low levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia).Many of these symptoms are general and can result from a variety of medical conditions other than magnesium deficiency. It is important to have a physician evaluate health complaints and problems so that appropriate care can be given.

Well, when I was at Target today, I picked up some magnesium supplements and some biotin.  My nails have been snapping left and right and roomie said biotin really helps her.  Wondering if it's because dairy is cut from my diet and I'm not getting enough calcium or whatever it is that people have been telling me is helpful for nails and hair in dairy...anyway, I'll keep you posted if I notice any changes.  I took 1 of each pill this afternoon with lunch and I'll continue to take one a day until I either decide nothing is happening or it changes my life...

Looking forward to the day of rest tomorrow.  And carrot cake!!