Category Archives: Club Alerts

Building Better Bones

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By: Kimberly Stein, RD, CDN

In honor of Women’s Health Week (May 12- 18), this post is for all us gals! Depending on where we are in our life cycle, our needs for certain vitamins and minerals will vary. One particular mineral, calcium, has been the center of attention for quite awhile- and rightly so! Calcium is the most abundant mineral in our body and it is utilized to maintain strong bones and teeth. In fact, 99% of our total body calcium is found in these two locales. When calcium levels become too low, the body starts depleting calcium from the bones, which increases the risk of developing osteoporosis. Since we do lose trace amounts of calcium daily, it is essential to consume a balanced diet with calcium rich sources to replete our bodily stores.

How much calcium do I need?
Since the body cannot make calcium, it is important to obtain it from dietary sources. As with any vitamin or mineral, the body can utilize it better from its food form rather than a supplement. Speak with your doctor if you are thinking of taking a calcium supplement. Here are the daily recommendations for calcium intake:

What are some calcium – rich foods?
I’m sure we are all well aware of dairy being chock-full of calcium. This includes the gamut of milk, yogurt, cheese, and all of the above. Not everyone likes dairy foods, and luckily there are other sources to pick from. Consider some of these options:
1. Fortified cereals/ juices (almost all fortified foods are a good source of calcium)
2. Soy products- soybeans, tofu
3. Almonds/almond milk
4. Dark leafy greens- Chinese cabbage, kale, spinach, bok choy, turnip greens
5. Broccoli
6. Beans
7. Seeds
8. Fish, canned with the bones

I Got Game

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I stayed up until about 1:20 last night watching the US soccer team play Mexico in the World Cup qualifying round. And the damnedest thing was, we were playing for a tie. Playing Mexico at home in Azteca Stadium is virtually a guaranteed loss, so we were playing for the tie. A tie was a win. And we won. I mean, we tied, 0-0.

So I was thinking. At 61, working out 3 or 4 times a week at CF, I’m not really playing to win. I’m playing to tie.

I grew up watching Jack LaLanne and his dog, Happy, on black and white TV, and I remember one episode where he read some viewer mail asking whether older people could actually build muscle mass to look like him. “No”, he shook his head, “you have to do it when you are younger. Once you pass 50, you just are what you are”. I remember clearly thinking that that would never happen to me. I would start building myself up sooner or later.

Now, later, I guess I am what I am. My LDL might be descending, but I am what I am.

Meanwhile, I just came back from a marathon night at CF: I ran 6 laps in 12 minutes, 3 miles on the cyclotron (maybe more, I forget), the dreaded Circuit with the dreaded Jenn (“do your 12 reps while I set up the next machine ” – no rest for the out-of-shape). (She’s great).

And finally, exhausted, ready to leave, there was my daughter Anna starting a TRX class right in front of me. I joined in.

After a night on the hunt for fitness, I wasn’t at my best. Someone has figured out that there is an exercise method in hanging ropes from the rafters and calling it something inscrutable like TRX. I was shaking, yes, like a leaf, and feeling like my muscles were begging for forgiveness. And Anna next to me was doing superhuman things, as was the woman, maybe my age,next to her who, Anna told me later, had once run across the Sahara. 400 miles. Did I mention that I ran 1.5 miles on the treadmill tonight while watching Jeopardy?

But there I was, trying to put my toes into the rings and doing push-ups. Nope. I reverted to a yoga pose. When in doubt, do yoga.

But I’m feeling good tonight. I’m playing for the tie. I’m not trying to look like Jack LaLanne anymore, although I am eating like he did (spoiler alert!)at the end of his life (he was 96). But I’m going to prove him wrong. In the Circuit last week, Ross, a fit young man who guided me through, started chatting about March Madness, and I remarked that I hadn’t yet had the courage to enter the CF Gym, as in basketball gym.

He said he was more of a football guy but maybe we could play sometime. And I thought yeah. Let’s play some ball. (I played a lot as a kid). I’m still six foot three and I think I got a little game left. My skyhook is still a lethal weapon.

Don’t tell Ross or Jack. I’m playing to win.

 

Baby Steps

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When I gave up meat and dairy 13 months ago, my advisors – my wife Louise and my cardiologist Dr. Ostfeld at Montefiore – assured me that those cravings for steak, chicken skin, and butter-soaked lobster would diminish. That hasn’t entirely happened. The aroma of roasting salty chicken regularly seeping through the floorboards of my workshop from the downstairs deli often calls the question: now why am I doing this again? Oh yeah. Trying to postpone death. Shit.

And my fitness friends assure me that once I start to work out, I will begin to crave it. I won’t feel satisfied until those endorphins are coursing through my quivering, expanding muscle fibers. After 2 weeks, I would have to say that hasn’t happened yet either.

But the positive news is that it’s not quite a living hell.

My first contact at CF, the person who would orient me, was Liz Swan, schooled in England, a social media specialist, who, in addition to her patience and kindness to weenies like me, was known as Slash Borden in Westchester’s Suburbia Roller Derby, a flat track roller derby league. ( That I have watched it many times while channel-surfing tells you something about me, and that she was a touring athlete in that tough league tells you something about her. ) She’s impressive.

She sent me on to Ted Gilsinger, the Fitness Director of CF, who used to train cadets in their workouts at West Point. Not weenies. He debriefed me on my general health and skinny-ass physique and plotted a workout plan of attack. I told him that if he made it too onerous, I would just stop coming, blame him, and choose the heart-attack option. He said not in this man’s army.

So I’ve been showing up to CF on snowy days in my Nike shorts and T-shirt, trying to look nonchalant, like I know what I’m doing. I come dressed because, unlike you endorphin guys, I’m still a little shy about the locker room, and every time I go, it takes me extra time to figure out which way to insert the card in the locker to get the key.

My routine – yeah, I guess that’s what I call it – is to bike a while, do the Circuit, and then run uphill on the treadmill for literally minutes. I’ve been at it for a couple of weeks now, three times a week. No endorphins yet. No muscles either. But it’s getting easier and even, occasionally, fun. I need to find ear buds that stay in place while I run. So much to know.

In the days of Michael Jordan I wanted to “Be Like Mike”. To all of you spinners, runners and weightlifters around me at CF- I just want to be like you.

Let’s Go Green: Hurricane Sandy teaches us a valuable lesson

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Climate change is very real. That is just one of the things we have taken away from the impact Hurricane Sandy. Never before has our area seen such devastation due to a storm such as this.

Now, it’s time to look at we can do to prevent these disasters. Even though, in many ways we have left an irreparable amount of damage on the earth, it is not a hopeless situation. We have to begin by taking step to raise awareness about the environment. Here at Club Fit, we are doing just that and we are asking that you join us.

Here’s what we have been doing to help:

1. Miox in the pools- reduced the need for excessive chemicals and the use of Chlorine.
2. Sola Tube lighting- energy conserving light fixtures.
3. Keeping recycle bins available throughout the club- please make sure you dispose of your bottles in the recycle bin and not the garbage.
4. The towels- we are trying to encourage people to use less towels. Only take what you need. Instead of using one to stand on, throw a pair of flip flops in your gym bag. A little effort can go a long way and it helps us reduce the use of energy and detergent.

Here are some things you can do to lessen your footprint:

1. Recycle. Recycle, RECYCLE. You can recycle almost anything and most towns have a collection day for recycling.
Some things you can and should recycle: glass bottles, plastic bottles, cans, empty containers, paper, boxes, cereal boxes, plastic packaging from products.
2. Take shorter showers and don’t let the tap run when you are brushing your teeth. It’s not really that important to take super long showers and let the tap run.
3. Drive less, move more. Instead of taking that 2 minute car ride into town, why not walk or bike? It’s healthy, active and it cuts down on omissions from vehicles. Even using public transportation can make a HUGE difference.
4. Use energy star rated light bulbs and appliances. “Did you know? If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that’s earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.” Energy Star
5. Save paper. In this wonderful world of computers and smart phones, we don’t need to print as much! We can even get newspapers on our phones which makes it more convenient eco-friendly.
6. Turn off the lights. Conserve electricity by turning off lights that don’t need to be on and when you leave the room. Don’t fall asleep with the TV on. You’ll probably get a more rested sleep without it.
7. Teach your children. Lead by example and teach them why it is important to do these things. They are the future.

Thanks for helping get the message out!

Rob Astorino comes to Club Fit to talk about community and operation hot shower!