Got Milk?

I stopped liking milk when I couldn’t drink it from a bottle anymore. Decades later, I sit here and wish that it wasn’t the case. If only I liked milk and kept at it then I wouldn’t wonder now if I stored enough calcium in my reserves to balance the bone loss that is to start in my 30s.

Someone dear to me has osteoporosis and she has advised me to take steps to prevent myself from getting it as well. Women especially are susceptible to it. Bone formation occurs until the age of 30 in which then we gradually start losing it. When we hit menopause, there will be an acceleration of bone loss for several years. You get the picture.

I certainly can’t turn back time, but I can start doing something today.

“Young women must adopt eating and exercise habits that contribute to bone formation. One half to one hour of weight bearing exercise three to six days per week, combined with adequate calcium intake, 1000-1500 mg/day, and vitamin D, 400-800 IU/day, are the most important building blocks of bone.”

Ideally, I’ll work my way into this suggestion but for the moment I’ll take calcium supplements. There has been no real proof that supplements prevent disease and keep people healthy but as I see it, I won’t lose anything by trying. So I’ve started taking two of these every day, one in the morning with breakfast and one at dinner.



I'll also nag, I mean advise, my sister to be more conscientious of her calcium intake. This just makes sense for habit #2

Meet the recommendations for Calcium and Vitamin D.

Breakfast @ McDonald's

Every morning before work, I grab my quickie breakfast from McDonald's. I have a pile of Monopoly game pieces and it seems like I'm a hash brown away from $25,000 or even a million. In actuality, I'm probably closer to a clogged artery than to getting a penny from those game pieces.

Big Breakfast-
calories:740
saturated fat:17g (87%DV)
cholesterol:555mg (185%DV)

Medium Hazelnut Iced Coffee-
calories:190
saturated fat:5g (26%DV)
cholesterol:30mg (11%DV)

These numbers are horrible! On top of it, it's just empty calories. From this, I think it's pretty apparent what habit #1 will be...

Eat a Healthy Breakfast at Home.

a toast to health

My co-worker was telling me that she doesn't want to put money in her 401k, because we can't take it out until we're 60. I urged her to reconsider. Our company matches 100% of what we put in plus it's always good to have many eggs in the retirement basket.

Then I said, "60 is not so far off. I'm already 30 so I'm halfway there."
halfway there
and then it struck me, there are more important things that I wish I'll have as I get older. Money is good, yes, but health truly is wealth. I have not been taking care of myself. If I were a car, I have not gotten any maintenance! But this has to change and it will, one baby step at a time. It's about establishing good habits.