Blogs I'm Reading

Fuel Your Future with Tina Muir - I'm a huge fan of Tina's, a Saucony-sponsored elite runner. Her blog is not only full of great tips, it's also full of heart. Tina has a wonderful way of including you in her party, because even though she is an elite, or maybe in spite of the fact that she's an elite, she's a real person with real challenges. And as I've said before, we can all learn a lot from the elites. Once you get to her blog, you can see she's also the host of the Run to the Top Runners Connect podcast, which is definitely worth listening to.

How Grounded Is Your Love Life?  - from the NYT Well Blog. Fascinating connection between how stable you feel physically and what that might mean for your relationships.  I'm all about working on balancing on one foot in the gym, but what does that say about my emotional stability? 

Corny Cornbread Donuts from Alexandra Dawson's blog inmybowl. All of Alexandra's recipes are well thought out and excellent. I subscribe to the blog via email and this one caught my eye because of my attempt to bring more carbs into my diet.

Speaking of making healthy donuts, it's a good thing that the FDA has finally decided to act on trans fats, which scientists now believe contribute to heart disease by raising a person's level of bad cholesterol and lowering a person's level of good cholesterol.  Trans fats are made by treating oil with hydrogen gas, making the oil solid and cheaper to use in processed foods than butter. They were first patented in 1902 so they've been around for a long time - even though they've been reduced significantly over the years - appearing in everything from donuts to pizza to cake frosting to coffee creamers. 

By 2018, food manufacturers will need to remove (nearly) all trans fats from products, and the FDA thinks this will prevent 20,000 heart attacks per year and 7,000 deaths from heart disease.