Day 29--We don't need no sparkly undead...

Did you know that ninety-five percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin D? 

(I'm going to wait here for a second while you think about that number.)

Ninety-five percent.  That's awfully close to 100 %, isn't it? Scary close. 

Why do you think that number is so high?

For Americans. 

Oh. I see. But what about...

Yeah, but ...

Uncle! Uncle!

We are inside. Too much. We don't have a vitamin D shortage because we don't drink enough milk or we live north of the 35-degree latitude line of the U.S. or we live in Forks or poo poo poo poo. 

Yeah, that's right, I said poo on those excuses. Those excuses are one more way for you to delay your well-being.

We have a shortage because we live our lives inside. Inside cars, inside homes, inside offices, inside stores, inside gyms, inside. 

Am I saying you should quit yer job? 

Nope. 

But maybe try and get outside during every second you can, whether for a walk in the morning, your lunch outside on the plaza, a picnic in the park, a weekend flying kites...there are a billion ways to get outside. You need your vitamin D like a donut needs a hole, like an ocean needs the tide...okay, that's stupid, but here's why you do need it:

• Immune system bolster
• Stronger bones and muscles
• Lower risk of cancer
• Resistance to allergans
• Mental health support
• Protection against skin cancer
• Regulates blood sugar
• Pain relief from fibromyalgia and lower back pain

This isn't saying you should go take tons of vitamin D supplements, because that's sort of like throwing bricks at a wall, expecting it to make the wall stronger. 

No, your body needs to synthesize, or make, the vitamin, and the best way for it to do that is to be outside. Outside. It doesn't matter if it's sunny. Go outside. Outside. You don't need a huge, planned trip. Just open your front door and go for a walk every day. You'll feel it, trust me. 

This vitamin D feels AWESOME! So super sparkly!!

Yours in vitamin D synthesis, 
Dani

Day 28--Lymph Labyrinth...say it five times fast!

Yesterday in HoopFit class, I was telling one of my students about this blog/project, and she asked, "Oh, do you even walk when you're sick?"

"I dunno," I replied, "I haven't been sick yet!"

This, of course, was code for: Haha, Universe, you big dumb donkey! I have not been sick yet! Make me sick. Okay, you cosmic butthead??

Woke up today with my body on fire, woke up today with my body on fire. 

So, I'm a little fluish today. And I have to walk, right? I got a blog, man, I HAVE to walk. 

It was a short walk. After all, I AM sick. 

But something sort of cool began to happen a few minutes in. 

I began to feel better. I don't think it's just the fresh air or light rain. I suspect---and I'm no scientist---that this pick-up in health was due to the circulation of lymph. 

Lymph, you ask?

Yes. Your lymph system is basically your body's sewer system. It takes blurgy, blechy waste AWAY from your cells and out of your body. When you exhale, poop, scrub your skin, sweat or pee, out goes waste. Courtesy of Mr. Lymphy.

Nice, huh? I think that the waste produced by the icky bug inside my body was building up while I sat with my recovering daughter (yes, she was sick yesterday) and was then carried out of my cells when I started walking.

Something to note: The lymphatic system has no pump, such as the heart, to make it circulate. Instead, lymphatic fluid is circulated as a side effect of the heartbeat and muscle movement. Guess what I'm going to say next.
 

Did you know that walking is the premier way to move lymph through your body, so that it can grab that waste from your blood and get it out? 

Now you do. 

Walk today, so that you can tomorrow.

XOX, 
Dani