Shannon here, bringing you some show notes from the recent episode.

Looking back on our training recap for the week I’m proud to say being pregnant hasn’t held me back from my training. In fact, I’ve been able to keep up with my training goals for the last 6 weeks, just scaled back. Gone are the days of high impact and even super high intensity, replaced with some more moderate plans. In addition, I’ve expanded my yoga practice to include prenatal yoga, which was eye opening, especially when it comes the pelvic floor exercises (oh so important).

Meanwhile, Nick has been trying to get in some strength training, though he admits he’s been slacking a bit in the last week. The majority of his work has been focused on kettlebells. He’s also been doing a 30-day “waist trainer” challenge with clients.

Next, we get into some recent doctor visits. At the recent St Pete Healthy Lifestyles health expo, put on by future podcast guest Mika Rotunda, Nick took advantage of a discounted consultation at local chiropractor office. He learned that he doesn’t have optimum movement in the upper spine (cervical and thoracic) and that he has a slight forward head position. Both Nick and I agreed that he should start getting regular massages, but in the meantime, he’s working on some mobility work at Tampa Strength.

For my doctor visit, I had the joyous opportunity to do the glucose test for gestational diabetes. Thankfully my results came back negative.

I also had some bloodwork done and had my iron levels checked. Despite having had normal levels at the beginning of my pregnancy, it seems my iron levels have decreased since the baby is using more iron. Turns out pregnant women need twice the daily value (DV) of iron than non-pregnant women, about 30g per day. Now that I know, I’m being diligent about taking my prenatal vitamin and getting more iron from the food I’m eating.

In looking up those foods rich in iron, I learned there are two types – heme iron (from animal sources, attached to protein) and nonheme iron (plant sources, which don’t typically get absorbed as well).

The top 10 iron rich foods (via the Dr. Axe article)

• Top 10 iron rich food; click on food to read more about their additional health benefits
  • 10: Raisins
  • 9: Pistachios
  • 8: Black Beans
  • 7: Sardines
  • 6: Spinach
  • 5: Dark Chocolate
  • 4: Lentils
  • 3: Grass fed beef
  • 2: Beef Liver
  • 1: Spirulina – actually an algae

Though we both were fairly informed about foods packed with iron, we both learned something new when it came to vitamins that help or inhibit the absorption of iron. Turns out Vitamin C is an iron “enabler” (hello, strawberries), but calcium (dairy) is an iron inhibitor. So, turns out what I pair my spinach salad with is extremely important!

Now on to the main meal… literally.

Despite the fact both Nick and I believe that cooking the majority of meals is a key component to eating clean, it’s a big commitment and a lot of time goes into it. At some points in your life, we all need something fast. However, the “fast food” industry is not the best option for a decent meal, especially as abuse of that food contributes to health epidemics like obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

We had the opportunity to review Metabology meals, which is a food service that is available here in the Tampa Bay area.

We tried two meals, cooked by the German chefs that create the recipes, and we divided them up. Here’s a quick look at our taste test:

• My meal – Breakfast Skillet
  • Plastic containers keep the food fresh and are microwave safe, coming complete with cooking instructions, macronutrient breakdown and a best by date
  • I missed that there was no ingredient list, but I took a guess at what was in my meal:  eggs, potatoes, green bean, yellow corn, sweet peppers, sausage, cheese, and herbs & spices. It also came with a small container of mild salsa
  • The overall taste was good, even after microwaving it, it wasn’t dried and had a nice little spice to it
  • Portion size was a bit big for me, and it took me a while to finish it, but it kept me full for over 3 hours
  • Overall rating: two thumbs up
• Nick’s meal – Chipotle Chicken with Northeastern Veggie Medley with White Rice
  • We both found the container lids somewhat tough to get off, but it may be why the food stays so fresh
  • Chicken wasn’t rubbery after microwaving it and even the rice tasted fresh (not an easy feat for microwaved rice), which was a very pleasant surprise
  • The chipotle “sauce” on the chicken was tasty but not sure what it was made of
  • Meal kept him full for over 3 hours, which is especially rare for Nick
  • Overall rating: one and a half thumbs up

Our mutual conclusion was that the meals were good, but both Nick and I agreed that we’d like to get more information about their ingredient sourcing and preparation process.

Knowing that meal prep takes time, TELL US, about you meal prep experience.

And don’t forget email elementaltampa@gmail.com to take advantage of the free fitness consultation we’re currently offering.

If you haven’t done so already and can nominate Addicted to Fitness for best local podcast in Creative Loafing’s 2017 Best of the Bay, please do so.

Links for this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-enough-iron-metabology-taste-test/id1121420986?i=1000389089665&mt=2

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nick-burch-702220833/getting-enough-iron-metabology

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/getting-enough-iron-metabology-taste-test