October was all about the women! We focused on health no matter what stage of life you may be going though, from pregnancy to menopause. Additionally noting a few challenges found along the way of creating a healthy lifestyle like questioning fad diets for a quick fix.

Firstly, we spoke to women in general, giving specific tips for your age group. If you’re in your:

20’s-increase calcium and greens for continued growth

30’s-“prevention decade” is where you are

40’s-changes are upon you, eat more fruits and vegetables

50’s-menopause is here…increase Vitamin D and exercise

60’s-eat more protein to prevent muscle loss

We next tackled the topics of pregnancy and menopause, mentioning what nutritional modifications need to be improved for each change. For pregnancy, remember to increase folic acid, iron, and calcium, while menopause requires protein, dairy, and continuous hydration.

Ending the month with strength training and fad diets allowed us to discuss two common topics of concern for most women. Strength training is a great tool to improve lean muscle mass that can also help manage chronic disease. Although some of us may be as afraid of the gym as we are of ghosts and goblins that surround us as this time of year, there are body exercises that can be done in the luxury of your home to secure your comfort. Fad diets have been around for decades, always changing, assuring that they are “fads”. Recent common ones include paleo, gluten-free, and fasting/juicing. The best way to lose weight is to be persistent in your change. Exercise is a must and healthy eating of all food groups must occur.

As we end October discussing women, we enter November where we will be discussing diabetes and health habits through Thanksgiving. Since 14% of San Antonio population is diabetic, you may know someone with this chronic disease. Pass along our newsletter to those that may be benefited from some additional information this coming month.