Dr Nay

National Women’s Health Week

12 May 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in Uncategorized Tags: eat clean, fitness, National Women's Health Week, train hard

Hello everyone! I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve neglected you all, my beloved blog readers. If you follow me on Instagram (@drnayaka) or Twitter (@doctornayaka), then you have seen how much I’ve been doing as both a hysterrunner and a scientist over the past month. I’m aiming to make up for that this week and am going back to a regular blog schedule. Let’s see if that works! Winking smile

This week is National Women’s Health Week! Our health as women is important, especially if you are a hysterrunner. This week we are asked to pledge as women to take steps to keep us healthy. They are:

Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings.
Get active.
Eat healthy.
Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.
Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, texting while driving, and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet.

These 5 steps are definitely a regular part of my routine. Being a hysterrunner means being active and eating healthy to me. It also means paying attention to our mental health and avoiding unhealthy behaviors. I saw my doctor last Friday to get cleared before starting marathon training. Yes, MARATHON training. While I’ve been away from the blog, I ran in the Marine Corps 17.75K in Quantico and qualified to run in the Marine Corps Marathon in October. I am ready to move on to my next personal challenge – my first marathon!!! Open-mouthed smile So excited!!!

It is my goal over the next few months to share with you my journey to the marathon! The challenge coin we received states – EARN, COMMIT, TRAIN, INSPIRE, ACCOMPLISH. In April, I EARNed a place in the marathon. This month is all about COMMIT. To me, that includes getting cleared by the doctor, maintaining my basic level of fitness/running (15-25 miles/week), and building up my core strength. In June and July, I will focus on my TRAINing. In August and September, let’s see how we can INSPIRE each other. Then in October, I will ACCOMPLISH my goal to run a marathon!

What is your running challenge for this year? How are you doing with your running related goals? Have you pledged to be a healthier you?

Don’t forget to go to the NWHW website and make the pledge to be a well woman. I’m taking steps for a HEALTHIER me!

Feast on God’s Word

28 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in Faith and Fitness Fridays Tags: Catholic, clean eating, faith, feast, God

I read this quote in a devotional earlier this month and it has stuck with me. A large part of clean eating for me is feasting on God’s word. I pray that you consider doing the same.

Obesity and our kids

17 Mar 2014 2 Comments

by Dr Nay in Uncategorized

As a hysterrunner, I don’t just eat clean and train hard for myself. It’s a lifestyle for my whole family. My husband and son work out regularly. Sometimes they run and race with me. As far as meals are concerned, we eat the same thing with no special meals for me that I wouldn’t want them to eat and vice versa. For us this has translated into me losing weight, my husband and son are at healthy weights for their ages. Despite what is going on in my household, there is still an obesity problem for many. Here is a cool infographic that I came across which addresses this.

For more information about this APHA Obesity infographic go to: http://action.apha.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Obesity_Infographic#sthash.xA8D44PW.dpuf

How do you make sure your kids stay healthy? Do you work out with your family? What are some hints to staying active together?

Motivation Monday

14 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in Faith and Fitness Fridays

For today’s Faith & Fitness Friday, I felt the need to share this poem – The Runner’s Mile. Consider running with HIM on your next run or race.

The last line of the post summarizes my life right now…
“My faith is growing, my strength is growing, and my endurance is growing.”

My Life...My Health...My Run

Since Mondays are tough sometimes…I thought I would try to help motivate people a bit. If you are on Facebook, you have probably seen most of these, but consider it a reminder.

There are days I feel like this is happening. I try to use my runs to refocus and spend time thinking about what is important. There are days that my run is all about putting one foot in front of the other and it’s all I can do to just keep going and not give up. I have to dig deep and ask for help to keep going. But you know what? That’s ok. My faith is growing, my strength is growing, and my endurance is growing.

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Endometriosis Awareness Month

07 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in No uterus...no problem! Tags: EndoMarch, endometriosis, hysterectomy, hysterrunner

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month!

Endometriosis is a common health problem in women. It gets its name from the word, endometrium (en-doh-MEE-tree-um), the tissue that lines the uterus or womb. Endometriosis occurs when this tissue grows outside of the uterus on other organs or structures in the body. – Women’s Health.gov

Surgery, including hysterectomy, is usually the best choice for women with severe endometriosis. One of my favorite hysterrunners, an ultrarunner and my professional mentor, suffered from severe endometriosis.

If you will be in the Washington, DC area on March 13th, consider joining the EndoMarch on the National Mall in support of women with the disease worldwide.

Open Yourself Up to God

07 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in Faith and Fitness Fridays Tags: endurance, faith, fitness, God, Lent, motivation, thankful

Last night on my way home from speed work with BRRC, I was listening to the Catholic Channel on Sirius XM Radio. One of my favorite shows was on, The Busted Halo Show. They were playing Fr Steven Bell’s homily from Ash Wednesday. Several points from his homily struck me. One of them was the statement that we should “open ourselves up to God.” (In fact, I actually called in to the show for the What did I say in the homily contest as I was so touched by it. I ended up winning tickets to see the movie “Son of God.”)

I found myself thinking how can I open myself up to God as a part of my fitness practice. What can I do to be more aware of God as I run during this Lenten season? During Lent, most people think about giving up something but the truth is you get as much as you give up. You give up something to make room for more of a focus on God’s will. In thinking about how to open up to God while running, I came up with the following ideas:

Give up the headphones. Run at least one run without music. Take the time to listen to your surroundings. Listen to the sounds around you both man-made and natural. Tune in to God’s world.
Forget the GPS and/or a set path. Run one run just for the feel of it. Go as far as you can. See how far your body can take you without worrying about a specific distance. Be amazed by what your body is capable of and thank God that you can run every step of the way.
Choose a memory verse or prayer to recite as you run. One of my favorite bloggers Mile Posts has 26.2 Bible Verses for Running and Racing. You could choose one of these or all to recite while you run.

Do you have any other ideas? How will you open yourself up to God as you run this week? Have you given something up for Lent?

I Survived Spin Class!

27 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in No uterus...no problem! Tags: intense workout, overcomer, progress, spin class

Let me share a secret with you – I hate spinning! I know that there are some of you completely aghast right now. But truly, I have not been able to get in to this spin craze. I keep trying it because I’ve heard nothing but good things about its benefits, especially for cross training as a runner.

Last year around this time, 5 months after my surgery, I tried a spin class taught by a coworker. It didn’t suck as much as my previous attempts. The instructor helped me to understand gear shifting and positions which made it easier to follow along. However my incision wasn’t too happy with being folded over the handlebars of the spin bike. I had to stop halfway through the class because the throbbing was way too much for me. I haven’t been back to a spin class since.

That is, until tonight. A friend of mine from undergrad teaches spin class at a large gym not too far from me. He reached out to a bunch of us to try the class. He even shared his music playlist on Facebook so that we would have a sense of how he rolled (or spun). I decided to take him up on his offer tonight.

For the first time ever, I got through spin class. It was definitely challenging but I was able to push through and hang in there. I don’t know if it is because I am in much better shape than the previous times I tried. Or if it’s because I understand how it works. Or if it’s because the music was really banging. But whatever it was, I made it through the class. Not only that but I followed it up with a 30 minute core workout class! I’m sure that I will be feeling the burn tomorrow but for right now I feel awesome!

Have you ever tried a spin class? What exercise is your least favorite? How did you sweat today?

MNB Challenge Week 3–BELIEVE

24 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in No uterus...no problem!, Race Recaps Tags: #MNBchallenge, believe, birthday, Road Runners, Ten miler

This week was the final week in the Lorna Jane Active & Fit Approach Move Nourish Believe Challenge. It was quite timely that this week’s focus was BELIEVE and it was the week I celebrate my birthday! I tend to do some introspective looks at myself and some soul searching around this time of year so the challenges were helpful to me in doing so.

Monday, 2/17 – Spoil Yourself!

As I like so many others had been trapped in the house for 4 days thanks to the polar vortex, I went to work on President’s Day rather than work from home again. At lunchtime, I spoiled myself with a pedicure treat for my runner’s feet. After work, there was still a bit of sunshine so I took the opportunity to get in an afternoon run by myself with my music on loud.

Tuesday, 2/18 – 5 Mindful Minutes

Finding my zen usually includes daily prayer and meditation. Each morning, I try to stay in the moment as I pray to God for everyone in my life and for everyone whose life touches mine in any way. I try to keep everyone in prayer.

Wednesday, 2/19 – Be Happy!

My happy place is not really a place but a space in my heart and mind of stillness. However, in order to be happy, I have to be comfortable. SOCKS are important to my comfort. I wore my Marine Wife socks because they are comfortable and make me happy. I also wore them because it was the opening day for registration for the Marine Corps 17.75K and I got in! Woohoo!

Wednesday was my Birthday Eve! To celebrate, I met some friends at a club so we could see Black Alley perform live. They are an awesome push the limits band whose sound is a fusion of funk, jazz, soul, and rock known as “Soul Garage.” Besides their own songs, they did an awesome cover of Pharrell’s song, Happy. How appropriate!

Thursday, 2/20 – Thankful Thursday – It’s my BIRTHDAY!

I am so thankful to be alive. Focusing on reasons why I was thankful all day was important to me. One of the things I did was play the song Happy every hour in honor of my #24hoursofHappyBirthday! LOL! The video is literally 24 hours long. The version most people see splices together scenes from the extended version. I got a great run and workout in with my husband while my son was at school. Then, I ran some errands and scored some cool boots with a gift card before heading out to a nice dinner with the family.

Friday, 2/21 – Share the love!

Shout out to my #1 supporters/motivators – my husband and my son! If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have the strength some days to get out there and get my fitness on. There are days when I’m in a funk and my husband kicks me out of the house to make me go work out. My son is my biggest cheerleader. They both run with me at times.

Maryland Road Runners’ Club Challenge – 2/23

All of this believing culminated with me running my birthday with a 10-mile race today! Last year, I ran the Maryland Road Runners’ Club Challenge as my first 10 miles ever. It was a tough race which left me with my first blister. This year I was ready for a comeback. I’m faster than I was then and have learned a lot about my abilities as a hysterrunner. I finished much faster than my times at both this race and the Cherry Blossom last year in 2:18:35. I was aiming for 2:10:00 but my left knee has started to bother me lately so I walked more of the last mile than I planned. Something that I am definitely going to have to invest in to make it through full training is a knee brace. I believe that I am ready for a full marathon this year.

Did you race this weekend? Did you take advantage of the break in the weather to get some outdoor exercise in? How did you BELIEVE in yourself this week?

#MNBChallenge Week 2–Nourish

17 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by Dr Nay in No uterus...no problem! Tags: clean eating, love, nourish, smoothie, sweat pink

This week’s focus was nourishing your body. The challenges from Lorna Jane Active encouraged us to focus on what we put in our body. It was good to focus on my clean eating. Being that I was trapped in the house most of the week due to the winter snowstorm that blanketed the East coast, it was good to focus on what I ate so as not to fall into bad habits and overeat. Here’s my recap:

Monday – Meatless Monday ~ No pics but I had a wonderful dinner of stuffed shells and roasted Brussels sprouts that was to live for! Yummy!

Tuesday – Take Your Lunch to Work Day ~ I do this almost daily. My jar salad was awesome that day with tuna added for protein. I like to use nuts in my jar salads for both crunch and amped up protein factor.

I made the salad in the salad dressing jar so I could use the last dregs of the dressing. If you haven’t tried OPA yet, you should. Their Greek yogurt dressings are so yummy and definitely nourishing.

Wednesday – Write it Down ~ I use My Fitness Pal to keep track of what I eat. My focus lately is less on calories and more on making sure I balance my carbs, proteins, and healthy fats. As such, I was excited to share my progress on Wednesday. I came in within my goals.

Thursday – Smoothie Day! I love my smoothies and have one almost every day.

My beet smoothie has fresh beets, carrots, banana, and coconut milk! It is so sweet and full of good vitamins and minerals.

Friday – Go Raw Friday! Valentine’s Day! ~ After attending my friend’s wedding ceremony, I came home to a wonderful dinner with my hubby and son. He made baked Swai fish topped with kiwi and his own version of vegetarian lo mein. I was in charge of dessert and decided that I would do fresh fruit and homemade fondue.