Day 133: Unexpected Surprises... Pumpkin Pie!

I have been working out daily now for 133 days and to wake up this morning feeling as sore as I do was a complete and total surprise.  There wasn’t a spot on my legs that didn’t hurt hips to ankles and especially my right knee.

It feels as if some is shoving a screwdriver under my knee cap and attempting to wedge apart the top and bottom half of my leg.  Yes, that bad.   We spent some time walking around a fall festival we have called Shake Rag and I limped the whole time.  To combat the pain I took some fast acting extra strength ibuprofen that seemed to dull it some.

This afternoon when we arrived home I took some more ibuprofen and started feeling better.  I had to the grass had to be cut.  We have had some rain and more is expected next week so if it doesn’t get cut it will quickly get out of hand. 

Me, the lawn mower, and the yard an hour later I had good looking fresh cut grass.  I don’t know if it was the movement or changing shoes that did it but my knee felt better.  It still hurt and my legs were still sore but I made it.

I am also unsure if it was the jump rope, the burpees, or any number of the other exercises I did that caused the pain.  I really didn’t expect to hurt considering that I am almost up to 600lbs on a my leg press, but I guess when you work the muscle in a new way you get a different pain. 

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: 1 Hour Cutting Grass

Kelly: 1 Hour Walk

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at each vitamin and see what it does in a little more detail. 

Vitamin A:

We know it helps the heart, lung, kidneys and other organs and that it is needed for immune function, vision, reproduction, and cellular communication, but where does it come from? 

Vitamin A comes from both plant and animal sources.  Animal sources include dairy, fish, meat, and organs especially liver.  For plants, the body actually converts plant pigments into the vitamin A.  Plants that contain provitamin A carotenoids called alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and the most important and well know beta-carotene are metabolized at an intracellular level into active forms of vitamin A. Most of the body’s vitamin A is then stored in the liver.

Other than a vitamin supplement what are some of the best foods for vitamin A?

Ø  Sweet potato, baked contains 28,058 IU per serving

Ø  Beef Liver, pan fried contains 22,175 IU per serving

Ø  Spinach, boiled contains 11,458 IU per serving

Ø  Carrots, raw contains 9,189 IU per serving

Ø  Pumpkin Pie, (who knew it was so good for you?) contains 3,743 IU per serving

Other foods that are loaded in vitamin A include: cantaloupe, peppers, mangoes, black-eyed peas, apricots, and broccoli. 

That concludes my quick facts on vitamin A… Now I really want a piece of pumpkin pie with whip cream!