#blooddontlie
It was end of May, beginning of June, 2016. It was morning. I was running. My legs felt tired, I felt tired. It didn’t make sense. I’m a runner and I cross train. I juice and drink green smoothies. I rest. I sleep (well the best I can with 3 cats, 2 dogs, 2 teenage daughters and a husband that travels). I eat mostly plant based (working on letting go of cheese and eggs). So what was going on?
I had been following a company through social media, InsideTracker and reading the blogs of many other runners and athletes who had similar situations to mine. Simply (and you can do everything on-line through their website), you give blood, they analyze it against 41 Biomarkers (for example, the iron group is one), and then, like magic, within a few days they email you that your blood test results are available (I had my blood drawn on June 14, 2016 and had my results by June 17th).
I was so excited. I logged onto my account at InsideTracker and loved the simplicity and how easy it was to see my results. I could easily see where I was Optimized, where I Needed Work, and where I was At Risk. You could also review your results by category, there are 9 (Bone & Muscle Health, Inflammation, Oxygen Transfer & Blood Function to name a few). I could clearly see right away that I was At Risk with Vitamin D. You need Vitamin D for bone health and energy.
So then what? When I first started reading through my results I will admit to being a little overwhelmed on where to focus and start. So I called the awesome folks at InsideTracker and they were awesome and super friendly. Thanks to them, I started on where I was “At Risk”. The first thing it said was to contact my doctor about my low levels. Then there were short video’s, blogs, food recommendations, information about whether I should take a supplement. I could easily see what I needed to do given that I am a mostly plant based eater. Soy milk, almond milk, mushrooms, rice milk, and soy yogurts. My levels were low enough that I did start taking Vitamin D supplements. It took about 3 or 4 weeks (I was pretty depleted) and I started to notice a difference. I had also, during this time, started working on what “Needs Work”. My biggest issue in this area was Iron. This area was low enough that I started taking a supplement as well and making sure I was eating foods, like lentils, black beans, and many others high in iron. Iron is a tough one that I need to be aware of at every meal. When you run high volumes your body gets depleted of iron especially. I can see, looking back now, how I was not always aware and present when choosing my meals. This has become a new goal of mine. Eat to live and run, right?
This was all over 8 months ago. I should have, but I didn’t, ordered another blood test about 2-3 months after to see how I was doing. I kept meaning too, but then before you know it, it’s almost a year later. The good news is, I just scheduled my next blood test for March 20th. I’ll let you know how it goes.