Need motivation to keep moving in the winter?  With cold temperatures and early darkness, it's hard to find time to exercise outside. That's when trying something new can help. For me, it was country line dancing.  Admittedly, it's not high impact, but it does involve some small hops and jumps, can be aerobic, which is good for circulation and metabolism, and is just plain fun.  

Here are some additional activities to try this winter:

1. Cross country skiing - again, not high impact, but great whole-body exercise, safer than downhill skiing, and gets you out in the fresh air.
2. Platform tennis - a racquet sport that is great for bone strength and is played outdoors all winter.  
3. Pickleball - another racquet sport that is played indoors during the winter months or outdoors in warm seasons.
4. Wallyball - a fun, social, relatively new sport that involves jumping and lots of movement which can help build bones. 

It's winter here in the Chicago area, with temperatures dipping below zero. Starting with Irish breakfast tea or coffee with milk in the morning, soup at lunch, green tea in the afternoon, and maybe hot chocolate for dessert, hot drinks get me through the day. 

Here's a link to 5 healthy hot cocoa recipes that will give you alternatives to the commercial mixes you can buy in the grocery store, which usually have too much sugar. Homemade hot cocoa with milk or milk alternative has lots of calcium and cocoa has antioxidants.

Regarding coffee and bone density, general guidelines from the Osteoporosis Foundation suggest that coffee in moderation is fine, but drinking more than 3 cups a day could lead to poor absorption of calcium. Other caffeinated beverages such as black tea or soft drinks pose the same risk. Additionally, more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day could affect calcium absorption and weaken bones. So an occasional Irish coffee for dessert would not hurt - just don't overdo it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, miso broth packs a lot of nutrients and homemade chicken or beef broth made from meat with bones has calcium and other benefits. Last fall when I was on a clear liquid diet for a day, I tried hot apple juice diluted with water to cut down on the sugar.  (One cup of apple juice has 26 grams of sugar.)  I thought it was just as good as full-strength hot apple cider. 

Happy sipping by the fire this winter!

It's been almost a year since I started this blog. Here's a list of what I've learned.  Hope you can find something helpful for your health in 2015!

• It IS possible to reverse the downward trend of bone loss after age 40 by natural means (i.e., without drugs like Fosamax or Actonel)

Some of the best food discoveries for strengthening bones:

• Baby bok choy - add to salads, stir fry or smoothie (you can't taste it in a smoothie)
• Blackstrap molasses as a sweetener (100 mg. calcium in a T.)
• Homemade chicken or beef soup (with broth made from the bones)
• Kefir, Greek yogurt and raw milk cheese as dairy sources of calcium
• Add digestive enzymes as supplements at meals as needed to help digestion and calcium absorption for those over 50

Some of the best exercises for building bones as well as strength:

• Isometric exercise with Biodensity machine (at B Strong 4 Life center)
• Stair climbing with weights
• Homemade rowing machine (or a whole-body rowing machine at a gym)
• Aerobic dancing with jumping

Watch out for:

• Too much caffeine (more than 2 c. coffee/day)
• Too much alcohol (more than 1 drink/day)
• Sedentary job (keep moving and stretch if possibly throughout the day)

And finally, sleep is good for your bone health!   On that note, I will say "good night" and happy 2015!