Rest, Sun and Vitamin D

Today is a rest day. I went pretty heavy yesterday and woke up with my body feeling tired and sore but in that really good way. It is the feeling that I like to wake up to on my rest day. I feel like I have done something in the past week and that I have earned my day of active rest.

One thing that is constantly on my mind here in Arizona is sun exposure. It is shocking to me that there are people in the U.S. who have a vitamin D deficiency due to lack of exposure to the sun or through improper diet. Vitamin D plays a key role in calcium absorption in our bodies. Calcium is crucial for overall bone and tooth health, contracting and relaxing muscles, supporting good clotting of the blood and sending and receiving signals in the nervous system among other things.

The key is a healthy amount of sun to get the natural vitamin D that the body needs without getting too much sun that leads to sunburn or worse, skin cancer. I am an American of Scots-Irish descent, I am the prototype of the person that has to be careful in the sun but that is my preferred source of vitamin D. Sure I get it through supplementation in my milk or from the foods I eat but a little bit of sun does the trick as well. For instance, today I spent about 10-15 minutes walking the dog around the 10-acre property and then came inside. After a while I spent another 15 minutes doing some work outside around our base and then returned to the house. Between that 25-30 minutes of time outside plus my diet, I feel good about my vitamin D intake. The added bonus is that I got out for a walk, spent time with my dog and got some work done!

Today's quote is from Steve Martin:

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night."

Active Rest Day:
Light Spin Cycle Work, 30 minutes

Have a Great Day!