I know I’ve been going on and on about the weather, but NYC has been beautiful this week!
My running has also been stellar – Tuesday was an easy-ish 7.3 mile ”steady state” run – not as quick as a tempo but still a little peppy.
I want my legs to be ready to go for my first race since January (!!) on Saturday, so I kept the pace comfortable. I followed the tempo with an easy 7.5 miles with Megan, Maria and Elyssa this morning (Wednesday), and at least part of our conversation (no joke!) was about how much we love avocados.
So let’s talk avocado.
I’ll admit there was a time a less knowledgeable Kelly avoided foods like avocado because they contained fat, period. Luckily I got smarter (well, one can hope…) and realized that not all fat is created equal. The majority of fat in an avocado is monounsaturated – a “healthy” fat – and one ounce (or about 1/5 of a medium-sized avocado) has 3 grams of the stuff.
According to the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, replacing saturated fats (the “less good” fats in butter and other animal products) with monounsaturated fats in our diets can lower “bad” cholesterol in the blood and reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. Foods high in monounsaturated fats, like olive oils and nuts, also tend to contain more of the vitamins and minerals we need. Avocados are packed with tons of these – vitamin K, folate, potassium, vitamin E and C, to name a few.
I like to think of avocados as “nature’s butter” – have you ever tried ripe avocado spread on a piece of whole grain toast? Heavenly.
But this past Sunday was all about my favorite form of avocado – guacamole (guac for short). 21 different kinds of guac, endless plates of tortilla chips and beer.
It was none other than Guactacular, and the fact that Sofia was competing (and won people’s choice with her Indian-inspired guac, hooray!) was an excellent excuse to go. Like I needed one.
After tasting guac after guac, I almost got sick of it. Almost. Luckily, a chocolatey, spicy cupcake,
free avocado t-shirt and time with blogger buddies followed this massive guac consumption and sent Tracy and I home on the subway happily.
A little more about fats (and why they are awesome)
Typically, 20-35% of our daily calories should come from fat (about 65 grams if you eat a 2,000 calorie diet). This is a decent chunk because we need fat for so many things. Fats:
- Give us energy! Sure, carbohydrates are a main energy source for the body, but fats are essential too
- Help us absorb fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
- Help transmit nerve impulses and insulate nerve fibers
- Help keep our skin healthy
- Transport nutrients across cell membranes
- Necessary to help our body produce hormones
Fats also help keep us full because they take longer for the stomach to digest – I make sure to have some healthy fats in every meal, which has definitely helped satiate my post-run hunger lately!
Question: Do you love guac? What’s your favorite type of healthy fat? Do you think you get enough?
