InsideTracker- Turning Information into Actionable Steps

Angie (right) with her sister

I first heard about InsideTracker back in 2016 and have been so impressed by how the experts there are able to turn information about your bloodwork numbers and lifestyle into actionable ways to see improvements.

I generally consider myself a very healthy person but through the years my iron and ferritin levels have been low.

Many female athletes tend to struggle in this area and I am certainly one of them. Below is a graph of my results which show they still need work.

As you can see my iron level is in the “Needs work” zone

I am currently on an iron supplement per the recommendation of my healthcare provider. But there’s a handy area called Nutrition on the InsideTracker website that lists specific recommendations for each result.

• According to my iron group results I should be focusing on including more of these in my diet: dark chocolate (yay!), wheat germ, soybeans, spinach, peanut butter, almond butter, black beans, kidney beans, white beans, beef, amaranth, teff, artichokes, old fashioned rolled oats, and toasted sesame seeds.

Since I already eat a couple of squares of 90% dark chocolate every day and eat oats on a regular basis I’ve been more intentional about adding a handful of spinach to my protein smoothie and including more beans in my diet.

Testing my Cortisol Levels
One result that I was surprised about was that my cortisol levels were high. This could be a result of overtraining but can also be a result of stress in other areas of life. My body has been through more stress lately as I’ve recovered from surgery and have transitioned back into training.

Another source of stress could be things many of us deal with including financial pressures and raising teenagers (one of which is graduating from high school and another who is learning to drive).

My cortisol is in the red “high” zone!

I have an Oura ring so I’m already focusing on getting good sleep and watching my heart rate variability (HRV) and recovery numbers.

• InsideTracker recommends the following foods to help the body deal with stress: granola, wheat germ, soybeans, salmon, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, toasted sesame seeds, chia seeds, peanut butter, almond butter, pine nuts, edamame, tofu, oats, quinoa, almonds, whitefish, and shad.

I already eat salmon, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almond butter, oats and almonds so I’m going to add in more quinoa, tofu, and whitefish to see if that helps. I also plan to do yoga more frequently and increase the amount of ashwaganda that I’m taking since I’m already doing most of the other interventions known to lower cortisol levels.

Conclusion
I plan to retest in six months to see if my interventions are making a difference. I highly recommend checking out InsideTracker to look at what’s going on inside your body. You can save 20% on everything in the InsideTracker store by using our link: https://info.insidetracker.com/mta