The Mix: Steel-cut oats topped with yogurt and plums.
The Story: A big scoop of low-fat Greek yogurt and chopped fresh fruit is a refreshing change from my winter combination, nuts and dried fruit. The yogurt makes the oats taste creamy and rich, but adds more protein than milk.
The Workout: I rode my mountain bike up the Shawangunk Ridge to the Mohonk Mountain House's skating pavilion (40 minutes), transitioned from bike gear to skating gear and hit the ice for an hour. I warmed up with hot chocolate by the rink-side fire, and then raced down the ridge in 20 minutes.
I'm not a huge meat eater and, I confess, I have never cooked a steak. While my aversion to red meat benefits my heart and the planet, it occasionally leaves me low on iron. And when I’m low on iron, a flat 30-minute jog seems like running a hilly 10K race in a tank of molasses.
Looking for a scientific explanation for my occasional iron deficiency, I emailed Robert Kunz, the vice-president of science and technology at First Endurance, a sports supplement maker and one of our sponsors.
The Story: Coconut entices my kids, who often don’t stop moving long enough to take more than three bites, to clean their plates. I once marginalized coconut as a nice complement to chocolate. But given how my kids adore it, coconut recently won prime counter real estate beside staples like salt, butter, and cinnamon.