Achieving Life Balance With Nutrients @ (NAPSA)—With a career, family, aging parents, housekeeping, and othertasks, it’s no wonder only 36 percent of women feel they have achieved life balance, according to a recent Harris Interactive study. Findingbalanceis important, but where do women start? “The old wayof‘let’s makeourselves miserable, let’s not sleep, let’s not eat well, let’s not exercise because we have barely enough time to get through ourchecklist’ just doesn’t work anymore,” says Mary LoVerde, president of Life Balance, Inc. LoVerde teaches a concept called microactions, which are “little steps that move us from ‘going-to-do’ to ‘follow through’.” These actions can help women achieve balance. For example, 64 percent of women rank their own health asa top priority and more than half recognize the importance of taking calcium. “A good example of a microaction is supplementing your diet with calcium every day,” says LoVerde. “One calcium chew may seem like nothing. But microaction after microaction and you'll be strong, healthy, and powerful as a young woman, in your middle years, and well into yourlater years.” Getting enough calcium can help prevent osteoporosis, which currently affects more than eight million womenin this country. Almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for the disease. The recommendeddaily intake of calcium is 1,000 mg for women aged 19 to 50 and 1,200 for women over the age of 50, according to the National Academyof Science. An eight-ounce glass of skim milk con- Being good to yourself can start with small steps, such as getting enough calcium. tains 302 mg of calcium andeight ouncesof plain yogurt contains 415 mgof calcium. Even a half-cup serving of cooked broccoli contains 68 mg. Most women cite low calcium intake because they don’t care for dairy products, they are watching their weight and maylimit calciumrich foods, they are lactose intolerant, or they eat on the run and don’t have timeto worry about how much calcium they consume. “Calcium chewsare easy because they comein little bite-sized pieces that you can take as a dessert after two of your three meals, they taste great, and they are only 20 calories each,” says LoVerde. Just two Viactiv soft calcium chews provide 100 percent of the daily value of calcium, plus a unique blend of vitamins D and K, with only 20 calories and 0.5 gram of fat per chew. Flavors include strawberry cream, chocolate mint, milk chocolate, caramel, mocha, and orange cream. Taking calcium every day is a good example of a microaction that can help women remain active and strong well into their later years.
