Bruce Ford with the IBS Support Group asked us to inform you all of their next meeting. This is a great opportunity to learn more about Irritable Bowel Syndrome and get tips and support from others who have it. It is free and any are welcome!
IBS Support Group Meeting
Wednesday, June 14th at 6:30pm at the North Conference Room at Prairie Lakes Hospital
Many of us in the Watertown Area Run Club, WARC, have signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct 1 this year, and many others for the 10 mile run. We are jumping in anticipation of why we are doing this race. It is for charity, and a very special charity. We are running for ongoing research in regards to Friedreich’s Ataxia. Friedreich’s Ataxia is a rare inherited disease that causes a gradual breakdown of the nervous system. It affects nerves in the brain and the spinal cord that control movement. It also affects sensory nerves that help with coordination. About one in 50,000 people in the United States have Friedreich’s Ataxia. In Watertown alone, there have been at least 4 people. For me, they are family members of friends, and also, relatives. I have had at least 3 cousins affected by this. So, Sarah and I have decided, along with many members of our WARC, to run for a cause this Fall. We are going to run for Team FARA!
Team FARA is Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance. All money raised will go towards continuing research in the hopes of finding a cure. Sarah and I have many charities requesting financial assistance from us throughout the year. It is impossible to give to all of them, even though we want to. We have to pick and choose. Tom Batta, whose is a member of WARC, has a daughter with this disease. And as I said above, I have multiple cousins/relatives affected by this. I can’t think of a better cause to run for, and donate to. So, Sarah has signed up to run the marathon. This will be her first marathon ever! She is very nervous about this, but thinks if she were ever going to do one, she could not think of a better reason to try than this. Not only are we going to run, I am donating $1000.00 to her fundraising efforts, and she is going to donate $1000.00 to mine. We will continue to ask repeatedly, through Facebook, or this site, for anyone who wants to donate for this cause. You can get on the internet and type out Team FARA 2017 Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, and it will direct you to the website. A direct website is http://fara.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=1371&pg=entry. It then has listed on the left side where you can type in the participants name, so either Sarah or I, or our team, which is Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and 10 Mile. It does not matter who to list if for otherwise, it can be put under our team. We are all working for the cause. As of this writing, there are currently 12 full marathon participants, 10 of which are members of WARC, and 9 people that are running the 10 mile! One of our WARC members, and my good friend and training partner, Tom Beaudry, is donating $26.20 for each member of WARC participating…to represent the 26.2 miles we will be running for the marathon!
Sarah and I will continue our training together, and running for a very good cause! Please consider joining us. How much more motivation could there be than to run for a charity…to exercise and run when we have the ability, in order to help somebody who cannot? People with Friedreich’s Ataxia would run in this if they could, so we will help them out by running for them. That is what becoming a better you is all about! Appreciate all of our abilities, physical and mental, and join in. The rest of us have no other excuses, except what our mind is telling us. Take advantage of our abilities, and put them to good use. For those of us running this event, we can use all the support we can get…motivational, encouragement, and financial. Please consider donating!
Run for someone else. Exercise for someone else! Become a better you, and…
Doing this for another cause can be more rewarding than anything else life has to offer. Not only do we need to Strive to Survive, but let’s help someone else achieve this too! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3536
Fad diets are short-term quick fixes that promise great results, but actually set up most dieters for failure in weight-loss. If you find a product or routine that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
One of the most popular diets to take over social media lately is THRIVE by Le-Vel. This is an 8 week program that promises a completely different person at the end. It utilizes a few products as well as goal setting for weight loss. Marketers claim that individuals will “Live, look and feel ultra premium like never before” through the use of Derma Fusion Technology (skin patches), shake mixes and lifestyle capsules. Their products are said to be naturopathic, synergistic, and gender specific. However, science has not found any reason for grouping together the vitamins and minerals in any of the products.
The idea of setting an 8-week goal for weight loss is a good one, but you can accomplish the same results with a balanced diet paired with exercise at a much lesser cost.
Another popular diet to hit the market recently is The Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan by Take Shape For Life. This plan is based around the routine of consuming 6 small meals everyday instead of three large meals. Five of these meals consumed are purchased from the company and they are meal replacements. The sixth meal is a lean and green meal.
One of the biggest fallbacks of this diet is the cost of the meal replacements purchased; the 30-day bundle available is just under $430, which calculates out to be about $15 every day. The 5&1 diet plan utilizes a very structured routine that promotes quick weight loss, but fails to teach clients the basics of a healthy, well-balanced diet. When this is the outcome, dieters usually see the weight that they lost come back on as soon as they step away from the diet.
What healthy weight loss SHOULD look like:
-Written by Kala Nurnberg, SDSU Dietetic Student
NOTE: Usually we get desperate and succumb to the promises the fad diets make us and we sign up. However down the road we realize that it’s too expensive, can’t stick with, we want normal food again, etc etc. If you are wanting to work on weight loss or nutrition and lifestyle improvement, please come visit me in the clinic! We can work out an individual plan that you can do and stick with long term…and it will be much cheaper and more enjoyable than these fad diets! Call or email me!
Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
Direct Dial: 884-4226
Email: strive2survive@brownclinic.org
The Watertown Intermediate School recently added Girls on the Run to their list of school activities. Girls on the Run inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum, which creatively integrates running. This program is a nation-wide non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.
The program in Watertown specifically involved a group of 19 5th grade girls ages 10-11 led by a group of 6 women from the community. Meeting twice a week for 10 weeks, the girls were given great opportunities to build relationships with their coaches and peers.
Each week focused on one of the following themes: empowerment, Responsibility, Intentionality, Diversity, Connectedness, Joy, Optimism, Gratitude, Nurturing, Healthy, Open-hearted, and Compassion. The themes are then used to create a warm-up, lesson, activity, and motivation for that session. All of these themes fall under one main goal of the program: self-confidence.
The girls would spend a large portion of the sessions learning to run a 5K by running laps around the school. For each lap they ran throughout the 10 weeks, they were given a bead. At the send off session, the girls were given a bag with all of the beads they had earned and string to make jewelry that represented their accomplishments. In addition to jewelry making, the girls were each given an award unique to them in celebration of their individuality.
At the end of the 10 week program, the Watertown coaches held a local 5K for the girls to show off their progress. Families, teachers, and peers came to the event to cheer on the girls. In addition to the local 5K, the girls were invited to attend the state-wide Girls on the Run 5K in Sioux Falls. However, the state-wide 5K was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
Girls on the Run-Watertown plans to continue this program in the coming school year, however, they are unsure of age groups and session dates at this time. To learn more about this program you can contact Michelle Achterberg at michelle.achterberg@k12.sd.us. This is an awesome program to encourage wellness and fitness along with self confidence and individuality! Thank you Michelle, Jill Makepeace, Paula Nurnberg, Erika Zink, Jennifer McElroy, Dr.Sarah Reiffenberger, and many others for getting this program up and running and inspiring these young women! You rock!!
-Written by Kala Nurberg, SDSU Dietetics Student
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
We live in a wonderful time of technological accessibility. Nearly all the information we could ever need is one search away. This wealth of information paired with today’s unprecedented realm of convenience has been shown to cause a conundrum of sorts in the field of healthcare. We see the line between a trained medical expert and a thorough internet researcher becoming treacherously blurred. This abundance of information can be dangerous without the expertise to provide accurate interpretation. One example of this seen in the nutritional field is the Body Mass Index.
The Body Mass Index (BMI) was developed to be a very simply calculation to quantify body composition. Though it is a common tool used by medical professionals, it can also be used by anyone who can crunch a few numbers on his/her calculator. Medical professionals have varying opinions on the tool; some see it as an excellent resource, while others fear its convenience and ease creates a means to a potentially inaccurate self-diagnosis.
The calculation was created to be a tool that very simply offers an idea of one’s body composition by creating a weight to height ratio and comparing it to a scale ranging from underweight to obese. The problem is, as all professionals will agree, there is much more to a person’s body composition than their height and their weight. This becomes a problem when the public, though well-intended, begins to punch in their own numbers into this equation. Without the interpretation of an expert, they could come to some extreme conclusions.
Humans possess an enormously varied spectrum of body shapes and sizes, and yet the BMI scale tries to standardize it. Variance is an idea that is being lost in this age of standardization. While the BMI scale can be very useful as an initial tool, it is flawed. The best example of this are athletes. LeBron James, widely regarded as one of the top athletes in the world has a BMI of 28. At the 2014 Olympics, the average BMI for participating athletes was found to be over 26. In 2016, the World Champion Denver Broncos had a collective average BMI of over 30. The healthy range for BMI? That would be 18.5-24.9. According to the scale, LeBron James and Olympic athletes are overweight, while the entirety of the Denver Broncos is obese.
The BMI scale can be dangerous without proper interpretation. As with WebMD and many more, these easily accessible tools have evolved from something designed for convenience to something that has led to insufficiently educated self-diagnosing. We see people without any medical education jumping to their own medical conclusions far too often. While a useful and convenient tool, the Body Mass Index can be problematic for the growing number of people who are turning to the internet to assess their health. As a general public, we lack the understanding and education to properly interpret BMI results. If you would like to learn more about your own BMI and/or your body composition and what it means, please schedule an appointment with Kelsey Raml, dietitian at Brown Clinic. She can assess, review, and educate on your individual needs and help you reach your goals!
-David Brown, SDSU Dietetic Student
Better Choices, Better Health® with Diabetes Workshop
Thursdays, May 25 – June 29, 2017
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System
401 9th Ave NW, Watertown, SD
Call Denise Kolba – 605.444.4121 – To register and for more information
What? Better Choices, Better Health® with Diabetes workshops are for adults with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes (people with type 1 diabetes and caregivers welcome).
Why Should I Attend? Those who have taken the workshop show:
Workshop Topics:
(six weekly 2 ½-hour long sessions)
Call Denise Kolba – 605.444.4121 – To register and for more information