by Dan | Jul 29, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This is the final segment of the heart disease series. Everybody knows somebody, or they themselves personally, have heart disease. No one is immune. Sometimes reminding yourself of the reasons why you should do something about it is as close as your own home. Family should rank as the primary goal. I touch on this more is a minute.
Treatment options include: 1. Medications: These medicines can be used to help lower your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol, improve your blood sugars, but in all, they can help lower your risk of a heart attack. Which medication is right for you depends on your own health issues, and discussion with your doctor.
2. Angioplasty/stent: If you already have heart disease, or had a heart attack, these may be one of the treatments that are used. Angioplasty involves using a balloon to open up the coronary artery, and then placing a stent helps keep it open. If things are too involved for this, then the next step may be…
3. Coronary bypass surgery: Here another blood vessel from your body, very commonly from your leg, is used to “bypass” the areas of blockage. It is reattached above the area of the blockage, to an area below it, so it effectively bypasses the blood flow around the areas of blockage. These 2 options definitely are more advanced ways of treating heart disease, but one of the most effective yet is preventing it from ever getting this severe. This brings up to the last treatment option.
4. Lifestyle changes: This is basically what are entire blog, and Strive 2 Survive program is all about. The more you can do about watching your diet, and increasing your exercise, the better. This can definitely help prevent heart disease from coming on, but are also extremely effective in helping to manage heart disease if any of the other options above come into play also.
Afterall, is life not about having fun!
Wrap your arms around the things in life that are most important to you. We all have to remember we are not going to have them forever. Appreciate them while we can. Family is the center of all of this for me, and why I try to stay healthy. I want to be here and enjoy them a long time. A special thanks to photographer, and friend, Cory Ann Ellis, for once again creating some great family pictures to enjoy forever. Thanks!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1767
by Dan | Jul 23, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Motivation, Wellness/Health
It was a busy weekend for many parents. It was the state softball tournament held in SF. Boy, was it hot; around 100 degrees both days. Between me running back and forth between my daughter Molly’s game, and my son’s games, I had just as much of a workout as they did. Here Nick is with his Brown Clinic/Glacial Lakes Property Management teammates as they placed 2nd in the U14 division. They played very well, and gave it all they had.
Here Molly is racing around 3rd base on her way to home to score. Both kids had a lot of fun, and for me, as Dad, I can say it was a lot of fun watching them, but I was exhausted afterwards. Keeping up with the 2 of them, while Sarah is back home on call, was quite the workout. I did lots of walking in between games as well, and did not have to worry about trying to do any other exercise for the day. All of this was enough.
For all of you parents out there, you know what you all do for your kids. We make a lot of sacrifices as well trying to keep the kids involved in activities, and trying to be there to cheer them on as well. We have to remember to take care of ourselves as well, and remember to stay active for us as well. If we don’t, we are going to have a hard time keeping up with them. We also run the risk of not being around for them later when they need us. Hopefully, they appreciate all of this as well. For many of these things, it may not be appreciated at the time, but as they look back, they will remember we were there for them, and then it will matter. So remember, take care of ourselves, stay healthy, and keep moving everybody.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1761
by Dan | Jul 1, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Weather, Wellness/Health
It was a great weekend to get out and enjoy the weather. Here is one stretch of the bike trail by Jackson Park. With the weather getting up into the 90’s this weekend, and continuing for the rest of the week, you need to get out early. Very peaceful and quiet out early, so enjoy the weather, before it gets too hot later in the day. Remember to be drinking lots of water during this time, and if you are out when it is hotter, it is even more important to drink often. The humidty causes us to lose a lot of fluids quickly.
Here is Nick this AM after he ran around the lake, about 14 miles. He and one of his cross country friends started early, but still the humidity was too much. I caught up to them later in the car, and kept supplying water. Nick managed to finish, but was totally soaked. I gave his friend a ride after about 9.5 miles. He was cramping too much with the heat and humidity. Everybody needs to remember this. We don’t have to be out running 14 miles for this to happen to us. Spending time outside, mowing, gardening, whatever, you lose fluids quickly. Water is the best replacement. Enjoy the summer, but be smart. Keep moving everybody.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise day #: 1739
by kelsey | Jun 27, 2012 | Family, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
This last weekend, we celebrated my Dad’s 60th birthday. It’s not for another week, however we had to celebrate early due to my brother’s schedule. Our whole family only has the opportunity to get together about twice a year for 1-3 days at a time since my brothers live out of state and our schedules vary. Even though the visits are always quick, we cram as much as we can into them in true Likness style. I really don’t know if we know it any other way!
When I visit with my patients who are working on weight loss, improving lab values, etc, we often discuss WHY we should make the necessary changes that lead to improvements in these areas. Everyone’s goals and purposes are different however the common theme is that we want to be around to experience life and all it has to offer as long as we can and enjoy our loved one’s company while doing so. We are very fortunate to be able to celebrate 60 years with my Dad and we look forward to many more to come! My Dad (and Mom) have taught us kids to live life to it’s fullest and how eating healthy and being active can promote healthy living. Taking time out of your day to enjoy each other’s company and life’s blessings is essential to wellness. We weren’t able to enjoy tubing on the lake due to our crazy wind, but that didn’t stop us from having fun and enjoying life. As you can see in my picture, you don’t need water to enjoy the tube! My Dad and nieces had a blast sitting in it on the lawn!
Purpose in life fuels ambition, motivation, and determination. Finding your purpose and reasons to achieve a healthy lifestyle make the process so much easier and enjoyable. I encourage you to reflect on that when you hit a plateau or are struggling to move forward. Take one step at a time and those baby steps will add up to great success in the long run. Life is short so enjoy it!!
-Kelsey
by Dan | Jun 23, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This morning was the 2nd Annual Race for Chase, a combine bike/run event covering almost 10 miles. It is a 2 person team, either both male, both female, or mixed. One bikes, one runs, but you have to both start together, and finish together, and can trade off as you like. You do not need to stay together during the race, so stategy is involved for who should run when, and for how long. It was perfect weather for this, as the rain had passed earlier this AM.
Here Sarah and Molly, one Team Reiffenberger, as they get ready to get started.
They won for the female team in a time of 1 hour 5 min.
But, the other Team Reiffenberger, Nick and I, won not only for the male team, but overall, with a new course record in 50:55, beating the old record by over 4 minutes. Nick ran 1 more mile than I did. Good job Nick! Wait until next year.
Here all 4 of us, The Team Reiffenbergers, X 2, proudly hold up our hardware.
Keep moving everybody. Enjoy the summer.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1731
by Dan | Jun 17, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I hope you have a good day! For you kids, spend time with your dads and grandfathers while you can. These will be the times you will never forget. I never got to meet either one of my grandfathers, so in particular, spend time with them while you can.
Here, my dad is spending time with my son Nick. They are playing the bean bag game just recently. My dad was always one to be active, and at age 80, nothing has changed. Love ya Dad!
He has taught me a lot about being a dad. A lot of us guys can be fathers, but it takes a special individual to be a dad. I hope I can do as good of a job with my kids as my dad did with me. Thanks for all of the life lessons dad. They are greatly appreciated, and used. It is a different type of feeling watching your kids grow up. Before too long, they will be on their own. Hopefully we have led them down the right path. I know I am proud of all of them. Do you think it shows in this picture?
Keep moving everybody! Keep in mind the important things in life.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1725
