by kelsey | Jan 24, 2018 | Diet, Food, Wellness/Health, Winter
Winter is here which means flu and illness are at it’s peak. Nutrition can play a key role in boosting your immune system to keep you healthy. A healthy and balanced diet not only helps your heart and your waist line, but it aids in a healthy immune system as well….especially a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C is helpful in boosting your immune system. Vitamin C is very rich in citrus fruits such as oranges. Sleep can also make a difference. If you aren’t getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep most nights of the week, your immune system can be weak and more susceptible to illness. Another essential method to ward off illness is proper hand washing. Thoroughly wash your hands for at least 20-30 seconds under warm, soapy water regularly throughout the day. Using hand sanitizer is also beneficial. Taking good care of yourself will help you live a longer and healthier life, but it will also keep your immune system strong to fight off infections and illness…which is ever more important right now during flu season!
Strive to get your 5 a day fruits and veggies, engage in regular activity, and practice good sleep habits, and your immune system will be in prime shape to keep you healthy!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jan 23, 2018 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Wellness/Health
I gave a talk last week and had several questions about probiotics so I thought it was fitting to repost this one!
We tend to think bacteria is a cause for disease, so the idea of tossing down a few billion a day for your health might seem a little hard to swallow. A Probiotic is a type of bacteria, but it is actually a GOOD bacterium that can help maintain the natural balance of organisms in our intestines. Its role is to reduce the growth of the harmful bacteria we do not want, which further promotes an overall healthy digestive system. There is convincing evidence that probiotics may help:
- Treat diarrhea (especially following treatment with antibiotics)
- Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections
- Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBD)
- Speed treatment of certain intestinal infections
- Prevent or reduce the severity of colds and flu
Yogurt is a natural source of probiotics. Make sure to look for yogurts with: “live and active cultures” stated somewhere on its label. A good example of this is Activia yogurt as this kind has more of the live and active cultures than the others. If you don’t like the taste of yogurt, you could always dress it up with a little granola and fruit such as the picture included of yogurt parfaits. Probiotics may also be taken as a dietary supplement. Ask your local pharmacist or physician for their recommendation.
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jan 17, 2018 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
With the big Vikings game this Sunday and Superbowl Sunday approaching quickly, many are getting their grocery lists ready and starting to prepare all those tasty snacks. Here are some tips to help you get through those football Sundays without busting the calorie bank:
- Be sure to eat consistently throughout the day and leading up to the party and game. If you fast all day to allow for extra eating during the game, you’re more likely to over-indulge as you’ll be extra hungry.
- Include fresh fruits and vegetables into the spread.
- Beware of the dips and sauces. They usually have a lot of extra calories, sugar, and fat. If you’re making your own, try using light or fat free to make your recipes healthier.
- Choose your beverages wisely. Liquid calories are hidden calories and we often times don’t realize how much they can add up. Opt for sugar free or calorie free beverages or limit your portions.
- Stay away from the fried and breaded items. Instead choose lean meats such as white meat chicken without the skin, lean hamburger, fish, or lean pork.
And remember that the food doesn’t always have to be the focus of the event, instead really take in and enjoy the fun and fellowship with friends and family!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jan 11, 2018 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health, Winter
Winter is a great time to enjoy tasty soups and hotdishes. If you are watching your waist line, it’s important to be careful of how much you consume of these foods as they can be high in calories, fat, and carbs… depending on how you prepare them. Broth based soups and stews are lower in calories and fat than cream based. In addition, if you’re making a hot dish, you may consider cutting calories by choosing fat free soups to add to your dish, such as fat free cream of chicken or mushroom soup. They also have low sodium varieties of these so if you’re watching your blood pressure or sodium intake, you may consider using this variety. And, as always, be sure to incorporate your lean proteins and plenty of fruits and veggies to your meal. You may consider doubling the veggies in your soups to make them a bit heartier and healthy. A few of my favorite cold weather soups are beef stew that has carrots, peas, potatoes, onion, and roast meat, bean and ham soup (plenty of protein and fiber!), and chicken noodle soup that also has plenty of veggies with white meat chicken. Try out batch cooking with these hearty meals–make a big batch and portion out into smaller containers and freeze. Take one out at a time to enjoy a healthy, hearty meal without all the prep time!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jan 4, 2018 | Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Many of you are working on your New Year’s goals and that may include improving your nutrition, activity, health, and wellness. Keeping track of your intake is an excellent tool to help you with increased awareness of your intake (what exactly are you eating and how much) and help with accountability (you may think twice about the choice or amount when you have to write it down!!). Most of my successful patients do keep a food log at some point in their weight loss journey…thus it is at the top of my list of tools to help you improve your intake! You can write it out long hand in a notebook or journal or if you have a smart phone or use the internet you can use online trackers. These are very nice because they add up all of the calories and nutrition facts for you…you just need to select the closest match to what you are eating and the appropriate serving size! Below are a few of my favorite sites. MyFitnessPal is the number one that I recommend….they have a huge database of foods and it’s pretty easy to use. SuperTracker is the government’s tracking site and I like that one for different reasons than MyFitnessPal. It allows you to see how your intake compares to the dietary guidelines in regards to servings of each food group and then gives you tips on ways to improve. It does not have as extensive of a food database as MyFitnessPal, but if you are mainly looking at ways to improve your intake to meet the dietary guidelines, then this is a great choice! If you need help with getting started, please contact me! I would be happy to set up an individualized nutrition plan for you to help you meet your goals!
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, , LN
605-884-4426
strive2survive@brownclinic.org
by kelsey | Dec 28, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Exercise, Food, Goals, Heart Health, Holidays, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
As we approach the weekend and New Year, many of our conversations involve discussion of New Years resolutions….a common topic for the month of January. Personally, I don’t really like resolutions…I don’t think you need to wait for a certain time of the year to focus on your health! You can do that anytime! I also don’t really agree with the mentality we have of binging on everything over the holidays followed by a “starvation” period in January. What fun is that!! Usually those drastic changes don’t last and you are back to eating normally and once again stuck in that revolving door of overeating followed by guilt and then restriction…which then leads us back to overeating because we can’t stick with it! Instead, I like to focus on healthy living all year round!
Choosing a few small things to work on over time that will help you create new habits that you can stick with. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Eat balanced! Strive for well balanced meals and snacks that are nutrient rich and portioned. Make half your plate fruits and veggies, a quarter lean protein, and a quarter whole grains.
- Eat consistently-eat several small meals and snacks a day instead of one or two big meals. This will keep your metabolism going and prevent you from being starving which always leads to overeating.
- Start your day off right with breakfast- this will help get your metabolism going and provide adequate nutrients to fuel you through your day.
- Focus on health, not weight. We put so much focus on the number on the scale it can drive us half crazy! Instead focus on healthy habits such as getting more fruits and veggies, using smaller plates and portions sizes, engaging in regular activity, etc etc. The weight will come when you achieve healthy habits!
- Eat dinner as a family. Take time to visit and enjoy. This will slow down your eating process and allow you to think more mindfully about your hunger and fullness. Ask yourself: Should I stop now? Do I really need seconds? etc.
- Get active-strive to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week. If you can get up to 60 minutes, even better! Can’t do it all at once? That’s ok, research has shown that even 10 minutes at a time provides benefit so split it up between your day. We all have a million excuses to not exercise, so you need to throw out the excuse book and just put your mind to it! Start with 5-10 minutes and go from there. You will most likely find that you feel so much better after you exercise which makes doing it so much more enjoyable!
- Think positive- winter is a tough time for us…it’s dark, cold, and dreary. It can really wear us down at times, so instead focus on the positives. Positive thinking will help you be healthier instead and out!
- Get help from a qualified professional. If you need assistance with reaching your health goals, reach out for help! A Registered Dietitian (RD)/Licensed Nutrition (LN) like myself is your best source of reliable and credible food and nutrition information. Our next group wellness program STRIVE 2 Survive starts March 13th, but I can certainly work with you individually now!
Baby steps turn into big ones, so start slow and small and put more of a focus on health and wellness long term versus the quick fix! You CAN do this! Happy New Year!
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
