by Dan | Aug 3, 2014 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I hit another milestone yesterday…Consecutive exercise day #2500! Safe to say it is now habit. Nothing was as tough as that first year. Now it is part of my daily routine. I still have to think of it everyday, and make plans to exercise. The exercise has taken many places, and on many adventures, meeting many new people. It has been a challenge, but much more fun than work. I tell other people too…if I can do it, so can you!
So, here is your chance to start. I am pointing at you…calling you out! Get out and move, and see what making exercise a part of your day will open the door for many other perks and advantages. Give it a try! Keep moving everybody! I have a streak to continue!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2501
by Dan | Jul 27, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Running and exercise has brought a lot to my life. Many adventures, trips, meeting new people, and gaining new friendships. What if…I did not run? What if…I was not healthy enough to be active? What if…I was not diligent about staying active? How would my life be? How would my health be? What activities would I do with my family? Many things to consider.
Here I am with my family, and our neighbors, Steve and Carletta Hauck and some of their kids…our second family. This is when we went to Disney and had a great time…family time. Yet, if we had not been doing the 1/2 marathon, and marathon, we would not have had this experience.
Running had made my life much more complete! The adventures I have been on as a result of running and exercise are so numerous I can’t imagine my life without it. It can be the same for you. The places it can take you, the energy it can give you to do more things, the doors that open up as a result of being healthy to enjoy life are countless. If you already run or exercise, you know exactly what I mean. If you don’t, it is time to figure out what it is all about. The adventures and memories that will arise are priceless. What if…I had not started? I know what I would have missed out on. Now, what if…I were to stop? I can relax on this one. This is not going to be an option as long as I have anything to say about it. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2494
by kelsey | Jul 22, 2014 | Diabetes, Diet, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
A few weeks ago I told you about the exciting news that Brown Clinic was selected to participate in a nutrition research study with South Dakota State University’s Nutrition Department regarding metabolic syndrome. I am still looking for participants to be in the study, so if this interests you and you think you would qualify, please contact me!!
The study will be testing two diets (the DASH diet and the BOLD diet) and their effects on metabolic syndrome
- DASH diet–Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension: Considered the “gold standard” heart-healthy diet, this eating plan featured vegetables, fruits and low-fat dairy and limited red meat and sweets
- BOLD diet–Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet: Similar to the DASH diet (rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and beans) and protein amount, but uses lean beef (4 oz./day) as the primary protein source, whereas the DASH diet used primarily white meat and plant protein sources.
Participants must:
- be between 18-65 years of age
- have central obesity (waist circumference >35 in, in women and > 40 in, in men)
- and 2 of the 4 following risk factors to be included in the study:
- elevated triglyceride concentrations (150 mg/dL)
- low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
- cholesterol (< 40 mg/ dL in men and < 50 mg/dL in women)
- high blood pressure
- elevated fasting plasma glucose (=100 mg/dL)
Participants will receive the following:
- Tailored diet instructions and dietary and exercise goals at your initial meeting (free to the participant).
- Two follow-up meetings with the Registered Dietitian Kelsey Raml (free to the participant). Duration of the study is 10-12 weeks long.
- Free lab work at the beginning and end of the study.
- Compensation for this study is limited to tailored diet instructions and $100 in HyVee gift cards upon completion of required steps.
This study is funded by the South Dakota Beef Council. I am really excited to be a part of this study as the results could play a significant role in nutrition recommendations for metabolic syndrome!
If you are interested in participating, please contact me to determine if you are eligible! If you know of someone who may be interested, feel free to share this information with them and get in contact with me!
Thank you!
Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
605-884-4226
strive2survive@brownclinic.org
by Dan | Jul 20, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
It takes time getting comfortable with a new training partner, especially if they are new at it. Zeus is getting bigger all of the time, just weighing in at the Vet this week at 37#. We can go 2 miles at a time with him, walk, jog, and then often times we will take him out for a second time for maybe a mile. He is getting stronger everyday!
Here he is saying Hi! Look at the size of those mitts! He is ready to go anytime, we just get out the leash. He still likes to start out walking himself, holding the leash in his mouth.
Please take me out for a run/walk, Please!!!! Patience is a virtue. All training partners need to get accustomed to each other. Later on, you start thinking alike, and you just go. It is not different with any training partner. Just find that one that helps you as much as you help them. It does you both good. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2487
by kelsey | Jul 15, 2014 | Diet, Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
I apologize for my lack of posting lately!! I was on vacation the end of June and first week of July and last week was a bit crazy catching up from being gone that blogging got neglected! I’m sure as many of you know vacation is great, but it’s hard to adjust back to reality and get back into the grove of things! When you’re on vacation, everything gets disrupted, including sleep, eating, exercise, etc and by the time you adjust to being on vacation, you’re back to work! Here are some tips that help me adjust and get back on track with my wellness goals…I hope they help you as well!
1) PLAN! Take a look at your schedule and figure out when you’ll have time for exercise and have a basic (or detailed plan for you over-planners) of what you will eat for meals when you get back to reality. Take out the meat from the freezer, get groceries, and get ready for the week! Prep some of your meals such as brown up the hamburger and have it ready in the fridge or slow cook some chicken breasts so you have them ready…you can also do some batch cooking such as making up a few casseroles, soups, or BBQ meat to lessen the pressure, time, and stress of getting the meal ready after work. Think about these things like you do your job or other obligations and have a plan for them. Your health and wellness should be top priority as without health, you can’t enjoy all life as to offer!
2) Be Flexible: it’s part of life that things are going to come up or you may stay at work a bit longer than usual so don’t be too hard on yourself, getting back to the real work will take a bit of time to adjust and having a plan (from #1) will help lessen the stress and allow you to be flexible with whatever happens. I have to remind myself of this daily as I tend to like to have a plan for everything and that’s not always how life works!
3) Prioritize: You won’t be able to tackle everything you missed at work or at home in the first few hours of returning, so prioritize what needs to be done and tackle the most important things first. I apologize that the blog got put at the bottom of the list as I needed to take care of my patient care duties first! You will be hearing from me more again now that I’m back to reality! 😉
-Kelsey
by Dan | Jul 13, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I had stated in an earlier post about Dr. George Sheehan…cardiologist, runner, writer, and philospher. Sheehan believed that life should be simple, that people needed to free themselves from the things that squash creativity adn play. Play, he believed, was serious business, and people should make time for it. For Sheehan, running was play. That is how I try to make it too. Here above is Steve and I at the Disney Goofy challenge, stopping at about mile 8 for our wives to take a photo. We presented ourselves well from South Dakota.
Sarah and I keep that in my too, not only in how we take each run, but how we take life. You need to have fun. Of course, there is a time to be serious, and get things done, but it can be done in fun ways as well. Here we are the one year for a halloween run.
Have fun! Be healthy! Life is too short not to do this. Take each day as a gift, and do with it what we can. At the end of each day, we should be able to look back and say…”What did I accomplish today?” We should then feel good about what we did accomplish. There are always challenges, pressures, things to get done. Always! This will never change. But, making running fun…play…allows us to handle things in life much better as well.
More thoughts from Dr. Sheehan in posts to come! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise day #: 2480
