by Dan | Mar 30, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
It has been a tough week. I had to say goodbye to my Dad forever. Where do you begin to say Thank You for everything. I hope he realized how much I appreciated everything from him. He taught me you had to work hard for what you got, and to be proud of what you are doing. If anybody wonders where I got the exercise traits from, you would not need to look any further than him. He did manual labor his whole life, and then when he retired, got involved with riding a stationary bike. He would ride anywhere from 15-45 miles per day, every day! He has been an important part of my life for so long, I am not sure how I am going to handle this going forward.
When I received Family Doctor of the Year a few years ago, I was so proud to have you and mom show up at Deadwood, and for it to be a complete surprise to me. I have always been so proud of you, and I can’t tell you how proud it made me feel for you guys to show up for that night.
You made life fun. You worked hard for everything you had. We never wanted for anything that was important. You taught us what being a great Dad was supposed to be. A lot of us may be able to be fathers, but it takes a special individual to be a Dad. I learned a lot from you, and hope you were proud of me as well.
I will miss your smile; your sense of humor; just talking to you. I hope you can now rest. You don’t have to worry if you don’t remember things anymore. It does not matter now. We remember, and always will. All of your children are proud to have called you Dad. We will continue to do as you taught, and won’t let you down. I will be exercising, and keep trying to motivate people to take care of themselves, and stay healthy. I had a hard time trying to keep my exercise streak going these last few days, because I did not want to leave your side. I took many frequent walk breaks to clear my head, and then came back to be by your side. You would have been upset had I not, and wanted me to keep going as well. I will keep referring back to you here over time, because your wisdom was priceless, and I need to share it over time. I love you Dad!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2375
by kelsey | Mar 27, 2014 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Goals, Heart Health, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ website www.eatright.org always has a variety of educational tips and information for the public. I was browsing their topics and their article titled “Eating Right isn’t Complicated” really caught my eye. Poor eating habits are often blamed on time restraints, lack of money, food preferences, etc….but in reality healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated! There is a link in this article to a PDF graphic that shows the following statistics:
- 82% don’t want to give up the foods they like in order to eat healthier.
- 68% don’t eat fruits or vegetables at least twice a day.
- 62% have no time to track their diet in order to eat healthier.
- 60% juggle both work and family and prefer to prepare their meals in 15 minutes.
- 36% have no leisure time for physical activity.
Do any of these statements relate to you? I’m sure at least a few do as they are the majority of the population! Healthy eating does not need to be complicated and we can all do it, it just may mean changing your way of life a bit to improve things. Here are some suggestions:
- Aim for a healthy plate that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat or fat-free milk.
- Make sure your diet is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium) and added sugars.
- Make the most of your calories. Think of your body like a temple… you want to put the best things into your body much like you would a temple so make healthy choices that will keep your body healthy. These choices should be packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other healthy nutrients, yet lower in bad fats and calories.
- Focus on variety! Include a variety of colors in your diet to help you get a variety of nutrients. Pay special attention to the produce that is in season, this will not only help your budget, but keep your intake varied.
- Become a label reader! Take some time to read the labels and look for serving size, calories, fat, sodium, sugars, etc to help you make a better choice.
- You have heard me say all of these things before, so how do you make it easy? Planning and determination. Take some time each week to plan out your meals or at least have a basic plan for what you will be eating. Do some prep work to make it go faster during the work week. You can brown up your lean hamburger, slow cook some chicken breasts, make a pork loin, etc on the weekend so that you at least have a few steps completed to a making a healthy and quick meal. Frozen steamer bags of veggies and canned veggies are quick to prepare and add to a meal and/or you can always keep some raw veggies on hand to add them to your meal, such as carrots and broccoli with a little low fat dip. Instead of buying white grains, purchase whole grains and instead of buying fatty, processed meats, only choose lean meats. These simple substitutions paired up with planning should make healthy eating easy!
- Throw out the excuses! Don’t let those excuses hinder you and your family from being healthy. Watch the sales and take small steps to improving your health. Earlier this week, we had porkchops, green beans, and wild rice for a meal. The total cost of the meal was under $5 for each of us. We just have to change our way of thinking about healthy eating and activity and not let the excuses get in the way of living a healthy life! You can do this!
For more information on this, you can check out the Eat Right’s article at: http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442473735
-Kelsey
by Dan | Mar 23, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all have goals in mind when it comes to life. In regards to exercise, it is easier to keep our goals in mind as well, and it especially helps when it comes to staying motivated. Always having your family in your goals makes the motivation that much easier. My goal is be around longer for them, and hopefully, they feel the same. It has been a tough week for me, and my family. I had to put my training partner and best friend, Buddy, down. My brothers, sister, and mom have been in conversation all week, and will be meeting next week to have end of life care discussion for my Dad. And, my daughter has been having health issues, all of which are still trying to be sorted out, and all this while she is away at college in Virginia. I am stressed to the max, and this too is where exercise helps. It is also my escape, my time to think, my time to sort through all of this, and try to come up with some answers, or at least ideas of how to deal with it.
Remember those close to you, and keep them in your goals…and especially your life. Don’t lose sight of this. They are truly what is important in your life.
Keep moving everybody. As I said last week, somebody would miss you if you were gone!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2368
by Dan | Feb 19, 2014 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
Phoenix last week provided a great new venue to explore and enjoy the outdoors. Typical temps in the day were into the 70’s. At the bottom of the hotel we stayed at had a hiking trail that Phoenix developed. Here is one view of the cactus along the way. We don’t get to see too much of this in SD! At least our side of the state.
Different views along the way and what the trails were like. Here are a few more:
And this last one is a good view of the mountains around as a whole, and how the trails went on this.
It was a great late afternoon the one day to go walking on this, and the first day I went running in the AM because the conference did not start until late afternoon. My run covered 9 miles, and lots of hills. It was a very quiet, nice view to observe for a run or walk. People were also out on Mountains bikes, but with all the rocks, I still think this would have a been a lot harder. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2336
by Dan | Feb 16, 2014 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
I went to a conference last week in Phoenix with people from the hospital, and the hotel we stayed at was built into a mountain. Now normally, I like hills, but these were Mountains. Going up and down these 3-4 times a day back and forth from the conference got a little tiring. This one started up towards my room, then turned into this one:
You keep going up and around to the left, and it goes to this one:
And then at the top of this was one of the restaurants at the hotel:
We went up there a few nights and the view overlooking Phoenix at night was quite impressive. At least at night, we took a ride up and down for this place. Of course, any time you went up, you had to come down:
The road going right by my room had an appropriate name:
Need I say more? It was great going running outside everyday, which I did. Started off in the low 50’s and got up into the 70’s. They have a trail head at the bottom of the resort for hiking trails through the mountains there. I was able to go on this for some late afternoon walks, and I will show a few of these pictures later this week. I wanted to be outside as much as possible since there was no snow here! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2336
by kelsey | Jan 22, 2014 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
As I read Dr.Dan’s post about his success with the Goofy Challenge, I couldn’t help but think about the positive role model he and Dr.Sarah have been to their kids…and all of us at the clinic. All of their kids enjoy being active and their family participates in activities together. In addition, Dr.Dan’s team here at the clinic has made some incredible strides with improving their fitness and health. I think it is much easier to practice healthy living when you are surrounded by positive influences and you engage in the practices or healthy behaviors together! My family (pictured above!) is another good example of this. We certainly do not do all of the long distance runs like Dr. Dan does (some have though!), but we all enjoy being active and are conscious of our intake and practice healthy eating. In order to stick with healthy living, it’s key to make it a lifestyle and a way of life for everyone in your family. Engage your family into the process of selecting meals, grocery shopping, and cooking the meals. Pick an activity to do together every week and be sure to incorporate your own activities daily to get at least 30-60 minutes of activity/day. If your family isn’t too supportive yet, ask them for help! Sit down together and discuss your goals and aspirations for healthy living… and ask them for support and help. Don’t be afraid to discuss your weaknesses as it is helpful to have extra support on those extra challenging areas. An example of this would be portion control…if you struggle with eating just one helping ask them to help kindly remind you when you’re eating to slow down and mindfully think about how much you need and ask if you really need a second helping. Or maybe it’s exercise…can’t get motivated to get on that treadmill or go to the gym? Ask them to do it with you! Having a buddy or support system will always make you more successful! If you live alone, you can also ask your friends or coworkers to be your support system! If we surround ourselves with positive people who make a positive influence on us, we will be more apt to reach our goals and stick with them! They may push you a little bit beyond your comfort zone, but remember…they’re only trying to help you be better and healthier!
-Kelsey
