by Dan | Jan 8, 2014 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
We are getting ready to head out to Orlando for the Disney half and full marathon again. Sarah will be doing the 1/2 marathon saturday, and Steve Hauck and I will be doing the Goofy Challenge: doing the 1/2 marathon on saturday, and then the full marathon on sunday! Little nervous, but fired up as well. First time for doing this. Steve and I did the full marathon last year. It was Steve’s first.
The weather should be great! It will be a little tough being this hot right away. Temps to be in the 60’s to start off, and end in the low 80’s by the finish line. A far cry from 40-50 below zero! Our goal: We are just going to finish. We are not worried about time. We will take our pictures with all of the characters along the way. Training partners sticking together! Stay moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2297
by kelsey | Jan 2, 2014 | Diet, Family, Goals, Holidays, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Happy New Year!! It’s hard to believe another year has gone by! I have been a little quiet on the blog lately as I took some vacation over the holidays. Adam and I enjoyed celebrating the holidays with family and friends for 10 days straight! It was a great time, but we were wiped out by the end of it all! I am sure many of you enjoy special holiday traditions and spent quality time with family and friends, making it a fun and memorable time of the year. One of my favorite holiday traditions is making cookies with my mom. Nothing beats Christmas sugar cookies!! Now these are not low in calories or a healthy choice, but a little bit of indulgence every once in awhile isn’t going to hurt you! They tasted as good as they looked (see picture below)!
Another tradition is that someone usually has to make meatballs. Since it didn’t work out for us to enjoy my Grandma Evelyn’s meatballs, my mom and I made my version of meatballs which uses a BBQ sauce, not a gravy. Now these are a lot healthier for you than the cookies! I use very lean hamburger (Raml beef of course!) and old fashioned oatmeal. This is a recipe from Adam’s grandmother and it is one of our favorites!
As the Christmas and New Years holidays wrapped up, many of our conversations led to 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. I enjoyed all of the goodies and special foods over the holidays, but in moderation. I made sure I included fruits and veggies into my daily intake and got my exercise in most days of the week.
Choosing a few small things to work on over time 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 4th, 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!
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
by Dan | Dec 31, 2013 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
The New Year is upon us! Lead by example…prove to friends and family…and yourself…that you are serious about your health. Take control of it! Work together, and encourage each others, support each other, exercise with each other! You can begin a new year by trying to learn from past mistakes, and make the coming year better the last. Here Sarah and I are with part of the Hauck family when we were at Disney last January for the Half Marathon and Marathon. We are going back again in a few weeks, but will have 2 of my 3 kids along as well. The families that workout together, stay healthy together. You don’t need it to be January 1 to make that new resolution. It can be anytime, just do it! Believe in yourself. But remember to have fun along the way, and you can create memories for a lifetime! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2289
by kelsey | Dec 17, 2013 | Diet, Exercise, Family, Food, Goals, Holidays, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
The holidays are in full swing, which means festive food, and busy schedules. Many families are enjoying old traditions, or making new ones. Unfortunately also during these Christmas experiences, many people find themselves experiencing weight gain. Countless family gatherings and baking Christmas goodies all month are grounds for overeating, without any time to spare for exercise. By making few simple changes over the day, the holidays do not have to mean weight gain! Here are some simple tips to try out between traveling, parties, cooking, and company.
- An Early Resolution? – Rather than waiting for New Years to start a resolution, make it easier on yourself and gradually work up to your resolution by New Years. This will also help you to stay focused and maintain weight over the holidays, so you can see faster results after. If your goal is to lose weight, maybe you will try to walk two days a week now, and by New Year’s you will be built up to walking 5 days a week!
- Stress less about Exercise- Rather than stressing about shopping and cleaning this year, think of this as a time to multitask. Housework is one of the best ways to get in a workout over the holidays. Whether it’s moving around the kitchen while you bake, or vacuuming before company…it all burn calories! Shopping through the mall crowds, standing in line, and bringing bags out to your car all are positive experiences now that you can count it as a workout, right?
- Quality Time– Rather than taking away from family time to work out, invite your family to do something as a group. Wake up on Christmas morning and enjoy some yoga together before presents, or take the kids out ice-skating or sledding after the famous Christmas dinner. Just remember, building a snowman or looking at Christmas lights will also provide memories that last longer than the memories watching a movie would.
- Think Before You Eat – Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed. If you find yourself overeating at one meal, go light on the next. Try to fill your plate with the lower calorie items such as vegetable dishes, and lean proteins, then take smaller portions of the rich foods. Eat slowly, socialize, and enjoy every bite!
Overall, it’s the holidays and you need to enjoy yourself! Don’t restrict yourself from family time and enjoying some of your favorite holiday foods, but be mindful and plan ahead! Stay healthy this season, then after the holidays, your mind and body will thank you!
-Submitted by USD Dietetic Intern Lauren Lambert
by Dan | Dec 6, 2013 | Equipment, Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health, Winter
The cold has been terrible right now to try and go outside and run. I can put up with a lot of extremes with the temperature, but when it gets this cold, with windchills -25 degrees or worse, then it becomes more an issue of safety as well. That does not mean you cannot find alternatives way to exercise.
This morning was the perfect time to ultilize my membership at Anytime Fitness. Warm environment, with plenty of equipment to use, and other people working out at the same time. This works great during the cold, but not everybody has this ability. There are different types of exercise equipment you can purchase that is very inexpensive, or that you can even create/make on your own. We teach this also in our Strive 2 Survive program. I have equipment of my own that I utilize as well.
I have built this up over the years, and it is equipment that either I, or someone in my family utilizes frequently. Even though we have this, sometimes you just need to do something different in order to keep the interest and the motivation there. When the weather is not like it is now, I will be outside. I love looking around at everything when working out. It takes your mind off what you doing, and it goes by so much faster. You can also go indoors at the mall and go walk around. You have a long enough route to be making laps. Just leave your money at home so you are not tempted to spend every time you do this! Whatever it takes, there is always a right time for fitness: Anytime! It is up to you as to how and where you want to do the exercise at. Good luck! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2264
by Dan | Dec 3, 2013 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
You have heard many times from me about the importance of having training partners to help keep you on track exercising. It is a great way to help stay motivated, and to keep you moving. Well, these two are both nurses, and they have both worked for me. Chris has been with me since day one, and I am now starting my 20th year here. Susan worked for me for about 6 years, and now is at Glacial Lakes Orthopedics. They have remained close, and good friends. So, they decided to do this event together.
Here they are prior to the start, all smiling and ready to go Finishing time was not going to be of any concern. Chris has been doing a lot of walking, and Susan really took off this year working out and getting fit. Here they are after they are done…
Still all smiles and happy! They did it together. They both know about staying fit, but more importantly, how much friendship means. They remain close. I would like to think that after listening to me day after day, talking to patients of how they need to exercise and keep track of their health, that some of this wore off on them. But they did all the work! Good job to both of you! You did great!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2261
