by Dan | Jul 4, 2012 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Happy 4th of July. To go along with our most recent ad campaign…”I’d Rather Be…” for the clinic, our parade float was made out with this same theme. As our commercial states, “…At Brown Clinic, we know there are things you would rather do than come in to get your physical”. We would rather be biking, gardening, coaching, fishing, golfing, anything we enjoy. That is exactly why Brown Clinic is here for you. We want to make sure you can do those things. Make sure to get your yearly physicals, stay healthy, watch our diet, and exercise. “I’d Rather Be…” preventing someone from getting sick, than take care of them after they are sick.
Here is the main parade gang, holding our award for the parade. Our float won for “The Most Original”. Way to go everybody. You saw us out there today walking, even with this heat and humidity. You get out and stay active. Take care of yourself. We are there to help if needed, just meet us half way! Keep moving everybody. Have a good 4th of July, and be safe!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1742
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 12, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This years Hospital Hill run/walk was once again a success! Our 16th year, and we had over 200 people in the walk or run. Here we are at the start line.
We had several members of our newly formed Watertown Area Running club, with several of us here, including Jackie, Steve, Steve, and Sarah.
Of course, Nick was all fired out and when out like a runner on a mission, wanting to win the race overall, which he did! His time was 18:02! Good job Nick. Here he is leading other runners to the top of the hill, which is the finish line.
Of course, the Hill proves to be a major challenge. We have more comments about how tough the Hill is. But remember, it is called “Hospital Hill” for a reason. Here, Sarah shows what she thought of the Hill, which is the same sentiments as a lot of us when we got to the top.
Keep moving everybody. Have a good week!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1720
by Dan | Jun 6, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This saturday, June 9, is the 16th annual Hospital Hill run/walk. It will begin at 8AM. Registration fee is now $20 if not pre-registered. There is a 5k run, 5k walk, and a 1 mile walk. All are welcome. Attached is the following registration form which can also be found at the clinics in town, and at the Prairie Lakes Hospital website. Hope to see you there!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1714
by Dan | May 31, 2012 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Wellness/Health
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the United States, and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), hypertension, and peripheral vascular disease (claudication of the legs).
An estimated 6 million people in the US have coronary heart disease, 2 million have cerebrovascular disease, and 58 million people have hypertension. The American Heart Association estimates that 63,290,000 people in the US have cardiovascular disease. So, nobody out there can say that they either do not suffer with it themselves, or that they do not nobody somebody directly who deals with this disease.
The chance of an American male developing coronary artery disease before age 60 is one in 5.
The American Heart Association estimates that 4,740,000 Americans alive today have a history of a heart attack, angina (chest pain), or both.
The even scarier statistic: Sudden death is the presenting symptom in 1 out of every 5 coronary attacks.
I could go on and on with statistics. For many of us, it is really not thought about until it affects either someone close to us, such as family, friends, or even ourselves, before we get the wake up call. There are many risk factors that go into this as well, some of which we can control, and others we cannot. These can range from our age/sex; smoking history; cholesterol levels; race; family history; obesity; hypertension itself; diabetes. We have to be able to control the factors that we can as much as possible. We need to be starting now, not after an event happens.
As I go forward on this topic, I will talk about what things can be done to test and evaluate for some of these problems, and what we can do to try and change our risk factors going forward. For a lot of these risk factors, we are “the drivers in control”. The more we know about our individual risk factors, the more we can do to change them, or at least improve our odds.
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1708
by kelsey | May 31, 2012 | Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
One of the best parts of our trip last week was that our Grandma got to come along at the ripe age of 83. Grandma Evelyn (and Grandpa Marshall who passed away a few years ago due to cancer) have always been great examples to us to show us how to live life to its fullest. It seems it runs in the family as Great Grandma Mary Likness also displayed these awesome qualities and lived life to its fullest all the way to age 95. Grandma Evelyn has some significant heart issues, but they rarely stop her from doing what she loves. She loves gardening, being outside, and spending time with her family and friends. Due to her heart issues, she’s had to slow her pace down a bit, but it still hasn’t stopped her from doing what she loves. Many of us attribute this to her stubborn Norwegian heritage, but I like to think it’s alot about her positive attitude about life.
We can’t always control what’s going on in our lives, but what we can control is our attitude and thoughts about that situation. Disappointments and failures are going to happen, but staying positive and motivated to reach your goal is what will help you eventually reach your goal. As we were standing and gazing over Niagara Falls, I told my Grandma how special it was for her to have come along and she told me she never thought she would have been able to take this trip again with us due to her health. It would have been easy for her to give up and just stay home where it’s easy, but she didn’t. Seeing her family and celebrating life helped motivate her to live life to its fullest.
She’s been a tremendous example for all of us in our family and I hope I can be half of the lady she is. As you are working on your goals, I encourage you to think about what motivates you and evaluate your attitude about the various parts of your life. Sometimes we get so stressed out with various parts of our life, such as our job, our kids, etc that the rest of our life results in chaos as well. Take time to prioritize and change your thinking to more positive thoughts than negative and the rest will fall in place! At our last meeting on Tuesday, as we were re-evaluating our goals, one of our participants said her new goal is to let go of what she can’t control. Even though this doesn’t exactly relate to your weight, activity, or eating habits, it’s directly correlated with overall wellness and is an essential part to a healthy you!
Below is a picture of our special Grandma Evelyn enjoying life and taking in all it has to offer. 🙂
-Kelsey
