by Dan | Jan 8, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all have dreams. The difference for some of us is that it just stays in the thinking process, and not the doing process. We need to learn to convince ourselves that if it is our dream, then we need to go for it…and going for it means we need to work for it. Nothing just happens, at least in real life.
Don’t let your mind hold you back. That little voice in your head that tells you that you can’t do something…ignore it! Listen to you! It may seem impossible, but truly only in your own mind.
Steve had a dream. He wanted to finish a Marathon. After overcoming health issues, he was able to do it. Here we are coming to the finish line of the Disney Marathon! He did it! He achieved his dream. He worked his butt off, overcame adversity, but he never quit. He became better. I was there for support, and as a training partner, and I became better as a result too.
Don’t doubt yourself! Keep pushing, keep trying! Keep focusing on why it is a dream for you, and why you want it.
We just happen to have the hardware to prove it too! I think of this as icing on the cake! It is nice to have, but it is not the reason we did this. The fact that we could…that he could…is what is important.
This was the perfect place to go live out a dream. It really is a Kingdom of Dreams…for everybody. You are never too old to dream, to believe, and to enjoy the things in life that can come by achieving your dreams. How much better you can be by achieving your dreams in indescribable!
So let it go! Dream Big! If it is something you dream of, then start planning on how you are going to achieve it? What is it going to take for you to do it? There is give and take on everything. What is it going to take and what are you willing to give? Only you can decide that.
Do you have the courage? Do you have a dream? What is it? Disney was the perfect place to have this dream fulfilled. Go for it…and become a better you in the process!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3390
by kelsey | Jan 3, 2017 | Diet, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Happy New Year! With the new year, you may have considered setting some of those famous New Year’s Resolutions. We confidently vow to shed pounds and inches to change our lives for the better but these resolutions tend to fail. We often set lofty goals like “ I will lose 15 pounds” which is a valid goal but could take several months-year to properly reach it. We tend to eat too little and exercise to vigorously during the first couple of days just to give up in frustration and hunger. I am not a big fan of resolutions, because they typically aren’t followed long term, I am however a big fan of lifestyle changes!
Here are some tips and guidelines to assist you in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight loss and lifestyle change:
¨ Set realistic, short-term goals such as “I will lose 1 pound/week.” After success with the first reasonable goal, the next goals will seem attainable.
¨ Do not keep junk food at the house. If unhealthy choices are in sight, you might be tempted to reach for them. Remember, out of sight, out of mind!
¨ Eat a serving of protein and whole grains to feel full longer which could curb hunger cues.
¨ Eat the majority of food during the earlier parts of your day. This can help end that bad habit of late night snacking.
¨ Pay attention to feelings like boredom, loneliness, stress, and fatigue, which can cause mindless eating. Only eat when you are actually hungry and think of food as fuel.
¨ Use smaller plates, bowls, etc. to help keep portions under control. This could help trick the mind into thinking you are eating a large portion.
¨ Eat slowly and away from distraction, if possible. This will allow you to pay attention to any cues of becoming full. Remember it takes 20 minutes for you to feel full.
¨ Try to get more active each day. By aiming to increase your exercise level by 10 minutes each day, you can build up strength and stamina gradually, which could help you from not quitting exercising in frustration.
These guidelines can help end the New Year’s resolution failures and hopefully create healthy, lifelong habits. If you would like individual help, please contact me…I would love to work with you!
-Kelsey
by Dan | Jan 1, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Time to celebrate! 2016 is done, and 2017 is starting. There may have been things that did not go so well this past year, but you can’t change it. Look upon all of the good things. Make things better for this year. A new year is a chance to bring about a new you!
Every year, people at this time decide upon New Year’s resolutions…only to start out of the blocks strong, and then not follow through with them. Don’t rely on just New Years to make those resolutions. Make daily resolutions, and continue to keep working on them!
Those resolutions can be what ever you want them to be. Remember, you are deciding them yourself. What may work for one, won’t work for another. That is truly what makes us all unique. Decide what is important to you, and then figure out how you continue to work on it to make daily improvements.
What is your wellness road consist of? Do you incorporate changes in your diet, and exercise both? What about taking time to rest, or change the intensity of things to allow your body time to recover. Then there is the ever important aspect of all of this: Taking time to think! Plan what you want, how you are going to do it, and remember you do not have to do this alone. We all need help at one time or another. We can help each other make those daily resolutions reality. But remember to have fun along the way!
Sarah is always along with me, helping to encourage me, inspire me, and spend time with me! Hopefully, I am doing the same for her. You can’t always look behind you though. You can’t change what has been. You can learn from it, and then move on. Keep going, and don’t look back!
The view is always better straight ahead! Take for example with your car…that is why the windshield is so big, and everything in the rear view mirror is so small! All of us have goals, and what we want to achieve. We also all get there a different way, and by different means. When it comes to exercise, there are always events going on… walks, runs, activities. When you participate in these, you are never alone!
It is always better to do things with a group! I admit, there are times when I really do want to run by myself. It is my time to think, process things, and just relax. But, there are times when I love working out, exercising, or running in a group. It is a social activity. What is going on in everybody else’s life? How are they dealing with it? Who do they lean on for support? We don’t have all the answers ourselves. To me, that is what I love about our run club. We may all meet to run, but it is not about running…it is about spending time with friends, doing an activity that we all love to do! It is a highlight of the week! Just remember, it is never too late to start…everybody can start from now and make a brand new ending!
It is never a question of can you, but will you? A quote by James Robson sums things up well: “You can’t be given a mile, you can’t win a mile, you can’t buy or steal a mile. You must earn it, and when you do, it’s yours and only yours!” It means so much more this way! Nobody ever said it was easy, but nobody ever said it could not be fun either! You choose…the decision is yours. Make 2017 a year for a new you!
Happy New Year everybody, and keep moving!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3383
by Dan | Dec 25, 2016 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I always grew up hearing the saying at home: “It is better to give than to receive”. Nowhere is that more important now than during this time of the holidays, and Christmas season. But, this is something we should always keep in mind in our lives. Yesterday our run club met early so we could all still get a run in for the weekend. Normally our run day together is Sunday, but with today being Christmas, it was important for all of us to spend time with family…our main families. We as a run club are like family, but in a different sense. We spend time together, we all love to run, and we have become friends. We all wore Santa or Elf hats to get in the spirit of the season. EVERYBODY wanted to get together Saturday and run…we did not want to miss a weekend. This tells me a lot about the friendship that has developed by a bunch of people who got together because they like to run. In life, some know you…some remember you…some like you…some understand you…but…a TRUE FRIEND does all of these things, and always hopes for the best for you! This is what we have! This is what this group has become! During our marathon training, we worried more about somebody else who was hurt and could not run with us, than we did about ourselves. We worried more about each other, and how each of us were going to do in the marathon than ourselves!
The real secret is to give without expecting anything in return…it is better to give than receive! Our lives are much more rewarding when this occurs!
Paula was going to run her first marathon, and we were going to help her get it done. The Sioux Falls half marathon was a good warmup…here Jill is hugging her in congratulations after finishing! Paula was getting it done, and we were going to help her! All of us had tips. All of us having running stories, workout stories…things that work, and things that didn’t work. Experience goes a long way! I have learned many things from my training partners over the years…
Tom has been at my side for many years! We may not run as much together as we did, but we still do!
Steve, and our memory maker for a life time with doing the Goofy challenge at Disney. After the race, we enjoyed our ice cream and a coke. At that moment, it was better to “receive”…and those treats hit the spot!
…and the most recent training partner group. Here we are an hour before we were going to start the Twin Cities Marathon in October. We had gone through a lot together, culminating on this day. For me, it was not about the run, but the relationships and friendships that running has created…that exercise in general has created! When it comes to exercise, it is really no different than life in general. All of us at some time need some help. And…all of us at sometime can help somebody else! That feels even better!
Remember that, and when you help somebody else out, see how it feels. See the difference you can make in somebody’s life, and how it made them feel. Then realize you are also becoming a better you in the process. This is even more important this time of year.
Merry Christmas everybody! Keep moving everybody, and work on becoming a better you at the same time!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3376
by Dan | Dec 18, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I really like a statement made by Matthew Kelly in his book, Rhythm of Life. In it he states: “Greatness is attained beyond the pursuit of our own fulfillment. True greatness is achieved by making a difference in other people’s lives. What moves a person from success to significance? Making a difference in the lives of other people.” We can have help and support from our friends, but it is these same people that maybe we are making a difference to as well. Each of us…making a difference to each other, in one way or another.
We all do different things in our lives. We all have a different profession. But we can all make a difference in what we do, and how we do it. Thank the people around us. Make a difference in their lives, because ultimately it will make a difference in our own lives. Exercise can help us along the way, whether biking, walking, swimming, running…whatever the activity may be. These activities can be a challenge, but they can also help us navigate through the challenges in our lives as well. It can make the difference of being successful or not, or getting things accomplished.
It truly does teach us…it teaches us how to get through tough things that we may face everyday, and can make it a little easier to contend with, or just even helping us get through it, period! At the same time, we choose how we want it to handle us. How do we want it to define our lives? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
One of my previous posts was about choice. We do have a choice, and we can choose how we want to handle it, or how it will handle us. But, as individuals, we can make a difference, not only for ourselves, but for others.
Make a difference. It is not that hard. We need to also make this a habit, a habit that we also do everyday. Make a difference in somebody’s life!
We all have different goals. We all come in different sizes, shapes, personalities. We are all different, but that is what makes us unique. We have the ability to offer something different from anybody else. We all can learn from everybody. Think about it…how many people in this world, and we all have something unique to offer.
How does it feel to be a super hero? Another quote by Matthew Kelly hits home: “Finding our place in the world, finding our place in our local community, and making a difference in our own way all give meaning, purpose, and a deep, deep sense of fulfillment to our lives. We must not only find it for ourselves, but help every individual to find the same.”
For those of us in the Watertown Area Run Club…you know exactly what I mean! And together, we can do it…and we are doing it!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3369
by Dan | Dec 11, 2016 | Diet, Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We are all busy with our lives, always having things to do. But are they always the most important things? Are they things that need to get done? Maybe. The priority of how fast it may need to get done is probably the debatable part. If we take a step back and really think about the things that we need to get done, all of a sudden, there may be more time that will become available.
What is it you value most? What is important to you? And if you want certain things to take on a higher priority, then what are you doing about it?
If you keep focused on those things that truly are important to you, then things become easier to handle, and the order of the things that need to be done are also more manageable. We all have 24 hours in a day. We all have 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. So why then are some people always seeming like they have their life in order, and seem to manage thins much better, and with much less stress? Part of it may be that they hide their stress very well. But more to reality, they have their priorities arranged in a order that is more important to them, and they keep their focus on this.
Some of us may think we are too busy, but the reality of it is that they are no busier than anybody else!
Your priorities need to be adjusted over time. The main focus of where you place your priorities needs to be clear, but how you go about getting there will change. You have to make it a high enough priority in order for it to push out something else in life that really is not a priority…it is more just a time waster, and never really helps you accomplish anything. That is where the exercise, and your diet, come into play. If you make it a high enough priority, and work on these things, the amount of energy, and how well you will feel will take over, and it is amazing how much energy you actually have to get those other little things in your life done faster, and more efficient. And still have time for what is really important…your family and friends!
It is not just going to fall into your lap. You need to plan. You need to adjust. You need to make adaptations. You need to make and continuously rearrange your priorities!
Now is the time to really sit back and think about it. What is important to you? Why is it important to you? How are you going to make sure it remains important enough to you to keep working on it, or making sure that you are going to be around longer to be able to enjoy those things in your life? It is up to you. All of us have different priorities. Keep focused. It is not that hard for each of you to decide what really matters to you.
I have said over and over again…my family is my central focus point, and everything I do centers around this. I want to be around longer for them, to enjoy their lives as well. That makes my life more fulfilling. It helps make me a better me! Enjoy life to the fullest. Don’t take anything for granted. Work on your priorities, and above all, make them a priority! Enjoy the ride along the way!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3362
