by Dan | Jan 13, 2019 | Equipment, Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health, Winter
Well, I got back to some running this week. Trying to go slow on the miles, but did not really start out slow with the pace! After 6 weeks off with no running, I was a little excited to back to it. I have to force myself to slow down. This is a good month to get back into it. The Prairie Lakes Wellness Center is having a contest this month: The Indoor Ironman Challenge. The Ironman Triathlon consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and running a marathon, 26.2 miles. The real ironman you are doing them back to back to back. At least here, we have all month to accomplish this, at your own pace, and dividing up how ever you want. I would have always thought the swimming would be my challenge, but this month it is the running since I am just getting back into it. But it is helping motivate me to keep going!
You can still sign up. You just have to keep a log of your miles and record it there, beginning last Monday, January 7, and ends on February 3. Give it a “Tri”!
You have to do the biking on one of the pacing bikes, and at least at a level 10 or higher. You set your own pace.
Just like the swimming. You split it up however you want. Since I started swimming 6 weeks ago, this at least is not as big of a challenge as it once was. It still is tough for me to do, but getting easier.
It is a New Year, and a time for new goals, new challenges, new adventures. Give it a “tri”…you never know, there may be one sport or activity you end up liking more than you thought. Exercise is exercise! Just keep moving! Split it up. Have a variety of different activities, and if this contest does not suit your liking, then create your own contest to make things a little more interesting…and challenging! What are you waiting for? Leave the excuses behind, and go! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 4127
by kelsey | Jan 9, 2019 | Diet, Food, Goals, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Many of you are working on your New Year’s goals and that may include improving your nutrition, activity, health, and wellness. Keeping track of your intake is an excellent tool to help you with increased awareness of your intake (what exactly are you eating and how much) and help with accountability (you may think twice about the choice or amount when you have to write it down!!).
Most of my successful patients do keep a food log at some point in their weight loss journey…thus it is at the top of my list of tools to help you improve your intake! You can write it out long hand in a notebook or journal or if you have a smart phone or use the internet you can use online trackers. These are very nice because they add up all of the calories and nutrition facts for you…you just need to select the closest match to what you are eating and the appropriate serving size!
Below are a few of my favorite sites. MyFitnessPal is the number one that I recommend….they have a huge database of foods and it’s pretty easy to use. If you need help with getting started, please contact me! I would be happy to set up an individualized nutrition plan for you to help you meet your goals!
•www.myfitnesspal.com
•www.sparkpeople.com
•www.livestrong.com
•www.loseit.com
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, , LN
605-884-4426
strive2survive@brownclinic.org
by Dan | Jan 6, 2019 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This picture always makes me chuckle! It was following the Fargo Marathon a year ago. I borrowed it for a kodak moment from one of the real “elite” athletes who was running that day. What does it mean to be elite? Does it mean that those individuals run faster, and win their age category in races? Maybe it means someone who is always pushing themselves, trying to improve their own health, and their life. Maybe it means encouraging or motivating someone else to improve their life and health. We can all be elite to some extent or another. We all have good days and bad days, whether with our diet, trying to exercise, or just everyday life. Good days and bad days are a part of life. We keep going to enjoy all of those good days, and improve ourselves enough that we can endure those bad days when they come…because those bad days will come. How we handle them can also help define who we are.
Some days you may find yourself hanging on…literally! It is those bad days, those storms, that build us up. They make us stronger. They make us better able to adapt to those changes in life, and knowing that we don’t always have control over those changes in our lives. How we handle those adversities can define us as an individual. “Weather the storm!” We all encounter different things in our lives that make things “stormy”… challenging…difficult. How we handle them makes us who we are. Make the best of the situation, and good days will be coming to enjoy even more. How we help others also make a very significant statement as well.
Is there really any better feeling that this? I have taken care of people for years, both when things are good, and when things are not. We are all going to leave this world someday, and one of the things I hear the most from people is a recurring theme: “Did my life make a difference?” Make a difference to who? Your family? Your friends? You?
If you are there for somebody else when they need help, then you can safely say you made a difference. That should also be one of our goals. That would make us elite!
Running is still my favorite sport/exercise. I am learning new activities while recovering with my stress fracture/plantar fasciitis. I am getting closer to getting back to running. But, this has forced me to do other activities, and to believe in myself that I actually can do other activities. When I think deep down on this, this is probably going to be a good thing. At least I am taking advantage of learning new things while not being able to run. But, running will always be my passion. It is my escape, my time for me. There are those days when everything is just effortless, and I feel I can go on forever. Then, there are those bad days as well. Not everything can be perfect. I found this next picture that truly describes running for me.
Exactly! My time to figure things out. My time for me. When you don’t have something for awhile, and then are able to get it back, you appreciate it even more. That is what it will be like when I get back to running. I am hoping I am going to appreciate it even more.
That is the lesson here. Don’t give up on yourself. This is the perfect time to work on this. A new year to take control. A new year to make some changes. It is time to become “elite” in one way or another. Don’t stop believing in yourself. Believe, believe, believe! If you don’t, who will? The strength you find in those stormy days helps fulfill your life even more, and it makes those good days even better! Don’t stop believing! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 4120
by Dan | Dec 30, 2018 | Equipment, Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Holidays, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
There is nothing like spending the holidays at home…with family! The weekend before Christmas we were in SF spending a day with my family, then to Huron to spend a day with Sarah’s family. The best part though is that we had all 3 of our kids at home for Christmas! The times we are all together again have been getting too few and far between! It started on the December 21 picking up Megan and Nate at the airport.
It is nice to see how your kids react when they have not seen each for awhile! My twin girls missed each other, and it makes it so nice when we can get together.
We got to spend time with the future son-in-law, and boyfriend, as well. It is exciting to see what the future brings for expansion of this family. Many choices, taking chances…new adventures to be had by all of us!
Of course, with the holidays, it is time to really enjoy some of the great things to eat as well. My sister-in-law Michele makes some of the best “Monster cookies” I have ever had! Of course, when we eat more, we have to continue to keep working on the exercise aspect of things as well. No shortage of that around here, even when mother nature throws a curve ball blizzard into the mix of things.
This is looking across the road at the golf course…our view from our house. Almost a foot of snow. The snow does not mean we could not exercise. We maybe had to do some different things for the activity, or be creative with it.
Nate and Megan took advantage of the snow and went cross country skiing. Nate is originally from Virginia, so these kind of blizzards don’t come very often, and if they do, the snow does not last long. He loved it…not enough to live here, but enough for the visit!
We all took advantage of the “Reiflex Center”, my garage gym, and exercised in there. We even got Zeus involved in this!
Here Zeus is working on his hind leg squats! He just likes to get his butt scratched, and then he becomes “putty”. But, he wanted to be in the thick of things. He is part of this family as well, and helps keep us going as well. Sarah has been taking him for walks every morning with me recovering from the stress fracture. Hopefully I will be out there walking again soon too. The bike is getting a little bit boring, and I only made it swimming once last week. The other 2 days that I could go the Wellness Center to swim they were closed due to the blizzard!
This was our farewell breakfast before Megan and Nate were to get dropped off at the airport. It was a fast week, but a lot of fun. I am wearing off on my kids. We met for breakfast at 8 AM, and Megan was up early to workout as she would not be able to the rest of the day as they would be traveling. That makes me feel good! She feels the exercise is important enough to make it a priority, and like all of us, she had to plan and figure out when was going to be the time to fit it in her schedule. As parents, we set the tone, and our kids follow. So remember that everybody! You can make a difference on somebody else by staying healthy, watching our diet, and exercising regularly. That in and of itself can be motivation to ourselves knowing that somebody else, whether our family, or friends, is depending on us. Don’t let them down. Keep striving. Keep pushing. Keep trying. And…keep moving everybody! Happy New Year to everybody as well. New Year’s resolutions or not, make it a yearlong goal, not just a January goal!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 4113
by Dan | Dec 16, 2018 | Equipment, Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I was riding the stationary bike Saturday morning, listening to music, and a song came on: “Meant to be”…I lost count how many times I listened to it. It kind of opened my eyes. I have not been running for 3 weeks due to injury, feeling sorry for myself, crabby, bored…and then this came on. And during this song, it kept repeating the same line: “if it was meant to be, it’ll be…”; and also, “See where this thing goes!”. It made me start to think about not being able to run, and the fact that I can still do something else…biking and swimming! It made me realize that I maybe not be able to run, but I don’t have some life threatening illness. I can still exercise. I am learning new things. And as far as swimming, this was probably the only thing that was going to force me to get to the pool otherwise. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise. At any rate, I kind felt a lot of pressure come off my shoulders yesterday, and put everything in perspective. Time to quit bitching about the fact that I can’t run, and take the opportunity for what it is…a chance to take on a new adventure. I can’t go running with Sarah, which will still be tough, but we are both exercising, we both have our health otherwise. Those times running together again later will just be that much better. It is just like the saying…”absence makes the heart grow fonder”. I will be looking forward to those days again even more!
Sarah got me this bike a year ago for Christmas. I am really getting to use it now! Ride while watching TV, or listening to music. The monitor screen even has scenic tours across the country, so it feels like you are actually riding your bike in different parts of the country! I had it set on the track session today to see how many loops around the track I made.
Here it is at the start…
And this is where it is at the end! An hour later…an hour of getting to think about my situation, and overall, it really is not that bad. At least not as bad as I thought! If it was meant to be, it’ll be! Make the most out of every situation instead of just dwelling on the negatives. I admit, I have been crabby for 3 weeks…just because I can’t run. What about those people who can never run? The people who have been raising money for charity with Team FARA for the last couple of years! I have got nothing to complain about. My situation will eventually improve. I need to appreciate this time for what it is, and take advantage of gaining new experiences. Maybe, just maybe, I will come to like swimming some day! (Choke, choke, gasp…sigh!) Who knows. I don’t like it now because I am terrible at it. The only way I am going to get better at it is by continuing to try, and I know without a doubt that if it was not for being hurt, and not able to run, I would not be at that pool as much! Guaranteed! So maybe it truly was meant to be! See where things go from here!!!!!
The endurance for the swimming is not there yet. But, I am learning something every single time I get in the pool. Mark and Jason both are great for giving tips…all of which are welcome. Jason has sent numerous videos as well on what to work on, how to breathe, the timing…all of it. Something clicks every time. I have at least passed the first obstacle on not dreading going to the pool so much as I did when I started. You would have thought I getting to line up in front of a firing squad at the beginning! Fear does a lot of things. Fear of the unknown. Fear about getting out of your comfort zone. Fear of taking on new challenges. I am learning you need to face those fears head on, or they will just stay in your head as fears. Always afraid because you never really gave it a try. That is what it is in general for anybody starting out to exercise…exercise of any kind. You have to get in a routine. It has to start to become natural. It has to become like running already has for me…something I love to do and don’t have to think about doing. Running gives me the time to think of everything else in life, and to get my problems solved. I don’t like it when I have to think too much, like I am with swimming now. “See where this thing goes…”
This picture is hanging up in my exercise room. It is there for a reason, and I need to start paying attention to it again. Success…A journey, not a destination! All of these things, activities, adventures are a journey leading to success. It is an ongoing forever journey. Nothing related to this while we are here should ever be a final destination. We always have something to learn and experience. Take it for what it is. Learn something new. Get out of your comfort zone. And when all is said and done, more likely than not, it was meant to be! Positive attitude going forward. I am done complaining about swimming. Have fun with it, and learn something. This may just open up the door for me to do other triathlons, and not just the one here…going along the shoreline. I will actually be able to swim in them! See where this ride goes!!!! Keep moving everybody, and see how it was actually meant to be!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 4099
by Dan | Dec 9, 2018 | Equipment, Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Well, it is now 2 weeks without running, and I honestly have not noticed anything different with my foot. I was hoping it would be around 4 weeks to get back to running, but may be more like 6 weeks or more now. I have to say, I am learning a ton with swimming, and maybe deep down this is what it was going to take in order to get me to swim better. I am taking a page out of my daughter Megan’s blog…swimming through life. She talks about her adventures, struggles, and accomplishments through her blog, and through swimming, like I do with running. But now the table is turned. I gave her pointers with her blog, and with her running, now she is giving me motivation and tips on swimming. I get a lot out of reading her blog as well, and would highly recommend it to everybody else as well! The aspect about swimming that is so foreign to me is the total concentration it takes for the timing of my breathing in conjunction with the arm stroke, and leg kicking. It is definitely all about timing. It is getting easier, and I am hoping as time goes, I won’t have to think so much about while swimming. That is what is so enjoyable about running…I don’t have to think about running, I can think about everything else in my life, and come up with solutions during that workout. I am like Forrest Gump…”I just like to run!”
It has been 2 weeks now, and I have swam 3 days a week. When I first started, I could not get across to the other side without stopping. I was in a hurry, and could not relax. Jason has been telling me and telling me, the whole thing is to relax, and go slower, and in the long run, you will become much more efficient. How true! My total distance the first day was 350 yards, and 3/4 of that was using fins! This last Thursday I could make it to the other side 8 times now without stopping, each of them one at time, and made it a total of 800 yards for the morning! It is coming. I am making progress each day. I still am constantly thinking of every movement, and the timing of my breathing, so by the time I am done and I am physically and mentally drained.
I am shortening the time I have at each end to rest. How many times I would hear from my daughter, and other people who swim, that running to them makes them feel “like a fish out of water”. Now I can safely say I feel “like a runner in the water”. They are completely different sports. Each takes practice. That is why I always tell people the best activity to do is the one you like to do, as that is the one you will stick with. No differences here either! For me, though, swimming is a lot like dealing with the struggles that come up each and every day. You have to keep focused, you have to concentrate. If you let your guard down, things start to fall apart, and you struggle. That is also what is great about Megan’s blog as well. I helped her come up with the title of “Swimming through life”, but she writes everything else. At this time, I am swimming through life, and can’t wait until I can get back to running through life again. With swimming, because you have to slow down, and relax, that is really what life should be like. It does not have to be this “hurry up” pace, and see “how fast can things get done”. Injuries in and of themselves are depressing, but you can learn other things from them. Take advantage of those opportunities when they come with the positives that they can bring. We always can learn something new. That does not mean it will be easy, and come naturally. But don’t give up! Keep “swimming” or “running” through life, just make sure you enjoy the adventure along the way.
Sarah has been coming with me to the pool at least once a week too. She does not like the water, so for her to do this, is great. It is another 45-60 minutes I get to workout with her, and spend time together.
Here she is by a bunch of the different type of equipment we can use to help get down some of those swim strokes. They really are helpful. The only way though that I/we are going to get any better swimming is getting in the water. So here is to “swimming through life”, one day at a time! Keep moving everybody, and never give up on yourself!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 4092
