by kelsey | Nov 15, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Holiday time is quickly approaching and this is not normally the best time to adhere to a strict diet. The typical meals with turkey, dressing, rolls, potatoes with butter and whipped cream pie can contain a whopping 2,200 calories or more. For most of us, that is our typical daily caloric intake. If you are concerned about your weight, try some smart choices and substitutions to curb that caloric excess without the sacrificing the fulfillment of Christmas dinners with some dessert too. Here are some smart choices during the holiday season:
Choose white meat. A 6-ounce portion (about the size of a deck of cards or size of your palm) of white meat turkey without skin has 230 calories, while a mixed portion of white and dark meat with skin has about 345 calories.
Limit rolls and butter. An average roll has 80-85 calories but when you add the butter that number jumps to 120 calories instead.
Eat steamed rather than buttered vegetables. Buttered vegetables have about twice as many calories per cup as steamed vegetables. Even cutting back on the amount of butter you use on vegetables can be significant. Remember that every tablespoon of butter adds about 100 calories to a dish. Lemon juice or low-fat salad dressings are alternative ways to top vegetables if you’re craving a sauce.
Avoid eggnog. A cup of eggnog at 340 calories is a calorically dense aperitif. Try a glass of white wine or champagne (about 160 calories) instead and save calorie consumption for the main meal.
If you’re having appetizers, offer vegetables with low-fat dip instead of cheeses and crackers. With the rich meal to follow, you won’t feel deprived.
If you’re preparing the stuffing, omit some of the fat. A rich, buttery stuffing with sausage can top out at 500 calories per cup. Some suggestions for fat reduction include omitting sausage or meats and replacing that butter or oil with low-fat products. A cup of low-fat stuffing contains only 125 calories, well below that 500 calorie range.
Finally, enjoy that pumpkin pie. A piece of pumpkin pie has about 175 calories compared to a slice of pecan pie, which has 495 calories.
-Kelsey
by Dan | Nov 12, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This first picture is our Halloween costume at a 5k race one of our years of residency…we went as doctors! How original!
But medical school was done, and it was time for our Family Medicine Residency! A time when we were finally referred to as a doctor! Sarah and I had just finished medical school, and it was off to residency for 3 years of training in Family Medicine. Intense does not really describe it. A new rotation every month, ranging from pediatrics, to OB, to internal medicine, to surgery, and back and forth. Every month was like starting a new job again. The hours at times seemed endless, but boy did we learn a lot. It was a good thing for us that we did not have kids yet…the time restraint would have really made this tough to accomplish. Running was our escape from all of it. It was a time to help maintain our sanity. It was time for us! Our residency also put on a recruiting effort in the Summer of every year where we would bike over different areas of the state over a 3 day weekend, and tour different areas of South Dakota. It gave us the opportunity to see little towns in SD, and see what medicine was like there, and for those people in those towns to see us. Watertown was one of those stops on one of those years. It helped solidify for us the fact that we wanted to come here. So activity promotion was a big promotion for our training in Family Medicine as well back then. We were not going to just tell other people they needed to exercise…we were going to do it as well. Well, two of our faculty doctors, Dr. Brechetsbaur, “Dr. B”, and our residency director, Dr. Kemp, and myself decided that we were going to train for our first marathon, Grandma’s marathon, in June of 1994…my last month of residency. Now, looking back, I would not recommend that to anybody else. Our time was so busy then as well, that to try and train for a marathon made it very difficult. Needless to say, out of all of the marathons I have done, I was the least prepared for this one. That, and the fact that I had no clue what it took to do a marathon. The longest I had run to get ready was a 17 miler, and that was once. By mile 19 of the marathon, I seriously thought that I was not going to finish this race, and I had 7.2 miles left to go! Dr. Kemp and I managed to run together to the finish though, and then I spent the next week trying to learn how to walk again. I had youth on my side yet at that point, and that is I think the only reason I even finished it. Here we are leaning against a boat by the finish line after.
I really am leaning up against this boat just to help keep me upright. This next picture is Dr. Kemp and myself running by at about mile 7…we are right in the middle of the picture, wearing red shirts advertising our residency.
Shortly after that, the shirts had to go. It was already up to 90 degrees that day, and we were not prepared for that heat. One half of me got sunburned pretty good that day, so that did not help matters either. This next picture says it all!
This one is of me waiting for Sarah to find me after the finish line. I managed to sit up right then, but prior to that was curled up in a ball under a tree to get some shade, trying to figure out what all just happened! We finished though! It definitely taught me this race is not one to take lightly. You have to prepare for it. My preparation now is much different these days…but, I also at least have more time available to do it compared to those days of residency.
We had our fun times too! Our residency each year would have a Halloween party, and our third year, Sarah and I dressed up as a “polyester couple” from the 50’s. I bought this suit at the salvation army, and Sarah is wearing one of her mom’s polyester maternity outfits she wore when she was pregnant with Sarah. Of course, we had to make Sarah look pregnant then (because she was not yet!)
So, this was the Halloween of 1993, and then a few months later, she was pregnant…with our twin daughters! We graduated from residency at the end of June 1994, and moved to Watertown, and she delivered our twin daughters Sept 22 of 1994. I can always remember their birthdate, because we had “2 on 22”! And here I thought residency was busy! But this will be the beginning of some of the next stories going forward. I did have to add one picture of Sarah actually pregnant, at least during residency, and this was taken in May of 1994.
Our life had changed a lot prior to that, but little did we know how much it was going to change after another 4 months! Staying active then was always a part of our lives, and remains so to this date. Always active, and leading by example for our kids as well. Again, more on that to come. Just remember, if it is important to you, you will find a way to make time to be active, and enjoy life along the way. If not, you will just make another excuse. Be in charge, and strive to survive!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3700 ( I made up the 3 days I missed over the years not counting leap year…before I started writing on the blog!)
by Dan | Nov 5, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Having fun in life! Is that not what it is all about? There is a talk by former governor of South Dakota, Frank Farrar, this coming Thursday at the Event Center starting at 6PM, being sponsored by the Prairie Lakes Hospital Foundation. You can get on Facebook and look up Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation, and if will provide you to the link to register to go to this event It is free! No excuses, this will be great, and I am especially looking forward to this! Come out at listen to what he has to day. He is 88 years old, and still participating in triathlons. He is a perfect example of someone who is going to live life to the fullest, and enjoy the ride along the way. I am looking forward to going, and helping motivate me as well. I don’t know if I will even be here when I am 88 years old, much less doing triathlons, but hopefully I am helping to increase my odds of this.
Enjoy your friends along the way, and work together to help stay motivated to exercise. Here Paula, Jill, Sarah, and myself are in the starting ling of the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct 1 this year. We had 4 great months of training together, all coming together on this one day.
Sarah and I got to cross the finish line together! A memory to last forever. Now that is living life “limitless”. Don’t hold back on anything. The majority of times are limitations we have are created between our ears, and we have to quit listening to all the negative thoughts/ideas, and go out and take a chance! If you don’t take a chance, you never know what life will have to offer to you. Use is or lose it! How true can this be? You need to be like our run club when we meet on Sunday mornings. We are not meeting just because we like to run…but because of the social interaction, the time to talk, laugh, learn some life lessons from each other. We all have something to teach someone else, and we are never to old to stop learning. Be in charge of your life! Be in the driver’s seat! Decide what you want, and then go for it. Nobody said it would be easy. Nobody said you would not have to work for it. When you work hard at something you really enjoy, before too long it is really not work…it is fun!
Jump into action! Have fun, stay healthy, work together with someone. Sunday mornings are now turning into one of my favorite activities for the week. If you don’t make an effort, you will never know how much you are missing. I see many people that do not make an effort, but just complain all of the time about how hard it is, or that they don’t feel good, or they are not healthy. Some of this is out of our control, but much of it is. If we worked just as hard at trying as we did complaining, we would have it made. Now, keep moving everybody! Have fun. Hope to see you Thursday evening for a great evening of motivation, and learning about what life has to offer…about “living limitless”!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3690
by kelsey | Nov 2, 2017 | Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
There’s a lot of buzz about carbohydrates….are they good? Are they bad? How much should you have? , etc etc etc. In celebration of National Diabetes Month, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the main (and best) source of energy for your brain and central nervous system. Carbohydrates are essential for energy; however they raise your blood sugar levels higher and faster than any other kind of food. Carbohydrates are essential for your body to be able to sustain energy, so just like a car needs the right type of fuel (gas) to run, you need the right kind of fuel (food) to function and be healthy. To sustain energy, your body needs adequate carbohydrates: 50% of your total calories should come from carbohydrates. Cutting out all carbs can be very detrimental to our body, especially our brain, central nervous system, liver, kidneys, and heart. Because they are an excellent source of energy, but they do raise blood sugars, it’s important to recognize the types of carbohydrates and how to count them in efforts of controlling your blood sugars while still maintaining good health and adequate energy..
Carbohydrates are found in the following:
Starches: found in grains, some vegetables, and beans.
- Grains: bread, pasta, cereal, tortillas, rice
- Starchy Vegetables: potatoes, peas, corn, yams, squash
- Beans: kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, and lentils
- **The best and recommended sources of starches are whole grains…choose them over the white, refined grains!
Sugars: found naturally in foods or added to foods.
- Natural Sugars: fruits, fruit juices, dairy products, honey, and molasses.
- Added Sugars: desserts, processed foods, candy, regular soda, and fruit drinks.
- **Natural sugars are better than added sugars, but large quantities of them can still raise your blood sugars…we recommend getting at 2-3 fruits and 3 servings of veggies/day. Anytime you can limit or eliminate the added sugars, do so!
To aid in ideal blood sugar control, we recommend a moderate intake of carbohydrates which means about 45-60g/meal and 15-30g/snack with several small meals and snacks throughout the day. I visit with patients daily about finding the right balance in their intake. If you would like help managing your blood sugars, to learn more about diabetes self care, or a personalized nutrition plan, be sure to contact me for further help!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Nov 1, 2017 | Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health, Winter
As the weather starts getting colder and dryer, I thought it was perfect timing to discuss nutrition for skin health! Winter will be here before we know it and the winter months make it hard on our skin as the air is dry and cold! The beauty industry has a variety of products to help promote healthy and glowing skin, however diet is also an important factor. Research on the best foods for healthy skin is limited, but what we do know is that antioxidant rich foods are effective in promoting healthy and glowing skin. Antioxidants are substances that protect our cells against free radical damage. Free radicals are molecules made when our body breaks down food or by environmental exposures such as tobacco use or radiation. They damage the cells and may play a role in diseases such as heart disease and cancer. A colorful diet is most effective for skin health and each color offers specific vitamins and minerals such as: beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. A diet rich in the following foods will help you get beautiful and healthy skin you’re wanting!
- Red, Orange, & Yellow Produce: carrots, tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, apricots, etc
- Green Leafy Vegetables: spinach, romaine lettuce, broccoli, etc
- Blue & Purple Produce: blueberries, raspberries, eggplant, etc
- Lean Proteins: beans, lentils, nuts
- Fatty Fish: salmon, mackerel, sea bass
It’s also important to be mindful of foods that can cause greasy and oily skin such as high sugar and high fat foods: pastries, cookies, fried foods, etc. These foods should be avoided or limited and instead focus on a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, low fat dairy, and whole grains. In addition to diet, eliminating tobacco abuse and using sunscreen are effective in promoting healthy skin. These recommendations are not only going to benefit your skin, but also your overall health. Color and variety in your diet will help you look stunning always!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Oct 31, 2017 | Diet, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Happy Halloween!! Today is a fun holiday filled with treats and fun! I included a picture of my little busy bee Corbin! We are excited for a fun day of trick or treating and festivities! We are having a potluck today at Northridge to celebrate the day and my birthday that was on Saturday. Dr.Dan’s nurse Chris made a really cool cake–she is the best! Thanks Chris! (see below)
It’s important to allow your kids to splurge and have some fun today, but you will want to set some ground rules before you leave for trick-or-treating.
Healthy Halloween Tips:
*Spread the candy out over a period of time and following a “Treat-Schedule” will allow them to enjoy it, but not over-do it.
*Encourage them to make piles of their favorite candy and not-so-favorites and consider donating the not-so-favorites to a local shelter or send to those serving our country overseas.
*And most of all, encourage your child to focus on the fun of the holiday which includes being with friends and family and dressing up, with less focus on the candy.
We hope your day is filled with more tricks than treats! Enjoy!
-Kelsey
