by Dan | Jul 24, 2016 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Exercise. A challenge to the majority of us. It is time to go through our choices in life, and figure out what needs to change. Then we need to decide through those choices, what goals we want to achieve, and what we want our eventual destination to be. What is it we are waiting for? Something clearly has to change for us. As with many of us, we all face a lot of changes in our lives. But, it is often hard to decide how to change.
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So how do we decide what changes needs to be made? This is where each of us as an individual is going to have to dig deep within ourselves to help come up with an answer on this. It comes down to choices in our lives. Choices that we have the ability to make. Choices that we get to decide on. We get to figure out what is important to us, and how we are going to deal with it.
Choices are what life is about. Choices that we as individuals get to make on a daily basis. Are they always the right choices? No! But many are good, and for those that are not, we can learn from them. Nobody knows everything. That is why we have to keep trying. Keep trying, and learning from the mistakes. Eventually, that one particular choice, in a cluster of choices, will start to separate itself from all of the others, making it much clearer to each of us.
We have to decide when we as individuals are ready to change…ready for change! That is where exercise can help each of us, for all of those reasons listed above. Now, you just have to make it personal to each of you. Why is important for you? What is it you want? It comes down to what is your goal/goals? What is it you want? Each of us is different, and what may be an important reason or goal to someone else, may not be the same for you. So what is it? What do you want your goal/destination to be?
Which path are you going to take? Which road do you want to travel on? Which avenue has what it is you are looking for in life? Only you can answer that. But, guarantee, you have to make it personal to you. It has to mean something more to you to drive you to want it, to live it, to achieve it! If you don’t have a goal written down, do it! It will be much easier to try and achieve when you commit it to writing. I will talk more about goal setting in the next few weeks. I will also talk about my goal/goals, and what was it that drove me to trying to set my personal consecutive exercise streak. Remember, strive to exercise for the health of it! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3222
by kelsey | Jul 20, 2016 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Looking to spice up your normal meal routine with some fun and healthy recipes but not sure where to start? Below is a list of online links you can access for healthy recipes. Sometimes we need to take a little time to check out some new options and give them a try! It’s also helpful to look at new recipes for exploring healthy ways of cooking and ways to make substitutions for making your foods healthier!
Healthy Recipe Websites
Helpful Nutrition Websites
by Dan | Jul 17, 2016 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Last weekend was the 32nd annual Kampeska mini triathlon. Sarah and I once again participated. It is quite the adventure, to say the least. You do not have to be great at swimming, biking, and running, but you have to be good enough in all 3 to finish. It is a challenge. There is nothing like coming off the bike and going running. Your legs don’t know what they are supposed to do yet…unless you experience it, words really don’t describe it well enough. You have to use different muscles for all three sports. You have to learn to transition from one to the other without a break. You have to keep moving! That is the challenge…”tri-ing” to do well in all 3 sports!
It should really be: “Tri not to drown! Tri not to crash! Tri to run!” Sarah and I are definitely not strong swimmers. We just need to get out of the water, and then we start having fun…the bike is next, and last is the run. Here we are out of the water, on the bike, and running.
So many people say they could never do a triathlon. For many of those people, they have never even tried. You will never know what you can do, until you “Tri”! You may need to “Tri” a little harder. You may need to “Tri” to be a little more disciplined. It takes endurance, speed, perserverance, tenacity, dedication, self-confidence, commitment, and above all, courage. You will never know how far you can go until you “Tri”. That goes with everything in life. We face all kinds of challenges, and have to face them head on. We have to keep “tri-ing” in order to succeed. This is a great way to work on all of those life skills. If we can do this, we can “tri” anything!
Then you can say, “I Tri…therefore I am” whether with exercise, or life in general. You may not always finish something, or be good at it, but if you don’t at least “tri”, you will never know what you are capable of. It may just surprise you what you could do. Dig down deep for all of those characteristics that you would need to accomplish things in your life, and fall back on them often. They are within you, sometimes you may just have to dig a little deeper. You have to at least “tri”! This next slide summarize everything about what you can learn, or accomplish, with a triathlon, and life in general. We may not all be able to do a triathlon on our own, but they also had team events with this…3 people, and each person did one portion. Sometimes we need help to get things done, or to be successful. This is a good way to start, and before you know it, we may be ready to tackle on more things on our own! Surprise yourself!
Keep moving everybody! Keep “Tri-ing”!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3215
by kelsey | Jul 13, 2016 | Cooking Tips, Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Have you ever wondered how you can enjoy a sweet treat without all of the added calories?! Here are a few ideas for you:
- Mix flavored yogurt or plain yogurt honey and your favorite fruit.
- Drizzle a bit of honey over mixed melon balls.
- Blend bananas and strawberries, freeze into cubes, and eat like ice cream.
- Sauté or bake 1/2 banana and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped nuts.
- Take three of your favorite kinds of berries; cook half of them with just enough water to prevent burning. Cool and stir in remaining berries. Portion 1/2 cup of the berry compote with 1 tablespoon of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
- Try making your favorite flavor of sugar free pudding with low-fat milk.
- If it’s ice cream that you really want- skip the scoop-yourself containers and buy single-serving novelty treats such as fudgesicles, creamsicles, even chocolate-covered ice cream bars. You’re more likely to limit your portions if they already come in a single serving
Enjoy!
-Kelsey
by Dan | Jul 10, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I have been posting lately about different adventures that have been going on. I will still continue to do that, as they come up. Now, it is time to take on a new subject: Exercise for the Health of It! Time to discuss all that exercise can do for us, and why we need to do this. We all know reasons why exercise is good: It can decrease our blood pressure; decrease our risks of heart disease; decrease our chance of developing diabetes; help prevent osteoporosis; improve our mood overall, decreasing our anxiety and potential for depression, just to name a few. So if we all know that, they why are we not all doing it? What else is there that needs to set a trigger to get us motivated to do exercise? This answer is as individual as the individual, and only we, on our own, can figure that out. Time to make a list of our goals. What is it we want to accomplish? What do we want out of life? What more is there to experience that we have not already done? What if…I did things differently? What if…I were to go back in time, and change things that I know would be better now? What if…we constantly ask ourselves this all the time…what if? Clearly, we cannot go back in time and change things, we can only go forward. But, we can make a difference in our lives from this point on. The only time it is too late is when we are not here anymore. So, what are you going to do about it? What are your desires? Your needs? Your talents? How can you use all of these three components, as author Matthew Kelly writes: “How do YOU become the best version of YOU that YOU can be?”
Here are a bunch of us from yesterday’s Lake Kampeska Triathlon. Most of us are all members of the Watertown Area Run Club as well. What are we trying to achieve? I can speak for sure for me: I am trying to be as healthy and active as I can so as to enjoy as much of life as I can, for as long as I can. I want to spend time with my family. When the time comes that I am no longer here, I want to confidently say “I lived my life to the fullest, and I have no regrets!”. Will you be able to say that? If not, what are you going to do about it? Time to “Exercise for the Health of It”.
Sarah and I have a great time competing in all of these different events. That is how we started dating…by running together. We were in the same medical school class, but starting going out our second year. I saw her running on her own a few times, so then later, when I would go run, I made sure I would run by the house she was living in. She noticed! We started out by running together…and the rest is history! I may be the one having the consecutive running streak going, but she is my rock…my reason for doing all of this…my everything! I won’t even begin to imagine what life would be without her. If I was not a runner, our lives would be totally different, and we would probably never have been together. I will always be appreciative of running just for that!
There are many different reasons of how exercise can be healthy. Here is a good summary.
This is what this series is going to encompass. Even though there are a lot of things on this picture, this does not cover all of the reasons exercise is good, and why you should “Exercise for the Health of It”…but it is a good start. One main reason to keep in mind as we go on this current journey is the following:
You are saving your life! Don’t let anyone tell you anything different. Some day, ones who for whatever reason may be critical of what we do, will figure it out. They will realize they should have made some changes. They will be asking themselves, “What if” I had done things differently? Why didn’t I “Exercise for the Health of It”? Remember…no regrets. Do something about it now! And if you are, then keep doing what you are doing…for you! Invariably, this will be a benefit to all of those around you who are important, because you will get to spend more time with them. Is that not what life is about?
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3208
by Dan | Jul 3, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This Friday was the kickoff to the 4th of July weekend, and it started out with the Freedom 5K run, put on by DASH of Watertown. It was a great run, great weather, and here are the members of the Watertown Area Run Club who participated, along with the 2 up and coming members, the McElroy girls! It was a great event for friendly competition, fun, and spending time with friends.
Even though it was fun, the start can be intense in every race!
Every race has its moments, but again, all in fun. Here Sarah and I are getting are game faces on, especially when I told her she was “going down” in this race!
And we are off! It is fun watching the little kids take off…they go like there is no tomorrow, and then start fading fast. It is nice to see them out and trying though!
Even though Sarah and I can have some friendly competition, we are also best of friends! It is great that we both love doing this. It is a great way to spend time together. The start of the race was a mile from our house, so we walked over to it, ran the race, and walked back home. Lots of time for talking as well!
Another set of friends can relate. Two very good friends, and my nurses, one current, one from the past. Susan and Chris. They are sticking to it, backing each other up, and having a good time doing their running!
Way to go you two! Smiling and enjoying life! But that is what is great about friends. They are there when you need them, they have your back, and are someone you can count on…especially to go running or exercise with! So, whether Susan and Chris, Sarah and I, all of our Watertown Area Run Club members, or whoever, the important thing in life is your friends. Those are the people that matter in your life. They are the people who will miss you if you were gone! They are the people you can count on! Run on!
Friends are truly what matters in your life!
Now, just remember this weekend, with it being the 4th of July, the true meaning behind it is Freedom! We are lucky to have had people fight for our freedom in the past, and those who continue to do so for us. Because we have freedom, we are free to choose what we want to do, such as participate in fun runs, spending time with friends, and having fun.
Be thankful for what you have, and who you can spend time with! We have that freedom to choose. Enjoy the weekend…enjoy life…and all the adventures it can bring! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3201
