by Dan | Nov 19, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health, Winter
It may be getting colder out, but you can still jump for excitement! We still have the ability to get outside and exercise, where a lot of people still cannot choose. Does it get tough to get motivated to get out there when you see how cold it is, and how strong the wind is? Absolutely! But, by the time all is said and done, you still feel better when you get done…just that right now when it is cold, you feel even better now when you get done.
First, we can get excited that the majority of the trails are still open, and not icy, and snow covered. We will take this as long as we can. Just like any sport, you have to have the right equipment for it. You dress in layers, and you can take layers off as you need. Your pockets often times are packed with a mask, extra gloves, etc, but if you are prepared, then the run, or walk outside, is much more enjoyable. And, no matter what, it is still much better than being stuck inside on a treadmill!
Here are many of us in the run club, after we got done with our run. We all have the right equipment on, layers on, to handle the cold. That does not mean I don’t want it to get warm out. It is still more enjoyable in the Summer, but you can make if more enjoyable by being prepared for it. You just have to remember one important point:
That is why you have to keep moving! If you stay moving, you stay warm. It helps keep you motivated to keep going, and then you get done faster! We had just gotten done with a run club run last year, and we had just gotten some new light snow during the run. Our tracks were present yet on the way back.
It helps to know where you have been, but it is much more important to know where you want to go! Keep looking forward. Tough conditions make you stronger. Don’t think…just get out and move! You can do this by yourself, but there is no question it is much easier to do when you have friends/training partners with you. This way, if it is windy, you can help take turns blocking the wind. That is what Sarah and I did on our run yesterday. You work together. You motivate each other. The cold is just a temperature…don’t let it decide whether you will exercise or not. If it gets bad enough, it may change where you exercise, or how far or how much you exercise, but don’t let it stop you! You will amaze even yourself at what you may be capable of doing. Enjoy it! When people drive by and look at us outside running, they all think we are crazy! Some days, maybe we are…but we are not going to let is stop us from what we enjoy doing! Keep moving everybody, and remember, you may just have to dress warmer!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3707
by kelsey | Nov 16, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
I always overeat at holiday functions. Can you give me some tips to help keep me on track?
There are many ways to keep your calorie intake under control during the festivities. Try these tips and see which ones work for you:
• Survey the entire table before you take any food. Decide what foods are worth eating and what can be ignored, and then stick to that decision. Why waste calories on foods that don’t bring you pleasure?
• Eat a snack before you leave home. If you arrive at a party starving, you’ll be more likely to overindulge.
• Eat your calories instead of drinking them. Stick to lower calorie or calorie-free drinks (diet sodas, water, light beer, or wine spritzer) instead of punches, eggnogs, and mixed drinks that can have up to 500 calories per cup.
• Sip a large glass of water between every alcoholic drink or non-alcoholic punch or eggnog. This will help keep you hydrated and you’ll drink fewer calories by the end of the night.
• When you are the host or hostess, include nutritious and lower-calorie foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats on the menu. When you are a guest, bring along a lower-calorie dish to share.
• Try not to hang out near the food. Find a comfortable spot across the room and focus on people instead of eating.
• Watch your portion sizes. Don’t cover your plate completely with food. In most cases, especially when it comes to holiday sweets and alcoholic beverages, less is better. Use a smaller plate or bowl.
• Drop out of the “clean plate club”. Leave a few bites behind every time you eat, especially if you are eating something you don’t really care for.
• Enjoy your favorite holiday treats but take a small portion, eat slowly, and savor the taste and texture of the wonderful foods of the season.
• Skip the pie crust and go for the filling.
• Choose light meat over dark meat.
• Use home-made cranberry sauce over canned cranberries that are jam packed with added sugars.
-Kelsey
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 kelsey | Nov 14, 2017 | Etc.
Public Service Announcement:
A support group for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) will hold a meeting on Monday, November 20th at 6:30pm at Prairie Lakes Hospital’s West Conference Room. Attendees should use the west entrance. There is no advanced registration and no cost to attend. Everyone is welcome! To learn more contact Bruce Ford at 880-5213.
I spoke with this group a few months ago and it is a great group and support to those with IBS. If you are dealing with IBS, I encourage you to join them!
-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!)
