Stay Energized for your Sport!
Some fall sports are starting practices now and with practices running multiple times a day and running from sport to sport it is important to keep your athletes energized and properly hydrated. Healthy snacks are important for athletes to have the energy necessary for practice. A snack higher in protein and sufficient carbohydrates is recommended before a long practice. Some snacks before practice could include: a cheese stick, crackers and cheese or a little meat, almonds, hard boiled egg, or a small sandwich. It is important that athletes stay hydrated. Water is the preferred and recommended beverage for proper hydration during exercise. Vigorous practices that are over a hour may require a sports drink to replenish electrolytes but water should be the go-to drink before sports drinks. Remember to keep your athlete properly hydrated and energized!
-Written by Elizabeth Honner, SDSU Dietetics Student
A Running Doc’s Life: Staying Young at Heart
My patients will hear from me continuously to keep working on their diet and increasing activity, and “I will tell you that until you are not here anymore!”. But, you also have to take in some compromising points as well: We still need to be happy, but there are ways you can still indulge at times, and still be healthy. You have to learn to pick and choose, and decide which times you may have some of these more “unhealthy” things, and how much each time. So here I am after just finishing a 15 mile run, and we were celebrating Steve’s “runaversary” date…he started running 7 years ago. His wife brought us cupcakes to help celebrate. The only problem was, I still had a mile to go to get home yet, and I had to either run or walk. I decided to run another mile, so then I could eat my cupcake faster! I had to run by Cattail Crossings golf course to get home, and boy, did I get the looks running holding a cupcake. They were just all jealous!
Tom and I were all pumped up when we heard there would be cupcakes when we got back! It is ok to indulge…sometimes. Like I said, you need to pick and choose, and you make up some of the difference by what you do with your activity. You just have to remember to have fun, and do what we did when we were kids: Play! We had fun playing. There was no pressure coming from having to get other obligations done, work or family, and really no other responsibilities, especially during the Summers! So we need to get back to those days…play, have fun, but be healthy in the process.
And don’t worry what somebody else may think. If you get strange looks, they just don’t understand. That does not mean you can’t help them to understand. Just like me going by the golf course, running, holding a cupcake. I earned that cupcake, but I had to get home first. So when I finished my last mile, and was coming up the driveway, needless to say I did not make into the house before the cupcake was devoured. That was my reward. I earned it! Don’t worry what other people may think either, especially if the things you are doing are helping you to achieve the goals you have set for yourself.
Sarah and I did some biking when we were out in the Black Hills a few weeks ago. It was a great time. It was like being a kid again, and just going out on your bike, and not really worrying about anything else. Now I do have to admit thought, with some of those hills out there, I did some worrying about how we were going to get up those hills. But the scenery was something to take in…and being on the Mickelson trail, we were able to see things up closer, and with a different perspective than we would have if we had stayed in the car and just drove. In the process, you continue to make great memories…memories for a lifetime.
Memories, and having fun doing it! What more can you ask for. Things that we try when we work on our health doesn’t always work. We may try different diets, or different types of activities, and they may not all be enjoyable. But, you learn from those times, from those mistakes, and then you stick with what you do like. That what life is about…trial and error. The important point is to learn from those mistakes, and don’t keep making the same ones over and over again. Progress is when we make mistakes, learn from them, and then make other attempts to improve. Failure is when we make mistakes, and then keep repeating them thinking we are going to have a different outcome.
Have fun in the process. Remember to get back to “play time”…stay young at heart. You are only too old to do something that you would enjoy once you are no longer here. Enjoy life along the way, take some breaks, continue to keep working on improving our health by working on our diet, trying to stay active, and remembering it is ok once in awhile to indulge and enjoy some of the things we really like in life…once in awhile!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3599
Healthy Snacks for Kids
If you’re a parent with school age children, you have probably witnessed this scenario many times: your child comes home from school or an activity and they are starving! They rummage through the cupboards and try to find something “good” to snack on until supper is ready. Snacks in between meals help provide the body with energy and aid in metabolism and blood sugar control, but the key is making a healthy snack as junk foods will only provide empty calories, leaving you hungry and looking for more later on.
Below are some healthy snacks for kids. This is just a glimpse of what we discuss in our STRIVE Kids program. We invite you to contact us today to learn more!
Healthy Snacks for Kids
Inside-Out Sandwich: Spread mustard on a slice of deli turkey. Wrap around a sesame breadstick.
Rocky Road: Break a graham cracker into bite-size pieces. Add to low-fat chocolate pudding along with a few miniature marshmallows.
Mini Pizza: Toast a whole-wheat English muffin, drizzle with pizza sauce and sprinkle with low-fat mozzarella cheese.
Spread mustard on a flour tortilla. Top with a slice of turkey or ham, low-fat cheese and lettuce. Then roll it up.
Sandwich Cut-Outs: Make a sandwich on whole grain bread. Cut out your favorite shape using a big cookie cutter. Eat the fun shape and the edges, too!
Banana Split: Top a banana with low-fat vanilla and strawberry frozen yogurt. Sprinkle with your favorite whole-grain cereal.
Apple Pie Oatmeal: Make one packet of microwave oatmeal with low-fat milk. Mix in 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce. Sprinkle with apple pie spice or cinnamon.
Mix together peanut butter and cornflakes in a bowl. Shape into balls and roll in crushed graham crackers.
Microwave a cup of tomato or vegetable soup and enjoy with whole-grain crackers.
Fill a waffle cone with cut-up fruit and top with low-fat vanilla yogurt.
Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on hot popcorn.
Peel a banana and dip it in yogurt. Roll in crushed cereal and freeze.
Spread celery sticks with peanut butter or low-fat cream cheese. Top with raisins.
Stuff a whole-grain pita pocket with ricotta cheese and Granny Smith apple slices. Add a dash of cinnamon.
Mix together ready-to-eat cereal, dried fruit and nuts in a sandwich bag for an on-the-go snack.
Smear a scoop of frozen yogurt on two graham crackers and add sliced banana to make a yummy sandwich.
Microwave a small baked potato. Top with reduced-fat cheddar cheese and salsa.
Make snack kabobs. Put cubes of low-fat cheese and grapes on pretzel sticks.
Toast a whole-grain waffle and top with low-fat yogurt and peaches.
Mix together low-fat cream cheese, mixed dried fruit bits and shelled sunflower seeds. Spread on a toasted English muffin.
Blend low-fat milk, frozen strawberries and a banana for thirty seconds for a delicious smoothie.
Make a mini-sandwich with tuna or egg salad on a whole-grain dinner roll.
Sprinkle grated Monterey Jack cheese over a corn tortilla; fold in half and microwave for twenty seconds. Top with salsa.
Spread peanut butter on apple slices.
Reference: Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics
-Kelsey
A Running Doc’s Life: What to do on Vacation!
Sarah and I spent the end of last week/weekend out in the Black Hills for a family get together. One of my older brothers was getting married, and so we spent a few days out there to take in the sites. Of course, before we left, Sarah and I got in a half marathon run at home here since we were going to be gone on Saturday when they had the Half Marathon around Lake Kampeska.
It was hot, and very humid, but we helped each other get through this, and then took off for the Black Hills. Once we got out there, it was still hot, but really no humidity. It was time to start enjoying the scenery, and doing activities that we are not able to do here at home. On Friday, we set off for a hike up Harney Peak, now called Black Elk Peak.
It was 4 miles up, and 4 miles down. It took us 4 hours to complete. Of course, we took a lot of pictures along the way, and took in the scenery.
It was great! I had a patient several years ago, she is currently 95, but when she was 89 years old, she hiked up Harney Peak. She says it was a thing to do on her bucket list! Now I admit, it was work doing this now, I am not sure about when I am 89…I don’t even know if I will be here yet at 89! Now that was impressive. You cannot describe the view you have, and the things you see along the way, until you are actually up there, hiking it, and seeing first hand! Well worth the time, and effort!
We had rented a cabin in Hill City, and at the bottom of the entrance for this place was the Mickelson Trail…109 miles of converted railroad when you can walk, run, or bike and get to see first hand the Hills.
And boy are there hills! You have some stretches where you coast down for awhile, and then will spend stretches of continuous hill climbing that range in distance from 4-6 miles…and then back and forth. We covered 30 miles that morning on our bikes!
You cross bridges, go through tunnels, and wind your way around the Black Hills. There were actually quite a few people out riding then as well. It was a great view, but it was work.
Until you get out there and try some different adventures, you have no idea what you are missing out on. We may have been on vacation, but our vacation involved staying active, and getting a first hand view of the sites, and enjoying the adventures. We really did not have specific plans of what we were going to do each day, but wanted to at least cover these areas. It was well worth it. Don’t miss out on those special sites, unique experiences along the way in our life. Take advantage of those opportunities when they come. This is what I call a vacation! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3592