by kelsey | Aug 27, 2015 | Etc.
In less than two weeks, our 12 week wellness program “STRIVE 2 Survive” starts! The first lecture will be held September 8th (the Tuesday after Labor Day) and we will meet in person on the dates listed below (Tuesdays) at the County Fair Banquet Hall from 5:30-6:30pm. The weeks we do not meet, you will be given a take home lesson mailed or emailed to you, thus every week you will be given education, tips, etc on nutrition and activity. In addition, we include lab work (total lipid panel and glucose) and body composition testing (weight, height, BMI, blood pressure, fat%, and muscle mass) at the beginning and end of the program. The total cost is $130, which includes all lessons, lab work, and body composition testing.
Our main goal is to help you learn how to live a healthier lifestyle that promotes disease prevention, longevity, and quality of life. Weight loss, improved lipids, improved glucose, improved blood pressure, and improved overall health are all results of our program.
Enrollment is underway, thus if you are interested or know of someone who is, please contact us to learn more and get signed up! You can call me directly at 884-4226 or email strive2survive@brownclinic.org. We are looking forward to another great session!
September 8: “Healthy Eating Made Easy” Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
September 29: “Exercise for the Health of It” Dr. Dan Reiffenberger & Dr.Torness
October 13: “Your Equation to Success” Dr. Jon McAreavey
October 27: “A Walk thru the Wellness Wheel” Dr. Clark Likness
November 10: “Medications…to do or not to do” Deidra VanGilder, PharmD
November 24: “Making Health a Way of Life” STRIVE Team
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Aug 26, 2015 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
As summer starts to fade into fall and schedules start to become even more jam packed with school events and sports, it starts to become even harder to sit down and eat balanced meals. The summer picnics are replaced with faster on the go meals that are sometimes not the best choices when trying to eat healthy. This busy time puts an even greater emphasis on meal planning. Meal planning can seem like a daunting task if you have never done it before, here are some quick tips for getting started with meal planning.
- Start with a basic template for each day that includes a protein, vegetable, fruit, and a starch. Then sit down with your family during the weekend and plan out what everyone would like on each day. Then on a weekend day, go grocery shopping for all the ingredients that you will need for that weeks menu.
- Take a look at your child’s school lunch menu to try and plan a meal that is different than what your child ate at lunchtime.
- Make meal planning a family event by including everyone in the decision making process. Split up the meals by family members so each member has a day they are in charge of.
- Batch cook: prep some of the food items on the weekend when you have time such as browning up the hamburger, slow cooking the chicken breasts, making a large batch of chili or a large casserole and separating it into smaller containers for freezing and using now.
- Make enough to have leftovers for the next day meals.
- Keep the recipes simple with minimal ingredients for shorter prep time and incorporate your family’s favorite Crockpot recipes.
With these quick and easy tips meal planning can become a fun and enjoyable family process that will save you time and help your family eat healthy while on a busy schedule. Below are some sandwich ideas for the lunch box and easy breakfast ideas to help your child start the day off right!
Sandwich Ideas
- Whole wheat bread with deli meat (try to avoid bologna, pepperoni, and salami)
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- Bagel with light cream cheese or peanut butter
- Crackers and cheese
- Pita with hummus
- Ham and cheese rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla
- Dinner leftovers
- Chicken noodle soup
- Quesadilla
- Cheese pizza
5 Fast and Easy Breakfast Ideas:
¨ Fruit and cheese
¨ Fiber rich cereal with lowfat milk or yogurt
¨ Peanut butter, banana , & whole grain toast
¨ Carnation Breakfast Essentials
¨ Simple smoothie– low fat milk, frozen fruit, and ice
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Aug 25, 2015 | Diet, Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
This is a repost from two years ago to highlight another success story of STRIVE 2 Survive. Our fall program starts September 8th and enrollment is underway! Benefits of the 12 week program include improved health overall=improved lipids, glucose, blood pressure, weight, etc! Everyone’s goal is different, but we have one thing in common…we want to improve our health and wellness through improved nutrition and activity. Contact us today to get signed up!
“Weight loss and improved nutrition is a tough thing. Changing your lifestyle is truly challenging and it’s even more challenging with all of the temptations we have in our society to encourage us to over-indulge! Throughout our 12 week wellness program, we tell our participants that we never expect all of our recommendations to happen overnight that instead we encourage you to work on a few things at one time and gradually those baby steps will add up to big steps and big successes. Honestly, I would rather see a slow and steady weight loss that takes longer than the participant would probably like, than a quick weight loss that is eventually gained back.
My day was made yesterday when I got an email from Denise Hoff. Denise was in our winter STRIVE 2 Survive program last year and has made some pretty incredible improvements in her health. Denise gave me permission to share her success with you all as in her own words “maybe it will motivate someone else who thinks they are too big or too old to start.”
Denise has now lost about 17lbs and dropped 12.5″ total (waist, hips, bust, thighs, arms)…4 of the 12.5″ are off her waist! She was never a runner, but thanks to our team’s inspiration, she ran her first 5k with her daughter last weekend (see the picture!). She said they had a great mother/daughter time and as she ran, she was proud to say she was able to keep a stride and actually pass others!Denise started to run one block at a time. Her initial goal was a half of a mile, then one mile, then 1 1/2 miles, etc. She broke it down so it didn’t seem so overwhelming and set a goal of running a 5k with the encouragement and support of us and her family…she accomplished it successfully and is now looking forward to doing more 5ks! In addition to the improvement in her weight and waist circumference, her lab values have also improved as she dropped her total cholesterol about 50points, which is now well into the normal range and has kept her blood sugar and blood pressure in normal ranges also. As you can see from the timeline, these changes didn’t happen overnight, but she slowly worked at it and has achieved great success in the last 6-8 months and looks forward to continuing to work on her health and wellness goals. In Denise’s words “Thanks for being so supportive and encouraging. I hope the next time you see me, you will have to take a double look as I am hoping to look smaller and more fit.”
As we approach the start of our fall session of STRIVE 2 Survive, I hope Denise’s testimony shows you the benefits you can receive from our wellness program and our team’s education, support, and encouragement. If you see Denise on the street, be sure to congratulate her on her success! We are very proud of her!”
Fall STRIVE starts September 8th …contact us today to get enrolled!!
-Kelsey
by Dan | Aug 23, 2015 | Etc.
Everybody’s running begins somewhere. You have heard my beginning already, and now I will talk about the beginning of the marathon for me. I was in my 3rd year of residency, and 2 of my attending physicians, Dr. Brechtelsbauer (Dr. B) and Dr. Kemp, were interested in running a marathon, and talked to me about it. We decided on Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota because Dr. B had some relatives there. It would be in the middle of June, 2 weeks prior to graduating from residency. I decided to give it a go. Usually the weather there was upper 70’s, and could be even a little cool. That was not the case on this day! It got to over 90 degrees, and very humid. I had never run a marathon before, but was still running regularly. Normally a goal for a lot of people doing the marathon, which is 26.2 miles, is to try and break 4 hours. I foolishly told Sarah that I would be done by 3 hours. I had no clue what I was getting into. The longest I had run was a 17 miler, again, not having any idea what it would take to do 26.2. Needless to say, at mile 19 of the marathon, everything started falling apart. I seriously began to wonder if I was even going to finish, especially in this heat. I was running the entire way with Dr. Kemp, and we had to walk through every water station beginning at mile 20, and they were every mile now. We did make it, and came in at 3:48. Now, this was even before chip timing, so everybody started at the same time, but when there are over 8000 people in the race, it takes several minutes to even get to the start line. I had trouble walking for a week afterwards! I realized what the hand rails on the stairwells were for after that! Doing a marathon is not to be taken lightly…you need to have some kind of an idea what you are getting into, but even with how many I have done now, once I get past 20 miles, it is a new adventure every single time. Those last 6 miles are an entirely different race. Some experts say the marathon is split into 2 sections, the first 20 miles, and the last 6 miles, which feels like another 20! After that was done, I felt like I could accomplish anything. It was the ultimate challenge, and I learned a lot from this. The marathon is a lot like life…you are cruising along just fine, no worries, then things get a little tougher, and you can still fight your way through. But then life really can throw a curve ball…just like that 20 mile mark, and you have to start figuring out what you are going to do on the fly. Sometimes you literally feel like you are just winging it, and hope that everything will turn out well. Sound familiar? I think it sounds all too familiar. Everyday, there can be “marathon like” challenges, and you need to keep going, push on, and work it all through to the end. Some of the conclusions may not be what we wanted, but many are, and you can hold your head up high and feel good that you accomplished another goal/solved another problem! The pictures below show me sitting under a tree after it was done. Of course, my medal for finishing, and my results. I have one of myself with Dr. B and Dr. Kemp posing afterwards, and then a few of me running along with Dr. Kemp. Next will be other upcoming marathons, and the people who helped me through…family, and all of my training partners. How can life be dull with all of this? Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2886
by kelsey | Aug 20, 2015 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food
With everyone getting back into the groove of school, it means children are going back to the cafeteria. The importance of talking with your children about nutrition is crucial to their health. Children need to be able to make healthy decisions on their own. There are several steps a parent can make when helping their child go back to school.
Look over the menu: Review the weekly or monthly school menus with your child and decide which meals they like and dislike. For the days your child decides to eat at school help them distinguish the healthier choice, like choosing fruit instead of a cookie. Studies have shown letting your child help in the decision-making process makes them more likely to follow through with the decision.
Packing your own lunch: Make sure you’re packing meals with enough nutrients to power your child through the rest of their school day. Let your child be a part of the lunch packing process whether if it is making the sandwich or packing fruits into a bag. Pack food your child likes, because if they don’t eat it at home they are not likely to eat them when you’re not around.
Follow up at home: Make sure to follow up their lunch with an equally healthy dinner. Having a well balance meal at every meal is very important. A child who eats healthy at home is more likely to make healthier choices when they are on their own.
Tips for Packing Healthy School Lunches:
- Plastic bags and containers will really help with portions while making a sack lunch.
- Keep in mind that they will not be eating right away and to keep the refrigerated foods cool to keep from spoiling. For example, dairy products such as yogurt, will need a cool pack.
- Pack the lunch the night before with leftovers from dinner to save time in the morning.
- Make sure to include the child while making lunch and give them healthy choices to choose from.
- Try to choose less sugary drinks, like skim milk instead of chocolate milk or crystal light instead of a high sugar juice.
Keeping the lunches safe by keeping all the food at the correct temperatures. Pack cold items in an insulated lunch box with a frozen pack. Keep warm soups in a thermos, make sure the thermos is clean and use very hot water.
Sandwich Ideas
Whole wheat bread with deli meat (try to avoid bologna, pepperoni, and salami)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter
Crackers and cheese
Pita with hummus
Ham and cheese rolled up in a whole wheat tor-tilla
Crackers and cheese
-Kelsey
