by kelsey | Sep 26, 2012 | Exercise, Wellness/Health
Attention Women! Have you been thinking about getting more activity into your daily routine? Or have you been meaning to start working on your nutrition goals? Today is a great day to put those efforts at the top of the list as it’s Women’s Health and Fitness Day! The Women’s Health and Fitness Day was developed to increase awareness and encourage women to improve their health by making healthy nutrition choices and engage in regular activity.
As we discuss in STRIVE 2 Survive, it’s never too late to take control and start working on healthy behaviors. As many of you know, regular activity strengthens muscles and bones, improves overall health, agility, and balance, and aids in disease prevention. Regular activity is also essential to weight management. A healthy lifestyle includes both activity and proper nutrition, so working at getting more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, and lean meats into your intake, and practicing portion control are all essential to a healthy diet.
In celebration of Women’s Health and Fitness Day, I encourage you to put these efforts at the top of your list today and everyday! Go for a walk with a friend, do some gardening or yard work, or even do some stretching and strengthening activities. Every little effort will add up to big results and help you achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle!
To learn more, visit: http://www.fitnessday.com/women/.
The picture is of my two good friends Anna and Katie after we ran a 5k this summer together. A good deal of our friendship has been centered around activity as we were on the SDSU Equestrian team together and continue our friendship by meeting up to engage in activity and health functions together now!
Get out and get moving today ladies!!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Sep 20, 2012 | Cooking Tips, Food
County Fair Foods provided excellent treats for Tuesday’s STRIVE meeting! The food not only tasted great, it was healthy! Be sure to try these recipes out at home!
Healthy Eggplant Parmesan
1 Egg
3 Egg whites
1 Tbsp water
3 Eggplants thinly sliced
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
6 c spaghetti sauce (divided)
3/4 lb part skim mozzarella cheese shredded (divided)
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese (divided)
1/2 tsp dried basil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat together egg, egg whites, and water in a shallow bowl. Peel and slice eggplant. Dip eggplant slices into the egg, then bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until fork tender…about 7-10 minutes on each side. Spreadh spaghetti sauce on bottom of a 9×13 pan. Place a layer of eggplant in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Repeat layers ending with cheese on top. Sprinkle with basil. Bake in oven for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Chicken Stirfry & Brown Rice
Mix brown rice, stirfry vegetables, chicken, and stir fry seasoning together! There really isn’t a wrong way to do this one…adapt to your own liking.
Healthy Holiday Apple Cider
2 bottles of Old Orchard Perfect Balance Apple Juice
1 box Shurfine sugar free cherry gelatin
Mix ingredients together. Heat and serve.
Enjoy!!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Sep 18, 2012 | Etc.
Today is always an enjoyable day for us as we get to spend part of it with the Seniors in the area at the Senior Seminar! The Senior Seminar is a great event held every year at the Codington County Extension Complex from 11:30am-3:30pm. There are a variety of booths and speakers for the Seniors to check out and learn from. We will be providing an osteoporosis scan and have information on nutrition and health recommendations for the Seniors. Deidra Van Gilder, PharmD and myself will be present to answer any pharmacy or nutrition questions. If you have some free time today, be sure to come visit us!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Sep 13, 2012 | Weight Management
Stress is a part of everyone’s life and many of us deal with it by resorting to food. Emotional and stress eating is very common and can be very detrimental to your health, so it’s important to learn how to deal with that stress to not only reduce your stress, but also improve your health! Try these easy to follow tips, to help you avoid stress eating.
1. Tune Out & Move! Turn on your favorite tunes and get moving! Exercise is always an easy way to reduce stress because it helps clear your mind. Even 5-10 minutes of walking after a stressful situation can relax your body and help you be more level headed. An added bonus is that it burns calories and can help you reach your weight goals.
2. Drink Up! Drinking water not only keeps you hydrated but also can help you to function. Drinking 64oz per day is a great place to start. Warm teas can also be helpful because they may have a calming effect, in addition to providing your body with antioxidants, beneficial for disease prevention.
3. Eat some carbs. Choosing complex carbs such as whole grains, will keep your blood sugar more level and help to keep you from getting stressed. Including small portions of these complex carbs at each meal can give your blood sugars a better consistency throughout the day, as those ups and downs can be extremely stressful, and lead to more eating.
4. Increase veggie consumption. Crunchy veggies help reduce tension because it gives some release in those jaw muscles that always tighten up when we are stressed. Eating raw carrots or celery is a good snack that won’t ruin your waist line
5. Make “good fats” your friend. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as olive oil, canola oil, nuts and fish. These can help control stress hormone levels as well as mood disorders. These fats also contribute to brain function, allowing you to deal with the stress properly instead of turning to food.
Written by University of South Dakota Dietetic Intern Alyssa Gehle for
Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
by kelsey | Sep 12, 2012 | Food
As many of you may have heard, school lunch in the U.S. is undergoing some positive changes to improve the nutrition content of the foods and in turn improve the health and wellbeing of our kids. The USDA’s Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act is designed to improve 32 million school age children’s nutrition in the US. The main goal of this act is to provide healthy and wholesome meals that mimic the 2012 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It’s important to serve our children healthy and nutritious foods as nutrition is directly related to learning and success in the classroom.
The main changes that are being implemented are increasing fruits and vegetables, decreasing total fat and saturated fat content by incorporating more lean meats and low fat milk products, reducing sodium content by 25-50%, incorporating more whole grains over the white, refined grains, and serving more appropriate portion sizes.
These new recommendations have come under scrutiny, however with all new processes, we need to be patient and give it some time to work! Overall, the improvements are going to improve the nutrition and health of our children which is very important. I have visited with Scott Wahl, Watertown Foodservice Director at our Coordinated School Health meetings and he is working hard to achieve these new recommendations. For those with school aged kids, take some time to examine the menu with your child and discuss the changes and why these improvements are needed!
For more information check out: http://www.eatright.org/kids/article.aspx?id=%206442471598.
-Kelsey
