by Dan | Jul 21, 2011 | Exercise, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Watertown now has a bicycle club–WBC–Watertown Bicycle Club. They meet each saturday morning, and now, during the summer, it is at 7:30 AM at McKinley Park. Anybody is welcome to ride along. It is a good social event each weekend. Wear helmets! The WBC was created to get more people bicycling; increase the visibility of bicycling in Watertown; promoting and advocating bicycle education and safety, to name a few. Later on in August they are hosting a century ride–a 100 mile bike ride to be help in Watertown. More details can come in regards to this in the near future. Their web site is www.watertownbicycleclub.com. Check it out!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1395
by kelsey | Jul 21, 2011 | Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Good job South Dakotans!! The CDC has released the latest obesity statistics from 2010 and we have improved! Our incidence of obesity went from 38% in 2009 to 36.9% in 2010. I congratulate you all on a job well done on making efforts to improve your health and wellness. Whether it’s by eating healthier, exercising more, or watching your portions, every little bit counts to help improve your health and wellbeing.
You can view the rest of the results at: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/display.asp?cat=OB&yr=2010&qkey=4409&state=SD
or read more about the report at: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011/07/CDC-finds-sharp-rise-in-obesity-state-by-state/49515506/1?csp=ylf
I have included a picture of a South Dakota sunset from last week on my bike ride. This really makes me appreciate living in a beautiful state (despite our winters)!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jul 20, 2011 | Weight Management, Wellness/Health
A new Havard study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine recently, supports the notion of how lifestyle interventions such as small changes in eating, exercise, and other healthy habits can result in large changes in body weight over time. This study tracked 120,877 well-educated men and women who were at healthy weights at the beginning of study for 12-20 years.
Their findings showed that processed foods such as french fries, pop, processed meats, and white refined grains resulted in long term weight gain. Whereas good, healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products resulted in weight loss or weight maintenance. Other factors they examined were sleep, alcohol intake, television time, and smoking.
This large, long term study showed us that small changes in diet and exercise can truly result in improved health. For those people that count calories, you can be at rest that making healthy choices, practicing portion control, and engaging in regular activity can truly enhance your health and well-being and you do not necessarily have to count calories for life!
You can view the study at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014296
or read an article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/health/19brody.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=health
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jul 19, 2011 | Wellness/Health
This last weekend, I went to the Twins game with my in-laws and husband. We had front row seats just behind the KC Royals dugout. It couldn’t have been any better, except that we were all dripping with sweat the whole time! The heat index was 109-115 at Target Field on Sunday afternoon and man did we feel it!
On hot days like this, it’s very important to get adequate fluids. Often times, the heat wipes you out that you may not even feel hungry, which is why the fluids are so important! Water is always best, however in times when you are sweating a lot like we were, drinks like Gatorade are very beneficial to the body to help replenish our electrolytes. Gatorade has a lot of sugar in it, so we don’t encourage you to drink these types of drinks daily, but on hot days or when you are doing a lot of manual labor they are beneficial to the body. Looks like the heat is going to stay for another week or so… everyone be careful and don’t complain too much because remember we were complaining about it being 50 below this winter! 😉
-Kelsey
by Dan | Jul 17, 2011 | Exercise, Weather
With the weather this hot, you need to be especially mindful of making sure that you are going to take in adequate water. If you wait until you are thirsty, you are already behind. When the heat index gets this high, you need to exercise, or be outdoors in general, early in the morning, or late in the evening, and be sure to hydrate well before, during, and after the activity. We all appreciate some nice weather, it just is a little hard to take it all at one time. Be safe, enjoy the summer, and stay hydrated!!!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1391
