June is national dairy month, thus it’s a great time to recognize and discuss the benefits we can get from dairy in our diets. Cow’s milk is the richest source of well-absorbed calcium and is actually absorbed better (about 25%) than the calcium in soy milk. There is about 300 mg of calcium in an 8 oz serving of milk and we recommend getting at least 3 servings of dairy a day. A serving is equal to an 8oz (1 cup) serving of milk, 6 oz tub of yogurt, 1 oz cheese, 1/2 c cottage cheese. In addition to calcium, cow’s milk is an excellent source of phosphorus, vitamin B12, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D, protein, and niacin…totalling 9 nutrients compared to only 4-5 nutrients found in soy and almond milk. There are many other types of “milks” out there such as almond, rice, coconut, and soy, however these drinks are not the same as cow’s milk in regards to the nutritional qualities. Many of these milks use fortification (adding nutrients), whereas the nutrients are found naturally in cow’s milk.
Below is a list from the Midwest Dairy Association about these beverage’s nutrient sources and nutrition quality (http://www.midwestdairy.com/0p335/dairy-imitators/)
“Soy beverages are made from soybeans and are a good source of protein. However, according to the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS), soy protein is a lower quality protein than the whey protein found in dairy products. Rice-based beverages are generally processed from brown rice and are fortified with nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Rice beverages typically contain only one gram of protein compared to eight grams in cow’s milk. Nut-based beverages can be ground from any nut and the most popular is almond. Almond beverages only supply one gram of protein per serving and lack many of the natural benefits found in almonds. Seed-based beverages, such as hemp, are newer to the marketplace. Their nutritional benefit is touted to be their omega fatty acid content. Similar to the other beverages, they also fall short on protein.”
Often times, these other “milks” contain higher sugar content, less calcium, less protein, and are absorbed less than those benefits in cow’s milk. Now if you have a lactose intolerance or milk allergy, these are certainly options for you, however if you do not have an allergy or intolerance, I highly encourage you to work towards getting your 3 a day servings of dairy and preferably low fat dairy. It will not only provide you with excellent vitamins and minerals to keep your bones and muscles healthy and strong, it will also provide you with an excellent source of protein. For more information on the benefits of dairy, you can visit www.midwestdairy.com.
If you want to check out a real life dairy just east of Watertown, you can check out Modak Dairy’s Open House this Saturday! Check out the details below!
“MoDak Dairy Open House – June 12, 2021 – Kranzburg 10:00am-1:00pm
46647 171st Street Goodwin, SD
The Moes family welcomes you to tour MoDak Dairy. Come to learn about dairy locally in South Dakota. There will be many activities including visiting the new heifer building, farm tours, free grilled cheese, and ice cream. All are welcome to attend!
Directions: From I-29 go 8 miles east on Hwy 212. Turn North onto 466th Ave for 1 mile. Then turn right onto 171st Street. https://agunited.org/events/”
I know I will enjoy a nice glass of cold milk tonight with supper, I hope you do too!
Eating healthy on the go can seem difficult at times, however there are many things you can do to make it a little easier! Summer can be just as busy as the school year, thus I thought this was a fitting topic to discuss. Here are some tips that will save you time while still eating healthy nutritious food!
• Plan Ahead: On Saturday or Sunday, take a look at what your week ahead is going to be like. It can be very helpful to write out your schedule so you can see the times in your week where you may be on the go and extra busy. From there, decide on a few meals that would be easy to prep and that will provide you with energy for those busy days. Also, decide on some easy to grab snacks that you can keep with you.
• Meal Prep: If you have looked at your week and you know you will not have time to cook for yourself, meal prep a few staple items that you can easily grab out of the fridge on your way out the door. This can be something as simple as brown rice, baked chicken, and a side of vegetables. A few breakfast ideas include overnight oats, protein balls, hardboiled eggs, and precut fruit that you can throw in a blender and make a smoothie with. Whatever your food choice may be, meal prepping can be a helpful way to prepare meals for a few days at a time.
• Prepare Extra Food: If meal prepping isn’t really your thing, it’s okay! Another easy way to save time is to prepare extra food when you do cook. If you have time to prepare a healthy dinner, make a few extra servings that you can save for lunch the next day.
• Snack Up: Having healthy snacks on hand will keep you from purchasing quick and unhealthy choices when life gets a little busy. A few good ideas include fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, trail mix, cheese, pretzels and hummus, yogurt, and peanut butter on whole wheat bread.
• Hydrate: This last tip is so important! The last thing you want to happen when your busy is to become dehydrated. Keep water with you at all times and drink it throughout the day. You can always spice your water up by adding in fresh fruit or sipping on unsweetened iced tea. Utilize a few of these tips to make healthy eating a little bit easier when you have a busy schedule or when you are on the go! Eating healthy and staying hydrated will provide you with the energy that you need to get through your day! -Kelsey
It is much easier to get things done when you work as a group, but even better yet as a team. That was the case with the DASH Around Kampeska Half Marathon. This “group” came together for creating this event, but ended up becoming a “Team”! It took a lot of work, many hours, and each of us doing our part in order to pull off this event that occurred yesterday. None of us got much sleep Friday night hoping everything would turn out fine. It did! And, we had great weather for our inaugural event.
DASH is an acronym created by the Watertown Police Department, for Drug Free, Alcohol Free, Safe and Healthy. This mission is “to challenge community partnerships to lead by example and to empower Watertown youth to choose to live healthy and positive lifestyles.” This Half Marathon was created by runners, for runners. We wanted to make it a premier event featuring Watertown, but for the DASH cause. It was a success!
We were helping with the packet pickup Friday night, but the “girls” did much better with this. Jill Makepeace is our very own Watertown Promoting Director, and was talking the ear off of everybody. The 3 of us just had to stay out of the way. But Greg and Owen mapped out the course, and I lost track how many times they ran it, biked it, or drove it. They had it down! I am the oddball out in this picture…I clearly need more hair!!
We made a road trip as a group going over the route, where to post signs, mile markers, water stations, aid stations, and port a potty’s. A lot of planning took place on this! We wanted to make sure, as runners also, this would become an event we would want to keep coming back to as well. Michelle helped us all stay on track, and was truly the director and mastermind behind all of this, and helping us all stay on track! Thanks!
Tim Toomey and I getting set for the start of the race. We all needed to help Tim calm down before hand. He is in charge of the timing of the event, and I don’t think he slept at all the night before, wanting to make sure everything was going to go as planned without a hitch. As runners, we want our times in the races we run! A lot of pressure to get this right, and he did an awesome job! His wife Cheri was the photographer as well, so hundreds of pictures were taken as well. Their son created a video that I think will now become out new promotion for years to come featuring Watertown, and showing off Lake Kampeska!
We have to have our fun moments as well, and goof off too! We all had fun with it as well, but we were all relieved it went as well as it did. We had many positive comments, and also came up with ideas for improving it going forward. We can always make things better!
The biggest thing that makes these events so fun and memorable are the bonds that are created during runs like this. Sarah and Megan ran the majority of it together. There were many people who ran a personal best, and many also that were involved with their kids, either running together, or helping at the aid/water stations. All of these things become memories to talk about and remember for years. That is really why this is done. This is why we worked hard to create this event. This is why we will keep doing it going forward. Good times and memories are what it is all about. I can’t thank all of the committee members enough for all of the hard work that went into this event. We all had a job to do, and we all had to help. We all helped set up and take down, and when we work as a “team”, you truly understand the concept of teamwork, and why we all have to rely on help from everybody else. Kudos to all of us involved in planning and creating this event. It will become a feature event for Watertown going forward! Keep moving everybody!
The official kick off to summer and picnic season is this weekend: Memorial Day Holiday! This time of year always bring great cookouts and picnics. Typical picnic foods consist of burgers, brats, hotdogs, chips, and high calorie salads such as macaroni and potato salads. These are all very tasty foods, but they are also all very high in calories, fat, and sodium. Cookouts don’t have to bust the calorie bank. Choose your foods wisely and plan your menus to include a few healthy options and make substitutions like the meal examples below to help you fully enjoy each cookout while aiding in a healthy heart and waistline.
Choose This:
90% lean hamburger with whole wheat thin bun
Grilled chicken breast
Grilled shrimp
Lean Steak such as sirloin
Tossed Salad with light dressing
Fresh veggies with light ranch dip
Baked chips
Fruit salad
Angel food cake with light cool whip and strawberries
This was a few years ago running the Disney Half Marathon with my daughter Megan, and our neighbor Noah Hauck. We had a ball! This picture was taken with less than a 1/2 mile left in the race. We did not care what our time was, we were having fun. Neither Megan nor Noah had run a Half Marathon before, so any time was a personal best for them. But it boils down to this: continue to keep having fun! Exercise should be like going out to play. We all did that as a kid. We need to keep that energy and enthusiasm as we get older. Dr. George Sheehan, a cardiologist who wrote many books on running, emphasized this point many times. “Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Make it play, not work!”. So true!
My daughters and I were working out one day last year when they were both home. This is us after we just got done with our workout. We are all smiling! We got moving, and had fun! Of course, Megan’s shirt helps: “Fartacus!”.
This is still one of my favorite pictures. Our run club members that day were posing on the bridge, and the rest of us are serious, and Jill decides to be “different”. Don’t follow everybody else. March to your own drum beat. Have fun! Be a kid again. Life is too short to be serious all of the time. Take care of yourself in the process, and get out and move. Do whatever activity you like to do, or it won’t be fun. I walk, bike, and run, and my favorite of course is running. Now sometimes other members in our run club rub off on me too!
We were doing a long run, and of course, we needed some nutrition, and Jill brought orange slices. Of course, you can’t just eat them, you have to pose with them in your mouth too! Be goofy! We may all be adults, but that does not mean we can’t have fun just like we did when we were kids!
This was never more true than last weekend when we were in Brookings doing the Half Marathon, and some of us were doing the marathon. I wrote about this last week. Time does not matter. Having fun matters!!!
Pay attention to what is around us. Look at the positives in life. Remember to make exercise fun. Play! Laugh! Relax! Enjoy the moment with everything!
What a great summary! Truth in such few words. Give them something to really talk about. Have Fun! Play! Enjoy life like we are supposed to. Keep moving everybody!
