This month’s edition is packed full of fun and useful information!

Here’s the complete line-up for the month:

Pg. 1: “I Wouldn’t Change a Thing…”
Pg. 2: Oktoberfest in Spokane Valley
Pg. 3: Our Weekend at Valleyfest (plus pumpkin pudding recipe)
Pg. 4: Lose Weight by Eating 75% Fat?

The downloadable link for the digital version of the newsletter is below:

– September 2017 Newsletter Digital Version

And if you’d rather read all the newsletter content on this page, all 4 of the articles are posted below. Enjoy 

“I Wouldn’t Change a Thing…”

Back in July, my wife Claire and I got to celebrate our 10^th wedding Anniversary. We’ve had quite a ride, and it was nice to celebrate so many good memories (we went to Clinkerdagger for dinner, which is where I proposed to her, way back in my youth J).

And as I was reflecting on the ups and downs of the previous 10 years, that common phrase popped into my head: “I wouldn’t change a thing…” Now, most of you who know me already know that I like to go against the grain a bit, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that I couldn’t help thinking about what a load of garbage this statement is.

I mean really, if you look back over the last 10 years of your life, aren’t there at least a few things that you would’ve changed or done differently? Before we get too far off track, let me just reassure you that I’m not talking about carrying around regrets and guilt, or anything like that. I don’t regret my actions or experiences over the last 10 years, but to say that I wouldn’t change a thing is just too much for me.

Here’s why I really don’t like this statement: it’s way too passive for me. It almost says to me “Don’t worry about the past. You can’t change it anyways, so why worry about things you can’t change.” Well I’ll tell you why I worry about these things, even if I can’t change them: because I can learn from them. (I don’t really worry about them, but I do think about them)

What’s more, I can do my very best to make sure I don’t repeat my mistakes. There’s another saying that I do like that goes like this: “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.” I’m not sure who said that, and I think one of my high school history teachers first mentioned it. It didn’t mean much to me back then, but it sure does now!

Here are a couple examples of things I would definitely go back and change, if I had the same knowledge I had now:

1. I would’ve parented differently. I know my wife will agree with me on this one at least! I won’t go into too many details, but I would’ve done a couple things differently, like working less.
2. I would’ve changed my diet sooner. Many of you know that I’ve had dramatic success with my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by changing my diet. Depending on how far back I could go, I would’ve made these changes much sooner and maybe avoided my RA completely.

Can you think of any circumstances like these in your life that you wish you could go back and change?

To wrap things up this month, I want to emphasize that looking back at your history in the effort to make some positive changes in your present life can be a very healthy exercise. And at the same time, punishing yourself for mistakes you made years ago can be very detrimental. I also realize that some things can only be learned through experience, so try not to be too hard on yourself! And one last piece of good advice: don’t forget to celebrate all the things you did well. Like marrying the woman of your dreams!

Until next month…stay well!

Oktoberfest in Spokane Valley!

One of our favorite events has a new home this year, right here in the valley! That’s right, “Spokane Oktoberfest” is being held at CenterPlace this year! The 3-day event runs from October 27^th-29^th. In addition to being a lot more convenient for us valley folks (it was held downtown last year), the event will feature live music and entertainment at an outdoor stage in addition to the indoor one.

Here are a few highlights of the event and fun reasons why you should plan to attend:

• Opening Ceremony: It’s German tradition that the mayor taps the first keg to kick off the celebration. Spokane Valley Mayor Rob Higgins will do the honors at 5 p.m. on Friday night!
• Entertainment: several different bands will be playing throughout the event, and like I mentioned there will be 2 stages this year (one outside). And of course, the event includes delicious German food and beer! Now that’s entertainment!
• Family Activities: kids can enjoy a variety of arts and crafts throughout the event, as well as dancing, which are all free. In addition, there are weiner dog races on Sunday at 3 p.m., and children 12 and under get in free.

To join in the fun, we’ll be giving away free tickets to the event to the first 10 callers who find the misspelled word!  These tickets will be good for all 3 days. Additional tickets can also be purchased for $10 for a single day, and $15 for all 3 days. Also, Sunday is family day and admission if half off.

There are also a few package options available on the website, in case you want to purchase a commemorative stein (www.SpokaneOktoberfest.com). We hope to see you there!  Prost!

Our Weekend at Valleyfest!

Many of you already know this, but recently Stephanie and I had a booth at Valleyfest, for the first time ever. (Ashley also helped out on Saturday, which was really fun!). Overall, it was a great event in terms of the number of people we were able to talk to, and it was a great learning experience for Steph and me, as we start doing more and more community events to promote the clinic. Here are the top things I learned from Valleyfest 2017, as well as a few fun highlights:

1. It’s really hard to take off long-johns in a porta-potty. I learned this lesson early on Saturday morning… I was anticipating it being freezing cold for most of the day, so I was geared up with my long underwear, slacks, t-shirt, dress shirt, and sweater. I wasn’t messing around, and I don’t like being cold! Turns out our booth was in the direct sun, so by about 11 a.m. I was starting to melt. Lucky for me, there was a honey bucket nearby! I won’t give you too many details, but it was a bit awkward getting my slacks off first, then getting my long-johns off, then putting my slacks back on, all the while doing my very best not to touch anything! Lesson learned: like Stephanie told me at the time, use the regular restroom next time!
2. People love Seahawks gear and the beanbag toss. The State Farm booth across from us definitely knew how to engage the crowd! They had a bunch of Seahawks gear they were giving away, like jerseys and shirts, which drew quite the crowd. They also had a beanbag toss game for the kids, which was really popular. In the end, they probably got about 3 times as many people to sign up for their drawings as we did (although we did pretty well with our coffee or beer/wine giftcard drawing). Lesson learned: next year, we’ll step it up a notch! Maybe with some Gonzaga gear and a basketball hoop…
3. Kids are funny! At our booth, the kids could hop down on the exercise mat and do push-ups to earn a prize (we had sticky hands, little glider airplanes, slinkees and little parachuters). We didn’t specify how many push-ups the kids had to do, so naturally the question we heard about 100 times was “How many do I have to do?” Before most of the kids were willing to commit to any push-ups, they wanted to know exactly how many it would take to win a prize. Some kids seemed to really enjoy push-ups and would do as many as they could, while others were content to do one and snag a prize. Lesson learned: I’m not really sure on this one… is the lesson that most people will do the minimum of what’s required to achieve something, or that most of us are skeptical and want to know exactly what’s expected before agreeing to anything? I’ll keep thinking about it…and you can draw your own conclusion J

Valleyfest turned out to be a lot of fun, and I’m sure we’ll have a booth again next year (with a few improvements!). It was great to see many of you there. And if you couldn’t make and still want to earn a prize, we have about 30 glider airplanes left. Just stop by the clinic and do a few push-ups… as many as you want 🙂

Lose Weight by Eating 75% Fat?

Have you heard of people losing large amounts of weight by eating high-fat, low-carb diets? The most common version of this diet is known as the “ketogenic diet” or “keto diet” for short. While some people view this diet as the newest fad, similar diets have been around for decades. And while the diet is similar to others like the Atkin’s diet, today I wanted to give you the skinny on the keto diet. Here are the basics:

• The classic version of this diet consists of eating 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs
• There’s a high-protein version that includes 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs
• The diet results in extremely low levels of sugar and insulin in your blood, so your body ends up burning fat and converting fat to ketones in your liver
• People who stick to this diet often experience rapid weight loss, especially compared to people who attempt low-fat diets

You might be asking yourself “But is the keto diet healthy? After all, isn’t eating fat bad for you?” That’s a great question and one that’s hotly debated. And since I write this newsletter, I get to give you my opinion. So here it is: eating good quality fats and proteins is a lot healthier than eating carbs, especially simple carbs like bread and pasta. In multiple studies, high-fat diets like the keto diet have been shown to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and have a positive effect on your triglycerides, HDLs and LDLs.

In addition, the keto diet can also help you control or eliminate type 2 diabetes, as it’s been shown to improve your insulin sensitivity. One more question you might find yourself thinking is “What can I eat?” Here’s a quick rundown:

• Foods to eat: meat, fish, butter/cream (grassfed if possible), eggs, nuts & seeds, cheese, low-carb veggies and healthy oils
• Foods to avoid: sugary drinks and processed foods, grains, beans/legumes, starches, fruit, alcohol, unhealthy fats and sugar-free diet foods

After being bombarded for decades with the message that fat is the enemy and whole grains are the solution, it might sound weird that a high-fat diet like this one has so many potential health benefits. And while the keto diet might be a little too extreme for most people, you can always start slow and gradually reduce your carbs and replace them with high quality fats and proteins. Who knows, you might even slim down and feel great in the process!