Kristi's
Health and Fitness Page- May/ June 2025
Welcome to Spring! I hope this note finds you well and ready to
usher into a season of new life as the grass turns greener and the
flowers will soon start blooming! I had the pleasure of presenting
at our National Conference at that American Occupational Therapy
Conference in Philly, some flowers are in full bloom there
so it was fun to see a glimpse of things to come here in
Minnesota!
For those that missed recent events, we have had some fun training
rides and are getting ready for the MS 150 (the Purple Pumpers
30th!)- We would love your support. In addition, we will have more
training rides and I will be planning a morning breakfast in the
next couple months. All are welcome to join us!
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Support the Purple Pumpers!
This year the is a milestone as our 30th Purple Pumpers again
embark on our adventures to support efforts to combat MS through
research and advanced technologies and therapies. As many know,
our team has two people on it diagnosed with MS who still ride
with us. With your help, over the years we have raised over
$215,000 (I posted last year's amount last month)! I will
match up to $500 donated to me, I will also send the link via email.
The link is here:
Kristi's MS 150 Fundraising Page
> Here are some
previous year's teams
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Social Update!
First Weekend of May- We had a fun training ride- (photo below).
We will have a couple more, you too may join us!
**There will be one to two more rides during May, I will send out
an email
June 7-9 Purple Pumpers 30th!
Support the Purple Pumpers! - I will match up to $500 in
donations to my fundraising efforts, you can donate here:
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North Shore Fun!
Fun photo with my friend and former Lifetime instructor Julie
Hukriedebr>
& She won last month's contest and was the 21000 visitor to the webpage! Time for dinner Julie! nbsp;
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Flashback Photos!
Left- Kristi and John enjoy the teaching
spirit!
2013 Battle of the Sexes!
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Health and Fitness
Information
* The FDA recommends
2300 mg of sodium a day yet most
Americans consume significantly more....
even up to 2 times the recommended
amount! For instance, a serving of
a popular canned chicken noodle soup
contains 890 mg and store bought Italian
salad dressing 486 mg per serving.
It doesn't take long for excess sodium
to build up! According to the Mayo
Foundation over 75% of our consumed
sodium comes from pre-processed foods.
*A fairly recent (2023) study in the British Medical
Journal
reaffirmed the
negative
effects of
ultra-processed
foods on
health. The
study found
that the
highest
consumers of
ultra
processed
foods had a 4
percent higher
risk of
mortality.
As we've been
told for
years,
healthy,
nutritious
whole foods
are best for
us.
* Although
in the middle of the winter and onset of Spring we don't
always think of upcoming races we may partake in over the
summer, having an event to train for often provides a
motivation. In recent years "adventure races" such as
the Warrier Dash, Tough Mudder and others, have become more
popular. Remember when considering the type of event,
that you want to be sure to properly train so as not to risk
injury due to ill-preparation for the event. Sometimes
partnering with a friend or two can enhance the motivation
and training prior to the event. Just a reminder, we
have the Purple Pumpers 30th this year for the MS 150!
*According to Thrivant, the average U.S.
household throws out almost 25% of the
vegetables and fruits which can
accumulate to more than $500 of
waste. Means to minimize such
waste include (a) buying what you need,
(b) using proper storage, and (c) making
an effort to eat what you purchase. Our
church started a Matthew 25 food
giveaway during Covid. During that time
we have given out 4 million $ worth of
food! If you would like information on
donating, volunteering or getting food,
please let me know.
*Many people use prayer as part of their
personal faith and as a means to find
balance, unity and connection with
God. According to Pastor Peter
Brown, using a journal is often a way to
enhance prayer life and devotions.
Journals can help us keep track of
prayers, petitions, and praises.
Journaling may also be used for many
purposes including personal reflections,
tracking of exercise and eating, or to
maintain a diary of significant
happenings in our life. I
personally have written poetry and have
kept hard copy and online journals for
over 30 years. I too have studied the
role of writing in the development of
the self as well as the healing
properties of writing for persons with
mental illness. The first part of my
research is published in the Journal
of Poetry Therapy (Haertl, 2014)
and the final phase of the research was
republished in 2019 in Arts and
Health (Haertl &
Ero-Phillips, 2019). If you would like
to see my articles let me know!
... Happy journaling!
*Many
people know that I have worked in
mental health, taught it, researched
and been in author in this area for
over 35 years (it is my primary area -
mental health occupational therapy,
that I teach in as a professor.
Since the pandemic there has been an
exponential increase in mental health
conditions and suicidality, especially
among youth. Be sure to write
down and teach folks about 988- an
important crisis/ suicide prevention
number to know!
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May we each consider how to make a
positive difference!
Blessings!
Kristi
