The Daily Grind
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Dungeness Spit
It is time for a hike, but what does one do in December?? The mountain byways are snowed in. Weather is totally unpredictable over a few thousand feet above sea level. My favorite area for this time of year is the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It lies perfectly in the rain…
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Knee pain and arthritis
Contrary to popular belief and even my own clinical assumptions for many years, weight training and regular exercise actually reduce your odds of having pain in the joints in a dose dependant way. For years, I thought that runners would obviously have more osteoarthritis and knee pain then non-runners. NOT TRUE!! When I was 40-44…
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Walking the dog…
Late fall brings early sunsets. Adding the loss of daylight savings time, and suddenly, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, darkness begins to descend. So this Friday, as soon as my workday ended, I headed out the door with the dog and leash, and went straight to the park. I used an extendable leash that…
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Mount Walker
One of my favorite go-to hikes is a roughly 5 mile jaunt round trip up a small mountain on the Olympic Peninsula. It’s a moderately challenging climb, rising 2000 feet in just two miles. On top there are two vistas with very different views: the north side gives a nice view up into the East…
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A glorious morning…
There is nothing like a crisp fall morning in the Pacific Northwest… the temperature is low but not overwhelming. It’s 38 degrees and the sky is blue. The bay is a dark morning blue with hints of gray and green. The distant forest on the far shore is a blur of color that is slowly…
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Rain
Is rain a good excuse not to be healthy and not do my activity? Living in the Pacific Northwest, this hurdle comes up very often in conversation with patients about whether or not they can pursue healthy lifestyle habits. So is it a question of comfort? Is it a question of dedication? Maybe both or…
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Metabolic Syndrome
For years, the diagnosis of diabetes in the primary care setting has been such a scary topic. People hear about it on the news and scary images of folks who are giving them selves insulin injections, taking large numbers of expensive drugs, and coping with other health problems come to mind. Usually in the exam…
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Spin bike – Key to my home gym
Exercise is a challenging habit. I’ve gone through multiple phases over the decades, and have found myself settled into a home exercise pattern now that I think I can manage for the long haul. Overall, I really like to exercise, but during COVID lockdown, the gym was just a bummer. The masks, the dirty equipment,…
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