Lifestyle medicine: Big changes, big rewards

By Louie St. George III

Desperate to lose weight, drop her blood pressure and regain the active lifestyle she’d once been so accustomed to, Dayle Nelson browsed Essentia Health’s website last fall.

That’s where she first encountered the term “lifestyle medicine.”

Aha! That was it. That’s what she was looking for. An emphasis on nutrition and exercise instead of medication.

Nelson met with Dr. Jason Buffington, a lifestyle medicine physician at Essentia Health who sees patients at both the West Duluth Clinic and the Essentia HealthWellness Center in Hermantown, in October 2019. They talked extensively, and Dr. Buffington recommended a whole-food, plant-based diet. He requested to see Nelson again in three weeks.

Duluth resident Dayle Nelson has dropped more than 60 pounds and brought her blood pressure way down since she first met with Essentia Health’s Dr. Jason Buffington about lifestyle medicine in October 2019. As a result, Nelson has enjoyed being active once again.

“He said, ‘Let’s see if we can solve this with lifestyle changes,’ ” Nelson, a 53-year-old Duluth resident, recalled.

At the follow-up appointment less than a month later, on Nov. 20, the progress was stunning. Nelson was down 17 pounds and her blood pressure had plunged from 183 over 108 to 130 over 78.

“It was like, ‘Holy cow!’ ” said Nelson, who’d lost 62 pounds overall as of mid-March.

Lifestyle medicine isn’t new. Dr. Buffington started practicing it locally about five years ago. Instead of relying on medication, it focuses on changing lifestyle factors, which Dr. Buffington estimates are responsible for 80-90% of the diseases afflicting Americans.

Those changes are rooted in six pillars: nutrition; exercise; sleep; tobacco cessation, alcohol moderation and the minimization of exposure to other toxins; healthy relationships; and stress management.

The biggie is nutrition.

Nelson can vouch for that. She’s battled weight issues much of her life. More than a decade ago, she lost half her body weight, going from 322 pounds to 160, by counting calories, limiting portion sizes and exercising. She was running up to 50 miles a week before knee trouble scuttled her workouts. But Nelson, who completed two Grandma’s Marathons — among many other races — wanted to keep eating the way she had been while pounding the pavement.

It was a recipe for disaster. Bad habits resurfaced. One cookie turned into a dozen cookies. After-work detours through the McDonald’s drive-through became commonplace. The weight crept back up. Nelson became “stressed and depressed.” She missed being active. Upon reaching 238 pounds, she made the initial appointment with Dr. Buffington.

His first directive was daunting — adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet. No dairy. No meat.

“No fun,” Nelson thought.

“I’m from Wisconsin,” she deadpanned. “We put cheese on everything, right?”

Pretty soon, a treat consisted of a wild rice burger, with a little cheese on top, from Whole Foods Co-op during her lunch break at Menards. Nelson switched to almond milk. She mentioned that a recent dinner was a veggie calzone.

Planning her meals can be time-consuming because Nelson likes to make everything from scratch — and because the rest of her family isn’t quite on board with her new approach to eating. But it’s worth it. She feels great, has more energy than she used to and is back to hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Additionally, she’s no longer experiencing as much inflammation throughout her body.

Nelson did, however, come across one problem as she prepared to get back on the bike this spring — she needs new workout clothes.

“I had to order new shorts and everything because nothing fit,” she said.

Good problem to have.

Nelson knows that such a massive change might sound intimidating to some people.

“Most people say, ‘Oh, I could never do that, I could never give up meat,’ ” she said. “I don’t think everyone’s going to jump right in. Some people might be interested, but they’re not willing to make the commitment. But if you are, there’s great reward.”

Speaking of rewards, Nelson won’t deny the occasional slip-up. The whole-food, plant-based way of life has been good to her, but you can’t take the Wisconsin completely out of her.

“I did have a piece of bacon on Christmas,” Nelson quipped. “I splurged.” D

Samantha Roffers, a Moose Lake writer, believes it’s important to shop for things you love and feel comfortable in. Everyone’s style is unique and that’s what makes it so special.

By Samantha Roffers

Hellobeautiful readers! I hope this column reaches you in a place of peace and happiness. With the world feeling a bit upside down these days, it can be nice to settle in with your favorite beverage and a familiar read. If you follow The Woman Today on Facebook, you may have seen my post about the challenges we faced doing this month's issue. With social distancing and store closures so prevalent in Duluth, we all felt it was best to stay home and think outside the box for this issue. We came up with a closet challenge, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

I put together four outfits for this challenge, two outfits for an interview, one for a date night and one for a day running errands with the kids. I really feel like this closet challenge couldn't have come at a better time. While we are all doing our best to stay at home, it's nice to accomplish some projects when we can too. I was able to get a few bags of clothes put together for donation and found some of my favorite forgotten pieces buried in the back of my closet. My sweet husband took all of the photos for me and we had a lot of fun playing with the lighting and turning our bedroom into a homemade studio.

I hope you enjoy these looks and I can't wait to connect with you again soon! Stay healthy, dear readers!

This first look is one of my favorites, I actually wore it to my first day at my current job. I paired these burnt orange linen pants with a floral sleeveless top, grey booties and a black cardigan. I got the floral top and booties from Maurice’s and the cardigan and pants are from Kohl’s. These pants are so light and comfortable, absolutely perfect for spring and summer. They are casual enough that they can easily be worn outside of work as well.

by Sam

This second look is another great interview or workday option. I love these high waisted stripe pants from Kohl’sthey are light and comfortable, much like the orange ones. I paired them with a black ¾ sleeve top from Maurice’s. This top is extremely comfortable with a little extra “pop” from the detailed neckline. These pants could easily be worn outside of work and this look could be dressed down with a black tank, sandals and denim jacket. You could also easily add jewelry or a scarf to this look for a touch of color.

This look is one of my favorites for a date night. The silky floral top, boots and jacket are all from Maurice’s and the jeans are from Kohl’s. These jeans are very stretchy in all the right ways and high waisted. They will move with you throughout the night and keep their shape, perfect for eating a big delicious meal, dancing or sitting at your favorite theatre. This jacket has that classic “leather” look that never goes out of style and the blush color gives it that perfectly girly feel.

This last look is the one you are most likely to see me in. If I’m not at work or wearing cowboy boots and jeans, I'm in something like this. Whenever I run errands I am in a mix of yoga pants, a soft tank top and a jacket. I love to give my hair a break from heat whenever possible and throw on a ball cap or beanie. These sneakers from Target are so comfortable and the black goes with anything. I love yoga pants that have a side pocket, perfect for my phone or debit card. I usually have both my kids with me so being efficient and having a free hand is important. A denim jacket never goes out of style in my opinion, and the camo tank keeps the look current.