mid-semester freak out

Yup, we’re there. All of us. All sixteen of us in the program are just balls of stress right now, for one reason or another. One girl’s dad has been in and out of the hospital for months now. Another girl–a dear one to me–is going through a break-up. Another is juggling multiple out-of-town trips this month, which tend to wreak havoc on school. Yet another has been in TWO car accidents in a week–neither of which were her fault. My carpool buddy just found out her senior practicum, the 5-week rotation we plan for ourselves in the spring, just fell through and now she has to start from scratch. All of this, in addition to working part-time jobs, dealing with boyfriends and families and kids and such.

I’ll say it again–going back to school is not for the faint of heart.

While this semester so far seems worlds better than last semester (the one in which I tried to hit the gym every morning at 5:30 yet didn’t go to bed early and thus crashed and burned halfway through), it’s certainly no walk in the park. We’re 6 weeks in (praise God!), yet I haven’t been able to stick to a bedtime (I have yet to get more than 6 hours of sleep, and lately it’s been more like 5), or the KISS eating plan of chicken and veggies I kept thinking I’d implement. Thankfully my workouts have stayed pretty steady, thanks to my pretty awesome schedule, which is probably the only thing keeping me sane right now. I’ve barely cooked a ‘real’ meal (oh well), barely baked anything (probably better for the waistline), and just realized I haven’t updated our dry-erase calendar from September to October yet…if I wait much longer, I might as well just go ahead and put November up there!

This week in particular has been a banner week in the Layer house. Due to evening engagements, Andrew and I have taken to corresponding via email–me writing to him in the a.m. while he’s still asleep and him replying (if I’m lucky) during the day. Other than yelling ‘goodbye!’ as I leave and a few phone calls and glimpses of each other, we pretty much roll into bed at night and manage to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodnight.’ It’s that kind of week.

But, on a positive note, school really is amazing. I’ve never felt more interested, excited and confident about what I’m doing. I absolutely LOVE walking around the hospital in my white lab coat, reading about my patient in the electronic medical record, and then coming up with their nutrition diagnosis. I just come alive when I do patient education–it’s so second-nature to me. We had a workshop yesterday on tube feedings and I loved it. We learned how to calculate the rate of a feeding and how to recommend everything. I’ve also got my senior practicum set–it will be clinical–and it’s exciting. I’ll get to experience both in-patient and out-patient, bariatric and general patients, as well as spend time in some of the ICUs and hopefully oncology and transplant units, too. I definitely did not anticipate this, but I’m so glad clinic has proven to be a good experience. Who knows what I’ll end up doing after I graduate at this rate?

On another positive note–it’s FALL and I’ve been stocking up on all the fall-scented goodies at Bath and Body Works like crazy! (Gotta love those coupons.) I’ve completely outfitted my gym bag with all the necessities, and used my ‘pumpkin pecan waffle’ shower gel at home yesterday. Amazing. I’ve never been more hungry taking a shower in my life.

With the long weekend, Andrew and I are looking to get some R&R, and hopefully I’ll have some time to catch-up on school work and start the week off right next week–AND implement that earlier bedtime routine!

bulletin board

One of the ‘dreaded’ projects we complete as seniors in the dietetics program is a bulletin board. In the past, all the students were in charge of a bulletin board in our building on campus. This year–and perhaps due our relocation because of the renovation on our building–some of us are decorating boards at some of the community sites to which we’re assigned.

I taught a nutrition education class to teenagers at the Seneca Street after-school program (THAT didn’t go well…let’s just say it would be an understatement to say that some of them are poorly behaved), and so that is where I did my board.

I taught my section of the class on choosing healthier options at their local convenience store, where they stop between school and program. (Holy smokes, was that culture shock. I went on a ‘field trip’ to see what healthier options I could find…I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, let me just tell you that.)

Anyway, despite all the junk food lining the shelves, I was able to find ‘better’ options. Thus, I made my board:

I loved it! Don’t you??

I bought all the items, forced Andrew to eat the junk–he didn’t mind–and prepared cards to list why the better options were healthier. I really do believe you can find better options just about anywhere, you just have to look.

Hopefully the teens will heed some of my advice!

wheat-free re-cap: week 1.5

Well, I quit.

(This was uttered last week on Wednesday afternoon as I drove home from school in a complete fog with no energy.)

Couple that with a sore throat and the anticipation of upcoming weekend travel and festivities (we flew to Louisiana for my cousin’s wedding), I decided it was best to just throw in the towel. I wasn’t giving up wheat for any ‘important’ reason, such as an allergy, and I didn’t want to experience any sort of GI distress should I begin eating wheat while out of town.

So, I promptly ate a cookie.

I’m back to eating (somewhat) normally, although being out of town always seems to wreck havoc on my diet.

Here are my observations from the second week:

-Last Sunday was the first day I felt almost totally fine eating wheat free. While a bit fatigued on my morning run, otherwise I felt fine. Upbeat, energy and no cravings for anything.

-Still no weight-loss.

-Limited energy. This was to be expected and it seemed like my energy level was on the upswing, until…

-I got a cold. While I can’t say for certainty that my going wheat-free caused me to come down with a cold, I can say that a lack of wheat in the diet probably didn’t help. Wheat germ is known for its immune-boosting properties, so I wasn’t doing myself any favors by skipping it. It started with a slight sore throat on Wednesday, which progressed into a worse sore throat and then to full-on drainage and constant nose-blowing to present. Let’s just say that flying with a head cold is NO FUN. I may have been worried that incorporating wheat back into my diet would ruin my weekend with family; instead my head cold just about did. (Disclaimer: I do tend to get sick around this time each semester from being worn-down, but the timing couldn’t have been worse on this one.)

All in all, I learned a lot from this ‘experiment.’ First of all, any diet that excludes an entire food/food group should be approached with EXTREME caution. Removing wheat from my diet (whether I made it through the withdrawal phase or not), only brought negative side effects, such as:

-decreased regularity, energy, brain function and immunity

-zero weight loss

-decreased workout quality

On the positive side, I now have a personal experience from which to draw on when I counsel patients/clients about wheat-free and no/low-carb diets, as well as a greater understanding of what it’s like to be on a special diet for bona-fide allergies or intolerance, such as a gluten-free diet for those with Celiac’s.

I also have a desire to make sure the grains I am consuming are WHOLE grains, not just ’empty calories’ like those found in pretzels or some crackers and things. I’m looking forward to getting back on track with a normal diet and exercise once this cold passes.