So many questions - please help!

Well, it's been a while yet again since I've blogged. The good news is that once it becomes the magical month of September, I'll be able to blog some more. The bad news is that I'm still one ER shift away from said magic. I cannot continue to stress how much I hate the ER. I am so, so, so glad that there are nurses and techs and doctors who want to do that for a living because I will never, ever, no matter how much someone was willing to pay me, want to be an ER physician ever again. 

Okay, now that we've covered that, we can move on. The weight loss thing is still going pretty well. I really did enjoy being able to go to the gym before work this month because I think that's a great thing for your metabolism, but there's no way I'm going to be able to keep that up with 6:00 a.m. report times. To be honest, this is mostly to do with the gym hours. The gym doesn't open until 5:00 a.m. and there's no way I can fit my workout, shower, breakfast, and commute into an hour. However, I was thinking about signing up for a free 30-month subscription to Daily Burn and trying some at-home workouts before starting my day. Has anyone tried it? If you have, please give me your thoughts!

I'm still fasting twice a week. In fact, I fasted today since my stomach was a bit off before I went in to work and not eating may have been a good thing. It was slow as fuck at work today, which makes fasting harder than when work is just passing you right on by. However, I was able to stay in my calorie goal for my fasting days if you don't count the half a handful of chocolate chips I just ate because I was super craving something sweet and that was the only thing handy.

Other than that, I'm working on some things in my personal life: budgeting, studying, and getting ready for my third board exam. I just spent the last few weeks trying to figure out how to set a good budget for my income (residents get paid less than minimum wage if you divide our salary by our 80-hour work weeks), how to fit in some studying throughout the day, and how to apply for my last set of boards (for a little while). For me, if you take your third set of board exams within the first 18 months of residency, the program will pay for it. Sooo, yup. Definitely going to take advantage of that. That's $815 I won't have to worry about.

I'm also getting ready for my friend's wedding in October. She recently asked me to officiate her wedding in addition to being a bridesmaid. So, if anyone has ever done that and has some thoughts, I'd be happy to hear them.

For now, that's about it. I'll weigh-in tomorrow and do a post on my weight loss while celebrating being done with the ER for life!!!

The ER is ruining my life

Today was another day in the ER. I feel as though the second I wake up and remember that I have to work in the ER, I just get angry because I have to work in a place I hate with all my being. I can't wait to go through a month where I don't dread going to work almost every day. The perks of my ER month include having no ER obligations on days I have clinic. So, every Tuesday and Friday, I'm happy again.

Today's eats were pretty solid. I started out with a pretty typical breakfast for me: eggs, ham, banana, and watermelon. 

I know a lot of people like to change things up with their breakfasts, but I like the ease and calorie count on this one. That whole plate of food was just a touch over 300 calories. Also, I've never been one to crave something sweet in the morning - I've always been more of a savory breakfast type of gal. However, chocolate chip pancakes or French toast (only when made by my mom) have a special place in my breakfast heart.

I got to work at 10, per usual only to find out that I didn't need to be there until 11. So, I sat and caught up on some paperwork, went back to my car and cleaned it for a bit, tried to go down to the cafeteria to stock up on some fruit (it was closed), tried to grab some fruit from the physician lounge (options were apples and green bananas) and then went back to my personal hell (read: the ER). 

Once there, I worked and worked and worked until 4:30ish when I rushed to the cafeteria to get some lunch because I was starving - like stomach growling hungry. And when I got home around 9, I ate some shrimp, a banana, and some belVita breakfast biscuits (read: cookies).

Other than that, I didn't do much today. I wish I'd known I didn't have to be at work until 11 because I totally could've fit in a workout. The gym is only open 8a-8p on the weekends and with a 10a-8p shift, it's not worth trying to get there for about 20 minutes. But I totally could've made it today. Grrrr. Just another reason the ER is the worst.

That's all for me for now. I'll do a weigh-in tomorrow and catch you all later!

Return to blogging + weight loss

So it's been a while since I blogged for a few reasons. First and foremost is that the ER is ruining my life. I. Hate. It. I can't really go more into it without turning into a majorly Negative Nancy, but second, the hours are also stupid and I get home around 8:30/9:00 every night, so the last thing I really feel like doing is cracking open the laptop to blog. Buuuut, I promised a friend of mine I'd blog and I'll try to start up again, even if it is a bit late by the time I get home.

In other news, I had personal training yesterday and we finally did a weigh-in and some measurements (just BMI and body fat percentage). I'm glad we did that because it majorly adds some motivation. He likes to check every 2 weeks and I feel as though that's nice in case I have a bad week. However, we never really set a weight goal for my next weigh-in. So, I guess I'll just try to lose reasonably? Also, we weighed in after a workout, which is silly, in my opinion, cuz I'm typically covered in sweat. So, here were my measurements:

• Weight: 239
• BMI: 35.3
• Body fat: 38.6%

Also, my weight was way different than my scale on Friday, so let's go with the lower number ;-)

I'm also still fasting twice a week. I've been doing Mondays and Wednesdays rather than Mondays and Thursdays. It's pretty easy to do in the ER because the patients just keep on coming, no matter what the time.

I'm also still going to the chiropractor. Last Friday I threw my back out about a half hour before I saw my chiropractor. It was majorly painful and it felt slightly better after he adjusted me (he said I threw out my sacroiliac joint), but it took another 3-4 hours for the pain to go away. I also had a surgery scheduled with one of my clinic patients and standing throughout that was terrrrrrible. I cried right before we started and cried right after. The pain was overwhelming. So, I learned one thing: labor is going to be the worrrrrst (I'm not pregnant). Fortunately, the pain didn't return. Usually when I throw out my back, the pain lasts for a week. I'm going to go ahead and assume that it's because of going to the chiropractor that things got better so quickly.

That's all I've got right about now. I'm pretty boring since I work all the time. Anything exciting in any of your lives?

New shoe goal + a weigh-in

Sorry I've been so absent in my posting. I usually like to post after work and over the last week, I've had a lot of evening engagements:

• Last Tuesday - dinner with my friend Adam
• Last Wednesday - visit from my old personal trainer (and friend) Mark
• Last Thursday - visit from Anthony
• Last Friday - Last Saturday - bachelorette party on the west side of the state
• Last Sunday - working an overnight in the ER
• Yesterday - Yoga class at L.A. Fitness

So, you see, I've been a busy Danika. It doesn't help that my ER shifts are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., making my evenings incredibly short. However, I'm glad to be able to spend so much time with friends lately - helps keep me grounded.

In other news, because of weird sleep patterns following my overnight shift in the ER, I delayed my weigh-in until today. It was a good one, finally ;-)

Last week, I weighed in at 242.6, so I lost 5 pounds in a week. I'm not quite sure how, to be honest, but I think it's because I've finally added back in some legit strength training and because I'm doing my workouts first thing in the morning most days and studies have shown that exercise is more effective when done fasting (read: before you eat in the morning). I also think it's because I got my bingeing out of the way the previous week and was pretty consistent with my diet. The last change is working in the ER. Since my shifts don't start until 10 a.m., I usually eat before I go in and then I'm not really hungry until dinner time. And when it is dinner time, I usually just grab a grilled chicken sandwich, some kind of fruit, and maybe a bar (like a kind bar, or something 150 calories or less). 

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing a nice long strength training workout in the morning and then fasting during the day since I was off on Monday and didn't fast. I'm also planning on fasting on Thursday - we'll see how fasting on back-to-back days works out for me.

Other than that, I think I have a new goal to work towards for my new shoes: getting back into the 220s. Once I'm 229.9 pounds, I'm going to count that as qualifying to get new shoes. Even though I think losing 6 pounds in two weeks is totally obtainable given this week's weigh-in, I think this will help me to push myself a bit more. I haven't been in the 220s since February 2013, per my weigh-in page. So, it's about time and what better way to celebrate than with new shoes?

What do you use to motivate yourself to accomplish your goals?

Other photos for you:

Breakfast from last week

Yummy dinner sandwich

Mid-week treat

Fasting day breakfast

Typical breakfast

Farmer's market find

With the bachelorette

Falafel + baba ghanoush from

Today's lunch

Messy kitchen because I spent the afternoon baking

Cookies for journal club + brownies for Nasur's birthday package