Zoodle virgin

Well, I promised a weigh-in today despite really not wanting to. Here it is.

So, in the last two weeks, I've gained 5 pounds. I'm not surprised in the least given how I've been eating and lazing around. But I promised to pick myself up. Only, today was a bit crazy and I wasn't really able to...ish.

So, I started the day knowing that I was going to fast. That meant a quick, light breakfast - it was about 290 calories. I forgot to take a picture, but it was 2 egg whites + 1 whole egg, ham, and watermelon. Then I went to work and struggled because I was hungry. But, I didn't give in - even when faced with cake! However, the work day was fucking insane, so that definitely helped. I also ended up staying about 45 minutes late, so my workout time was fucked and I wasn't able to hit the gym before my friend Adam came over for dinner.

Tonight, I cooked for Adam and myself. I really went for it. I have been dying to try zoodles after I bought a spiralizer in July. [For those who don't know, zoodles = zucchini noodles.] And tonight, we finally did it! We had zoodles with marinara sauce, chicken parmesan (a recipe from Cooking Light, so it was healthier), cheddar bay biscuits, and a salad. It was pretty delicious. I was a little unsure about the zoodles, but I could totally make them again. My only thing is that I don't really eat pasta to begin with, so I'm not sure when I'll be making them again.

Anywho, despite being unable to hit the gym, I stayed reasonably active at work and was able to stick to some healthy food choices - especially with Adam here. I didn't eat anything before dinner nor did I snack before dinner. So, it was also a successful fasting day!

Tomorrow I have a lot of surgeries and then clinic in the afternoon so I know it'll be another busy day, but hopefully it'll be just as good. And tomorrow is a personal trainer day, so that's also a positive!

Cheers!

A day off from the gym

So Thursdays are our long day at work because it's education day. Lectures start at 6:00 a.m. and go to 8:00 a.m. Beforehand, I have to do all my rounds. So, it's usually an early, early day. Fortunately, the 6:00 a.m. lecture was canceled, so it wasn't as early as it could have been. However, Thursday is also our late stay day because the night team has to stay while we are in lectures. So, we start early and end late. Anywho, I have decided given that it's our late day, Thursdays will be my day off gym-wise and will be my night to watch some TV on my iPad, catch up on household chores, and sleep.

So, that's what I did today. Work was busy, busy, busy. I get most my 10,000 steps in before I leave work. And I've decided to do the stairs for everything (minus the start and the end of the day when I'm eager to get to work and eager to leave). Sometimes this means 7 flights at a time. My quads are getting stronger and I'm getting less winded with time.

In other news, I'm officially ordained for my friends' wedding! It was stupid easy. Aaaaand, my dress is on its way. The nice thing about this website my friend chose is that you can do custom measurements so that they get your size rightish. The bad thing is that you don't get to try anything on unless you pay $10 per dress. Sooo, I ordered it sight unseen. Hopefully it looks okay.

Today was a good day eating-wise. I had a good breakfast, which apparently I didn't take a picture of - just eggs, banana, ham, and watermelon. I had my protein yogurt shake during lecture and tried to hydrate because I've been hydrating poorly lately. I had an apple for lunch because it was all I could grab inbetween surgeries and consults. After my last surgery, I grabbed a pear and then a bit later made a trip to the cafeteria and grabbed a grilled chicken sandwich (without cheese) and lots of mango.

When I got home, I opted for just some hydration and then tried to modify the recipe for a single serving cookie. Last time, I followed the recipe to a T. But this time, I opted to soften the butter and use some egg white rather than milk. But, there was a bit too much egg white and it was runny and the cookies turned out a bit cake-like.

Single serving of cookies

So, I'll have to keep modifying since last time the cookie was a bit dry. I'm sure I'll get it one of these days.

Does anyone else know any single serving recipes for dessert? If I make a batch of cookies, I binge eat either the cookies or the dough, so really, it's a no-go for me. I could tell myself that I'll take them to work, but sometimes I don't actually do that. So, no reason to invite that kind of stress in my life. 

How is life out there in the real world? I've been trapped in the hospital a lot lately and I'm working yet again this weekend - it's the 5th or 6th one in a row now. Blech.

Awesome first day!

Well, let me just say that I am super pumped about this month after today. Sure, there were slow points. Sure, there were the I'm-so-tired-an-explosion-in-my-pants-wouldn't-wake-me points. But, mostly, I'm really thrilled with the nurses and doctors I get to learn from. And that's enough about that - work will stay at work!

Waking up at 4:15 was rough today. I got out of bed and my left temple was pounding in protest. I took something for pain and went about the morning. I knew I needed to eat a hearty breakfast because you never know when food'll be an option in the OB world - it really can be feast or famine. Anywho, today's hearty breakfast was two egg whites + 1 egg, cantaloupe, strawberries, and a slice of banana bread I made on Saturday.

We get lunch for free at work - it's in a place affectionately known as "the trough." Do with that what you will. It's mostly decent food, but there's no such thing as fresh fruit (unless you count the overly waxed apples and oranges). There is salad that once upon a time lived in a bag somewhere and there's usually something pretty okay. Today, I heaped half my styrofoam plate high with salad/lettuce and the other half had some kind of lemon pepper fish and a BBQ chicken drumstick. Then I went hungry until a suture representative brought the interns cookies. I definitely had a few as my stomach was causing me physical pain. Then we hung out for a few more hours before my first rep dinner with people trying to sell us equipment. So, I had a pretty awesome teriyaki chicken with some veggies and a little bit of rice.

Given that we were at the dinner until 8, I opted out of the gym because my butt (and the rest of me) needs to be in bed. But, tomorrow night I have no excuse dinners, so don't worry - I'll be going!

I think that this is going to take a bit of getting used to. My bowels weren't sure what to do with all the lettuce today and turning down dessert at dinner was hard, but hey - it's a treat! And I wasn't celebrating anything. Plus, I've got some delicious fruit pizza this weekend to look forward to.

Also, thanks for all the love and support - with comments and emails! I'm going to have an easier time because of all of you! I especially liked the comments about keeping it slow and steady and not going for the all or nothing. Making positive changes should be gradual - I've learned from my own past that going balls to the walls only results in pain. When I focus on all or nothing, I usually just fail and then I really let myself spiral into a pity party that isn't pleasant for anyone.

More photos (I kinda forgot today) and a weigh-in on Monday (forgot that too!) for you to look forward to! In the mean time, have you ever had to talk yourself into being okay with a gray area or imperfection?

Progressing with this week's goals

So today was a long surgery day. After standing in one place for so long, it's usually my knees or feet that hurt, but over the last few days, it's been my low back. I'm assuming it's because I have poor posture because it goes away the second I am able to sit or slouch. That, or I've gained so much weight recently that my back is having trouble balancing it out (I'm hoping it's the former, but likely has some contributions from the latter). Anywho, I thought about hitting the gym after work, but it was already past 6, I have exams this week, and I still had to make dinner. If I can get out before 6 tomorrow, I promise I'll go.

I was pretty good with my week's goals (blogging, photographing, and no eating after 8pm) today. I'm blogging and I photographed most of my foods. I took a pic of breakfast, but that disappeared (it was early, I guess...). I forgot to snap one of lunch since I was eating at the hospital, but I did get photos of my post-work snack and my dinner. So, that's something. 

Hunk o' chicken, protein yogurt, and energy draaaaank

Maple salmon with sides for dinner

Another reason why I hate cooking - you have to clean up afterwards

I spent a lot of time packing my lunch and snacks tonight because I'm trying to be a good Danika. Also, today I ate two of the fiber plus bars, which they recently reformulated to include more calcium, and I'm guessing they're a bit more potent than previously because whoa, was I farting like it was my job during our afternoon surgery. So, I'm going to have to cut back to one and think of a different afternoon snack. Tomorrow, I've packed some almonds and a greek yogurt.

Now I'm heading to bed. I didn't get as much studying in as I should have, so I'm hoping my sleep is really restful so I can tackle my long day tomorrow!

Today's positive: The surgeon was putting in a catheter and had to put the lady in frog legs position. At the same time, the anesthesiologist turned on his anesthetic gas and so the surgeon says, "Mmm. I just love that smell." The anesthesiologist and I both looked at him and he immediately says, "The sevflurane - your gas - not down here (a.k.a. in this lady's naked crotch). I was like, "Phew. That's good because that sounded a little pervy." He was like, "Yeah. Bad timing." Haha.

Sometimes you don't go to the gym...

So, what didn't I do today? Go to the gym.

Now, before you freak out, let me explain. I threw my back out yesterday. I was pretty sure I threw it out when I was cleaning off my car. Like, I felt it and then immediately prayed that I was wrong. Turns out I wasn't. Awesome.

So this morning I was super stiff and couldn't even walk straight. The pain wasn't terrible - I've had worse, but it still wasn't heavenly. After all the lectures I've received about back pain and what you should do, I knew I should have gone to the gym and just continued my normal activities, but I just didn't feel like pushing it when I was already struggling. That being said, I'm going tomorrow no matter what, but I won't be doing yoga because I don't want to exacerbate anything. Tomorrow will just be cardio because all my muscles are still sore from strength training on Monday.

Here are today's photos:

Tomorrow I'm spending most of my day at Panera to get some studying done that isn't at school or my apartment. We'll see how it goes. Luckily, they post their calorie content so I'll still be able to count calories. Also, Thursdays are my worst day in terms of overeating (because I'm usually procrastinating on writing my weekly essay), so I think it'll be good that I'm not at home/close to free(ish) food.