Planning ahead for success

Okay. Days are rough. Nights are nice because you just do admissions - you basically meet the patient, have a basic plan in place and then tuck them in for the evening. Days require you to do the things you've planned. I have a good preceptor this week who really likes teaching, but there's been a lot going on this week: exam on Tuesday, final dress fitting tonight, H&P due Thursday, hair cut/eyebrow wax on Friday. I know that doesn't seem like much, but when your days are long, you have something that requires you to be a certain place at a certain time and then you're supposed to put in a good few hours studying every night, it's a lot. And I'm trying to fit in the gym and eating healthy with that. 

I'm doing okay on the gym part, but my eating has been a lot of grazing the past two days. Finally, I figured out why: I didn't plan ahead. The last few weeks I've been successful because a) I've been able to eat most of my meals at home (and thus able to eat what I'm actually craving when I'm craving it) and b) I've cooked enough food to get more than one meal out of it. So, tonight I put out some salmon to defrost. I'll either marinate before or after work tomorrow and then at least have dinner planned. I've also got some asparagus that'll go well with it. 

I still can't stand packing lunches though. I hate, hate, hate it. I just feel limited by what I can bring and a lot of the things I like to eat don't do well with sitting for long periods of time. I've gotta scope out the cafeteria better tomorrow so I can figure out if there's a toaster or toaster oven available.

Anyway, I probably do have pictures, but I didn't get an opportunity to upload them. Taking photos on my phone makes uploading a non-issue, but the quality is not so hot. Sorry - beggars can't be choosers!

I've gotta go read up on secondary hypertension for tomorrow, so I'll catch you guys tomorrow!

Oh, today's positive: Bailey is done with his antibiotics! We're down to one pill a day and two ear rubs. THANK GOD. And speaking of phone photos, here's one of the baby.

So damn cute

Smoking good time

So, I'm sure it won't come as a shock to anyone that I didn't get up to go to the gym this morning. After blogging, I looked up my schedule for orientation today, realized I had the afternoon off and decided that I wanted to go to zumba rather than doing my own thing. I decided this because 1) I really like zumba, 2) I really like sleep, and 3) I left my iPad, which I use as my kindle, at home this weekend and 45 minutes of elliptical without reading material is extremely painful.

Anywho, I got up a bit before 8:00 a.m., showered, had breakfast and headed to school. Our orientation was 2 hours, so I was home by 11:00 a.m. Boo yeah. I spent most the afternoon studying. We have lectures on chest x-rays and interpreting EKGs tomorrow, so we were given the afternoon to study. In addition to studying, I ate. A lot. I was really hungry for some reason. So, I snacked a lot. Mostly healthy stuff. But when the little snacks weren't doing much, I pulled out the protein.

Morning snack

After lunch snack

I'm still hungry, let's eat 12g of protein snack

5g of protein from the cheese, 14g of protein from the nuts

I was still hungry by the time I had to go to zumba, so I just looked forward to dinner, during which I almost burned down my apartment. The photos don't really do it justice, but long story short: I will only cook this fish in my oven rather than my toaster oven, which apparently, was not up for the job/was too good at its job.

Idk if you can see the smoke on the right, but my toaster oven smoked the entire 20 minutes it took to cook this 

End result: cooked fish and a whole lot of smoke. 

It was a smoking good time. I'm sure my neighbors felt the same way.

I'm pretty sure if my smoke alarm weren't located in my bedroom and the hallway leading to my bedroom, I would've been in big trouble. Good thing my landlord doesn't care if I burn down my kitchen. Also, an exhaust fan would be nice. Just saying.

Other than that, I don't have much to report. Tomorrow is going to be a weights day. I'm toying with the idea of going in the morning, but I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be a short day as well, so I don't know if I want to lose the sleep. Decisions, decisions. 

Today's positive note/missed positive note: There was a larger woman next to me at zumba today (larger than me) and she didn't know many of the moves, but she left about 20 minutes into the class. I'm not usually one to chat it up in class with people I don't know (I just come to dance), but I think next time I'll say hi so she feels a little more welcome and a little less awkward about it.

The rest of today's pictures:

Breakfast

Lunch - waiting for the toaster oven to preheat so I could bake these

I mostly use my blender bottle for crystal light mixing...

Lunch!

Decided I wasn't feeling studying at the desk today

Studied in the lazy boy instead, by the sun!

EKG book - I'm supposed to read this all ASAP. Boooo.

Salad with dinner

Dinner - the fish was just okay (probs cuz I smoked it) and that is one serving of rice (next time half'll do)

Catch you guys tomorrow. Also, stay tuned for a weigh-in on Friday!

Ice cream versus sherbet

Today was a busy day. I didn't get to go blading because it rained [again] in the morning. I was a tad bummed, but since my knees were still bothering me off and on, I figured it wasn't that big of a deal that I didn't get to blade.

My mom taught me how to make one of her Chinese dishes: cashew chicken. It's essentially stir fry, and I thought it'd be a bit healthier than some of the things I munch on for dinner. You see, I'm trying to think more ahead than I usually do in terms of making food beforehand. When I'm starving, I thought it'd be better to have delicious things that are healthy to heat up rather than just a PBJ, handful of this, handful of that, seven billion handfuls of something else, so on and so on.

We made the cashew chicken together (my mom had to teach me because I'm incompetent in the kitchen) and then I brought it home to have for later. I also did a major shopping trip today and prepped some foods for this week. To prep for my trip, I looked through all of my old photos to get an idea of what exactly it was that I ate when I was eating healthy. In summary, a lot of fruits, more vegetables than I'm currently eating, and a lot of meats. Then I wrote out my list:

It was long. I want to emphasize that I got some things that weren't on the list (some spices, some chicken) and there were things I didn't get (turkey sausage - couldn't find what I wanted, potatoes - had to buy a five pound bag). But mostly, I try to stick to my lists because otherwise anything could find its way into my cart.

I also tried to be realistic about the things I was buying. Like changing your eating habits is hard work and cutting out all sweets is just stupid. So, I looked at some labels. I know ice cream isn't all that good for you, so I gravitated toward the frozen yogurt, frozen greek yogurt, and sherbet. Turns out the frozen yogurt has the fewest calories and fat. The sherbet is chock full of sugar (about 30g per 1/2 cup serving) and has no protein whereas the frozen yogurts have way less sugar and obviously, the greek version has more protein. I opted for the vanilla frozen yogurt because it had the least calories and the tastiest flavor (just vanilla).

Anywho, I got home and started making these enchiladas from Krista's blog. They're made with greek yogurt and from a recipe her mom has tweaked. Her mom's are clearly more beautiful than mine.

Before adding the sauce

After they came out of the oven

My serving of two

Neither Krista nor I calculated the calories for these bad boys. I don't imagine they're too bad for you. I think next time I make them, I might add some spinach. The original recipe calls for olives, but since I don't like olives, I omitted that step. But I think they need some bulking. Maybe some spinach and chicken. But, they're pretty legit otherwise. Also, it made 10 enchiladas. Sooo, that's 4 more meals!

While those were cooking, I marinated some chicken and threw it in the freezer and then marinated some fish, which I intend to have for dinner tomorrow after zumba. It's my mom's recipe and it's the fish we had on Friday:

This is the only recipe I have on a legit recipe card - the rest I just type up so I can pull them up whenever

The fish in its marinade.

I hope I'll be able to pull off thinking ahead meal-wise for this rotation. It's a lot of work, though. Speaking of this rotation, our orientation is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Soo, I'm going to get up at 6:30, which should be enough time to get in a workout before heading to school. We're only there for half the day, so I'm going to pack snacks and not worry about a lunch just yet.

Tuesday, we're starting at 8:30 a.m., so I'll get up at 6:00 and head to the gym. I'm 100% certain that I won't love morning workouts, but I like the idea of one shower in a day and I like the idea of just getting it over with.

I kind of forgot that I'm supposed to be doing the one positive thing a day part, so today's positive note: I'm proud of myself for thinking ahead and being mindful of my goals while I meal plan.

And here are the rest of today's pictures:

Breakfast 1.1

Breakfast 2.1

Ingredients for cashew chicken

Mushrooms for cashew chicken

All de puppies

Not a puppy :-(

Easily entertained

Cooking

200 calories of frozen yogurt

Catch you guys tomorrow!

Walking rather than blading

Well, blading didn't exactly happen. Damn rain. We did take the dogs for a walk, but when I tried running with Doc, he stopped and then I was pulled back and he started limping. Newfoundlands are known for having bad hips, so I'm hoping I didn't hurt him. He walked fine for the rest of our walk, but I stopped running with him.

Anywho, the rest of the day was very chill. I took my ibuprofen every 6 or so hours and my knees are doing a bit better. Now my mom and I are just hanging out. 

I talked with her about my plans to work out now that this rotation is going to start. I was thinking about going to the gym in the mornings because I'm not very productive when I go at night. But I have a really hard time getting up early in the mornings. I don't know if I'd rather pack a lunch or get up early. Hard to say which one sucks more.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to blade in the morning. My mom and I are going to make some healthy meals so that I have healthy stuff to eat this week and then I'll head back to Grand Rapids to get my shizz together for this rotation. I need to study my butt off and I really, really, really want to get some semblance of a workout schedule made.

Here are today's pics:

Breakfast was going to be scrambled eggs and salmon, but apparently my mom had hard boiled them

Breakfast part 2

Snack/what ended up being lunch, I suppose

Dinner with Doc

Mayzie

Doc again

Teeny bit of ice cream

Not pictured was the South Beach protein bar I ate nor the chips and salsa for the afternoon snack. I'm still hungry, buuuut it's past 8 so I guess I'll just have to make due. I'm not starving and I'm probs just thirsty. So, tomorrow I'll try to be cognizant and eat some more filling things.

I'm better equipped now

Surprisingly, these past two days have been rather busy. I shall give you a brief rundown and then I'd like to share some thoughts with you (and hopefully get your opinion).


Monday, I biked to work. It was awesome. I'm pretty sure I angered some of the drivers (I biked on the road for part of it because there's no sidewalk), but when I got to work, I was feeling great. I was pretty happy and glad I got some exercise in. The only bad thing was that I definitely had helmet hair and I was a tad sweaty because I don't really have any bike-appropriate jackets.


At work, the man from Phoenix Tribology arrived to install our fourball machine. It looks something like this:

It has a computer attached as well as a microscope, but this is the fun part of the machine. So, I spent my morning running samples and then watched as he put this monster together.


At lunch, I biked home and was pretty much covered in sweat by the time I got home. Okay, not covered, but I definitely had sweaty armpits and my back was sweating. This is probably because I wore my fleece while riding, which has absolutely no ventilation. So, again, it has come to my attention that I'm going to need to invest in something to wear while biking.


Once home, I stripped down to my underwear to cool off and blow dry the sweat off my clothes (don't judge) while my pizza cooked.

Lunch!

After I finished my lunch, I drove back to work because I knew I wouldn't have enough time to bike home and get to personal training on time. Also, I didn't have to worry about being sweaty and gross again.

During the afternoon, we had training on how to use our new toy. Then, I was coaxed into going out to Bennigan's (and canceling personal training) with Mike and David (the guy from the UK training us). David got a half-pound burger because he said red meat in America is way better and way cheaper than in England. Mike got the Turkey O'Toole (pictured below) and I stuck with salmon and steamed broccoli. It wasn't the best salmon I've ever had, but it was a healthy choice.

 After dinner, I dropped David off at his hotel and then headed to the gym. I was really considering not going, but then I reminded myself that I'm doing a two-week challenge and I had to go. So, I put in a good hour's workout and finally went home.


Once home, I had an orange as an after-gym snack and video chatted with Matt.

Matt and I worked on his résumé, cover letter, and writing sample for this awesome job he's applying for. Ironically, it's also in the lubricant industry. I guess that's where all the cool kids go. Haha...just kidding.


Anyway, after helping Matt, it was rather late, so I headed to bed. In my rush to get to sleep, I must have forgotten to set my alarm. However, this morning, I ended up waking up at 7:22 and getting to work right on time. So, that worked out. But that meant I couldn't ride my bike. However, I already planned on driving because it was raining most of the morning. Boo.


At work this morning, we continued our training and then I came home and had some leftover pizza for lunch. I also had a yogurt because they're going to expire tomorrow so I need to gobble them up soon!

After lunch, we continued training and learned how to run an actual test on our new toy. As I'm the youngest, I volunteered to go first/make an ass of myself. But really, I didn't screw anything up and I probably learned it the best of the four of us since I had to figure it out on my own. After training, I threw a sample in our GC-MS sampler and headed out to Birch Run, to get some jackets to wear while biking.


When I got to Birch Run, I decided to stop at Old Navy first to see if they had any jeans I liked. They only had their wall of jeans (of which I don't really like any), and a ton of shorts. So I left empty-handed. Then I went to Lane Bryant to see if they had any cute tops. Nope. So, I walked from Lane Bryant to Under Armour to see if they had any jackets that would fit the bill. Nope, not so much. An XL there doesn't even come close to fitting me, so I left empty-handed. Then, I stopped in the North Face outlet store. One of the employees there helped me find two good jackets to wear while biking. I grabbed both in an XL, but, when I tried them on, I couldn't get them to zip over my chest. So, I told him that I was too chesty and he suggested we try the men's section (where the sizes are bigger). He was excited when we switched to men's because he said there was more selection in what I was looking for. I tried on a few more things and settled for this jacket in a men's large. It's super lightweight and has vents in the armpits and on the back where I sweat the most, so I'm pretty excited about it. Also, it only cost me $85 because I went to the outlet.


After I went to North Face, I decided to go into the Adidas outlet store where I found another jacket (for $40) that would be great for biking, but was a bit heavier. I think I'll be wearing that one until summer really hits. I also found a white wicked pullover for $30 that I really liked. After trying it on, I came out of the fitting room and saw the same thing in the men's section for $10 less. So, I got that one instead.

It's like the perfect thing to wear to and from the gym because it will be well-ventilated but still give me another layer to keep me warm. I also splurged and got another pair of gym shoes because my feet have been hurting lately. So, I bought these babies:

And, I'm happy to report that although all of the things I bought were on sale, since they were all running/training items, I got an additional 20% off. So I left the store having spent only $114 on some quality pieces that I'll get a lot of use out of. Score.


Then I headed home. I had a hard time convincing myself that I didn't need to stop for fast food despite the fact that it was 7:00 and I was super hungry for dinner. But, I made it home and had some gnocchi that I gobbled up before remembering to take a picture. My bad.


After dinner, I went to the gym even though I didn't really want to go since it was already 8pm. But, I decided that I could watch Glee while I worked out, so it couldn't be that bad. And, honestly, I'm glad I went. I was sweating up a storm and I know I'm building up my quads, which should definitely help with my knees.


Once I was done at the gym, I headed to Starbucks to get a birthday cake pop. Why? Because tomorrow's my birthday and you deserve birthday cake on [the day before] your birthday. If you've never had one, you need to get your ass to Starbucks this instant and get yourself one. Why? Because they're amazing. It's basically cake at the end of a stick.

Starbucks birthday cake pop

Inside view

Apparently they are made by baking cake, mashing it up with frosting and then shaping it into a ball. They poke a stick in it and the coat the whole thing in a chocolate/frosting coating. Sound heavenly? Oh, it is. So you must give me many kudos for driving all the way home to take a picture of it rather than gobbling it up immediately like I wanted to. And, I also deserve some kudos because I only got one though I could easily eat a dozen. But, you should be warned. This little piece of heaven packs 170 calories and 9 grams of fat. And they cost $1.50. 

Anyway, now I'm chilling at home, updating you. And now that I've reached this point, I'm pretty pooped. I guess my thoughts (and your opinions on said thoughts) will have to wait until another day. I most likely will not be blogging tomorrow as my day is packed with fun birthday stuff, but I shall be back soon!

What do you like to do on your birthday? Also, what part of cake do you like most: the cake or the frosting?