Friday, April 30, 2010

TGIF

Alright time to recap yesterday.....I had my very last Pathophysiology class in the afternoon. Lesson topics included: preterm infants and cleft palate. We also finished up an exchange list menu planning activity. Snacks included a plain Chobani, some chopped walnuts, and a big serving of papaya since I hadn't had it in awhile.




 When I got home last night, I decided to just go ahead and make dinner and was really craving salmon. However I didn't time everything right and had to eat my salmon and broccoli while waiting for the rice to finish. Oh well.



 Then I had some nice relaxing time with my boyfriend. We ended up staying up for a while, watched a movie, and made some nachos with turkey chili, reduced fat cheese, and blue corn tortilla chips. Yum yum! I even had some white cheddar cheetos too hehe. I'm a sucker for all things cheese!

This morning I slept and slept and slept! It was nice to catch up though it was so nice out I kind of felt bad for missing out on it. Lunch was a light salad. Spinach, shredded red cabbage, cucumber, carrot, and a little something special on top. A few months ago I had ordered these maple nibs. They are almonds with cocoa nibs and a little maple syrup to help the cocoa stick to the almonds. I had bought 3 boxes but apparently didn't hide them good enough because less than half a box was left and I didn't really eat any of them before Lent. (I bought them right before lent and gave chocolate up so I stashed them til it was over, then forgot about them LOL)




 I also had a cup of coffee with nonfat milk and Truvia in my new mug!! LOVE IT!


 This afternoon was my last visit to Headstart. We did a "Where does it grow" game and had the kids stick pictures of fruit and vegetables on a poster with a tree or the ground. Those kids are so smart and they seemed to have fun. We didn't tell them that we weren't coming back though because we didn't want anyone to get upset. Overall it was such a great experience!

I made a very quick dinner when I got home. Whole wheat spaghetti w/ sauce and green beans. I also made some sausages with onions for my boyfriend but I don't like sausage.


 I was waiting for rush hour to be over before I left to head to my parent's in New York. NYC tomorrow with my mom, aunts, cousin, and sis-in-law! I am super excited! I won't be bringing my computer though so I won't have a post until Sunday. It should be a good one though since it will have all my NYC details : )

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Can I get a moment to breathe now?

Oh. My. Gosh. I am so ready for a vacation right now. Yesterday was such a long day. I packed up some food the night before because I knew I was going to be gone from approximately 8am-8pm. Let's run through this quickly - Breakfast: Kashi granola bar, Snack: veggie crudites w/ dill dip, Lunch: peanut butter and raisins in a sandwich thin, spinach salad w/ tuna, cucumber, and feta, Snack: watermelon.







Lots of pictures in a row but I don't have much time so I'm trying to make this quick. Yesterday I had my last clinical at the hospital. Right as we were about to go see our patient, he changed his mind about having us come in.  So we ended up doing the diet history with our professor LOL. Afterwards I went to the switching of officers for the Nutrition Liaison. Yay for being secretary next year! Then I had some time to finish up homework and do some more studying for my Community final. Mid-afternoon I had to go to the SGA meeting to help present some of the info from the MDA conference that a few of us Nutrition Liaison members went to. Our passes were funded by the SGA so that is why we had to present what we learned to them.  After that it was Community Nutrition Final time! I was so nervous even though I studied for 3 days. It ended up being fine. I think I aced the multiple choice and I only fudged up the essays a little bit. I even got home an hour early than I thought, woohoo! I was really hungry by then so I finished up the last few bites of black bean dip with some tortilla chips and then had a bowl of kashi go lean with nonfat milk and a banana. I think I love to eat breakfast food at all times of the day. When I was younger I didn't really like breakfast foods but now I eat them more than anything LOL. I have no picture of dinner either because I scarfed it down before heading back to the books. I thought I was going to have to pull an all nighter but I managed to stop studying by 1am which was nice.

Now for some bad news bears.....I checked my alarm last night before going to bed but it never went off this morning! I woke up at the time I was supposed to leave which left me no time to review my notes before my Management final! I flew out the door within 5 minutes and made it to class on time. I think I did really well on that exam too even though I only studied one night for it. It was mostly essays so I wrote and wrote and wrote and am hoping it was enough.

When I got home I made a big brunch because I was starving. Spinach, garlic, and feta omelet. Bagel-thin with peanut butter. Blackberries. Nonfat milk. Coffee (in a puerto rico mug! I miss it there a lot).






Also, look what my professor got me as an end of the year gift for being her assistant. I absolutely love it! I couldn't use it today though because it was in the dishwasher.


It isn't really break time yet though. I had to edit my case study a little bit since it is due this afternoon. Today is my last Pathophysiology class. Then maybe tonight I will have a moment to breath!
  • Pathophysiology Exam 3
  • Headstart Lessons X 1
  • Headstart Summary Project Write-up - 1/2 way done
  • Community Nutrition Final
  • Public Speaking Presentation
  • Food Service Management Final
  • Clinicals w/ writeup X 2
  • Pathophysiology Case Studies
  • Pathophysiology Final 
Look at all those crossed off lines! Makes me feel really good. Last Headstart Lesson is tomorrow afternoon, then my group is finished the write-up on Monday. Patho final on Wednesday. Free and clear after that :)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Rainy days are here again

I really really wish I could wake up in time to have a decent breakfast. Bar for breakfast #2 this week.... I thought I liked the lemon Larabar but when I ate it this morning I decided it was too lemony for me.  I liked the banana bread one the other day though.


Today was the last actual class for my Food Service Management class and we covered the ADA's Code of Ethics. It seems like pretty basic ethical standards: honesty, integrity, objectivity, etc..... Our final exam for the class is Thursday morning and I'm trying not to be nervous. Exams always freak me out though.

When I came home it was late morning so not quite lunch time but I wanted a real breakfast anyway so I made my 7 grain cereal and stirred in some frozen berries. I'm almost out of my 7 grain cereal, only about 1 serving left! But I bought the Muesli for my next batch of Bob's Red Mill cereal goodness haha.
  • 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill 7 grain cereal
  • 1/8 cup bulgur
  • 3/4 water
  • a splash of milk (I forgot we got more!)
  • 1 tbsp Bob's Red Mill ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup frozen berry mix (blueberry, blackberry, strawberry)

And a much needed cup of coffee w/ nonfat milk and Truvia.....


Work work work all day long. Only about 1 more week of this, thank goodness. Second to last class of Pathophysiology was this afternoon and it was actually very interesting. We had a guest speaker come in and talk to us. She is a dietitian at an eating disorders clinic so she gave us an idea of what her job is typically like. I'm not exactly sure if I could work with that population but surprisingly she said that they aren't as resistant as you would think.

My afternoon snacks were kind of spread out. Before I went to class I had a hard boiled egg, then at the beginning of class I had some grapes, then finally towards the end of class I had a yogurt. One thing I found out for sure is that I'm definitely a complete convert to my Chobani's now. We were out so I grabbed one of the Stonyfield's and it was way way way too sweet for me. I ate it anyway though LOL. But still, I'm sticking with my plain greek Chobani from now on.




The more I study, the more I feel like I'm freaking out about my finals, but at the same time if I don't study I will be screwed. I think once dinner is digested I will break and workout to clear my head. I can't be going crazy right now, I don't have time for it! ;) PS- I still feel the twinge in my knee....so mad about that....

Dinner was a quesadilla except it was way better than yesterday! I carmalized an onion and used half of it with some reduced fat mexican cheese blend on 1 whole wheat tortilla. For dipping a had a large scoop of salsa, a large scoop of smashed avocado (not really guac since I didn't mix anything in), and a large scoop of black bean dip. DELICIOUS :)



Last but not least for the post...I bought a new sweatshirt! The couple that I have are all old, basically from high school. They were worn and dirty and not warm at all. So I picked out an awesome hot pink one at the Simmons bookstore. Yay for cozy sweatshirts!

Monday, April 26, 2010

On a roll

I've been getting a lot of work done today it feels like. Most of it was just studying for finals but I was able to get some written assignments done for the end of the semester. I seriously can't wait to go to NYC on Saturday. It will be a nice break.
  • Pathophysiology Exam 3 
  • Headstart Lessons X 1
  • Headstart Summary Project Write-up - 1/2 way done
  • Community Nutrition Final
  • Public Speaking Presentation
  • Food Service Management Final
  • Clinicals w/ writeup X 2
  • Pathophysiology Case Studies
  • Pathophysiology Final 

 Dinner was 6 cheese ravioli's with a bunch of mixed veggies (green beans, peas, corn, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, onion) and a little tomato sauce.


Snack-time involved a Van's multigrain waffle topped with some mixed berries and a little maple syrup. I also had a small scoop of oreo ice cream afterwards because we were having a small birthday celebration for my boyfriend's brother.


I'm feeling the need to get back to studying now unfortunately.....

    Overly ambitious?

    Just to finish off yesterday real quick: I had a slice of watermelon in the afternoon. Dinner was an omelet (1 whole egg + 1 white, spinach, feta) and a bagel-thin with p.b. and raisins, along with a glass of nonfat milk.

    I had such insomnia last night though. It was rough getting up after only 4 hours of sleep. I slept through breakfast again and luckily had stashed a Kashi granola bar in my car for emergencies. Getting through clinical this morning was hard just because I felt so horrible. The presentations were interesting though.  Students presented on "Fast Food in America", "Organic Food", and "The Low Residue Diet".  I like to buy organic when I can mainly because I don't like the idea of ingesting so many pesticides but the cost is the issue for a lot of people I feel like, at least it is for me.

    When I came home I had a cup of coffee with Truvia. We ran out of milk again : ( That always happens when my boyfriend is home on the weekends because he drinks so much of it LOL.



    In the middle of my insomnia last night I was thinking about black bean dip so I made some to go with lunch. I just threw in some things I could remember but I don't have the recipe here with me.

    • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
    • squeeze of lime juice
    • a little water
    • cumin
    • garlic (I put in lots because I love it)
    • cilantro


    I know there are more ingredients but that is the jist of it so it works out fine. It doesnt look that appetizing but it is yummy I swear! I slathered a little of that with a quarter cup reduced fat shredded mexican cheese blend on a whole wheat torilla to make a small quesadilla with a little salsa on the side. I also had a small side salad of spinach and cucumber.



    My knee is still bothering me from my run last week, especially when I walk down stairs. I have been wanting to go back out for a run for days but I'm not sure what to do about it. In one of my fitness magazines (I get a bunch of them) I saw some exercises that are supposed to help with knee stabilization so I am going to start doing those. I thought that my thighs were the strongest muscle in my body but apparently they aren't strong enough to support my knees!

    In other news, I am starting  continuing to be overwhelmed with things in my life. First, I just found out that my graduate assistantship only lasts a year and cannot be renewed for next year so that means my income goes down to $0. Then, I was offered another job but couldn't take it because I wasn't available on the days needed. Income still at $0 for next year. Now, I was told about another position that I could apply for BUT it starts in the summer. My issue here? I already have an internship lined up for 20 hours per week this summer plus I'm taking 2 classes. I decided I might as well apply for the job anyway. What's it matter if I'm working 40 hours per week (it's a part time job so 20 for internship and 20 for the job), plus taking classes part time. I just won't have a summer "vacation", that's all. Sometimes I think I'm too ambitious for my own good followed by a bout of laziness LOL. Needless to say I don't think I will be getting to the beach as much as I thought this summer.... that is IF I get that job, I haven't even interviewed yet.....

    Afternoon snack was a handful of almonds and a large slice of watermelon. Now I have much more studying to do for finals this week. I am counting down, first to this Saturday because I'm going to NYC for the day and second to next Wednesday afternoon because that is when I will officially be done with the spring semester!


    Sunday, April 25, 2010

    Weekend Update

    I waited far too long to post so now I'm going to try to condense the weekend.  I don't have pictures of everything either so that will help make this shorter.

    Friday: Went to Headstart for our next lesson plan with the kids. They were really rambunctious that day for some reason. It still went well though. They really know their fruits and veggies! I was so pleased : ) Afterwards I walked over to Fenway park to get in line for the BIDMC employees discounted tickets. I was the 3rd person so I knew I would be able to get tickets. My boyfriend was still on his way out from Worcester so I ended up waiting, cold, hungry, and alone, for almost 2 hours. That part kind of sucked. But he picked up some Mcdonald's and brought it to eat before we got to go in. I had chicken nuggets and a small fries so not the best dinner but I was too hungry to care really. We ended up getting awesome tickets behind home plate. It was my first professional game of any sport and it was so much fun! I snagged a picture of David Ortiz just as he was hitting his first home run of the season! Also, taking pictures of yourself is hard to do. I always end up bent over looking ridiculous trying to get us both in a picture LOL





    After the game we picked up my car from school and drove over to The Bell in Hand for a friend's birthday. I pulled a quick change of clothes while he drove. It ended up being a fun night seeing friend's we hadn't seen in a while. I had 2 malibu bay breeze's, 1 amaretto sour, and a tequila sunrise. I'm not a beer girl at all, just a fruity girly drink girl.



    I walked over 5 miles that day and did a lot of dancing so I didn't care much about just having a fun night out.

    Saturday:  Woke up and had brunch of 2 Van's waffles with some chopped walnuts and maple syrup. On the size was a smoothie of nonfat milk, plain chobani, and frozen mixed berries. What a nice "next day" meal!



    I didn't accomplish much on Saturday at all. I wanted to go hiking but didn't really give myself enough time so I just dropped the idea. I'm so lazy on the weekends sometimes. My boyfriend and I ended up going out for dinner to UFood Grill. I really liked it, though my meal was kind of high in sodium but it was one of the highest ones there (I didn't grab the nutrition facts until after I ordered). I had the chopstick chicken bowl which had chicken with broccoli and carrots over brown rice with a spicy thai sauce. It was very spicy for me at least!


    Dessert was not so good for you but I have been wanting a cupcake for weeks now. We headed down to Sweet Cupcakes where I got a banana split cupcake. I almost forgot to take a picture before I finished it! It was super sweet so I'm glad it was small but my boyfriend wasn't so happy about it being $3.25 for one little cupcake. Oh well, we were indulging! We did ending up having a midnight snack later on though too : ) Bagel-thin with peanut butter and raisins and a cup of nonfat milk. I love that snack!


    Sunday: Lunch was a small bowl of pasta with sauteed veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper) and a little tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. No picture for this one either. I've been procrastinating again and have to study for my finals this week! No more relaxing for me....

    Friday, April 23, 2010

    Oh so reluctant

    Another difficult morning waking up. It wasn't so hard in the beginning of the semester. I'm not sure what happened. I'm definitely having a harder time getting so sleep even when I wake up early. Stupid insomnia... Another Larabar on the way out the door.


    The one thing I most enjoy about getting up to go to clinicals is the walk over. I park at school and walk the half mile to the hospital and on mornings like today it is wonderful. The first two clinicals I had it actually rained so those weren't the best times to be walking but still. I easily get in a mile walk as the first part of my day.  I do enjoy the clinicals though. It is nice to get in there and see patients and help them (at least I'd like to think so). Some times they are so reluctant though. Our supervisor always asks beforehand if it is okay for us students to come in and talk to them so when they don't want to say much to us I think it is weird. If they didn't want us there then they didn't have to say yes.  Maybe we seem annoying with our constant questions "What did you eat at this time? How much? What kind?", that kind of stuff.  I don't think that they realize that saying they had a sandwich really doesn't tell us anything. We need more information than that! It's still fun though, especially because I prefer hands on activities over lectures.

    Lunch was coffee (finally!) and an omelet (1 whole egg + 2 whites, spinach, garlic) on a whole wheat bagel-thin with a glass of nonfat milk.




    I have a busy day ahead of me. Because I'm going straight to Fenway Park after Headstart and then straight from the game to a bar for a friend's birthday I have to bring all kinds of clothes to change into! Well I suppose I can wear the same outfit for playing with kids and a baseball game but definitely not for going out. I'll try to take some good pictures! TGIF!