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Showing posts from 2017

Meal Prep R Us - Current State

Meal Prep Recently I was asked for meal prep advice. Unfortunately, this will be a short essay as I am trying to write multiple essays and have zero confidence in the school ones. If you have any specific questions, please please please email me or comment so I can address them one-on-one. Meal prepping has helped me successfully challenge the notion that 24 hours in a day is not enough to work full time, go to school part time, take prn or part time jobs, work out, and live and sleep somewhat. I do not advocate my schedule for anyone who dislikes stress or loves sleep. I am always anxious and I never sleep. It’s how I like it. It’s how I function. But I am very aware that this life is not for everyone. Typically I meal prep for 4 days because of my work schedule. That means I try to prep Thursday to be ready to go Friday-Monday. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes I have to skip things on Saturday to make sure I have food Sunday, but a majority o

Do You Love Yourself?

One thing people are always surprised to learn is that I train after work. Or before work. Or before trips. Or before dinners. I don’t really care what I have to look like before or after. Since I stopped drinking, the worry of others’ acceptance of my lifestyle has changed drastically. Now I care about how I feel. And while I sometimes care a lot about my hair, make up, and potential smell, I mostly care about my mental capacity. I am not arguing for killing yourself, just yesterday I prioritized meal prep and sleep over the gym. But I am arguing for knowing yourself and giving your mind and body what they need. A majority of the time, you don’t need x, y, and z, you only want it. And when you get it, how do you feel afterwards? This is a practice on mindfulness and self-awareness. I am sad that I did not work out, and I know yoga tonight and my trainer tomorrow might absolutely kill me. But I also know that if I did not get the right food and a little more sleep, I would not e

Achiever

I believe that we cannot know everything, yet. Human evolution is working towards building our minds, bodies, and environments to support understanding the universe, as weak as we understand the concept currently. I wonder if we should know everything, or if the constant search for knowledge is a circuit – that we feel purposeless without the pursuit so we created more to learn to continue to pursue?

Easy

When I started training with the third personal trainer in my life, it was the first time someone said he saw the passion in me and believed that I could look like Ronda Rousey. My first trainer never built the trust that I could, and perhaps it was because she did not know me before I started training. My second trainer never pushed me, and perhaps it was because I did not have the correct goal. When I started training and literally threw away any and all excuses, I was 175 pounds. I ate next to nothing, but made up for the calories in alcohol. I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and I had watched this trainer as much as he said he watched me. When we entered into that contract, there were 3 rules: come with intensity, listen to his nutritionist, no alcohol for 3 months.    To be honest, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do (besides the work outs that followed, but short-term physical pain has always been easier to deal with than long-term, so

Preventative Healthcare

What the Health is a new documentary that speaks on diabetes and the American diet. Well, did we really need this? If I told you "eat a Twinkie a day," you would probably think to yourself, how long will it take me to develop some sort of physical (I would also argue mental) health issue? You are smart. You are good. But sometimes the market and advertising can sway what you know to be true. Isn't that interesting? Advertising works? You must be smarter than the TV. It's much easier to avoid processed food, fast food restaurants, sugary candy --- when you don't ever see it. I know, it's impossible for most people to get away from the escapism that TV allows. It's hard for me to get away from the advertisements popping up in my email, my instagram, on my facebook stream. It's hard. But you need to be smarter. If you're not hungry, you're not hungry. If you are hungry, love yourself and take pride in your body. Give it nutrition

Open Communication in the OR

Open communication is mandatory in today’s world. Employees will not follow leaders who work behind closed doors with no shared vision. But neither will patients. Strive to be ahead of the curve. You are getting paid to treat one patient at a time. Act like it. You may not like the idea that the hospital is a hotel, however in the OR, you should make your patient the king or queen of that room. When you open, get everything ready like you’re expecting the biggest celebrity of all time. Each time. Each patient. They deserve the best. When you go speak to your patient, look them in the eyes. Give them a handshake. Rest your hand on their side rail if you’re not sure touching is appropriate in their culture. Ask them how they are. You already know that they’re scared, anxious, tired, exhausted, worried, in pain. And that’s all because of their condition and plan of care. Honestly, they have no idea what’s in store for them on the other side. Even if t

Fitness Advice

Recently I answered an email about fitness and I thought it might help others to see my side of the coin. Please let me know if you have any questions! I have a few questions. One water how much should I consume in one day?  Water consumption is based on weight. Definitely try for 16 ounces before and during your work out. It's a lot, and if you're not used to it you may need to pee during your work out (and all day). Your body will adapt and get used to the consumption and pee less over time. It's generally 8 ounces per body pound of weight, but some days I get even more just because I'm thirsty or I'm trying not to eat.   Is their anything else that is healthy to drink beside water? Water is the best because it has nothing added. If you drink something else, it technically does not count toward your overall water intake. If you need caffeine, tea and coffee (without anything added) are fine. Caffeine might make you less thirsty for water, so

Perioperative Nurse Residencies

Great! You got the call back and they want you. Whether or not you start before you take your NCLEX, there are a few guidelines for nursing residencies, especially in the OR. First, this is a real-life nursing job. Whether you’ve had a real job before, had a nursing job before, or never worked a day in your life besides school, this is completely different. Now that you’ve finished with school, you’re back in for more! This time there’s more at stake and there are a whole lot of relationships, connections, and bridges you need to harness. This is where life gets tricky. How many times did you procrastinate and do that assignment late because you knew you could? Now every day you have something due, and it is mostly mental and physical muscle memory, not a tangible paper essay. How many times did you sleep in a little, roll into class late, maybe talk to your professor once a month? Now every day you must be on time according to the clock, every day you

Interviewing Advice for Perioperative Nurses

I recently got asked to discuss interviews and residencies. For the sake of space and time, I’m going to split them up into two different posts. Interestly enough, I have interviewed a lot in my life. Generally speaking, the only time I wasn’t sure I would get the job was my first interview and my nursing school interviews. Also interesting, the only interviews I thought I bombed where the ones I was offered. Let’s start with prep. You’re going to need a resume and cover letter, you will be asked behavioral questions, and you will need to thank with whom you interview. Pretty straight-forward, no-fail ways to set yourself up for success for this interview on your part. Whether or not you get the job is surprisingly, most likely because the manager does not think you’re a right fit for the environment. Honestly, you should be thanking them for not making you truck through horrible training, debating staying for 2 years to get your experience, and allowing you t

Obesity

 What happens when you see that vending machine? And you realize just how tired you are. Just how exhausted that case made you? How you really deserve a pick-me-up even though you know you're having spaghetti tonight and maybe that glass of wine too, maybe some cake if you can swing it? How you really deserve this candy bar. Right. Now?  When I first started my fitness journey, it was absolutely torturous to go out with friends. I couldn't say no, my will power wasn't strong enough. I wanted to eat like they did, feel the comfort and comrodary. But now Harvard Public School of Health has really done it. They've explained every tenticle in our obesity epidemic. It's an epidemic I promise you. When children don't even know what sunlight is, it's an epidemic. I know that we are not perfect, and humans will most likely choose the path of least resistance. I'm not trying to change those that are happy where they are (although I will get to them si

Compassion

Be compassionate towards everyone, including yourself. Tough day at work? You deserve a second to relax. And pose for yourself the question, what will make me relax? Maybe it's a quick gym session, cooking, talking with a friend. Whatever you do, do not ramp yourself about something else. There will always be time to take on the world, but when you are overwhelmed, it is not the best time. If you would not stress your friend out by doing x, y, or z, love yourself not to stress out by doing x, y, or z to yourself. <3 Do Good Only

Protein

My Fitness Journey and Relationship with Protein Sometimes you just want to get pretty and talk about it.

Protein

Let's say you track everything you eat for 7 days straight. You track your weight, water intake, and exercise. Your weight did not change. Now we've got something to work with called your basic metabolic weight. We know how many calories it takes, and roughly your macronutrient composition, to keep your weight constant. So then we can play with macros. Let's say you're 150 pounds and you're only eating 75 grams of protein every day. You're losing 75 grams of protein that could be used to satiate yourself instead of filling yourself with quick carbohydrate calories. So now we up your protein to 75 grams, which could be 400-500 calories depending on your protein sources, now we can decrease your carbs and fats by 300-400 calories and seriously cut calories over a week. We just need to create a 3500 calorie deficit over a week to lose 1 pound a week. Isn't math fun?! - Do Good Only

To Begin Anew We Must End the Old

Why Do You Deserve Health? Mary Alice Anderson, MS, RN, CNOR, NASM-CPT, FNS I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Even to this day, I try to focus on living and enjoying instead of anxiety and fear. That’s all it is, a struggle. I’m happy to have the one that I’m dealing with. In 2011 I started nursing school. Within 5 weeks, I was 21 years old, living alone in Dallas, failing my first test. I cannot remember for sure, but even if I started at 195 pounds (at 5’3”), I began that October at 217 pounds of too much Mary. Along with questioning my academic ability, I started to wonder if any patients would take an overweight nurse seriously. Especially when diabetic management teaching came up, who was I to tell someone not to eat the entire bag of Hershey kisses or drink the entire bottle of champagne? I didn’t flip 180 degrees alone. I sought help because this mental struggle was affecting my grades, note I did not say that I wanted to get healthy or look good, just pass my clas

Competition is Healthy

I got a new training buddy today. She has been out for a year with an ACL injury, and she moved to Atlanta to spend time with family. But she moved back to Dallas to find work eventually, and trained with Eric before. For having an injury, she looks very good. She has muscle tone and flat abs. She carries herself well, and I was not surprised to watch her keep up with me. I was worried when we moved to back squat, mostly because I was worried about her knee. She fell easily into the sets, and I moved swiftly as I do with a training buddy because I know, especially when it comes to cardiovascular endurance, I am slow. I panic and try to keep up with the others during conditioning sets, almost embarrassed knowing how slow I will be. It was funny, because at the end, even though I had to run to the doctor, I asked for her instagram and her number, and we chatted a little and she said she was impressed with my stamina. But she also acknowledged that she could keep up. It was an amazing and

Human Compassion

Today was a classic example of how your emotions can help or hurt relationships. I was stuck in my phone walking down the hallway at work. I had just changed into my scrubs, went to the bathroom, and I was heading to the break room to sit and wait to clock in and start the day. I happened to look up and saw the janitor twisting her shoulders. You know the look, eyes squeeze shut, hands opened but strained, maybe even an audible sigh. Some paths: least resistance, look down and pretend to ignore. We had already made contact, so perhaps I sigh and role my eyes too, the common bond of a sore body enough to make a small connection. Maybe even a sorry or some other haphazard phrase to build the strength of the understanding and empathy. But I didn’t. For whatever reason, I felt like a) she needed more b) she wouldn’t mind if I touched her c) I was empowered to provide for her in this way.  When I was next to her in the hallway, I put down my phone and reached for her. Her eyes were still

What is Your Health Worth?

You deserve more than that plate could ever give you. I bet you do not subconsciously think about why you feel like you deserve food. Many of us have been raised with the idea of food being much more than fuel to continue to work and live and breathe. Many of us were raised with dinner being the center-point of the day, when you were reconnected with family or as a much-needed relaxation from the hectic day. In my experience, it didn't help that my mother made dinner an obligation and my father actually being present (not at work or in front of the TV) that made dinner my favorite time of day. No wonder I developed a sincere and honest craving for a home cooked meal, because it meant love, not just food. That continued into college and it was only when I lived alone that yes, food remained a way to connect with others. But no, dinner was no longer a daily reminder that I am not alone in this world. Food may give you a little comfort, a flash back of a good memory. You

Be Empathetic. Always.

    When I ask you to describe a surgeon, what personality traits come up? Cocky, arrogant, abrasive? We’ve heard of those stories where the surgeon lost his cool, threw something, or made someone cry. Certainly, working with surgeons is not for the faint of heart. I would say that being a nurse is certainly not for the faint of heart. Calling a surgeon at 3 in the morning must take a lot of courage, if not sheer determination for patient advocacy when your patient is crying out from pain.     Perioperative nursing is different. In this case, you are the only one keeping the surgeon from operating. For better or for worse, your relationship with each one (level of difficulty increasing when your university hospital has upwards of 8 surgeons in charge of one procedure with varying degrees of superiority), creates the mood of the room.     We already discussed how the mood of the room can change, starting with the patient’s mood. And we will discuss how team work with your perioperative

Who Are You?

One of the main reasons I became a nurse was to help people. I absolutely, 100% feed off the feeling of being needed. Not many people feel this way, or maybe their feeling of being needed is expressed in a different form rather. I want to feel helpful. I want to feel useful. I want to feel like if I wasn’t here, your life would be worse-off.     Pretty complex concept. I rarely do anything that doesn’t have some aspect of being helpful. I love nursing, teaching, volunteering, mentoring. I realized pretty early on that the best way for me to help is to be empathetic and understand exactly what a person needs in that exact moment in time, accounting for their history, expectations, and fears.     For that reason, my external emotional intelligence is pretty strong. I’ve been working on improving my internal emotional intelligence, only recently learning that I have other needs besides being helpful that dictate my ability to be helpful. What a concept. I need to eat right and recharge th

Sleep.

My worst enemy. I feel sluggish when I have too many hours a night. I feel disconnected when I have too little. I can't concentrate at work, I feel worn down at the gym, I can't make myself do the school work. When people ask me how I do what I do, it's mostly because I'm able to control my hours and spend time only doing what I want to do. If it's school or meal prep or the gym or work, the hours are there and scheduled and maintained. Scheduled. Maintained. I'm going to have to work harder to make sleep scheduled and maintained. That means I might have to slow down on the concerts I go to. Spend less time on snap chat so that I can have that hour to work on that essay. It means I have to do, be on, be present, every minute that I'm awake. It's going to happen because it means so much to me. What means so much to you that you're willing to give up maybe 30 minutes of "down" time a day?

Perioperative Nurses' Health

It seems that these days, all current nurses are worried about the future of nursing. The researchers are worried about our relevancy. The educators are worried about clinical placement. The elders are either looking forward to retirement or stressing about leaving too soon. The mid-group is looking around for support. The youth don't even know where to look. And our students are lost, scared, and wondering why they got themselves into this mess? It's hard to practice what you preach when doctors are not the only person you must satisfy. Most often, nurses are working for the patient, the family, the charge nurse, management, and higher ups, while still focusing on minute details that could mean life or death. So how then, can nurses really focus on their own lives and creating a work environment that will best support all involved? In my short experience, both in life and in the perioperative field, those who are present are the most successful, well-liked, a