It’s been awhile. The last time I did Bikram Yoga was over 6 months ago, right before I started developing my rashes. Then I got married, then the holidays came, and before I knew it… Bikram and I had become strangers.
I decided to go today after hours of studying. I was restless, the weather outside was perfect (crisp, cold, and gloomy), and I had been missing yoga for awhile. I looked at the online schedule and didn’t recognize half of the teachers’ names. So much can change in just half a year! It was a risk having to try a new teacher my first time back – if you think all teachers are created equal, I’m here to break that illusion and tell you NO, they are definitely not.
Luckily, my teacher today was amazing. Better than amazing. She had a soothing voice, was very helpful, encouraged me throughout the class, and couldn’t be funnier. Yes, Bikram can be fun (and funny).
As for me… I wanted to die halfway into the balancing series. We were barely at balancing stick pose and I already had to sit out a few times. The heat was getting to me. My stomach felt nauseous. My head was lightheaded. I felt the onset of a Migraine. I did not feel good.
But I got through it. I even got myself to do the triangle and tree to toe stand poses. No easy feat I tell ya. Once the floor series started I stopped thinking about the lightheadedness and just let my body bend and breathe the way it needed to.
It felt like the longest hour and a half of my life, but I got through it with dignity. At the end of it, my teacher even called me a superstar! I don’t know when I’ll be back, but for today I just want to relish in this accomplishment. Now back to studying.
There was an article in the NY Times today titled “Surgery for Obese Children”. Headlines are meant to catch a readers’ attention, and this one sure did its job. I think my heart stopped just reading those 4 words. Immediately, this internal dialogue played out in my head:
“What the Eff”
“You’ve got to be KIDDING me!”
“America and their quick fixes”
“Children still have so much life ahead of them. They can change their lifestyle NOW without going under the knife”
Trying not to jump too ahead of myself, I read the article through. It didn’t provide me any comfort. I understand that weight loss isn’t easy, but for those under the Age of 21, I think it’s just irresponsible for parents to allow their children to undergo such a drastic surgery. Dare I say that they should make a surgery like this for teens illegal? First of all, they aren’t even finished growing. We don’t know the implications of such a surgery on adolescents. Second of all, they are still young and can change their ways with proper guidance, and support. How about we start by adding P.E. classes back into schools while taking out the snack bars and soda machines?
Take a look at the trends I pulled from the CDC website. Close to 20% of our adolescents are now considered obese, but is surgery the answer?
I hope you’re reading this! The contact form didn’t work properly so all I got was your subject line. It didn’t capture your name or email, so here I am trying to find you in blogosphere. Please fill out the contact form again (it works now!) – I’ll do my best to answer whatever inquiry you might have had. :)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…” - Psalm 51:10
It is Christian tradition to give up something for 40 days starting from Ash Wednesday (that’s today!) to mentally and spiritually prepare for Easter. Lent is a time for Christians to re-focus their lives back towards Christ by giving up something that is difficult for them to relinquish – usually a distraction of some sort. Instead, the time that would have been allotted for ‘A’ or ‘B’ would go towards spiritual renewal and reflection (and just an overall better use of time).
Guess what I’ll be giving up this year?
This year I’ve decided to give up Facebook. I’ve thought about giving up Facebook for lent for the past 3 years, but always found a reason not to. This is going to be HARD for me. An inordinate amount of my internet time goes to Facebook, so for the next 40 days I’m leaving it behind. It is without a doubt, one of my biggest time sucks.
The soul is as important to our health as our mind and body, yet, it is one of the most neglected. It’s so easy to go on cruise control throughout our days without one moment of pause (sorry, vegging out in front of the TV doesn’t count). I know my soul is thirsty and I hope these next 40 days will be a time of refreshment.
If you do celebrate Lent, what are you giving up?
If you aren’t celebrating Lent, what distractions are cluttering your life that weigh you down?
“Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped” – Rick Hoyt
Rick Hoyt has a debilitating disease called Cerebral Palsy, and these are the lengths one father will go for his son. If you’ve never seen this inspiring video about Team Hoyt, you should. Still one of the most moving stories I’ve ever encountered.
Since 2009, they’ve accomplished over 1000 races together, including 6 Ironman competitions.
Have you ever witnessed a love so deep?
It is finished! Now it’s a waiting game to find out whether or not I beat the 2 hour goal I set for myself… It’s very likely that I was a minute off. :( Stupid me forgot the single most important thing (besides my running shoes) that I needed – my stopwatch that would’ve help keep me on pace.
(The start line of the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach)
This is my 6th half marathon. For those who have never signed up for anything like this, I highly recommend it! My husband and I will be running our 1st FULL marathon in San Diego this coming June (something I can cross off my bucket list). And we’d also like to try for a triathlon sometime in the near future.
I caught the running bug about 4 years ago after a friend convinced me to sign up for a “short” 5-miler. At the time, I could barely run 2 miles much less 5 – but I did it! Crossing that finish line was one of the best feelings in the world. It motivated me to set higher goals for myself, and I have been running ever since! If I could have it my way, I will be running well into my 70s. Next time I will tell you the story of a 65-yr old man I met who ran 2 full marathons back to back within 14 days of each other. How’s that for inspiration?!
P.S. GO SAINTS!! Don’t you love it when the underdog wins? I do! New Orleans certainly deserves it.
During the “research phase” of deciding whether or not I should enter the field of nutrition, I solicited the advice of several RDs to get their perspective on the matter. This is what one friend had to say:
There is so much to say about the field of dietetics, but I can give you a little glimpse of what it’s like to be an RD. There are pretty much 3 different directions you can pursue: 1) administration, 2) community, 3) clinical.
Administration allows for more career growth, and obviously more money in the long run if you want to advance far in a hospital or school setting. This includes management, budgeting, policy writing, etc etc. At the entry level, administrative dietitians will provide menu planning in a hospital setting, working with vendors, obtaining patient satisfactions, and some management for kitchen staff. This requires almost no patient encounters and interactions.
Community nutrition settings include schools, clinics, and public health clinics.. This may include fighting in the government policy level, program implementation for communities, policy writing, and grant writing. You will be able to affect change in a larger scale if you like. Usually, dietitians who are in outpatient education are included in this category. They work in hospital or clinic and work with patients 1:1 or conduct classes to educate them on disease-specific nutrition-related issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, etc etc.
Clinical nutrition settings are usually in hospitals or long-term care facilities. This is the setting I’ve been working for the last 3 years. In the hospital setting, there’s an interdisciplinary component where you are working with doctors, nurses, speech therapist, social workers to care fo a patient. The goal is to optimize the patient’s nutrition status. You see a variety of patients and make recommendations based on anthropometric measures, labs, medical history, and diagnoses. You also a wider variety of things such as, patient education, recommendations for tubefeedings/IV feedings rates, and making sure the patient is eating well. So far, I’ve been enjoying the clinical side as it is very challenging; there’s always more to learn and interesting cases to see! However, I’m actually in the process of possibly transferring to the clinic side, as the working schedule in the hospital settings require you to work certain weekends and holidays. I think for my personal well-being a more structured schedule is better for me.
I hope this gives you some insight to what RDs do. Please feel free to email me more with any questions!
This was so helpful for me! I didn’t know that RDs were so prominent in so many different fields. There are plenty of options out there for those like me who are considering this career path.
I don’t know how many of you read ABC’s recent news article titled “90 Percent of Eggs Gone by the Age of 30″, but it sure caught my attention. It reminded me that my body isn’t as young anymore and that time’s a tickin’. The biological clock is not just a floofy myth someone pulled from thin air.
When my husband and I discussed the idea of me going back to school, we brought up the kids issue. If I finish my degree by 29 will I get a chance to use it if kids enter the picture right away. It’s a risk we decided we would take. I know a lot of RDs enjoy 4-day workweeks though. I have faith in the future of our careers – that it will be more about telecommuting with flexible work hours than the standard “8-5 grind” we have now. Only time will tell though.
I’d rather have tried at something (in this case, pursuing my RD) and never put it to use than to waste my life waiting, regretting that I never attempted.
For those that want to know more of the science behind women’s declining fertility, here’s a good article: Beating your Biological Clock
Its been decided. I’m going to pursue that career as a Registered Dietitian! You might remember my doubts about this, but after attending Loma Linda’s Open House on Sunday… my hubby and I both agreed it was a feat that could be done.
This post is gonna be a headache for you. Bear with me.
Prior to attending the Open House, I was confused about what track I should apply for. Loma Linda offers two Nutrition tracks – one through their School of Allied Sciences and the other through their School of Public Health. The School of Allied Sciences gives you a Master’s of Science (M.S.) in Nutrition. The School of Public Health leads you to a Master’s in Public Health (M.P.H.) with an emphasis in Nutrition & Dietetics. Both can get me that desired R.D. title. After the info session, I decided that I want to apply for Loma Linda’s M.P.H. program.
Some things I learned about it…
Makes me eligible for the Registered Dietitian exam.
Allows for concurrent completion of the MPH degree in 2 years + 1 qtr (58 units + 34 corequisites).
Bachelor’s degree can be non-nutrition related.
Career options: hospitals, community & public health settings, food & nutrition industry, and sports nutrition & corporate wellness.
Includes supervised practice opportunities throughout the span of the program.
What I liked about Loma Linda was their desire to be hands on with their students. They don’t just let you loose to sink or swim once you enter their program. After a useless liberal arts education at UC Irvine, I knew this was what I wanted. Loma Linda also does a lot of missions trips around the world to help nations without good medical resources. Did I also tell you that if I become a student, all my medical and dental expenses will be free of charge?? What a perk.
Now comes the tough part of doing well in my prereqs and actually getting accepted into the program. My 2nd choice school would be Cal State LA’s M.S. in Nutrition. Loma Linda and CalStateLA are the only 2 schools in California that offers a CADE-accredited Nutrition program that also includes supervised practice.
Why do I want to stay in-state? Tuition costs for out of state students are DOUBLE those in-state. Yikes!! I don’t have that kind of money to burn.
