Lunch had to be quick and on the go. I decided to see how this went: Green Machine Juice, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, and some protein powder too

It was DELICIOUS! Never have I been a fan of juice, but this stuff has spinach, broccoli, and a gazillion other nutritious things but its sweet not “green” tasting. This mix reminded me of sherbet… green sherbet.

Our Professor brought in treats to munch during presentations…

And dinner.. or not dinner…

I grilled Tilapia filets after rubbing them with olive oil and strategically placed Capers. The strategic placing didn’t matter much though…

Ah well. It TASTED delicious with Haricot Verts ( organic, frozen from Whole Foods), and Butternut Squash sections.

Dessert:

I spread Almond Butter on a Rice Cake with Sea Salt and added chocolate chips. I can’t believe how fantastic it was, like an explosion of texture, salty, sweet. Yum!

Body:
The weather this week is going to be really warm and apparently sunny so I figured I would do an inside quickie workout, just a half hour on the elliptical, back, biceps, and quads for strength.

Mind:
Class 12-5 ! In Medical Nutrition Therapy we had a Registered Dietitian that specializes in Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition ( IV Feeding and Tube Feeding). It was AMAZING! I am loving seeing all of the different possibilities within this field that are so “medical”, or rather, the clinical aspect of nutrition!

Tube Feeding Cans:

Talk about “meal replacements” …

Immediately following that was my presentation on RD’s that specialize in Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating. I am drafting a separate post about this, hopefully for this week. RD’s in this field typically get paid more because they usually require additional education in psychology, neuroscience, or counseling/social work. I contacted three professionals in this line of work and was astounded that all of them got back to me, even the “Guru” of research, director, president, founder of UNC Eating Disorder Program, The Eating Disorder Coalition, and The Academy of Eating Disorders. Seriously!? I actually got a conversation with this woman, who made an appearance on The Rachel Ray Show this past year!!

Soul:
Busy week but the warm weather is making me smile! I am also feeling so excited about the career possibilities that are finally falling into place!

This foundation held its 25th annual fundraiser, “Toast to the Triangle”, this weekend. A friend of a friend I had met this past year donates/ purchases tickets every year and I couldn’t have been more exited to accept the invite to go!

There are tons of silent auction items and raffles for prizes such as a trip to Las Vegas, Disney World, Spas… etc. The main goal though (aside from raising money) is to sample the best dishes, drinks, and pastries from the best restaurants and vendors in the area, who are in competition to win!

So we started out the evening with a local wine sample…

( This was a dry red but you could taste the Muscadine grapes used). They had several local breweries with beer samples but I just had to save room for all of the delicious food to come so I skipped the beer!

We started the sampling with a Tzatziki and Gyros ( minus the pita for me) from XIOΣ Authentic Greek, which is a family-owned Greek restaurant that imports wine from the island of XIOS (where their family is from).

They may import the vino but they make all of their menu items from scratch everyday using traditional recipes from the island of XIOS. We all loved their Tzatziki sauce.

Next was The Mint, which I have heard awesome things about so I was eager to sample their Truffled Mac N Cheese.

It was interesting, I loved the extra flavor of the truffle oil and fresh herbs. That flavor definitely made it more of an impressive dish. It reminded me of “out of the box” mac n cheese though! I was excited there was tons more to try!

Much better pasta was right across the way at Poppyseed Market’s table!

They did a Butternut Squash Lasagna, which was fantastic! It had layers of pasta with butternut squash, spinach, leeks and a creamy four cheese sauce with Goat Cheese.

They also had a sample of their Not Yo Mamma’s Pimento Cheese on Toast, which was good but I’m “Not Yo” average fan of pimento cheese.

I was a huge fan of this Black Bean cake though from Lucky 32.

They serve these with Corn Relish and Sour Cream.  The corn relish was a nice balance of spicy red onion, tomato, and sweet corn that does really compliment the Black Bean Cake nicely, which would definitely be a substantial vegetarian entree. I like that they note on their menu that it is vegetarian, and also  they have revised the recipe so that it is low in sodium and fat!

Now, I remember taking photos the next dish from Azitra because it was my favorite of the whole evening. However, it did not show up in my gallery. I will have to see what happened. It was AMAZING chicken curry and the meat was so tender, flavor was perfect. It’s a shame I can’t seem to find the photo.

Fosters is an American Grill that was featuring their Baby Back Ribs, which are slow roasted and served with BBQ sauce.

Great smokey and sweet contrast, although the meat could have been more tender.

My friend Jimmy and I split the samples from Giorgio, Braised Pork with Curried Cannelini Bean Stew.

We could not figure out what was in this!! I think my taste buds were easily and quickly overwhelmed by this point! I tasted the curry, but couldn’t place the other flavors that I think was just chive. It was sweeter rather than spicier, but not my kinda dish. This vendor was my first temptation of dessert, a Dulce De Leche Bread Pudding topped with Dates.

Good thing it was small- There are many desserts to come! As we moved on, we didn’t want to miss Ruth’s Chris!

Green Beans and Roasted Garlic (with butter too!) and a slice of what I am pretty sure was filet, but really, its from Ruth’s Chris- you can’t go wrong with a cut of beef from there in my opinion!

Isn’t it interesting the portion distortion, look at how big the fork is! It really was maybe 1 ounce of meat…

More portion distortion, this is not a normal size wine bottle ( 750 mL)…

It was huge, fake and bigger than a 2L Bottle ( Can you tell?)

Last of the entrees was the house favorite of Daniel’s Restaurant & Catering,which is Penne Alla Casa!

This is penne with a red sauce, cream, parmesan, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.The balance of cream was perfect, it gave you this hint of garlic, salty cheese but then tart tomatoes. Hmmm

Onto Desserts!

Daniel’s also had a decadent brownie, with chocolate chunks and fudgey ganache, covered in hardened white and dark chocolate.

We went around the corner for Rey’s Banana’s Foster. He made some fresh by lighting rum on fire in the skillet ( that is Rey with a big ol bag of brown sugar!)

reducing the alcohol, adding in lots of buttta and lots of brown sugaaaahh…

and it turns out like the pot on the bottom right:  banana pillows floating in their brown sugar rum sauce, just dying to be poured on top of ice cream.  Thank goodness Luke shared this with me- I had more to sample and could have devoured that whole pot. ( okay probably not)

and then there was CAKE!

Happy 25th Toast to The Triangle

Samples included:

French Vanilla Cake with Fresh Strawberry Compote and homemade whipped cream from Sugarland Bakery

Vanilla Cake mini’s with Strawberry Buttercream

Cinnamon Swirl Cake with White Chocolate Filling

I think my weakness is cake, the frostings and fillings are what get me. I am so particular, but I’m so glad there were three other people to share with me!

I wanted to have at least a taste of each one, and I did. I had about half of the bigger slice, which was the Cinnamon Swirl Cake with White Chocolate Filling, which I want to say is from Christin’s Cakes.

Oh my…. Are you stuffed yet? I was! Hope you enjoyed all of my taste’s of the Triangle from “Toast to the Triangle”!

The entree winner for the event, I believe, was from Giorgio’s, the Roasted Pork with Curried Beans that I shared with a friend. I have to disagree though, my favorites were Ruth Chris, Daniel’s, and Azitrias.

I finished my report on Registered Dietitians focusing on Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating. Yes, I will be doing a post in the near future about the differences between ED and DE and more of the role of an RD because I think its interesting too!

In a few minutes, I am heading to “Toast to the Triangle”, which is a charity event for children affected by developmental disabilities. This event features the best dishes and drinks from over 50 well-known restaurants in the area. A total Foodie event for a cause near and dear to my heart! A friend of mine buys tickets every year and since I just became friends with him recently, he knew I would love to attend! Should be fun times and FILLED with FOOD !

Tuesday our campus is featuring the movie FRESH in honor of National Nutrition Month. We are also hosting a guest speaker from Polyface Farms, which focuses on sustainable agriculture and really sharing the many faces of farmers!

Look for those upcoming posts probably tomorrow if not earlier!

I was lazy and efficient, mixed in 1/2 cup dry oats with 1/2 cup + of cottage cheese (the last of the container) and left it overnight to plump up. Added cinnamon and then grapes in the morning (and unphotographed almond butter).

Delicious and Quick!

For lunch, I had took leftover pasta (brown rice) and added mixed veggies (broccoli, snap peas) and a veggie burger all mashed up.

I found these veggie burgers that do not use wheat gluten as their main protein source and figured I’d give them a try

They are 100 kcal each, 14 g of protein and quite tasty in my opinion. Nothing like a 1/4 lb angus beef- but- heart smart. There are bits of carrots and beans you can see and I am excited about the other three I have left!

On the way home after a long day, I decided to grab Whole Foods salad/hot bar for dinner.

I put this together

by adding grilled rosemary chicken breast, roasted balsamic mushrooms, garlic marinated tofu, and lots of things underneath the greens ( cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, a clump of mashed sweet potatoes, and a piece of BBQ tofu)… It was delightful and so filling.

Body:

I rested Wednesday for those that are curious! My body appreciated the time to repair itself and I just had too much studying, tutoring, and preparing to do. I felt so well rested that thursday I ran 6  miles on the treadmill followed by another yoga class. This class was very slow, very focused on breathing and stillness/small movements. It was definitely what I needed!

Mind:

My coat was turned in! ( by who , we don’t know, but I’m glad they returned it)
My exams went really well ( I think!)
I started the 10 page draft on Necrotizing Enterocolitis
I have 2 out of 3 pages complete for the Career Report due on Monday, Phew!

My career report is on Registered Dietitans’ in Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating. I love the field of nutrition so much because there are just so many areas I can see myself happily working in.  I contacted a local RD that works with athletes and ED/DE patients and a few others as well. If anyone is an RD in ED/DE or knows of one that could help me with my report, please email me or comment!

Soul:

Back on Track. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed all at once with the amount of things that I would like to do, need to do, should do, etc. It can really slow a person down and have the opposite effect of being progressive toward those “to-do’s”.  I feel like one of the reasons I love this blog is that it is my “me time” to reflect. Reflection can be so empowering and almost “resetting” in a way. I feel I have been “re-set” , re-fueled, re-charged. However you want to put it.

Spring Break: 1 week

I cannot seem to maintain a box of these Puffins for more than a week. They go so quickly! I ate my puffins with fruit (pineapple and cherries) mixed right in. Did you know that pineapple is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties?

It is the naturally occuring enzyme in pineapple.

Bromelain, that is thought to not only help reduce inflammation but also aid in protein digestion among other properties. This pineapple could be useful when training- running tends to increase inflammation, maybe pineapple could help ( at least that is my train of though!) I realize its not in season or local, its frozen and inexpensive though!

I decided to take a Vitamin-D fortifed Portabello Mushroom Cap, fill it with marinara, feta, and cottage cheese- then heat all of that up for lunch.

I decorated the plate with other veggies too for extra munching. I think these mushroom caps that advertise their “sunshine vitamin” fortification are funny- Mushrooms should already be a great source of Vitamin D because they are grown in soil, in the sun… hmmm…I peeled an orange as well, and definately quenched a few slices before this photo!

Pasta was on the menu for dinner and worked well since I had opened the jar of tomato sauce already- I needed to use it!

I made a Trader Joes product filled dinner using brown rice pasta, natural hormone/antibiotic free/vegetarian fed pre-cooked chicken breasts (say that 3 times fast!) and TJ Marinara…

I also used frozen bell pepper mix from TJ to add extra veg.

Body:

8 mile Run and 1 hr Yoga Flow.

I headed to the gym from campus because I just love the tuesday Yoga class with Claudia. Unfortunately, she has started her own studio. Great for her, Bummer for me! The new instructor is pretty good, just not quite as challenging or seemingly sure of herself. I was very impressed with the class though! It was the perfect stretch I needed for after a random 8 miler on the treadmill. I’m not suggesting anyone just go and bang out random 8 miles though- Build up to it and take your time!

I had been scaling back on distance for the past few months, for many reasons: school, work, emotions. I was finally like, I need a long run!?!? Where have I been?!?! You know, that moment of clarity when you realize you have beens scarfing down the bag of chips or when everything clicks into place, that was what it was for me.

I had forgot about training and had just been maintaining. The run felt amazing though and put me in the mood for another race, I will have to look and see what is coming up with the spring weather!

Mind:

• Exam 1 in Nutrition Education and Counseling Today!
• Lab Practicum Tomorrow Afternoon!
• Career report on Eating Disorder Dietitians due Monday
• 10 pg draft due on Necrotizing Enterolcolitis due Monday
• Research Proposal due… well… asap

 I am working on a proposal for my final project, yet to be decided on practicum or thesis. I started taking Thesis hours but a practicum will get me out sooner. My advisor is heading to Peru this summer and suggested that I could go and make it my practicum. How cool!?!?!?!

I also found a study abroad program for May-June in Peru with Breast Feeding and International Public Health…. after talking with the Program advisors, they re-opened the application for me !!!! It seems like I will be in Peru this summer (!?)

Cannot wait for Spring Break! March 12th through the 21st !

Soul:

There is something about being heard and understood, about being the focus of full compassionate attention, that is in itself, healing.

I usual try to balance the carbohydrates a little more- Bananas are pretty high in carbohydrates. That’s not to say they are unhealthy, just a higher carb food. Pair it with carb-full cereals- and its not exactly balanced! I think the almond butter adds a little balance with healthy fats, but I needed some protein. So I did my usual magic mixer of protein mix into the almond milk to create balance.

For lunch on friday, I was on campus and totally knew better. I knew better than to go to the campus cafe and snag a to-go salad because every time I have done that ( twice) I have been really disappoint for the $5-6 I spend. I knew it, and did not follow my gut.

So I got this new salad they have, their old salads with grilled chicken breast, thinking the chicken looked tasty and I knew I needed protein. The nutrition information (on the bottom of the container) said it had 90 kcal and 15 g of protein. I opened the salad to find most of the veggies were translucent (the cucumber) or gummy or wilted (there were black mushy pieces of lettuce underneath), shredded cheese and croutons mixed in, and big slices of chicken.

The positive: The chicken was really good! There is no way that whole salad was 90 kcal though! Just too much cheese and chicken to add up.

I had gotten a side of fries too, my “splurge”, again, not following my gut telling me they probably weren’t worth the money. They weren’t- They were cold and had a funky after taste. Here is what I threw out from the salad:

It looks better than it did in person- that lime green piece at the bottom center is supposed to be a dark green pepper strip. I threw out a good half of the fries too but didn’t photo b/c of the grease. Blech! I wish I could have given it to a homeless person or something but I am also sad that I kind of wasted $10 total. I almost knew this, because I can go behind campus to Whole Foods and get a great salad at the hot bar/cold bar for $5-$8. It would have been so much better!

For dinner, I decided to grill some Mahi fillets that I grabbed at Trader Joes. The foreman grill worked great and I paired it with exactly what I wanted: a big salad and veggies with goddess dressing.

I have been craving fish for some reason… The Mahi Mahi fit the bill, finally felt satisfied after that dissapointing lunch!

After dinner I munched away on one of my new favorite treats-

This kettle corn from Trader Joes is so tasty! It is the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

One of the perks of popcorn, the bag gives you a huge portion for 110 kcal too!

Body:
5 mile Run…. I finally snagged new shoes. My knee started bothering me a few weeks ago, and my mind tells me that I just got new shoes 2 months ago so it must be over-exertion. Then… My gut says: Buy new shoes!  It’s funny because I didn’t pick up on it at first, but its been happening like clockwork every 2 months.  My gut knows that my shoes are no longer supporting my knee enough. So I did follow my gut finally and bought a new pair. Voila, I can run again pain free!

Mind:

My mind feels like its sizzled! I had my coat stolen in lab thursday afternoon!!!  Grr. It was one of 4 girls because the class only has 10 total. When I realized they stole the coat there were still 5 other girls in lab and it was not in any of their bags. My keys to the car and apartment were in the pocket- so I started freaking out. Well I went down the hall and thought to open the bathroom door in case the person ran in there, and found my keys sitting on the bathroom counter! There was a girl in their that had left lab and I think she had stuffed it inside her bookbag. I was in shock and saw the keys, and in an instant my gut said to grab that girl and take her bookbag down as she walked out the door. I didn’t follow my gut.

I called the campus police and not sure what will happen. It happened during a class, it was one of the students, and it was under the watch of the professor. I’m hoping for the best, if I don’t get my coat back, I hope the school will take responsibility for one of their students stealing a coat during their class and help me buy myself a new one. So much for “Honor Code”.

Soul:
So if that wasn’t enough, I went into work and I felt like my mind was everywhere, my soul was everywhere, and I couldn’t focus on what I needed to do. My performance suffered and I feel a well of emotions right now.

I just finished listing out the mistakes I made at work , what I should have done, what I could do for tonight’s shift. I forgot to put in an appetizer, which we easily fixed by getting it on the fly and all were happy. Apparently, the person that entered in the order for to enter in their desserts ( I got the blame for that but I knew it wasn’t me).  I felt like the second host in line was not communicating with me so I felt like I couldn’t do my job the way I should either, I didn’t know what was going on because she wasn’t communicating with me. I usually communicate what is going on for her, I would expect the same. She has worked the same shift as I have recently, and she forgot a salad for a to-go order. Not to point out her mistakes, but it somehow feels like my forgetting the appetizer is somehow more drastic than her forgetting the salad. Or for that matter, these same mistakes have happened with the others all the time but yet, mine are more noticed or something.

I can only work on improving my mistakes. I can’t change the other girls opinions of me or my performance, I can just do the best that I can and leave it at that. I need to follow my gut. I think that is part of why I feel so frazzled, I’m not following what my gut is telling me to do. Note to self blogosphere: Follow Your Gut.

My opinion is that if you intentionally make more at dinner to have through-out the week, than it wouldn’t really be considered “left over” because it has a whole other purpose than its original meal… like my lunch!   I packed up lunch and took it to campus wee early in the am so that I could spend all morning studying for my exam.

Our professor brought in several Post-Exam treats for us:

I had a chocolate covered almond and I think 2 non-pareils …:-)

She made turkey meatloaf using salsa, mashed potatoes with nonfat sour cream and smart balance, and fresh green beans mixed with balsamic vinegar & spices. We were so busy catching up while we put together our plates of potates and green beans that I forgot to photo the meatloaf ! Haha. 

We all experience pain, stress, anguish. Its often easier for us to leave, to avoid what’s really going on, and use anything else to get us away. The irony is that the painful part has already happened, its not the present moment we need to get away from. Instead of running, distracting yourself or starting a total different conflict, why not just stay ?

Stay with yourself, cry, scream and yell, feel as if your heart is being pounded on like a drum. Sit with the guilt, or the sorrow, get help from friends… I feel like I have always been the runner, in every sense.  In the past few months, I have certainly stopped running away. However hard it was at first and no matter what I did, it became  annoyingly real that at the end of the day: I was still alive. When I finally stopped avoiding, or running, or using things to distract myself , I now feel more alive than ever. 

I recognized those thoughts, but stopping running from those thoughts as fast as I could in the opposite  any direction.  I found someone that was not my past or my future, or my habits or my compulsions. I am getting to know this new person, and I feel like anything is possible, even living through incredible pain.

I managed to eat really well though! Here are some breakfasts

Cottage Cheese Oatmeal ( Oats mixed with cottage cheese and left overnight to plump! It was Jasmine’s Idea and it was a good one!) Peanut butter and Apple slices to round it all out!

Another breakfast:
Green Machine Juice and Puffins with Almond Milk

Lunches
Black Bean Dip with Melted Cheese- spread onto Corn Cakes plus a salad with buttnernut squash… and fruit!

A balance bar (while out and about shopping) + a banana & pb

and then after I got home, I had this guy

Dinners

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Rice, Portabella Slices, and Broccoli

and because I can’t do dinners like that all the time, I revert to…a Lean Cuisine ( Oh the laundry list of ingredients.. It does contain mostly pronouncable, whole foods though)

This fiesta grilled chicken wasn’t too shabby. Not my preference though fast, cheap, and easy!

Coworker gave me a valentines’ gift

YUMMMMY!

Body:
Friday: Yoga! 75 minute Podcast, I decided I am taking a break from Dave Faramar after this! I could predict what he was going to say (not with the poses, just with the extra chat), and that just bothered me!
Saturday: 4 mile Run on the Treadmill
Sunday: Strength : Back, Biceps, Quads, Elliptical for Cardio

Mind:

I finished a case study on JB, a college girl who has kidney disease. We had to calculate her energy needs while she is on Hemodialysis three days a week, and lives on campus at a small college. After calculating her total energy, I then split up that energy into carbohydrates, protein, fat and vits& minerals. Because our kidneys filter and maintain fluid balance using Phosphorous, Potassium and Sodium- JB cannot filter these the same or maintain fluid balance.

The hardest part? It was not describing the functions or amounts of medications JB needs or why. It was writing a meal plan for three days based on a college dining hall meal plan! Because students live on campus, they must participate in meal plans. If they make an exception for JB, they can for everyone. If they do not, they cannot provide JB with the food ( lawsuit!) she needs.

The menu for my campus was “Chicago Style Hot Dogs”, “Fried Catfish in Creole Sauce”, “Pepperoni Pizza”, and all other foods packed with phoshoporous, potassium and sodium! There is no nutrition information posted, so we had to figure out what to give JB, and the communication between the dialysis Dietitian and the campus Dietitian.

It was good prep for my exam on Wednesday in that class!
Yesterday I had my exam in Lifecycle Nutrition about nutrition during pregnancy, lactation and all the way up to toddlers. I think it went okay but I never know!

Soul:
Watched the movie “Couples Retreat” with friends. It was pretty funny though Im glad I didn’t go to a theatre to watch it! Man, I would LOVE to go to a tropical paradise right now! Spring Break is in two weeks, I fear I need to do work during it. :-/

I wish I had more inspirational thoughts as I have had the past week in posts but it is crunch time for me with exams, papers, midterms, etc. plus I am finishing up work at my job#1 so I am just trying to balance everything as best I can.

Balance.

Did anyone say EW?!? Okay I realize it might not be my best photography.

Man, it was delicious though! I microwaved the potato, topped it with peanut butter, some apricot preserves, banana slices, and cottage cheese as a dipper too.

Lunchtime was a mess! I worked all morning for job #1 ( yes its from home) and then also had to finish assignments for Lab AND prepare for assisting with the Metabolism class. I finally took a break for this guy:

A plum for a snack.  A little fructose for my workout!  Time flies when you are having fun, right? I headed back to my apartment about 40 minutes before I had to leave for lab. I showered as fast I could and put together lunch as fast I could.

As I scrambled 2 egg whites, and 1 yolk in the skillet, I put together organic greens, mushrooms, parsnip sticks and Wildwood Probiotic Hummus. Do you see the Parsnip sticks? They look yellow next to the corn cake. I just love the sweetness of parsnips, worlds better than carrots! I hate carrots. That just goes to show you, (future) Dietitians do not necessarily eat carrots AND just because you do not like one vegetable, does NOT mean you will dislike others!

Check out the Mind Section below for more on probiotics!

I doused on some hot sauce and had another new snag: Corn Cakes with Flax and Soy

These taste just like rice cakes but they were on sale and tasty! You will see these again on here!

Dustin at Wilwood Foods had sent me a sample package of their Pasta Slim noodles and their Probiotic Hummus… I am waiting to try the other hummus before I post a formal review but the low-fat flavor I tried today at lunch was really tasty, making it a good competitor with an additional benefit of probiotics.

I decided to utilize my products again for dinner! I tried the regular “spaghetti” noodles with some of the tomatoes from last nights’ pasta and paired them with a salad.

These had a little funny smell again. If you can get past the smell, which is not that bad but definitely something worth noting to those who haven’t tried these before, these are a pretty good trick for your pasta-brains.

Again, these noodles (shirataki) are made from Tofu, Water, Konjac Flour and some calcium additives. They are Gluten Free, only 20 kcal per serving and super quick to make. I disobeyed the package directions and heated them in the microwave. Meh… I’m a rebellious food blogger. They were still just as tasty if not better than last nights’ when I used hot water per the package.

They had the texture more similar to spaghetti squash, if you have ever tried that.  I love how many “alternatives to pasta” exist!  You can somewhat trick your brain into thinking this is a plate o noodles made from flour and they are filling for the little energy they provide. That is great for weight loss. However, if you truly want a plate of pasta- I say go for it! Enjoy what you eat thoroughly because its your journey in life.

Here’s My Journey

Body:

Just a quick and fun workout to get me going for my day. I know I have more time friday, saturday and sunday to get a longer workout in should I want to so today was Strength and Elliptical. Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Hamstrings today with 30 minutes on the ellipticizer.

Mind:

I mentioned yesterday that I turned in a draft of a 10 pg Research Paper for Medical Nutrition Therapy on Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Did anyone watch Private Practice last night? !?! It had a mom who gave birth to a premature infant with… Necrotizing Enterocolitis!  Before I get into that, I talked with my microbiology professor and I might change my thesis to researching breast milk and the probiotic effects for infants that get this!

Apoptosis is cell death, Necrosis is tissue death. Entero- is the pre-fix for the small intestine. Colon- um- it is the colon, which is the large intestine. Itis- When you have sinusitis… or appendicitis… itis implies inflammation. So… Necrotizing Enterocolitis is a condition of an inflammed small intestine due to tissue death in the gastrointestinal tract/digestive system. The tissue dies mostly from a lack of oxygen and is specific to premature infants due to their lack of development pre-birth ( that is the most accepted theory of cause right now).

What you do not see in the Episode of Private Practice is the Registered Dietitians in the NICU, this has been one of the careers I am most interested in pursuing, RD for NICU.  On the show, Dr. Montgomery ( celebrity Kate Walsh) knows it all apparently- and discusses the problem and suggests a bowel resection without showing the RD’s role in this. Ah well.

Resections are common for the most severe cases,  just as in Chron’s or Ulcerative Colitis, removed part of the colon which has the dead tissue could possibly restore better functioning than before the resection. When premies are born so early they are usually tube fed. Tube feedings can come with a whole other set of complications, especially in premies that have tiny tiny systems that are not fully developed.  They need an intact intestine to digest the food that is put in them… One of the ways we increase function of our intestine is with… probiotics!

My research paper is all about how current investigations (seriously current, like Jan 2010) on probiotics and prebiotics administered to these infants can reduce the inflammation in the GI of these babies and hopefully extend life/prevent death/ increase the chance of survival.

Soul:

I thought I’d share one my favorite new phrases is “Just because you Can, does not mean you SHOULD” . I feel like I should also say “Just because you CAN or SHOULD, does not mean you are READY”.

We are all on our own journey. While the setbacks might seem daunting at times or the triumphs infrequent and small, the journey- YOUR journey, is ongoing. You have another day to try something different, go back to something you missed,  or continue on the path how you see fit.

You CAN do many things, you SHOULD do many things, so when you are ready, you will.

No, not so much? I put almond milk with protein powder in the Bella Mixer ( magic bullet thing) because Almond Milk is a great milk substitute but lacks the protein we find in regular milk. Fruit today was cherries and raspberries, cereal was Puffins, and then I used the milk concoction to eat it all.

The milk turned red from the raspberries, it looked like those strawberry milk jugs.

My Mom could never get me to drink milk or eat yogurt when I was little. The only way she would get me to drink milk was to buy me Strawberry Milk (nope, not this great Organic Horizon Brand that is around now, I’m pretty sure it was Hershey’s and is not made anymore). I’m not gonna lie, I only liked it because it was PINK! It also tasted awesome, it was filled with sugar but it got me the calcium I desperately needed. Isn’t it funny how kids hate foods that are white, or love foods because they are pink? Ah, the joy of childhood.

I actually think that (as most people truly are mildly intolerant to lactose because humans had to genetically create the enzyme to digest cow products) I probably just didn’t produce enough lactase to digest the sugars in milk when I was younger.  Consumption of yogurt can actually help produce this enzyme through the fermentation of the healthy bacteria found naturally in yogurt.

Lunch from Whole Foods- I had a break between classes and didn’t have time to grab something in the morning before I left so I headed behind campus for some whole foods

Diversity is my post title, and well, what is not diverse about this lunch ?

Let’s see there is:

Kale!
Cabbage
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Chicken Curry
Quinoa
A few different Tofu types

I love getting lunch from whole foods, but it seems so outrageous in cost when I know what I can do myself. The power of knowledge and determination can really save you money!

Dustin at Wilwood Foods sent me a sample package of their Pasta Slim noodles and their Probiotic Hummus.

I decided to snag some extra veggies at Whole Foods today and try the Spinach Fettucini noodles for dinner this evening.

They had a little funny smell, kind of like spinach and kind of like tofu.

You can see they are made from Tofu, Water, Spinach Powder and some calcium additives. They are Gluten Free, only 25 kcal per serving and super quick to make. I could definitely use this fast and easy preparation… You just drain the noodles, place them in hot water, and then drain them about 2 minutes later like so

They come pre-cooked and tasted pretty much like regular pasta noodles, a little au dente and consumption-wise you can twirl them on your fork, etc. I am interested in how long I will stay full for this evening, so far so good (2 hours post dinner). I can’t wait to try the other flavor, and try the spinach again to formulate a proper review. Thanks Wildwood Foods!

Body:

4 mile run Tuesday – The apartment gym is so convienent!

Yoga Wednesday! Dave Farmar’s latest podcast is up but I could only fit in 30 minutes this morning. I am eager to finish up the 75 minute practice this evening.

Mind:

My mind almost feels as if it is a million places! I replied to a comment about where I work. It suddenly hit me just how slammed my schedule is, update nutrition curriculum for Job#1, four nights a week I am working 6 hour shifts as a service associate for Bonefish (job#2), I blog nearly everyday, and I have a full-time graduate student course load…oh yes, and I am a volunteer teaching assistant for Advanced Nutrient Metabolism. I could not pass that opportunity up!

Oh so appropriate.
Luckily, I have always had to be exceptional at time management. During high school , I was on four sports teams in one year plus student government and Im sure more that I cannot think of right now. Heck, as long as I could remember I have always managed my time best when I had the most on my plate to manage.

This week:
Draft of Lit Review section 1 for my Thesis: Done!

Draft of 10 pg Research Paper for Medical Nutrition Therapy- Done! ( Necrotizing Enterocolitis). On Monday we went to a Dialysis Center, which I was just amazed by the Dietitian there! She has over 170 patients, she assesss, diagnoses, and presribes the intervention plan for people with renal failure.
The most common causes of renal failure are obesity, unmanaged hypertension, and unmanaged diabetes (type 2). With rates of these diseases increasing every year, the rates of renal failure increase. This means we will also be seeing increases in Dialysis Centers and guess what, our tax payer dollars pay for that!  Some affected by kidney disease, genetically or otherwise, can benefit tremendously from life-saving dialysis.  Some people however, just leave their conditions unmanaged until they are forced into dialysis to save their kidneys.

Lifecycle Nutrition Class: We are on infant nutrition and breastfeeding. It was so awesome when a Lactation Consultant came in to discuss this and to add her presentation with our text material. I never knew lacatation consultants existed! Exam is next week!

I had to pick up a shift at Bonefish on monday, worked on tuesday, and will be working everyday this weekend again. I am super excited for a “night off” tonight and tomorrow but I have so much to study and catch up on!

Soul: