Last Monday was the first day of my oncology rotation. The rotation is only two weeks long, and I requested specially (in spite of a very long commute) because I knew it would be my only opportunity to learn about working with cancer patients.
I spent most of last weekend sick with another cold (I’ve stopped keeping track of them), but when I woke up on Monday morning, I was certain I was well enough to go in. I popped a decongestant, drank a lot of water, and got going.
I must have looked even worse than I felt when I arrived at work. My preceptor immediately asked me if I was sick. Midway through our morning orientationāprobably as I was blowing or wiping my noseāshe told me she was making an executive decision and sending me home to get well.
I was mortified, of course. As soon as I’d arrived that morning, I knew it was a bad judgment call to have come in. Had I stayed for the day, I’d have been working with immunocompromised patients, which would have made my drippy, febrile and sneezy state completely inappropriate. It was a perfect example of not seeing the forest for the trees: I was so focused on showing up on my first day and doing a dutiful job as an intern that I forgot my primary responsibility, which is to help people. Not to expose them to pathogens.
I’m grateful to my preceptor for kindly but directly helping me to see this. It was an important wake up call. As the internship wears onāand at this point, I feel like I’m stuck in the toughest stretch of a marathonāI find myself relying more and more on sheer grit and stamina to get through it. But I can’t lose sight of the fact that this is a deeply and fundamentally human experience: on the other side of my work and my efforts are human patients who need my good judgment and care.
And I’m human, too: a dietitian-in-training who wants to do her best work. However embarrassing last Monday felt, I’d made what I thought was the right call when I woke up. I soon learned differently, but that doesn’t change the fact that I was doing my best.
Compassion, empathy, gentleness: the internship continues to teach me how to extend these qualities to myself and others. It’s softening me in ways I didn’t expect it to, not least in the way I treat myself. Even if that were the only life lesson I took away from the experience, I’d call it time well spentāmy occasional cursing and complaining aside š
Wishing you a self-compassionate week, as always. Here are some recipes and reads.
I love when my friend Sophia makes Greek food on her blog! These baked gigante beans are bringing me right back to childhood.
This chili peanut stir fry bowl is packed with simple ingredients and perfect for weeknights.
I got an air fryer this winter. So far I’ve used it exclusively for potatoes, whichāas I keep telling peopleāis enough to make the appliance well worth it. I eat a lot of potatoes! Still, I want to branch out, and this crispy tofu recipe looks like a great place to start.
A simple, beautiful, and deeply green broccoli salad for spring.
I could always use another recipe for homemade baked beans. This one is oil free, easy, and looks just scrumptious. I love any recipe described as “sweet and tangy,” so I’m sure it’ll be up my ally.
1. It’s that time of the year when spring promises to be here, but wintery climate and wintery spirits drag on. I liked this article on coping with seasonal depression; it has creative, authentic tips from folks who live with SAD every day.
2. Important reporting from Mosaic on anesthesia awareness and the surprising prevalence of wakefulness during general anesthesia.
3. I had only the haziest idea of what a food web is until I read this article! So interesting.
4. This article on suicide among veterinarians is old, but I saw another, much shorter article on the topic recently that got me curious. I hadn’t given much thought to the longterm effects of the trauma associated with euthanasia.
5. Finally, some reporting in Popular Science on a new drug targeted to treat post-partum depression. I hope it lives up to its promise.
I’ve got a lightly sweetened, sneakily healthful cake recipe coming your way in the next few days. Happy Sunday, friends.
xo
The post Weekend Reading, 3.24.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.
I've shared these a few times on instagram and now I've finally put pen to paper to write the recipe. These sweet potato enchiladas are about the most comforting meal I cook, without an overload of cheese. The sweet potato and beans provide the filling while and easy homemade enchilada sauce brings it all together.
This recipe is involved, thereās no two ways around it. While Iāve tried to limit the amount of prep by relying heavily on pre-ground spices and garlic powder, this meal is heavy on components.
The great thing for you, however, is that all these components can be made ahead of time and used not only in this meal but meals across the week. For example:
Sweet potato puree, during the cooler months, is an automatic go-to. I make wraps, pasta dishes, risottos, and even my morning toast with a little help from a simple sweet potato puree. Make a couple-potatoes worth by simply roasting whole potatoes and scooping out the potato once cool. The sweet potato puree will last for up to 5 days.
Donāt want to use sweet potatoes? Any puree will do. Pumpkin or butternut squash would be my next two choices. You can also add in greens, sweet corn, or roasted tomatoes during the spring and summer months.
When it comes to beans, these are a riff on my spiced pinto beans (made a little easier in this enchilada recipe if youāre making the night-of). I love these beans as taco filling, as a toast topper, or as a topping to a creamy polenta bowl. I usually batch and use them twice in one week: once for these enchiladas and once in a grain bowl.
Similar to the beans, I make a much more involved enchilada sauce that uses dried chilis, toasted whole spices, and a slower cooking time. However, I wanted to keep this recipe as close to weeknight friendly as I could (I realize a 60-minute ordeal isnāt super weeknight friendly but these are so good!)
Enchilada sauce is a good batch and freeze project. Make triple of what I have here and freeze it in 2-cup increments. I love using this sauce to cook eggs in too.
Beyond the idea of prepping the components ahead of time, this is also one of my favorite meals to make for other people. Think new families! The entire dish freezes after assembly so the only thing left to do is bake (which will take about 20 minutes longer but other than that-everything stays the same!)
[tasty-recipe id="37893"]
The post Pinto Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas appeared first on Naturally..
Ā Hi friends! Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? Weāre officially on baby watch and I feel like a little kid heading towards Christmas morning. Baby August will be here ANY DAY and the girls canāt wait to meet their new cousin. Iām so thrilled for Kyle and Meg! By the time I write next weekās Friday Faves post, heāll be here!!
Other than Baby Watch 2019, we have some fun plans for the weekend: a soccer game with friends, girlsā night, date night, a birthday party, taxes (ew) and finishing up the house. This is in between the usual weekend fun of pancake mornings, staying in our jammies as long as humanly possible, and playing outside with the girls.The Pilot made a ton of progress on the garage while I was in Portland, so weāre just putting the final touches on everything in between hauling boxes to recycling and Goodwill. It will be so nice to have our garage gym set up again!
(Our lil garage gym from when we were in San Diego)
Itās time for the weekly Friday Faves party! Please shout out something youāre lovinā in the comments section if youād like to join in the fun.
This floss! Is it weird to be so excited about floss? I picked this up at the Beautycounter conference. In the shop, they had quite a few products from clean brands they love. I was intrigued by this floss since Iād recently heard that certain floss brands are not so great for you, and even though it was expensive for the floss world. I decided to give it a whirl.
The verdict? It has a gentle mint flavor and is a thicker strand so it feels like it really cleans in between my teeth. Floss isnāt usually something Iām that picky about, but now that Iāve tried the good stuff, I guess I canāt go back.Ā
Ā
My second Trunk Club delivery! (<ā referral link) It wasnāt quite as big of a home run as my first trunk – some of the sizing was off – but I LOVED this Madewell dress. It will be super cute this spring and summer with sandals and a jean jacket or with wedges and hoops out to dinner. You can check out my full review of Trunk Club here. I especially love it because you can see what theyāre going to send in advance (and decline certain items to be replaced by something else) and we donāt have a Nordstrom in Tucson. This gives me a way to have some items curated for me and try them on before I purchase. Itās like a lil Nordstrom shopping experience right at home. (Plus if you have a Nordstrom card, they waive the $25 fee! <ā this fee goes towards anything youād like to purchase)
Definitely check out this podcast episode with Shawn Stevenson and Chalene Johnson. Theyāre two of my favorite people – and huge inspirations for me in the fitness industry – and this issue was filled with so much truth, knowledge, and motivation. Ā
I loved this article with dad texts (and all of the heartfelt and hilarious comments).
Dinner party tips from the QUEEN.
A very interesting peek into the life of one of my favorite Peloton instructors.
Why RDs donāt recommend keto for weight loss or as a lifestyle (and I 100% agree with them).
Great list of mom hacks. I never leave the house without a snack bag.
Iām officially back on the acai bowl train. I recently grabbed one with a friend at Nekter and it was SO.GOOD. If youāre looking to make one at home, hereās my go-to recipe).
Ā
Ok I need to try this for an easy, savory dinner.
A Mediterranean chicken sheet pan recipe.
Prep & Pastry is growing. So pumped about this!Ā
A guided cooldown; perfect for post-workout.
Pick up those weights, friends.
My latest post for WebMD is here! This one is all about finding a workout that works for you.
Exercise can have a biggest impact on weight maintenance than nutrition.
Donāt forget to check out this weekās total body strength + HIIT video!
Ā
Happy Friday!
xo
Gina
Congrats to the winners of the sneaky lipgloss giveaway: @fit_lindsaymae and @wigglewoggle ! Iāll have your lip glosses on the way today and stay tuned for more sneaky giveaways.
The post Friday Faves appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Per request! Many moons ago, we made a summer cheese here. It was simple, had a few handmade components but was super quick to throw together. Since then, and especially lately with the holidays...
Please visit Sprouted Kitchen to view this Recipe.
At long last Iām able to give you a bit of an update on my recent health struggles! If youāre catching up, read this post and this post (and the comments) first.
Well, where did we leave off? To start, Iām so thankful to have found a great naturopath after not having an overly helpful experience earlier in the year. Iāve been struggling with my symptoms on and off for years now, so itās been a huge relief to finally get some answers! Slowly but surely Iām starting to feel like a new person. My recent tests showed that my hormones are a hot mess…estrogen is too high, my morning cortisol is way too low (hello, feeling like a zombie even after a decent nightās sleep), and one of my thyroid hormones is also too low. My doctor had suspected many of these results based on my symptoms, but it was interesting to see them on paper! Iām definitely no expert on this stuff, but I learned that when one hormone is off, it can impact another…and on and on the cycle goes, often throwing your entire system out of whack in the process. I felt such relief knowing that how I was feeling wasnāt just in my head all this time.
Itās so easy to push through feeling awful, blaming your symptoms on other things. I canāt even tell you how many times I told myself that I felt like crap because I was a new mom, or I was nursing and up in the middle of the night, or I was working out too hard (or not enough), or I wasnāt taking my vitamins, or my diet wasnāt balanced, or I was just feeling anxious about changes in my life. Some of those things may have been part of the issue, but I overlooked the real possibility that something beyond my immediate control was at work.
Dear self: itās okay to ask for help.
Speaking of which, my biggest regret is that I didnāt get help for my symptoms sooner. Itās easy to put off, especially when Dr. Google is at your fingertips. Everyone would tell me how important it is to take care of myself while raising two young kids, but most days I just pushed it aside and tried to rely on the fact that I am a generally healthy person who eats well and exercises. My mom and Nicole were the ones who finally pushed me to get help…we all need those people in our lives who look out for us! Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, but Iām grateful for this lesson and wake-up call. I may have ignored my bodyās messages for quite some time, but once I commit to something, Iām all-in, and Iāve been such a good āstudentā these past few months!
Taking the time to heal has set me back on some career goals this year, but sometimes thereās no better goal than good health. I actually canāt think of a better way to celebrate OSGās upcoming 10-year milestone than circling back to my journey to health, which is the reason I started my blog! Itās just another reminder that our journey is always changing and evolving over time.
Iāll try to update you again as soon as I have more to share, but in the meantime if you have any questions, or would like to share your own experiences, I would LOVE to read them below.
Oh, and I should probably mention this recipe before I go! My naturopath recently encouraged me to add more green tea to my diet, and this has been my go-to mix. I had requests for the recipe after sharing it on Insta Stories last week, so I decided to put it up on both the app and blog! I hope youāll find this warm, creamy matcha blend as calming and gently energizing as I have.
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4.5 from 6 reviews |
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You know when you wake up on a chilly morning and need a hot drink now? Well this is my go-to on fall and winter mornings (or afternoons!) when I want a change from coffee. The thought of this smooth, warm, creamy drink seriously lures me out of my cozy bed. I love how effortless this recipe is, especially on those half-awake, barely functioning mornings (just make sure youāre alert enough to operate a blender with hot liquid!). I love matcha green tea powder because it delivers calming, jitter-free energy as well as powerful antioxidants. Be sure to see my Deluxe Version in the Tips section below for a more decadent way to make this beverageāwhen I want an especially comforting treat, Iāll forgo the water and only use canned coconut milk.
* If using already chilledĀ canned coconut milk, add an extra 1/3 cup (80 mL) hot water to ensure your blend is hot enough (nobody wants lukewarm tea, if you know what I mean!). Be sure to stir the coconut milk before measuring.
** My preferred brand of matcha powder is DoMatcha Organic Summer Harvest Matcha Powder.
Deluxe Version: Heat 1 cup (250 mL) canned light coconut milk on the stovetop over medium heat, watching closely to ensure it doesnāt boil over. Once it starts to simmer and froth, immediately remove it from the heat. Add this to the blender along with the matcha powder (and maple syrup, if using).Ā Follow steps 4 and 5 above and enjoy your extra-creamy tea!
