Week 2, Day #13

So, here we are again. Made it another grain-free, dairy-free*, sugar-free* week. * being for the exception I knew about (half and half in my coffee) and the few slip ups ("evaporated sugar" in the Greek Italian dressing (once), high-fructose corn syrup in the BBQ sauce (once) and sugar in the ketchup (three times)). Also, what the heck are sulfites? Because they are not allowed on the Whole30 and I had some of those in the form of plain lunch meat for a snack (once) and then I realized I should read the label before eating and not after. Fortunately for me, I am not following the no-slips-or-you-start-over legalistic Whole30 plan and am learning what is actually in the food I eat through this journey.

This week was fairly easy to stick with the plan. Again, it helps to have a little bit of a routine with work and not many current social obligations that involve food (events this week included a friend hangout time chatting/walking, prayer night, movie night with the roomie and her fiance, Sunday morning church, and kayaking).

Tuesday (day #8) was the first weigh-in and I was down 4.5 lbs. BMI dropped from 127 to 126.3. Today is finishing day #13 and the next weigh-in is morning of day #15.

And without further ado, here are the foods on the menu these past 7 days (and *gasp* I only took one photo of what I consumed).

Breakfast: eggs, avocado, sausage or bacon, and combination of tomato, spinach, and/or mushroom

Lunch/dinner: still had several leftovers from week 1 plan such as Thai Green curry, taco salad, brats, homemade potato salad, Asian slaw, fruit salad (strawberry, mango, grapes, peaches), and 1 pork steak.

Grilled pork steak (by my dad!), lettuce salad with strawberries, avocado, and balsamic vinaigrette, and fruit salad.

New on the lunch/dinner menu: chili garlic shrimp with broccoli and red pepper, copycat Panda Express chicken, zucchini, mushroom stir-fry (with coconut aminos), homemade gyro meat with lettuce, tomato, and tzaziki sauce (made with cashew yogurt), and roasted spaghetti squash with ground beef and Rao's sugar-free marinara sauce, and side salad.

Snacks: turkey deli meat, fruit smoothie (frozen mango, berry medley, cashew yogurt, and almond milk), whole apple (x 2) and watermelon (x 2)

Drinks: coffee (with half and half), green/peach tea with mint, La Croix (tangerine), and water

And that's a wrap for this week! Will be back in another 7 days to update on the progress!

Whole30 - week 1

Day 6. Today marks nearly one week done with my second round of Whole30 (with a few modifications) - the last time being three years ago. Now that I've reached my goal of paying off my student debt, I've decided it's time to have some self-discipline in another area of life and get my weight back under control, both for myself and to serve as a good example to my patients.

Although the goal of Whole30 is not to lose weight, I am using it to do so as it give me a good plan on healthy foods to eat with limitations on foods that sometimes are not as good for me in the quantities I eat them (ah-hem, *bread**sugar*). Neither time have I been totally strict, although I mostly hold to the guidelines set out on their website. https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/

So, what can you eat on Whole30? Fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, oils/ghee, and nuts (excluding peanuts which are legumes). What can you not eat? Grains, dairy, legumes (including any beans except green beans or green peas, soy products, and peanuts/products), added sugar in any form (including natural forms such as honey), and alcohol. What can you drink? Water (with fruit or vegetables such as cucumber, lime, strawberry, etc), plain tea (can add fruit or mint for flavor), and nut milks (coconut, almond, cashew), and sparkling waters such as La Croix or Bubly. 

Ok, time to be uncomfortably vulnerable. On Day 1 (5/26), my weigh-in put my calculated BMI at 27 (healthy being 18.5-24.9). (Want to find out your own BMI and what it generally means? Check out this link: CDC BMI Calculator). Despite Whole30's recommendation to only weigh at the beginning and end of the 30 days, I weigh every 7 days to see progress and have motivation to continue.

What are some secondary outcomes I have besides a healthy BMI or, as Whole30 calls it, NSV (non-scale victories)? Comfortably wearing my summer wardrobe I already own, being more content with my appearance in photos, and having normal cholesterol levels when next checked (last labs were normal three years ago when we were encouraged to have them checked after Dad's massive heart attack at a young age). 

How do I figure out what to eat? I've found the only way not to fall off the band wagon is to plan, plan, plan. For me, that looks like weekly menu planning, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, and packaging of meals for the week. I also have found it helpful to have easily accessible snacks in case hunger hits quick and I'm tempted to buy food at work or on the way home. Often I need a snack before bed too. Most of my recipes are from Pinterest; the rest I modify from favorites I normally make or make up my own recipes based on allowed foods. 

For those who might be interested in what my menu has looked like the past week, check out the following:

Breakfast: 

-Scrambled eggs with various combination of bacon or sausage, avocado (1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 depending on the day), and/or grilled mushrooms

Lunch/Dinner: 

-Thai Green Curry with riced cauliflower (my favorite recipe I've found so far is http://www.foodreference.com/html/green-curry-1008.html, I tweeked it a bit (keffir lime leaves are hard to find, mushrooms were already allocated to other recipes, and I didn't put in the sugar) and used a pre-made Thai Kitchen green curry paste instead of making my own) 

Empty, clean jar (dug out of the recycling pile as a photo for this post was an afterthought).

Thai Green Curry with "riced" cauliflower

-Lettuce wrap tacos with tomatoes and avocado and homemade salsa verde avocado (Joanna Gaines' recipe) or hot sauce.

Joanna Gaines' recipe featured in a recent Magnolia Journal article.

-Chicken salad with pecans, apples, and grapes, and fruit cup (cantaloupe, honeydew melon, grapes)

-Jimmy John's Vito on a lettuce wrap (no cheese)

-Brat with ketchup  (I draw the line on buying additional Whole30-friendly condiments, a little sugar in my ketchup is ok with me), homemade mustard potato salad (https://www.wholekitchensink.com/whole30-mustard-potato-salad/ although I left out the onion, red pepper, and celery as it was a spontaneous recipe and I didn't have everything at home), and homemade Asian slaw (minus sugar in the dressing). P.S. I am so excited about the change to include white potatoes on Whole30 since the last time I went through the program!

Brat, homemade potato salad and Asian coleslaw, and grapes

Snacks:

Fruit: grapes, raspberries  

Smoothie: frozen mango, frozen cherry berry medley, almond milk, and vanilla protein powder (I realized after I made the smoothie the powder had a tiny amount of some form of added sugar, *oops*) 

Turkey lunch meat, tomatoes, strawberries

Drinks: 

-Water, water, water! 

-Coffee with splash of half and half (*not Whole30 approved*)

-Hot spearmint tea

-Tangerine La Croix

What did Whole30 teach me last time? 1. Food is highly social. It's hard to socialize in America (and other countries) without eating together. I had to bring my own food or eat prior so I wouldn't be hungry and tempted to eat foods not on my plan. 2. I often eat what is convenient or tastes good whether it is good for me or not. 3. I developed the ability to recognize the sensation of hunger more acutely than when on a high-carb diet. Often I eat because it's time to eat or I know I will be hungry later if I don't and won't have a chance to eat then - on a lower-carb diet, I tend to be hungry every 3-4 hours making it easy to eat only when hungry. 

This time? So far, with being more isolated due to social-distancing guidelines/limitations and less social gatherings in general, it's been fairly easy to stick to the plan. It's also so much easier to eat high counts of fruits/veggies when it's summer because food is more accessible, fresher, and cheaper! Also, I have a good income and low living expenses in general making it possible to absorb the higher cost of fresh produce and more expensive proteins (as beans and legumes are taboo on this plan). 

That's it for now. Until next week!

Death and Life

I think I think more about death than the average Joe. I mean, after all, part of my job is to consider medical conditions that are common or could kill and treat as appropriate depending on the situation. I re-certify  basic life saving (BLS/CPR) every two years. My differentials must take into account anything that could emergently threaten life by significantly affecting brain, heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. In PA school, I took classes on the ethics of death and dying, discussed DNRs and living wills, and became intimately familiar with our roles of fighting back the aging process in so many ways - diet, exercise, medicines, and surgeries.

That being said, the past week has been particularly filled with thoughts of death. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not thinking of my death particularly, just death in general.

One of my “life goals” of the past few years has been to observe an autopsy. Morbid, I know. Initially, my interest was probably started by watching shows like Bones and NCIS. Since then, my interest has been fueled by reading books like Beyond the Body Farm, Stiff, and Working Stiff. During my first year of graduate school, our pathologist who lead our small group invited us to watch an autopsy if we wanted.

It’s been four years since then, but last week I was finally able to take a day and observe two different cases. We are sworn to secrecy regarding the cases, but I can say I saw two cases and it was fascinating to compare the two people and think about what their lives must have been like while they were alive. Both were the same gender and both likely died of lifestyle choices and not “old age.” They were both different decades of life and different levels of health - one being relatively healthy and the other showing signs of chronic illness.

It felt like a mix between surgery and anatomy lab. Like surgery, we had to wear a ton of personal protective gear like gloves, gowns, booties, and hats, but it was more like anatomy lab as the organs were dissected out, weighed, examined, and preserved without need to keep someone from bleeding out, having scars, or worrying about risk of infection to the person.

It was intriguing to learn they can run many labs using vitreous fluid from the eye if there is not a way to run it using post-mortem blood. They can check this way for kidney function, sugar levels, and other common tests.

As they walked through the process of examination, cleaning, cutting, removing, and weighing, it was only natural to question what would they find if it were me lying there. The pathologist relayed all the staff think the same thing - if someone was to find your body dead in the woods and without witness or ID and brought it to an autopsy lab, what would be your identifying features? Scars? Tattoos? Implanted devices such as pacemaker or joint replacements? Dental records? It’s so fascinating to think how we all have lived different lives and our bodies reflect our story - our genetics, experiences, and choices.

Last week I also read a novel called Scythe. It’s a story set in the far future in a world where there is no death. It’s not perfect (aka not heaven), but there is no fear of dying from murder, age, illness, or accidents. A separate group called the Scythedom is tasked with killing a certain quota of people per year to prevent overcrowding and the story follows two teenage apprentices to one particular Scythe. The novel brings up all kinds of ethical questions and discussion topics and was a fascinating read.

On the flip side, the past week has also included incredibly happy moments of life. My second niece was born one week ago. Within minutes of her delivery, my sister had hemorrhaged more than half her blood volume and was whisked off to the OR to save her life. After two hospitals, two ORs, and an ICU stay, she was stabilized and transferred to the mother/baby floor for another 48 hours before discharging to home. My mom and I dropped everything and flew out the same day, not knowing if she was going to be alive once we got there. Praise be to God for his kindness, she was. My sister is back home and considered a “normal” post-partum recovering mom at this point. My little niece is perfect and this story turned out to have a good end.

Life is brief in the grand scheme of eternity. Death is but an entrance to perfect, joyous eternal life for those who love Jesus and have accepted his offer of reconciliation.

John 3:16-18, HSCB, "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God."

Year-End Review 2018

What?!? It's 2019 already. Well, Happy New Year!

It's the time of the year when most (or at least some) of us look back over what's occurred the past 12 months, reflect, and process the past while then turning our attention to the future. As I've casually surveyed my friends, I've found some do not like to create resolutions or use the start of the calendar year as their milestone for creating goals, but as someone who has always liked doing so, I've kept with the tradition.

So, with that in mind, here's an update on my year 2018.

Work-wise -

Our company officially was absorbed by the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC) and we became UIHC employees in July. Celebrated 3 years working as a physician assistant on August 3rd! Mentored two athletic training students and oriented several new providers to Quickcare. Kept up with required continuing medical education by reading AFP journals every 2 weeks, attended a conference on youth sports injuries in Cedar Rapids and a conference on interpreting labs in Des Moines. Renewed by BLS certification this summer. Started getting involved with reviving a local chapter of CMDA in Iowa City. I also took a 6-week online medical Spanish course from the local community college.

Soul-wise -

I started and have nearly finished (here's looking at you Hebrews, 1-3 John, and Revelation) a chronological Bible I received for Christmas last year. It's been such a fascinating adventure reading chronologically vs cover-to-cover as I've done in the past and it's helped put the books in their historical perspective. Besides personal study, I was also able to finish out a semester of BSF studying Romans in the spring and joined a gals' study going through Jen Wilkin's God of Creation guide for Genesis 1-11 in the fall. I was on the grading/mentoring team for Perspectives the first 16 weeks of the year, volunteered in children's Sunday school over the summer, attended a weekend conference put on by Without Borders in Sioux Falls, and sang in the women's choir for a church event for Christmas. Switched from Grace Community church to Veritas in October and have already felt so welcomed, especially by our women's ministry director.

Life-wise -

I've been incredibly blessed to spend so much time with family this year. My sister, bro-in-law, and niece visited Missouri/Iowa twice and I made it out to see them twice as well. I've been to see my parents in Missouri 8 times (including one for my grandmother's funeral) and we all took a family vacation to Virginia in July. Our family buried a beloved dog in April and learned to open our hearts to a new one in September. Found out I was going to be an auntie (again!) and heard my niece call me by name for the first time. I've continued to keep up with cello lessons and auditioned (although didn't make the cut) for the church worship team on keys.

Travel-wise

I love to travel (near and far) and this year was no different. The few big trips this year were to Peru for a medical service trip with Compassion Link in May, family vacation to Virginia in July, and a New England/Northwest foliage tour in the fall with a friend where we visited (Boston) Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Quebec (Canada), New Hampshire, and Maine. Other states visited this year include Illinois (5 times to fly out of airports), South Dakota, Nebraska, Maryland, Washington D.C., and, of course, Missouri.

States visited this year - 2018.

This year also included some fun, quirky, local, small-town events or places in Iowa such as Eldon's American Gothic House, Fairfield, Pella's Tulip Time, State Center Rose Festival, Traer Salt and Pepper Shaker Gallery, Riverside's Trek Fest, Le Mars Blue Bunny Ice Cream Shop, Sioux Center/Dordt College, the Iowa State Fair, Tipton craft fair, Solon Beef Days, and the Russian Festival (Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra). Hit up the local events in Iowa City area as well including the North Liberty community garden planting party, the Iowa City Arts Festival, Jazz Festival, Rock the Chalk, and Vue's first Fridays dueling pianos. Also, experienced some authentic Indonesian food when a friend's Oma came into town and made us all lunch.

Reading -

And last, but not least, I've been able to get some reading in this year around my long hours at work, fun travels, connecting with friends in the area, and (sadly) Netflix binges. If you'd like to see this year's list, here's the link. 

Looking forward to the next 12 months. Among many things on the dreams/goal list, a few are worth mentioning now.

• Becoming an aunt again to a niece or nephew due in March
• Traveling to Zambia with Compassion Link/EU in May
• Trying to reach goal of reading a book a week for a total of 52 books in year 2019
• And hopefully knocking out my last two US states to visit: West Virginia and Hawai'i

Book List 2018

Books Read in 2018

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4) – J.K. Rowling
2. Daring to Hope: Finding God’s Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful – Katie Davis Majors
3. Wonder – RJ Palacio
4. South America – Mary Virginia Fox
5. Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu – Ted Lewin
6. National Geographic Countries of the World: Peru – Anita Croy
7. Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff – Chip Gaines
8. Peru – Emilie U Lepthien
9. Machu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas and Their City in the Clouds – Elizabeth Mann
10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) – J. K. Rowling
11. 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You – Tony Reinke
12. The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After – Clemantine Wamariya
13. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey – Jill Bolte Taylor
14. Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age – Sherry Turkle
15. The Story of Ferdinand – Munro Leaf
16. The Mountain Between Us – Charles Martin
17. A Boy Called Dickens – Deborah Hopkinson
18. Charles Dickens and Friends – Marcia Williams
19. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6) – J.K. Rowling
20. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis – J.D. Vance
21. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (#7) – J.K. Rowling
22. Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
23. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit – James K.A. Smith
24. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics – Daniel James Brown
25. The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State – Nadia Murad
26. National Geographic Night Vision: Magical Photographs of Life After Dark – National Geographic Society
27. Sunny (Track, #3) – Jason Reynolds
28. Austenland (Austenland, #1) – Shannon Hale
29. Midnight in Austenland (Austenland, #2) – Shannon Hale
30. Ghost (Track, #1) – Jason Reynolds
31. The Book of Emma Reyes – Emma Reyes
32. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
33. The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis – and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance – Ben Sasse
34. Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate

Partial reads:

1. No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria - Rania Abouzeid 
2. The Radium Girls - Kate Moore 
3. The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It -  Jonathan Quick, MD, and Bronwyn Friar 

Green = children’s books

Red = audio book

April: From the Latin verb aperire "to open".

So, what’s new in the life?

Well, I’m back from Peru! Which is another story for another blog...

Also, I’m officially another year older. And this time it’s also a new decade milestone. This year I decided to not take off work my actual birthday because, let’s face it, it’s no fun to spend the day alone while all one’s family is out of state and all one’s friends are gainfully employed and at work. The weekend prior to the big day, I went home to spend time with my parents celebrating. After all, they are the reason we are able to celebrate the day anyway. Birthday festivities included going to the movies to see God’s Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness, lunch at El Jimador eating delicious Mexican food and consuming amazing chips and salsa, and making the traditional Baston chocolate cake. (The day after my birthday two friends and I celebrated by getting sushi for dinner!)

The entire weekend was not roses and butterflies though. Our sweet, faithful golden retriever Molly lived her last days. It is incredibly hard to have to part with a pet who has become so entwined with the life of the family she is practically one of us. She was nearly 15 years old, which is quite the life for a purebred. We miss her immensely, but I am glad I was able to be there for her last days and to support my parents with their loss.

I’m still chipping away at two books I’m reading relating to how technology, specifically our phone, is influencing our personal and sociological lives. The first is called 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke and written from a Christian worldview. The second is an audiobook called Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. I first heard about this book from Jefferson Benthke, a christian author and speaker who reads voraciously and recommended this title. It’s research is complementary and presented from a more “nonreligious” point-of-view.

What am I listening to? My most recent fave is from the new Hillsong album, Wonder. The song is “So Will I (100 Billion X)” and the lyrics are profound in a poetic way. Check it out:

Work has finally gotten over the peak of the awful winter season of crazy flu. We’re starting to settle into the spring season of allergies and injuries although it has snowed twice this week, so it’s still a little premature to use the term “spring.” Speaking of weather, here are a few fun/painful pics I came across in my social media feed earlier this week. So accurate.

Getting to the end of the “school year” of both my BSF Bible study in Romans and the Sunday afternoon Perspectives course at Grace. Still slowly, but surely, advancing with cello lessons, and the Hebrews Bible study.

A few exciting upcoming events in the next few weeks on my calendar!

• Secret Church Simulcast at Parkview Church 
• Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa 
• Crescent Project: Without Borders in Sioux Falls, SD
• Visit to North Carolina  see my sister, brother in law, and niece!

And with that, consider yourself updated for now.

A Week (or more like a month or two?) in the Life

Long time, no blog.

Just like most, I was celebrating with family and friends throughout the holiday season. And work never stops. So, now that we've made it to what I typically dub the slowest time of the year, it's time to catch up and refocus.

Spent Thankgiving day with my parents and mom's side of the family for two days. It's been the first Thanksgiving in three years I've been off work long enough to make the trip and it was fantastic!

Two weeks later, I headed south again, joining the parents for the trek down to Branson for an early Christmas gift to them from my sister and me - a day at Silver Dollar City during the Christmas season. We also we able to experience the Sight and Sound Nativity production and eat at Lambert's, which were both super fun.

Although I worked Christmas Eve, I was able to make it to 22 minutes of our 30-minute Christmas Eve service in Jefferson City, MO. Had the most relaxing Christmas Day I can remember in the longest time, just staying home and enjoying each other's company.

New Year's Eve was spent with a few girls playing games, snacking, talking, and watching the ball drop in NYC.

Traveled back to Jefferson City, MO the first week of January to spend time with the family while my sister, brother-in-law, and niece were visiting. It was wonderful spending time with them since we hadn't seen each other for about 7 months.

Thought about putting a more dignified pic in, but this is legit happiness. My shirt says, " I NEVER DREAMED, I WOULD BE A SUPER COOL AUNT BUT HERE I AM KILLING IT." Josie's says, "My Aunt Loves Me."

Please note the baby drool all over my pants.

Modern-day chess. Who needs a board when you have a phone?

Having a baby in the house makes things pretty interesting.

Updated auntie/niece selfie. Last one was taken when she was 1 month old.

So, what's up with life now? Pretty much back in the normal routine. Still taking cello lessons once a week, attending two Bible studies (Hebrews and Romans), the occasional trivia night, and social gatherings.

Our work schedule has changed in the past week from two early/two late shifts a week to four late shifts a week, which has been an adjustment. Honestly, not sure I could say I'm completely adjusted yet.

Signed up for a gym for the next several months. There's just something non-motivational about subzero weather and exercising outside. So, I took the plunge of commitment and now have a warm place to be active. Planning to start training for a duathlon this year, but for now, enjoying group classes.

What have I been:

Reading? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (audio), Of Mess and Moxie (audio), Wonder, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, daily Bible reading and Bible study passages

Listening to? The Greatest Showman soundtrack, Jackie Evancho, Wicked soundtrack

 Watching? The Night Shift (Netflix), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Celebrating? My roomie's birthday! Not missing some critical diagnoses with patients in clinic this past week.

Learning? When a car won't start at 9:30 PM during a Walgreen's run, it's not always the fault of the battery or alternator but the starter. (True story, thank you road side assistance.)