Confessions of a dietitian

Yes it has been awhile... I have a lot on my plate these days (no pun intended). Quick recap of the past couple of months...Brian and I celebrated our one year anniversary in May. Man, time flies! And in that time I have gained 8 lbs and 5% body fat..Oh my! It may not sound like a lot, but I can tell you, I sure don't feel as strong and healthy as I use to. When a patient says "I just don't have time for exercise and I don't have time to cook healthy meals," I always say "Make the time!" As I am now finding out...it's freaking hard. Even though nutrition is my job, and I spend hours a day educating people on what to eat and why to eat it, I didn't notice when I started to compromise my very own health. Blogs have been limited because I have not had anything positive to say about nutrition in my life, until now! I took my own advice and "made the time." I quit my second job, because this was my number one excuse when it came to skimping out on work outs and not eating properly. Then, I felt the need to get re inspired about nutrition. I turned to my patients for inspiration.

My week consists of helping people lose weight and begging other patients to eat. I work with bariatric patients, most of which have just undergone weight lose surgery, as well as cancer patients. The education that I share with most is very elementary.

1. Drink 64 oz of fluid/day. 
2. Avoid foods high in fat and high in sugar
3. Eat lean protein rich foods
4. Take a Multivitamin 
5. Exercise

Pretty basic, huh? Honestly, I can't check off a one. That is why I have started to take these nutrition guidelines and set goals for myself. It has been a month now and I have met my first goal which was exercising! I had forgotten how good it made me feel and how happy it made me. On Mondays I take a one hour body sculpting class; Tuesdays consist of a one hour spin class followed by a one hour pilates class. I'm so proud of myself because I have not skimped out on a class yet. My second goal is to get 64 ounces of water in a day. This is difficult for me, so I asked myself what would I tell a patient to do. Set times each day when you know you can stop and sip on a couple of ounces of water. For instance, I will make sure I get down 8 ounces of water before I leave my house in the morning. I'm aiming to have this goal met by mid December.

Set SMART goals: SMALL/SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, REALISTIC, TRACK-ABLE. My first goal was to increase my exercise. I started with a goal of two days a week and I gave myself till mid November to reach it. I'm more motivated because I have accomplished something.

Reevaluate and Go back to the basics when it comes to exercise. Remember to Enjoy it. I love Pilates and yoga because it is slow, controlled movement that allows me to move at my own pace and feel the benefit of the exercise. It is set in a calm atmosphere that helps me to re-less stress.

Keep reading as I continue with my mission: healthy Huggins!