Happy Birthday Nolan!

Today's post is not about nutrition but a special one for someone who is very important in my life, my boyfriend Nolan. Today is the 2nd anniversary of his 21st birthday aka 23 years old! This is also the third birthday I have gotten the pleasure of celebrating with him. The first birthday came not long after we started dating just about 2 1/2 years ago. My how time flies. 


Unfortunately, or rather fortunate for him, I will not get to celebrate it with him today as he is sitting on the beach in Hilton Head relaxing with the boys. Lucky him! and what do I get to do today? Go to work and come home to a disaster of an apt. to unpack. I'd appreciate if you brought me back some sand in a bottle so I can feel like I was there. Although thanks to modern technology I will get to see him via video chat. As soon as he get's home I will be right there to shower him with gifts and desserts to celebrate. You only turn 23 once, right? 


I usually give 2 gifts, one that he really wants and then one that is something a little more meaningful that I have made. My most recent crafty gift was framing the trail maps for the mountains we skied on in Aspen. It was a big hit but, I think this crafty birthday gift tops them all. I'm so excited that I am forcing my fingers not to type out what it is. Once he gets the gift I will surely share with all of you. Those of you who know...shhhhh. 


 Happy 23rd birthday to my best friend and boyfriend Nolan. I can't wait until you get home to celebrate it with you. I love you.  

It's All Over...For Now

A lot has happened in the past week which would be the reason for my lack of blogging. And no internet access might have something to do with it too. The two days I have been anticipating all month have finally arrived...and left. Move day was successful and I have many people to thank. I would like to thank Nolan and my brother for doing all the heavy lifting, It was nice coming home from menu planning to see all the furniture moved. My dad for supplying gallons of water (literally), lunch, and unpacking my kitchen. Thanks to my mom and sister who came the next day and helped me unpack and clean. For all of you out there who have not yet lived without roommates I would like to share with you the best perk I have discovered so far: I have the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry ALL to myself. With as much cooking as I do, one shelf in my old fridge would never be enough. As my roommates can attest to, my food would often share a shelf with theirs. Although I will miss having roommates it's exciting to say I have my first very own apartment. 


Next, The MOW project is finally over and I can breathe again. This project was a huge learning opportunity and let me tell you, I learned a lot. The most important thing I learned: as a dietitian, I do not want to be making cycle menus. Today, the director of MOW spoke with us again and let us know that they give 225 clients therapeutic meals in the area and they will now be serving 5 clients in the local KY area which will hopefully be a stepping stone for more to come. I took this to heart seeing as we are there for the clients to provide them with a variety of meals to better their quality of life and even just bring a smile to their face that day. 


Now that orientation is over and I don't start rotations until September 26th my blogging during the break will be sharing recipes I discover or fun workouts I do, as I hop on that bandwagon this week. 

Meals on Wheels: The Final Days

The MOW cycle menu is coming to an end. We present our menu on Thursday and I think we are all happy to be that much closer to being done since we are going stir crazy and our creative juices are no longer flowing. It's bee a lot of hard work, staring at a computer, and rearranging foods but at the same time it's exciting to know that MOW really appreciates what we are doing. I just hope the panel loves our menu and there aren't many changes to be made (keep your fingers crossed!). This week we will also be attending a seminar. I can't remember what it's about but, come Wednesday you'll be hearing all about it. 

Just to add a little something, I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big brother, Stephen!! He's the big 2-5 today. Over the weekend we had a birthday celebration that wouldn't have been complete without tons of FOOD. Although it may not have been the healthiest of meals, it sure was delicious. All things in moderation, right? Stephen roasted a pork butt for 15 hours complete with homemade BBQ sauce. Mac and cheese was made by my mother (my favorite cooking partner) and I. There was also coleslaw, fruit salad, and corn on the cob. If your going to do it right, do it the Pestian way....all homemade! and if theres one thing that runs in our family, it's a love of good cooking. So, happy birthday and enjoy the beautiful day!

Namaste

After not working out for the past month, today I started yoga again. As I poped in my Body By Bethenny DVD and began my yoga breaths I thought, what a great topic to blog about. I haven't been practicing yoga for that long but instantly fell in love with it. You always see celebrities on TV walking out of the gym with their yoga mats and I have to say, when I got my pink yoga mat I officially joined the yoga movement. There are many different types of yoga but the one that I enjoy the most is power yoga. Power yoga combines stretching, strength training, and meditative breathing with each move flowing into the next (traditional yoga pauses between each pose). This is a great strength training and aerobic exercise. Benifits of yoga you might ask? Well, there are plenty! Yoga can improve flexibility, strength, posture, breathing, concentration, heart condition, need I go on? 

All of you out there thinking how am I supposed to do yoga when I can't even touch my toes? Your in luck! You do not have to be that flexible to do yoga. There are plenty of modified versions of every pose and as Bethenny Frankel says "Yoga is not about ego, it's about what YOU can do." Over time you really will see yourself getting stronger and more flexible. I went from hating downward dog and hardly able to chaturanga (pushup pose) to a perfect downward dog and chaturangaing every morning. The sun salutations at the beginning of the workout really get your blood flowing and the twist poses detoxify your organs. When I finish a yoga workout I always feel like I do after getting a massage, relaxed and recharged. Don't think your ready to try power yoga? Thats ok, just start out with a more meditative type of yoga and work your way up. I have to say though, even Moose has tried yoga so don't let a dog out beat you!

At the end of each yoga practice the teacher (and you repeat back) will say namaste. Namaste means "I bow to you" or represents there is a divine spark in each of us. Namaste can be performed in a seated cross legged or standing position. The hands are folded together in prayer and your head is bowed. The hands are in prayer to increase divine love and the head is bowed to to surrender to the divine in your heart. So, as you all get up out of your chair to begin your first day of yoga, I leave you with this:

Namaste.

4:30am Wake Up Call

Sorry for the lack of posts but, I did not think you would want to hear about compiling our mystery shopper data. Today We had to arrive at the Wesley Community Center by 6am where we received our next project: writing a 28 day cycle menu for meals on wheels. Those of you who get up early to be at work by 6am, I don't know how you do it. It was a bit of a struggle to get up at 4:30am but, I did it and will be taking a nap after I post this. 


Meals on wheels is a program set up for those who are home bound due to old age or disability. At varying times during the week meals that are nutritionally balanced, texture modified, or modified diets for those who have heart disease, kidney disease, or diabetes are delivered to their homes. For some, these are the only meals they eat during the week and the driver who delivers the meals is their only visitor. 


For the next two weeks it will be our job to create the cycle menu and do a nutrition analysis. All a cycle menu means is that after the 28 days are up, the beginning of the menu begins again. We were split into two groups (fall/winter and spring/summer) and my group is fall/winter. If your reading this thinking oh, I could do that, all you have to do it pick out 28 different foods, well...your wrong. It entails much more than you think. As our internship director said today, "I don't know any RD that enjoys making menus". We were given a list of foods we can use and each day must consist of foods that vary in texture, taste, color, etc. Price and labor are also a big factor. Each day needs to be different than the next and not too much of the same protein in a week. Each week must not have the same types of foods that begin or end a week. You must make sure you have varying types of foods say, on each Monday of the month. Each meal must contain an entree, a certain amount of starches, vegetables, fruits, and you can't forget the desserts (they seem to love their desserts). All this with strict nutrition guidelines. I could go on but, I'll spare you. After all our hard work of creating the menu is complete a panel will basically tear it apart until they are satisfied with what we have created. 


Although it's going to be a lot of work it will be a great experience and I will be able to say I created a menu for meals on wheels--a good cause. And hey, after all I did go to school for this.


I almost forgot! I received my first rotation. I will go to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Northern Kentucky for 12 weeks. I won't start my rotation until the end of September but I can't wait to blog about it!

Arrivederci

I would like to dedicate this post to a great friend and fellow RD in the making--ALISSA! Last night we had a farewell dinner with as she put it so perfectly in her Facebook post--'the original high school crew' (and still good friends to this day!) before she moves to Tampa Florida to complete her dietetic internship. We all met at the restaurant Tellers, in Hyde Park. If it weren't for the fun atmosphere and great company I probably would have walked out. The food was pretty tasty but, the service and the amount of time to receive our food was underwhelming. An hour and a half later we realized the bottles of wine were empty and we still hadn't received our food. Nevertheless it was great to be with friends reminiscing on old times and where we think we will be in 5 years (we'll see if these predictions are accurate). I wish you the best of luck in Tampa and know that we will be discussing what each of us are doing in rotations. I can't wait to hear about all your endeavorers and I hope to make it to FL before our internships are over.

An update on this weeks mystery shopper mission: I have 3 hospitals to go! The most interesting part--seeing how different each hospital is. Some of the food has been delicious but some has been stereotypical hospital food. Today, myself and two other girls in the internship took a road trip to Indiana where two of the hospitals were located (aka the middle of nowhere). 3 girls and 3 GPS systems and we still seemed to get somewhat turned around. Not to mention the LARGE farming tractor we saw driving down the road or as Courtney liked to call it, the transformer. Tomorrow I will tackle the last 3 hospitals and then next week  we start a new assignment. 


ps. I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who is checking out my blog! I learned last night that I really do have readers :-) 

Super Fruit Strawberry

Over the weekend I can say I (or rather we), successfully seasoned and grilled burgers to perfection. Watch out Zips cafe, there's a new chef in town! I seasoned and Nolan grilled some extraordinarily delicious burgers. Unfortunately, I cannot say these were some fancy healthy turkey burgers...we decided to go for the big fat juicy red meat burgers. After gorging on red meat, we made up for it with with a healthy dessert--strawberry shortcake. Only 72 calories in 1 piece of angel food cake, and we all know that fruit is always a healthy choice. 

I'd have to say that strawberries are my favorite fruit and during the summer there is nothing like a big bowl of strawberries to snack on. Besides their bright red color and sweet taste, strawberries are one of the best sources of Vitamin C (but also contain fiber, potassium, and folate). Vitamin C is an antioxidant that promotes immunity, lessens (not prevents, as many people seem to confuse as they pop those vitamin C pills when feeling sick) cold symptoms, and helps your body to use iron. Not only an antioxidant, strawberries contain phytonutrients that may help prevent cancer and heart disease. On top of all that goodness, there are just 36 calories in 10 strawberries! With all that in mind here are some ways to enjoy the superfruit strawberry: 

• Strawberry fruit smoothie
• Top off a spinach salad with strawberries and your favorite nut
• Strawberry and cucumber salad with fresh mint (one of my new favorites!)
• Dark chocolate covered strawberries
• A plain fresh strawberry

Enough about strawberries. The second week of orientation began and this weeks mission: MYSTERY SHOP. We are assigned 10 hospitals in Ohio and Indiana that we must go to, eat, and evaluate the food and service. So far, 1 down-9 more to go. This week is going to consist of a lot of eating. But, with 10 free meals handed to me, I guess I can't complain too much. 

One week down, two more to go

The first week of orientation is OVER (we have friday off this week!!). Sorry for the lack of posts in the past couple of days but, we had Wednesday off and nothing exciting on Tuesday. Today consisted of getting more packets of papers and reviewing in every subject imaginable, what to do and what not to do. Next week begins our 'mystery shopper' project so, stay tuned to hear all about it!

Orientation has begun!

Hello readers and welcome to my blog! Here is where you will find what I'm up to over the next 10 months as I complete my dietetic rotations. I will be letting you all know what I am doing on each rotation, as well as addressing any nutrition topics hitting the spot light or interesting topics that come my way. Orientation began today and unfortunately, today's post will not be filled with exciting nutrition knowledge. 


Today just consisted of the standard getting to know you, giving us packets of papers, and the question that has been burning on everyone's mind...WHERE WILL WE BE GOING?! As excited as I was to walk in today and find out where I would be going, I'm still stuck in the dark with all of you. We were told by the end of the week we should know and then, I will make the big reveal! The only entertaining thing we did today was an activity involving Gordon Ramsay's show called Kitchen Nightmares. For those of you who don't know, Gordon Ramsay is a chef, restaurant owner, author, and now television personality with a fierce personality and a ferocious temper. If not to watch the show to pick out all the restaurant code violations, I would recommend it for entertainment. A few good laughs, a couple O-M-G, and a happy ending always make for some good TV.