The Whole30

Saturday I took the evening off from studying and meal planned. Then I went into the city to shop for said planned meals at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. No, I am not dropping out of medical school to become a chef, though sometimes that is tempting. Folks, I am doing the Whole30!

I first heard about the Whole30 program when my awesome, super smart, and very pretty friend Shannon told me about it in a conversation that went a lot like this...

S: "We're doing the Whole30!"
Me: "Neat! What is that?"
S: "It's a diet that's kind of like Paleo, only more restrictuve."
Me: "Sounds great!"
After the phone conversation
Me: Yeah. Nooooope.

That was pretty much my first encounter with Whole30. I didn't ever think I'd be doing this. I love all things sweet, chocolate is my spirit animal, and I adore baking. But after hearing about Shannon's experience (read about her first Whole30 experience here, and she just finished her second, the stinker), I felt it would be good for me. Like most people, my relationship with food is not great. I could fill in the "I'm a ______ eater" with bored, stressed, happy, sad, tired, thirsty, etc. Which means that most of the time, when I do eat, it's not because I'm hungry. Which is supposed to be the point!

Whole30 attracted me because it is all about making good food choices with the intent of being good to your body. It's 30 days of clean eating. No sugar. No dairy. No grains. No legumes. And you're not allowed to step on the scale. It isn't some diet fad that tries to trick your body into losing weight by shoving over-processed and "fake" food into your face. I hate this type of dieting because besides eating garbage, it also pits you against your body. Which doesn't make any sense at all since most people "diet" to "get healthier."

Our bodies are AWESOME (I should know, I spend 92.7% of my time studying them!) and they're made to run best on good, nutritious food. So, I'm excited to see what mine feels like when I eat real food, the main rule of the Whole30 program. I have already done things I never thought I would do. For example, there is a jar of ghee in my pantry and I'm sipping on coffee with almond milk as I write this. (Also, I am in love with cashew butter. I think it could be serious.) Yesterday I was a little nervous/panicked worrying about whether I will actually be able to keep this up for 30 days. But mostly I'm looking forward to eating tasty food (I made Spicy Cashew Zoodles with Chicken last night and it was a-MAZING), resetting my "food attitude," and seeing how different I feel when I'm eating clean. While I was cooking yesteday (and reminding myself NOT to touch my roommate's emergency chocolate supply) I kept thinking of this quote:

So, here's to doing things we've never done and adventures of all kinds. Especially this one! If you want to learn more about the Whole30 Program click here!

Happy Monday!

"CHD"

Because I believe Wednesdays are THE worst, and because I love telling stories about my friends doing ridiculous and embarrassing things almost as much as I love telling those same stories about myself, here is a tale to lift your spirits on this here "Hump Day".

The following scene took place last Friday during one of my patient case study groups. To further set the stage, there are 8 second year medical students (myself included) and one facilitator, a clinical faculty member, sitting around a table. It also happened to be our first meeting of the new case block. Which means it was our first time with this facilitator. Hooray for first impressions.

Thirty minutes and one physical exam into our session, my good friend "H" was writing our list of differential diagnoses on the whiteboard. In his mid-Friday afternoon blur, he wrote "CHD," incorrectly merging the acronyms CHF (congestive heart failure) and CVD (cardiovascular disease). Our case facilitator, Dr. E, called him out and asked him what "CHD" meant. To which he promptly responded, "Sorry, I guess my hand is just used to the D."

Immediately my face turned bright red.  I tried my best to stifle the 8th grade boy laughter that was bubbling up and noticed a couple of my other group mates were clearly doing the same thing. All the while, H, having realized what he had just said turned around and sheepishly corrected his mistake while whispering, "Oh, dear God," into the board.

Despite my best attempts to remain professional, ultimately our facilitator realized something was up. When she asked me (at this point I was bright red, with tears streaming down my face) if I was ok, I croaked that I was fine and managed to regain my composure. For the remaining hour and a half, H and I couldn't look at each other. And no matter what I thought of (dying puppies, the world running out of chocolate, VEEP never returning to TV) I was still on the verge of cracking up.

It was. Just. That. FUNNY!!!

So, Happy Hump Day everyone! May your day be free of humiliating experiences. But if you do find yourself in a precarious situation, I hope you are able to become one with the inner prepubescent junior higher in all of us, and laugh inappropriately in front of your superior. :)

My Cat, the Dog

My first big exam of the semester is over! Which means I can get back to doing normal things, like sleeping, cleaning my house, and playing with my cat - who has been feeling very neglected with my non-stop studying the past two weeks. Just ask him.

A photographer blog I follow recently wrote a post "My Dog, The Cat." Which I related to (kind of) since I have a cat, who is really more of a dog.

Internet, meet Jack. A four year-old Blue Russian, known for knocking things off the counter, needing constant attention, and using my macbook as a his own personalized heated seat. It turns out, he is also quite the hunter, as I documented here. His full name is Jack Bristow, and yes, he is named after the Alias character, which is funny since I have never seen a single episode of that show. I adopted him from my good friend almost 2 years ago when Jack the Cat was having problems playing well with others. And by others, I mean my friend's new baby.

During the past two years he has moved with me across the country, kept me company on many a late night curled up next to (or on top of) various medical text books, and been subjected to thousands of snuggles. It's funny how attached we get to the animals in our lives and I am so thankful for the funny little one in mine. So, here's to Jack. The cat who turned my dog-loving self into a crazy cat lady.