(This is a randon shot I took in downtown Baltimore some time back that makes me smile so I included it).
Happy Tuesday all! I
hope your week has started out well. Yesterday most of my day was spent at
Hopkins and I am back there again today.
When I stopped working in healthcare I thought I was finished spending
long days and evenings in a hospital.
*shakes head* However I was able
to practice a little meditation in one of the waiting rooms and even found
vegan food (without oil) in the cafeteria so those were both positive aspects
of my day. Some days you just have to look for the small wins.
Here is the recap of what we have accomplished so far to
remind us all of how far we have come during the first 9 days of January:
Day 1 – Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back
Day 2 – Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion
Day 3 – Listed Our Goals for January
Day 4 – Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a
While
Day 5 – Looked at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs.
Intuition
Day 6 – Practiced Conscious Eating
Day 7 – Hara Hachi Bu
Day 8 – Taking the Stress Out of Meal Time
Day 9 – Acknowledgments
Yesterday we worked on acknowledging all the great stuff we
do each day. This might have seemed like
a silly exercise but I hope that you will try it for a few days and see how it
works for you. If you are someone who is
self-critical and/or pessimistic you may find it to be very useful. I know it
was and continues to be helpful for me.
No excuses, Do it Anyway:
Today’s post is a similar to the blurb I wrote about are you
interested or committed. People who are
interested in health follow “their plan/program” until something better comes
along or they encounter a bump in the road. However those who are committed
just do it. One of the big differences
is that you have to believe in what you are doing or it is difficult to stay
committed.
Monday was a good example of what this means so I will share
that story with you as an example. I
spent the entire day at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Monday, literally from noon
until after 10pm. Since this was not a
planned trip I had no food with me and was at the mercy of what was available.
For those of you who have never been to Hopkins is a huge complex of
interconnected buildings that cover many blocks in a part of Baltimore (it has
its own zip code) that I would otherwise go.
Given the geographic location there was no way I was venturing out of
the hospital to find food. Needless to
say this was not the easiest environment to stay healthy, but you know what I
managed to do it because I am committed.
When I finally left the waiting room to find food I ended up at Subway,
because that was the best choice. I got
a whole grain veggie sub with every available veggie they had and fat-free dressing. They also had dried apple chips and water and
combined with the sub this was dinner.
This follows my principle of making the best choice in the moment. For Monday night this was the best choice,
not one I would make generally (due to the amount of bread) but more than
acceptable given the situation.
I could have used this unplanned trip to the hospital to buy
some comfort food (translation sweets) which seemed to be everywhere. However
being healthy is important to me so there was no way I was going to eat
something that I knew was harmful for my health. After all how foolish would it be for me to
eat “crap” and head back the nursing floor?
The primary reason I am able to eat a healthy diet no matter
where we go is that I understand the ramifications of poor eating habits. For many years both my husband and I ate for
taste and health was only a minor concern.
However now that I have researched health ad nausem I can’t unlearn all
that information and eat things that I know are bad for me. These days when I
am faced with eating in a unfamiliar setting I just make the best choice that I
can in that moment.
Since I am sure many of you feel lost in these situations I
wanted to tell you the types of things that I look for when making food
decisions.
1.
The first thing that I always do is survey the
environment. I never make hasty food
decisions. I walked around the hospital
cafeteria to see what was available. There were a few things that seemed as
though they might be acceptable choices.
a.
There was a bean soup (which could have had ham
or bacon and definitely had oil) which was a possibility but I kept
looking.
b.
Additionally they had a salad bar but many of
the options were marinated and I knew that meant oil and while I am not 100%
opposed to oil I like to know what it is and since I didn’t I kept
looking.
c.
There was a Baja Fresh which had a veggie salad
with beans. However I worried about the
type and amount of fat in the beans and I didn’t want the fried taco
shell. I could have ordered the salad
not eaten the shell and that was an option if I didn’t find something else.
d.
The Einstein Brothers Bagel that I expected to
have fresh fruit and bagels and nut butter but I didn’t see those probably
because of how late it was when I arrived.
Either the whole grain bagels would probably have white flour and
possibility egg wash but overall not a bad choice had it been available.
e.
In the end the veggie sub from Subway with the
fat-free (and consequently oil free) dressing was the winner. It had a reasonable amount, though not nearly
enough, veggies and it didn’t have oil.
Also while I didn’t love the idea of that much bread without it there
wouldn’t have been enough calories which was also a concern.
2.
After I take a survey of what is available then
I make my decisions based on a few things.
Last night I knew that I needed the calories from the bread of the sub
which I why I went with that option. If
I had some information about what was in the bean soup I might have gone with
that for the same reason calories.
Instead I added the small bag of dried apple chips to my meal which was
only 45 calories, and no fat, but it added a little more nutrition to the meal.
3.
In situations like yesterday I also look for
food items that I can toss into my purse for later, like the apple chips. I was hoping to find trail mix but didn’t see
any for sale.
4.
I ask other people for suggestions. In this case
I talked with the nurse and explained my requirements and asked her for
suggestions. While not many people are
vegan that you will meet, most have an idea of where the “healthier” foods are
located and that is useful information too.
5.
I try to remember that I am basically at the
mercy of what is around me and realize that perfection is not going to be
possible. It is important not to beat
yourself up in these situations. You don’t do anyone else any good if you are
so rigid in your thinking that you won’t eat anything because you don’t know
precisely what is in the food. It is the
totally of your food choices that matters in terms of health not any one
individual meal.
I
hope that this helps you to see what I look for when I am out of my comfort
zone.
Today’s exercises are:
1.
Even if you brought your lunch to work today
take some time to check out the available options.
2.
Make a list of what you think might be good food
choices.
3.
Check online sources to see what nutrition
information is available for these foods.
For example did you know there is a garden salad at McDonalds which is
vegan, without the dressing? I didn’t
know that but when I checked the website there it was. However this would be useful if you were
stuck in car on the expressway and you are hungry.
4.
Try to talk to people who have more information
about the food to help you rank the options and then rank them in terms of
healthfulness.
5.
Put one healthy item in your purse or desk with
a long shelf life for “emergencies”. I
now have trail mix, fruit chips, roasted seaweed and green tea bags in my purse,
just in case.
6.
For extra credit grab piece of fresh fruit to
take with you when you leave the house in the morning.
It is much easier to make healthy choices when you have
planned. Even if you normally take your
lunch to work knowing what you can grab is good for those times when you need
it. My husband has scouted out a number
of options near his office that he falls back on when he works late I only sent
him lunch not dinner. For those of you
in Baltimore here are Dan’s suggestions:
1.
Peking House (on Baltimore Street) has something
called the diet special number one. He
asks them to add cashews to that for a little additional protein and some
fat.
2.
Java Joe (on Baltimore Street) always has at
least one vegan soup. Additionally they
have a sandwich called the Park Street which he has the leave the cheese off
and add tomato.
3.
Me Kong Delta (on Saratoga) has the tofu spring
rolls with peanut sauce which we both love.
Two orders of those are a meal.
4.
Shula’s (on Fayette), and yes I mean the steak
house, has a grilled veggie sandwich that is vegan if you leave off the buffalo
mozzarella. You can also get veggies on the side instead of potatoes.
5.
Cazbah (on Charles Street) has a veggie casserole
that is vegan if you have them leave off the cheese. Dan really likes this.
They also have other veggie options so you might want to check them out they
have good Turkish food.
While most of the time Dan takes his lunch to work there are
days when he works through dinner. I feel much better knowing that he has found
some reasonably healthy vegan options close by.
I realize that being vegan when you are out seems nearly impossible when
you are new to this way of eating but it is possible and gets much easier the
longer you do it.
Progress on my goals:
1.
Newsletters – No progress on this goal on Monday
because of my unexpected time at Hopkins.
Life seems to be getting in the progress here. *ugh*
2.
Body Bugg – Eight days in a row wearing my bugg
and going strong. I think this has become a habit again. ;-) If
any of you want to know more about this let me know and I will include details
about it in an upcoming post.
3.
Date with Dan – We will be getting back to this
very soon once the crisis is over.
4.
Measuring
calorie dense food – Given where I was on Monday this didn’t come into play.
5.
Working on my business – Again no progress on this goal on Monday for
the same reason as item one above.
However I am hopeful that I will get back to these tasks very soon.
How are you doing making progress on your goals? I hope you are pleased with what you have
accomplished so far. Remember change
takes time it isn’t instantaneous. Being
healthy is a mindset that you need to cultivate. But if you keep at it you will definitely get
there! Devoting as little as 15 minutes
each day to your goals will make a difference.
Acknowledgements:
I asked you to continue to write daily acknowledgements so
that you develop the habit. In order to remind you to write your
acknowledgements I jotted a few down to share with you. Given my day I wasn’t writing these when they
happened so there are fewer than I would normally have, but here goes:
·
Quick thinking and driving worked out well
yesterday and what could have been a disaster was simply a bump in the
road. All my reading about health paid
off yesterday and for that I am very happy.
·
I am very pleased with myself for sticking with
my healthy eating routine under very difficult circumstances.
·
Until yesterday I had not realized how laid back
I have become. I am in a bit of shock
regarding my ability to meditate and not catastrophsize in the waiting room. Also I am glad that I was able to remain calm
for Dan. He worries when I get anxious
so my being calm was huge. This
actually feels like a bit of a miracle for me, so I am proud of myself.
·
I knew that having a calming influence yesterday
would be useful and I reached out to three friends. Typically I am that person who always says
that “I am fine, I don’t need anything,” so being able to ask for help was also
a big deal and I am glad that I did it.
·
I walked to the car last night by myself late at
night. Given what I shared with you
about the attack many years ago I am sure you realize what a big deal this was
for me.
·
When I arrived home late last night the last
thing that I really wanted to do was put up a post. However I had made a commitment and I didn’t
want to let anyone down. In retrospect I
am happy that I took the time to do it even though I just wanted to crash. I think I have become a little too loose in
terms of commitments since I retired. It
feels good to what I said that I was going to do.
I hope this gives you more of an idea about writing
acknowledgements. Did you write your acknowledgements today? I really hope that you took time to pat
yourself on the back for those things you did right today. We can all use a little positive
reinforcement sometime.
Random Observations:
It is always a little strange to be vegan in a non-vegan
world. Being a vegan in a hospital is
particularly odd. I am always taken
back by the realization that so few health care employees are vegan or know much
of anything about vegan food.
However at least health care employees are curious and ask
questions about our vegan diet and I think that is a good sign. The most common question I hear is “what do
you eat”? Omnivores always seem to have
trouble imagine meals without meat and dairy.
I still remember back when I had no idea what vegan food to eat as well
so I like to take my time and give them good suggestion. As tough as it was initially to figure out
what to cook and eat now it is a breeze.
I had a nice conversation with a hospital dietitian. We
chatted about the types of diets the patients arrive eating, what percentages
of them are open to change while in the hospital and how frequently he sees the
same patients readmitted. Our
conversation was more than a little sobering.
When we were talking about his typical interaction with patients I was
very interested. He said that when people say things like, “I don’t have time
to cook, or the food won’t taste as good” that he always knows that they aren’t
going to change. I would suggest that these roadblocks are all mental. If you tell yourself you can’t do something
then you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t do it. I wanted to toss that out in case it applied
to anything in your life. His words
definitely had a ring of truth for me.
However the dietitian and I both seemed to enjoy talking
about nutrition with each other. He made
a few suggestions for me about the Hopkins School of Public Health that I am
going to look into. He was also curious about
what we eat for typical meals, and tried the pizza nuts that I brought from
home and enjoyed them a lot. He liked
the pizza nuts enough to ask me how I made them and what was in them. J Overall it was a nice meeting, not exactly
necessary in our case but still good.
Monday:
I had many plans for my Monday which went right out the
window. Unplanned trips to the hospital
are stressful for everyone and being a formal hospital employee does not make
me immune to that stress. Needless to
say I didn’t photograph any food during my day which I am sure you understand.
It surprised me that I was able to meditate in the waiting
room. The old me would have been in a
panic and catastrophisizing about every possible horrible outcome. However this
time I was able to release my anxiety and simply wait for information from the
medical team. I really have come much
further than I ever expected was possible given my underlying pessimistic
personality. ;-) It fascinates me how much more mellow I have
become, but I like it. Apparently the daily
meditation I have been doing for months is starting to pay dividends.
Please don’t expect to see much on my daily updates for a
while until life settles down again. I
will keep my laptop with me to write posts but I won’t be carrying my camera
because of all the other stuff I have been lugging to and from the hospital.
Happy thoughts:
·
Things at the hospital are progressing “perfectly”
according to the medical team. Many of the
doctors have been very complimentary about our diet. It makes me happy that medical science is
starting to come around to the benefits of lifestyle changes. *woo hoo*
·
The chaplain who stopped in the room today told
us how peaceful it was entering our space.
When I asked the nurse about this she concurred that we are less
stressed than most of the patients.
Funny, I never thought of us as that peaceful but it was a nice
compliment so I will take it. BTW having a chaplain visit was initially a
little distressing when the first thing you think of is last rites but that
wasn’t why she was there. Apparently the chaplain just likes to stop in and see
if anyone needs to talk which I thought was very nice touch.
·
Everyone at Hopkins has been extremely
nice. Both of us have been very pleased
with the level of customer service.
Dietary stopped in to go over the vegan food options and help with meal
planning. The nursing staff has been
incredible. All the doctors have been
patient and willing to answer questions which is very nice since I tend to ask
a lot of questions as you can probably imagine.
·
The internet access at the hospital has been
fairly stable thank goodness. I was a little worried about being able to get
online for some webinars I had scheduled previously but this hasn’t been a
problem.
·
I really enjoyed my conversation with the
hospital dietitian. He has my mind spinning
about my next education endeavor. As you probably figured out by now I need
little provocation to sign up for a course, certification program or any other
educational opportunity. He definitely
had some ideas that I didn’t think of. Courtney you should expect to see some
questions from me soon. ;-)
·
I managed to squeeze in a little time on Tuesday
to listen to two webinars. The one this evening on time management had a few
good tips. I will be trying those out
and if they work for me I will share them with you because you know I love to
share.
Signing Out:
It is good to have Monday behind me. I don’t want any more days like that one any
time soon or preferably ever. On the
bright side life is starting to return to normal and that is a very good
thing. Hopefully by the end of the week
it will be like nothing ever happened (like in the ServePro commercial). J
Clearly my week has been a great one so far, but it hasn’t
been horrible either. I am doing my best to look at the positive side of
things. All-in-all I know our outcome is better than most people in our
situation but still it is tough to realize that you don’t have complete control
over everything that happens in life. I
suppose this is where that meditation work has come in the most handy.
I am expecting tomorrow to be a better day and Thursday to
be even better. If you have time to send
some positive thoughts our way they would be greatly appreciated.
I hope you are having a good week and I expect to talk with
you again tomorrow.
On the pink flaminog note good night all. Talk with you again soon. :-)
When my hubs was hospitalized a year ago, I was dismayed at how unhealthy all of the food was both for patients and visitors.(luckily his good friend is the chef in charge of food services there. He would drop in and visit with special meals he made just for me; like a large veggie plate with freshly made hummus)
ReplyDeleteKeeping you both in my thoughts and prayers.
My mom spent over two months in the hospital late last year. I spent a week with her when things looked very grim. I am a gluten-free vegan, but find that when traveling I sometimes have to eat some meat or starve. In their little town there were not many options, and the hospital food was awful! 20 years ago this hospital offered healthy meals and attracted church crowds on Sunday for their good healthy food. I starved my whole week there eating basically lettuce leaves, onion, and cauliflower.
ReplyDeleteI will be praying for both of you.
Oh Alicia, I am so sorry to hear Dan is in the hospital. I won't e-mail you because I know you are busy and overwhelmed right now, but know that I am thinking of you both.
ReplyDeleteAnd please, e-mail me any time with questions :-)
Courtney
Sorry to hear that Dan is in the hospital, do you mind saying what happened? When I visited my sister in a Phoenix hospital last summer, I was amazed at their fantastic and inexpensive salad bar. It was so much better than anything I saw them bring to her room. In fact, I missed it after she was discharged! When on a road trip, we usually lunch at Subway although I know the bread isn't great (apparently German Subways have a nice dark dense bread). I ask them to start with spicy mustard on both sides of the bread and finish with as much spinach as possible.
ReplyDeleteAli, I just stopped for a minute & said a prayer for you two. I hope by now (as I'm reading this a few days after you posted) that Dan & you are back at home.
ReplyDelete