Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

I had a lot on my mind last night. You'd think that I could relax a little after 4 days of interning but I find myself always thinking about the next 3 days. You see, my interning never ends. I really don't have a life right now...just a dietetic intern life. As soon as I leave the hospital M-Th, I make my way home for a little Campy quality time, followed by making dinner (and lunch), eating dinner w/ Karel and getting my things ready for the next day. Once I finish everything, I find some motivation and discipline and study/read my dietetic material for an hour or 90 minutes, before it is time for bed, sometime around 9-9:30pm.....then it is time to do it all over again. Of course, Tues-Thurs wouldn't be complete without my 4:25am alarm and a 5-7:15 am workout. So, now that it is Friday, I had my typical 4:30am wake-up but not the normal rush like the other days this week. I never have trouble falling asleep and I absolutely love sleeping at night. I'm not a nap...

What a week. I am not sure how many times I can say it but I just can't seem to squeeze any more minutes into my day. I saw so many patients this week and every case presents something new. I have learned so much this week regarding the human body and I am really picking up on medications, labs and disease conditions. This week I saw (not limited to) the following diagnosis: prostate cancer Lung cancer severe malnutrition Stage IV sacral wound Vaginal cancer Liver cancer Aspiration pneumonia with PEG placement suicide attempt w/ alcohol overdose CABG/open heart surgery ICU patient on propanol and a paralytic drug, with NG tube Today I gave my first inservice. I thought I was giving an inservice on coumadin and purine in the diet, to the kitchen staff but to my surprise, around 40 members of the dietary department attended the monthly meeting where I was speaking. I was nervous this morning when I found out I was presenting to all of the RD's, but I think everything went well. I...

Two days down, two to go. This has been a really busy week for me! I am finally getting the hang of things at the hospital which means a lot more info to retain (who knew the body to be so complicated and fascinating..not to mention all the drugs that the body can handle!!) and a lot more responsibilities as a clinical dietetic intern. On thurs I will be giving an inservice to the kitchen staff on coumadin and purine diet and sometime this week I will be finishing up 2 case studies (which I need to type before the end of the week). I also have two quizzes this weekend (liver disease and RD prep quiz). On Monday I received the best text from my amazing husband. "I know you are in tough times right now with your internship but it's like when you are dying in a race and somebody rings the bell and says '5 laps to go'. Ok, I know that is in bike racing but I have no experience with triathlons. Will the 1 mile mark work better?" I don't know how but Karel always kn...

I just finished my first week of build for the build phase of my training and I am feeling great. A bit sore and tired at times but no injuries and an amazing amount of energy...taking into account my 8.5 hours/d of interning + 2-3 hrs/d of weekly studying + 6+ hrs/d of weekend studying. I am coaching a handful of amazing athletes and they keep me motivated and inspired. I have received several emails for future athletes and I am just counting down the weeks until I can devote more time to coaching. But for now, thanks for understanding. And to my blog readers...you all give me so much energy just knowing that you visit my blog and appreciate my writings!! Thanks :) So where is all this energy coming from? Must be all the wonderful vitamins and minerals that I am receiving from my meals...not to mention enough sleep to keep me energized during my long educational days. Recovery nutrition is also key so with all things taken into consideration, something is working and I have to admit t...

I can't believe I am already entering week 3 of my acute care rotation. Technically, after this week I will only have 6 more weeks of "interning". This kinda scares me because I still have so much to learn. After my 9 weeks of acute care interning (which followed 5 weeks of long term care), I will have 4-weeks of staff relief to finish up my internship. I have plenty to keep me busy between now and the end of April and I find myself wondering if I can squeeze any more minutes into my long and busy days. This week I was amazed by what I saw in the hospital. The week started with a Code Blue around 4pm on Monday. All of a sudden I notice around 20+ people, including physicians, family practice, MD's, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, nurses, etc, rushing to a patients room. I asked the RD what was going on and she told me that a patient was in cardiac arrest. I wasn't able to multitask and work on my case because I was watching the excitement down the hall. I am not su...

If you are a regular reader of my blog and try to apply some of my suggestions to your every-day life, I think you'd agree that we are doing well in terms of meeting the new USDA dietary guidelines! Not to mention, meeting the guidelines while pursuing an active, multi-sport lifestyle...and balancing the rest of life! YAY for eating more plant-based meals! Keep up the great work! Key points from the new USDA dietary guidelines: -WHAT you eat and HOW you eat, both matter in overall diet and health. -Have a snack before you head out to a party -Enjoy your food, but eat less -Avoid oversized portions -Make half your plate fruits and vegetables -Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk (1%) -Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals - and choose the foods with lower numbers (the average intake of salt from Americans is 3,400 mg/d. Recommendations are 1,500 mg/d for high risk groups and 2,300 mg/d for all others). -Drink water instead of sugary drinks -Eat more ...

Breaking news (albeit, a few days late). I hope you can find a little time in your day today to read the new 2010 dietary guidelines. Here is the email I received from the American Dietetic Association early this week: Today is a significant day for our Association and profession as the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released. You can download the Guidelines and supporting materials at USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion website. They represent the government’s cornerstone for nutrition policy and education for the next five years and affect the work of every registered dietitian and dietetic technician, registered. ADA has issued two press releases on the new Dietary Guidelines – one that gives our overall reaction to the new DGAs and another that focuses on how consumers can apply the Dietary Guidelines to their own individual eating plans. In addition, media coverage of the release of the Dietary Guidelines includes a substantial number of interviews...