As much as I like clinicals, I’m glad they’re over after Weds. Means I’ll actually get a good amount of sleep for at least 2 days next week. :)

Ok, so last night I went to bed and probably fell asleep somewhere around 11:30. I had OB clinicals today and had to get up at 5 am. For all my nursing student followers, you guys KNOW that is not enough sleep to function all day for clinicals. Luckily, we got out early and I ate lunch, then decided against making coffee and took a nap. I ended up getting up at 4:30 after sleeping 2.5 hours and I was still disoriented and tired. I sat around and did absolutely nothing until 6. I thought about pulling out my med/surg notes and looking them over, since we learnt about COPD and asthma a week ago and I hadn’t even cracked them open yet and class is tomorrow. BUT I started to feel like I was having a “fat day.” I really wanted to be lazy and not go to the gym, but those negative thoughts about myself kicked my butt into gear and I got dressed and left. I didn’t lift, but you better believe I ran 3 miles and walked 30 min. I know if I’m feeling huge one day, that a good workout is all I need to build self esteem and feel better about myself. I dunno.. could be the endorphines but I’m glad I did it. 

So today was the first day back to school. I started 6th semester. We had to get up and be at school 2 hours early to take a math test, then had lecture from 10-2:20. My class was pediatrics/OB and it was split up like this: Peds was 10-11:50, then OB from 1230-220 with a lunch break in between. Before lecture, I was super thrilled about Peds and indifferent to the OB portion, but as class was going, I realized I really like OB! My professor was super enthusiastic and it really surprised me how into class I was getting! We learned so much and a lot of it was so cool, like how to tell how far along a woman is in her pregnancy with just an assessment of the abdomen or how to estimate a due date based on last full menstrual cycle. I dunno, it was cool though. 

After class, I went for a run, did 1.58 miles out in the heat. Then I went to the gym and did 1/2 mile more on the treadmill and Killed my biceps. It was good. :) And today, not really going into detail, I burnt about 300 calories at the gym and I ate about 1300 calories altogether (and they were healthy! NO bad foods. :) ). 

THEN! I went to work and actually liked the Organ Transplant Unit I was floated to for once. The nurses there were super cool, so it made me dread the clinicals I’ll have there a little less. 

Anyways, it’s 1 am, I’m dead tired. Bed time. But thanks for reading, if you actually made it through all this! Haha.

It’s days like today that really make me feel like I’m exactly where I wanna be in my life.. like I’m going in the right direction. I am a nursing major, which a lot of you probably know, and I work at a hospital right off my college campus. Basically I do a lot of CNA work, tech work, “dirty work” like draining wounds, cleaning up incontinent people, vital signs, emptying ostomy bags, but I also help patients with their activities of daily living (baths, linen changes, walks, etc..). And I work under the care of an RN, kind of her “helper.” Not saying most of my work is really fun, but I absolutely LOVE the patient care. I love working with all the patients, meeting new people every day, and generally just helping everyone be the most comfortable they can be during their stay at my hospital. And it’s so cute.. 2 days ago, one patient told me,” You better come see me before you leave tonight!” a half hour before my shift was over. So of course, I went into his room to say ‘bye’. He got up out of his chair and came over and gave me a HUGE hug and said “I’m really glad I met you today. Thank you so much for taking care of me… Y’know? It’s not every day you meet an angel. I hope I see you again. If not here, then in heaven. You’ll be a great nurse someday.” My heart melted. And I get this all the time, but today, two of my patients at about 5:45 were like, “So when is your shift over?” I told them 7:30. “Well, are you working tomorrow?” I’d tell them, no, not tomorrow, but Sunday. “Oh.. I might be gone by then..” Or, I’ll get a “Maybe I’ll see you Sunday! I should still be here!” An hour later, “Oh..are you leaving now?” I’d tell them, not quite yet, that I get off work at 7:30, so I still have another hour and 45 min.. It happens almost every day, I get comments like that. So sweet. And today, I had a patient that was being discharged to go home.. this little old lady, being moved to an assisted living facility in her home town. They came up to get her and I was busy with another patient.. I almost missed her, but JUST as they were pulling her outta her room, she was like, “THERE you are!! I was just telling Ruth I wanted to see you before you left! I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did for me today. I hope I see you around at home (we’re from the same town and I had just met her that day.)” 

I want to be a nurse practitioner eventually.. yes, after working a month at this hospital in my position, I know with all my heart that this is what I am meant to be doing. I am moving in the right direction. 

Ok, so. Basically, it has to do with staying healthy while working..

I work this nursing job as a student nurse with a position similar to a nurse tech, or CNA.. I’ll mostly work 12.5 hour shifts and I have to be there at 7 am. So that means, I usually eat breakfast anywhere from 5:30-6:30 (depending on if I’m at home or staying with a friend closer to my job). I eat lunch close to 2 or 2:30, then dinner when I get off work at 7:30.. Sometimes I eat dinner closer to 8:30-9 if I have to drive the hour home. Then I’m too exhausted to work out or exercise, even on my days off! Like, I need at least a full day to recoup before I can even function, and the most I get off is 2-4 days in a row, usually I get 1-2 off though before I have to work again.

I guess my question is this: what can I do to keep myself fit and active while working this job? It sucks the life outta me. And also, what are some good, filling meals to keep me satisfied during the day without going too much over 1200 calories? Are any of you in a similar situation? How do you deal?

Thanks so much for all the help! In advance. Haha. :)

Haha, I KNEW the last time I weighed myself, I weighed so much because of water. But I didn’t think that water weight would be as much as 4.5 pounds! But, my brother is trying to talk me into getting lunch with him (over making something healthy at home.) I didn’t think I’d have lost that much weight (I was 139.something on Monday). So I told him, ‘If I’m over 136, I’m not going.’ I weighed myself expecting at LEAST 136.. Well? 134.4 lbs!! How? I have no idea. I haven’t worked out since like, Saturday because of my job and church related things. All I can think of is that I’ve been eating pretty good while I’m at work.

I work at a hospital, doing 12.5 hour long shifts. Basically, they give us a lunch break. But I eat breakfast at like, 5 (usually something with a decent amt of protein and around 200 cals), then lunch is anywhere from 12-2 pm. I’ll pack a sandwich with fruit and carrots or something, making it about 300 cals or less. I do this because by the end of the day, I’m STARVING, so I like to eat my 700 or more calories after work, so I can eat more! Haha. So that COULD have helped, plus, I’m always busy, walking, lifting, moving, etc. Patient care is hard work! But yeah, just thought I’d fill you guys in

I’ve been so busy trying to get back into living at home for the summer and starting this job an hour away. I was in orientation all week last week, so I didn’t get to work out a WHOLE lot.. I ran monday, then went to the gym 2-3 times to lift.. in fact, my legs and abs are killing me right now! So I guess that’s good. But I haven’t eaten the healthiest. I’m gonna weigh myself tomorrow, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little scared.. I wanna say I’m at 135 still, but I could see myself being 137 or higher. My week wasn’t THAT bad, but it kinda was. Idk, wish me luck? 

As far as this week is concerned.. I work tomorrow and Tuesday, then again on Friday. I’m staying with my friend tomorrow to cut down on driving, but that means it could be a baaaad news dinner, depending on what we decide to make/ where we decide to go. But! Breakfast tomorrow is gonna be yogurt and granola (195 cals) then a Chicken sand on low cal bread with carrots and an apple for lunch. Then whatever my friend and I do for dinner. Then Tuesday, I’m gonna have a Special K meal bar for breakfast with a pbj sand on low cal bread, carrots and a tangerine for lunch. Dinner will either be leftovers from what mom made earlier, or possibly a frozen dinner, for 300 cals or less. Then working out is happening on every day I’m not working at the hospital! Whew! Busy, busy.

On a final note: I’m one week soda free!! Haven’t had a single diet soda, which is a miracle for me. I’ve been living off tea and water all week. :)

Yesterday was awesome! I had a looooong orientation for my student nurse job, but I ate healthy and was right on with calories. Had yogurt and granola for breakfast (200 cal), a pbj pita sand for lunch (245 cal), then and a 6” blt sub from subway for dinner with cheese (360 cal). I had popcorn, cereal, and a piece of pb bread for snacks. I hit the gym for an upper body workout, for 45 min HARD, then ran 3 miles and walked 2. Whew! Gotta do that again. I’m at orientation again, then going to sleeeep, then hopefully another good work out.

I’ve been studying all day! So over it. 

Hey followers! First of all, I just wanna wish everyone a Happy Easter!! :) I hope yours is great! I’m going to be spending mine at school, my family is in another state for my sister’s volleyball tourney, so I figured I would stay at school and prep for these Kaplan tests for nursing! Kaplan is like a practice NCLEX (the nursing licensing exam), and we take them for most of our classes in nursing, and they’re 5% of our class grade. 

Anyways.. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, because I haven’t been posting a lot about it, but I have been feeling surprisingly positive about my body lately. I love the way it looks today! And have most of the weekend. I didn’t work out all last week because of my awful cold, but I’ve kept my calories in check. I ate a LOT at my aunt’s on Friday, but despite all that, I still feel really good about myself (which is VERY out of the ordinary for me, my self esteem is lacking). So I broke my weigh-in-on-Friday-only streak and weighed myself today, taking advantage of my positive feelings today. Results? 135.6 lbs!! That means I’m 0.6 away from my first goal! I know it’s taking me FOREVER to get to where I wanna be. I follow so many blogs where people are like, dropping weight here and there. I wish I could focus more of my time and energy on it. Its just, I don’t limit myself all the time; if my friends wanna go out to dinner or get drinks or, heaven forbid, party, I partake. But I also work hard during the week. Another thing is, I always put school in front of working out. And that definitely slows me down sometimes. But I’m getting there and I’m so happy! :)