Categories Everyday Life

Quasi-Medical Conditions

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Senioritis

A quasi-medical condition characterized by lack of motivation. Generally occurs during the final years of high school or college, but has been noted in other situations (for example, in the last weeks of a dietetics internship.)

See Wikipedia’s article on senioritis

Burnout

A psychological (aka quasi-medical) condition characterized by lack of interest and long-term exhaustion. Generally related to long-term work stress, but occasionally brought on by having only three weeks in which to complete a three year project.

See Wikipedia’s article on burnout

Last Week’s Panic

An overwhelming and crippling terror brought on by the realization that one has only one week to finish everything that must be done. Often results in restlessness, lack of of focus, overeating, and hours of wasted time.

Categories Everyday Life

Local Bounty

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My first job, more than a dozen years ago, was washing dishes for a woman who sold her produce and baked goods at a local farmer’s market. I went to her house across the street every Friday morning and worked all day washing dishes, saran wrapping cakes, and mixing sticky roll dough. She’d get up first thing Saturday morning and pick all the vegetables she’d be taking to the Saturday morning market.

Now, my job once again includes a Farmer’s Market; but this time, I have a completely different role. As a favor to the UNL dietetics student who manages the State Office Building (SOB, lol!) Farmer’s Market, the interns at the health department are helping out with the market. Which means standing in the sun (actually, under a canopy) for a few hours and talking to people about cooking and local food and nutrition. What could be better? I’m not sure. I love it.

And today I remembered to bring my grocery bag and some cash. So I brought home a bounty.

Produce from Farmer's Market

When Anna announced that she wouldn’t have time to make dinner tonight, I ended up with a nice surprise: a chance to make dinner on the fly. So, I put together a quick corn, tomato, and avocado salad (recipe compliments of Megan, the market manager) and tried to think of something to do with the hamburger Anna bought this afternoon.

Here’s what I came up with.

Meat-Wrapped Onions

They look like some sort of weird meat with the bone in–but they’re actually meat-wrapped onions. I washed off some of those beautiful long red onions you saw in the first picture, and wrapped them with meat and then grilled them over a low flame until they were cooked through. They tasted DELISH!

A little trick for whenever you’re trying to wrap something with hamburger: Add some salt to the hamburger and then mash it around with your hands really good. The salt causes the meat to stick together better.

Finished Meal: Meat-wrapped onions and fresh corn, avocado, and tomato salad

Categories Everyday Life, Health

5-4-3-2-Are you serious?

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The 5-4-3-2-1-GO! project is a social marketing campaign aimed at preventing childhood obesity by promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The five main messages of 5-4-3-2-1-GO! are:
5 servings of Fruits and Vegetables every day
4 servings of Water every day
3 servings of Low-Fat Dairy every day
2 or fewer hours of Screen Time every day
1 or more hours of Physical Activity every day.

These are pretty simple, commonplace action steps for kids to take. That is, all of them but one–or more specifically “2”.

Two or fewer hours of screen time means two or fewer hours spent in front of a TV, a computer, or a video game console of any type. It means being intentional with screen time. It means practically impossible.

I’ve been going through the 5-4-3-2-1-GO! program with the kids from a couple of community centers, and sharing similar messages with kids at other schools. And I’ve never felt more hypocritical than when I’m sharing the “2” message.

A quick review of my screen time today:

0603-0646
Wake up to music on computer, get ready for work with the computer as a backdrop

0646-0700
Check e-mail, do SparkPeople.com,Score a couple MyPoints

0728-0745
Read blogs while brushing teeth, short break to clean bathroom sink and toilet

0800-1130
Check e-mails at work, e-mail 5-4-3-2-1-Go! partners, adjust lesson plans for 5-4-3-2-1-Go!, read grant requirements, create 5-4-3-2-1-Go! blurb for church bulletins, check grades, brainstorm 5-4-3-2-1-Go! stuff (all on the computer)

1225-1238
Check e-mail again, turn off work computer

1734-1814
Download some scrapbook freebies, look up some health related sites, catch up on home e-mail, catch up on blog reading (all while reading a flesh-and-blood/made-of-paper book)

1916-1934
Read blogs while changing into my swimming suit for a quick dip in the pool

2103-Present
Writing my blog

Which totals to 5.72 hours and counting. (And that’s excluding the computer being on while I was getting ready this morning.)

And I was TRYING to be good today. After all, I only talked to 4 different groups today about limiting screen time. So I intentionally DIDN’T turn on the computer as soon as I got home from work.

Now, why is so much screen time not a good idea?

For starters, check out your posture right now. I’m guessing it probably isn’t good. I know mine isn’t. Then there’s the fact that you’re sitting like a lump instead of moving around burning energy. And did you know that you blink less frequently than normal when you’re sitting in front of a screen? This contributes to dry eyes. And since you’re focused on a screen always at the same distance from your face, you are more susceptible to eyestrain. Screen time is negatively correlated with sleep quality and academic achievement in children; and is positively correlated with body image issues, violence, anxiety, and fearfulness.

So it’s definitely worthwhile to limit screen time. The question is, how?

Do you have any ideas? I could sure use them.

Categories Everyday Life

A Missed Opportunity?

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“You can just move into that cubicle back there,” my boss/preceptor told me after she’d finished proofing a letter I was preparing to send off to one of the area priests regarding our 5-4-3-2-1-GO! program. “You can run this program.”

I didn’t know quite how to respond. ‘Cause my first thought is to jump on it–“Absolutely! There’s nothing I’d like better.” I’m excited about this project. I think it has a great concept. I like the experience that I’m getting while working on this project. The project appears to allow me to perfectly blend my visionary giftings with my administrative giftings. I love this project. And there’s nothing I’d like better than to see it to completion.

At the same time, I’m currently working for free. I’ve read a bit of this grant and I’m pretty sure they didn’t write in for an extra employee. I’m not going to work for free forever. ‘Cause my bills have to be paid, my tuition taken care of, and I need a little left over to save for a house. That I know of, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department doesn’t have the funds to pay me what I need.

Besides which, I have a graduate assistantship for this fall that is covering tuition and paying me a stipend. I’ve already agreed to that. And that means I’ve agreed to work no more than twenty hours a week at all jobs (including my assistantship, a 20 hour position). Even if Charlotte could pay me, she probably couldn’t pay me what tuition remission comes to.

So I said nothing.

And now I’m second guessing myself.

What if she took my silence as “I don’t want to work for you”? What if she took it as “I hate this project”? What if instead of being the “I don’t know how to respond” that I meant, she took my silence as a “I don’t know how to say it without being rude, but NO WAY!”

Words come to me after the moment in which to say them has passed: “I’d love to stay with this project, but I’ve already committed to a graduate assistantship for the fall. But if you ever find yourself wanting to hire on a community dietitian, keep me in mind.”

Ah, well. Such is life. So I missed that opportunity; there’ll be more. For now, I’m practicing that response so that it’ll flow off my tongue the next time an opportunity arises. Because I’d really LOVE to work for Charlotte in community health.

Categories Books

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge Wrap Up

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A month ago, I wrote that I was going to be participating in Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia reading challenge. I was going to explore the meaning behind the Chronicles. I was going to go deep.

But, I was in the midst of a frantic 5-week summer class and finishing up my last few weeks of clinical rotations, and I didn’t end up getting as much read as I wanted to. I didn’t read the whole series. I just read one book: The Magician’s Nephew. But I went deeper into the Magician’s Nephew than I ever have before.

I wrote up my thoughts separately, on a page in my “books” section. I’d love for you to take a look at what I learned from The Magician’s Nephew:

**Addendum added June 25, 2011: I am in the process of moving all my reviews on to the blog proper on the WordPress platform, so these are no longer listed separately in the “books” section–although they can be found linked to from the books page.**

For more great posts from others who participated in the Chronicles of Narnia reading challenge visit Carrie’s blog by clicking on the icon below.

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge

Categories Book Notes

Digory Meets Greatness

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Digory Kirke is an ordinary boy, living an ordinary life in London in the nineteenth century. Well–ordinary inasmuch as he wasn’t anything extraordinary. He had a strange name, and an unfortunate story–father away in India, mother dying, having to live with a crazy old uncle and aunt–but he really wasn’t that special.

Certainly, no one could ascribe greatness to young Digory Kirke.

Yet he was about to embark on an adventure that would shape the rest of his life. Through his adventures, he would meet greatness–and not a few imitations–and come out the better for it.

Digory’s personal ascent towards greatness begins at a low point–when, despite Polly’s apprehension, he rings the bell in Charn and awakens the Empress Jadis. Full of himself and his own importance, he argues with Polly and makes himself more like his Uncle Andrew than he’d ever wanted to be. Digory is stunned and in awe of the beautiful and powerful woman his actions have conjured–and almost instantly regrets his foolish action.

He would live to regret it still more when Jadis returns to this world and offers a threat to Digory’s mother’s peace. And yet again he would regret his actions when they seem to stand in the way of receiving help for his mother from Aslan.

Standing in front of Aslan, Digory has a huge chance to make things right by admitting to his role in bringing Jadis into Narnia. He also has a great inducement to lie. Why would Aslan help Digory’s mother if Digory were to admit to doing something so awful? Digory wants to hide his role in the matter–and tries his hardest. But Aslan gives him opportunity after opportunity to tell the truth. And finally, the truth comes out.

Digory brought the witch to Narnia. Digory brought her into our world from Charn. Digory awakened her from her sleep in Charn. Digory hadn’t been enchanted when he made the decision to ring the bell. He’d made the decision in his right mind, willfully deciding to disregard his friend’s warning.

Digory had to ‘fess up to the truth. He had to make clear his culpability in the matter. And then, he was given the opportunity to make it right. Aslan sent him on a quest to find the fruit that would protect Narnia for hundreds of years. Digory could not bargain with the Lion. He had no chips with which to bargain. He was in the wrong and he must make it right. If his mother died, his mother died. He could not do wrong again–even for his mother’s gain.

Digory’s task is made even more difficult when he arrives in the garden to find that the witch has preceded him there. She tempts him first with personal greatness–claiming that if he were to eat the fruit, he would be great and they could rule together. Digory sees through this ruse. He has seen what aspirations of greatness have done to Uncle Andrew and to Jadis–and he has no desire for such a fate. But when Jadis brings his mother into the equation–offering him the opportunity to save his mother by forsaking his duty and breaking the rules–Digory is faced with an awful choice.

Seeking his mother’s well-being was a good motive. It wasn’t like Uncle Andrew’s or Jadis’s motives of personal greatness and gain. Yet, was the end–his mother’s well-being–enough to justify the means? Could he break the rules and consign the people of Narnia to a life of torture in exchange for his mother’s life? In doing so, he would be just like Andrew and Jadis, considering himself above the law and considering everyone else as mere tools to accomplish his own purposes. But in doing so, he might save his beloved mother? What was he to do?

Thinking of his mother, Digory realized that his mother wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t like for her son to be a thief and a liar–even for her sake. And when the witch mentions Polly, Digory’s eyes are opened to the cruel heart behind the witch’s enticement. He refuses to yield, instead running boldly away from sin. And with that action, Digory achieved true greatness.

Digory’s greatness came, not in proclaiming himself as above the law, but in submitting himself to the law. His greatness came not in destroying others to meet his own gain, but in being willing to lose what he regarded most in the world (his mother) to do what was right. And as Digory died to himself, Aslan returned to him his greatest desire. Offering Digory an apple from the new tree, Aslan offered to Digory a reward for his obedience: his mother’s health.

Categories Book Notes

Case Studies in Greatness: Aslan

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We don’t meet Aslan until halfway through the book–and even then, we do not know Him by name. We know Him only by His actions. We know a voice, more beautiful than any other sound ever heard. We know a song, more beautiful than any other melody ever composed. We meet Aslan as a voice that can sing the world into existence.

Then, by the light which He Himself has created, we can finally see the Lion.

We see the Lion in contrast to Jadis, when Jadis’s blow glances off Him, bothering Him not in the least. Rather than using people for His own gain; we see Him going amongst the animals, choosing many for their own gain. While Jadis brought death to all creatures within her domain (even to the blades of grass), Aslan brings life to His domain–life beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. His chosen animals and trees and waters are not only living, but have souls. He gives them life, yes–but goes beyond to give them souls that they might love, think, speak. Where Jadis took everything she could from everyone, the Lion gives all that He has created to the creatures He has chosen.

The contrast between Aslan and Uncle Andrew also becomes apparent. Uncle Andrew’s first thought, in this new world where a torn crossbar grows into a new lamp-post, is to exploit it for his monetary gain. Aslan’s first action, after the creation of this marvelous world, is for its protection. He gathers a council to warn them of the entrance of evil into this world, He prepares a way by which the evil can be held off, and He states from the beginning that He intends for the worst effect of this evil to fall upon Himself.

Both Jadis and Uncle Andrew think themselves above the rules. But if anyone were above the rules, it would be Aslan. Surely the great power that created the entire world could break its rules–the very rules that He created. But Aslan does not break His rules, even when the rules mean that He must bear great pain. When Jadis ate the fruit of eternal youth (the fruit created at Aslan’s word), how easy would it have been for Aslan to have decided that the fruit would no longer bring eternal youth. But Aslan does not break His rules, any more than He would change His nature. Jadis will be forever young, and Aslan will suffer to make things right according to the rules which He has written.

Aslan is great because He is good. And if ever Aslan should cease to be good, His greatness would be diminished. He would be, not a great and benevolent king, but a petty and foolish ruler, such as Jadis and Andrew are. But thankfully, another aspect of Aslan’s greatness is His unchanging nature. He is good, He always was good, and He always will be good. And His goodness, His greatness, enlivens the entire world.

Categories Book Notes

Case Studies in Greatness: Jadis

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“And you could see at once, not only from her crown and robes, but from the flash of her eyes and the curve of her lips, that she was a great queen.”

Thus we are introduced to the woman who would haunt the remainder of the Chronicles. Jadis, the last queen of Charn. The White Witch of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, who styles herself Queen of Narnia and Empress of the Lone Islands, who know the deep magic from the dawn of time. The specter whom Nikabrik’s foul companions would seek to conjure up in Prince Caspian. Her later companion, the Lady of the Green Kirtle, would wreak havok on Caspian’s heir in The Silver Chair.

Jadis is great because she is quite literally larger-than-life. She towers over the children, over normal people, and even over the usually-quite-tall Uncle Andrew. She is great because she is powerful–able to demolish huge gates with the force of her will and to cause all living things to die with the Deplorable Word.

But ultimately, Jadis’s greatness is cruelty and destruction. In a power struggle with her sister, she considers it nothing to “[pour] out the blood of [her] armies like water” to meet her ends. And when even the death of her subjects was not enough to stop the sister, Jadis speaks the deplorable word to kill every living thing except herself. When the children protest of her killing so many innocents, Jadis proclaims: “Don’t you understand?…I was the Queen. They were my people. What else were they there for but to do my will?”

Like Uncle Andrew, Jadis feels that consideration for others and adherence to moral law are beneath her. “You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I.” Once in this world, she uses her power to manipulate Uncle Andrew, to throw Aunt Letty across the room, and to plunder the city of London. Yet she justified all this, for she “[was] the Empress Jadis.”

In Narnia, Jadis meets a being larger than her, with a power much greater. Her every word and action was destruction, but now she meets a lion who sings a world into existence. HE is huge, magical, and HE creates rather than destroying. “This is a terrible world,” she declares. “We must leave at once.”

When she is unable to escape to another world, she boldly throws a lamppost at the lion. It causes him no harm, which terrifies her. She has met a greatness that she has no power to harm. She cannot create–what’s more, she cannot destroy THIS power. Jadis’s greatness is exposed as a sham in the light of Aslan’s power.

Categories Health, Reflections

A “Great” Weight

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I ran into an old friend of mine today, a friend I hadn’t seen in several years. She gave me a hug and then stood back a bit to inspect me. “Wow, Rebekah.” she said. “You look amazing!” Then she asked, “How much weight did you lose?”

The comment was so unexpected, it threw me for a minute. I mean, I did lose a bit of weight my 2nd senior year of college–the same weight I’d put on my senior year of high school. Neither weight change was expected or intentional–and neither final weight was inappropriate. It just happened–I went from low normal to high normal and back again. No biggie.

At least, no biggie to me. I’ve always felt comfortable with my weight, whichever/whatever it might be. I thought my body was fabulous at 160 pounds–and I still think it’s fabulous at 145 pounds. I don’t feel any different because I’m 15 lbs lighter. I’m not particularly any more or less healthy than I was when I weighed more. After all, I’ve always been an appropriate weight.

I mean, sure, I’ve noticed the comments I’ve had in the last couple of years. Someone asks me if I’ve always been this little. Another someone says I’m disappearing. Someone else says they wish they were as “skinny” as I am.

I’ve blown them off as being symptoms of everyone else’s weight obsessions. Especially since most of the people making these comments are certainly not overweight. I’ve never seen anything out of the ordinary about my own body.

But Julie’s comment today makes me wonder. Maybe I do look different than I did two years ago. Maybe it did change my appearance a bit more than I thought.

The problem is, people seem to think my “skinny-ness” is something to aspire to.

Julie says she wants to take my example. The gal who asked if I’ve always been this “little” (How a 5’10” woman is “little” is somewhat beyond me) envied the weight that I maintain so effortlessly.

But the truth is, I’m not any different than I was 15 lbs ago, when no one was aspiring to be me. I’m not even physically different EXCEPT IN LOOKS. My health status is virtually the same, my risk of disease the same, my self-image the same.

15 lbs ago, I was at a healthy weight. Now, I am still at a healthy weight; albeit a different one. The only thing to recommend this weight over that one is that I better fit society’s “ideal woman”.

It’s been an informative experience for me–one that has convinced me that we are an overly weight-centric culture.

Many of my colleagues in dietetics would disagree with me. They would say that this emphasis on weight is good. After all, weight status and health status are linked.

Problem is, too few people understand that weight (just like most other indicators of health status) is a balance. Take potassium for example. Unless you have had renal issues, you probably are unaware of the important role potassium has in your body. Your body has a tight range of potassium balance that must be maintained. If it gets too high, your body shuts down. If it gets too low, your body shuts down. Likewise, too high a weight is unhealthy; and too low a weight is unhealthy.

Yet somehow our culture has taken to thinking that weight problems are just a one way issue. They think that lower is always better. Even the health industry has gotten in on this. Did you know that once upon a time, the “overweight” classification began at a BMI of 27? That’s because risk of chronic disease increases at a BMI of 27. So why do our current recommendations place the “overweight” designation on anyone with a BMI above 25? Good question. The data doesn’t necessarily support it. The World Health Organization decided that they’d do better with a bit of a “fudge factor” down–and Centers for Disease Control followed suit.

And then your average citizen, who doesn’t know that the category is already “fudged” down, lowers the category a little more. They reason that if 25 is overweight and overweight is bad, then they better stay as far away from 25 as possible. And so an eating disorder is born–or if not an eating disorder, then certainly an unhealthy attitude towards health, self, and food.

Did you know that the “healthiest” BMI might actually be somewhere between 22 and 25? People above and below that BMI are at greater risk. So, let me ask you–based on what I just told you, am I healthier at my current weight (at a BMI of 20.8) or two years ago and 15 lbs heavier (at a BMI of 22.9)?

Do you see what I’m saying? I’m actually farther from “the ideal” than I was 15 lbs ago. But public perception is the exact opposite.

Weight is a touchy issue–but I feel our culture has been addressing it the wrong way. We’re the most weight-obsessed culture on the planet–but the only thing its accomplished for us is an “obesity epidemic” and an increasing prevalence of “disordered eating”. By focusing on weight, we’ve created a culture with more weight problems than any other.

What do I suggest? Certainly you can work towards getting to a healthy weight–ideally at a BMI between 22.5 and 25. But health is more than just weight–and you’d do better to be focusing on other indicators. For example, you could start looking at some other health-related numbers: HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure, and resting heart rate are just some examples of other numbers to be looking at. You could also focus on behaviors that effect health: exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, whole grain consumption, saturated fat intake, etc.

In general, it’s time that we got out of our weight rut and started thinking about promoting health.

Where I got my numbers:

Body mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900,000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet. 2009 Mar 28;373(9669):1083-96.

  • Meta-analyses of 57 prospective studies exploring the relationship of BMI with death.
  • Mortality (death rate) was lowest for individuals at a BMI between 22.5 and 25.
  • Risks for death associated with heart disease increased at a BMI above 25.
  • Risks for death associated with respiratory disease increased at a BMI below 22.5