Friday, January 28, 2011

A little R & R...


The last couple of weeks have been exhausting. Now I have a couple of weeks until my next test, so that means I can take a little time for myself. Daydreaming about how I am going to spend what little free time I get, is what gets me through all of the ridiculously long hours of studying. Below, is how I spent my free time the past two nights. Ps- I am in love with the last pair of earrings.








                                                   Lesley

Thursday, January 27, 2011

~ Weigh in Wednesdays ~


         Week 14 


Weekly Tell-ALL:
Weight: 145.2 lbs (-8.8 lbs total)

Ave. Calories - not sure
Workouts - Zero
Mood: Ready to give this some energy




Challenge for this week:
- Workout 3x for 30-40min
- Limit the amount of Cherry Cokes I drink- to 1 a day- Drink at least 4 glasses of water daily (32oz.)


This past week has been rough, but that has nothing to do with my weight loss. I have had two exams back to back. I have spent so much time studying and none even thinking about all this. My challenges are staying the same until I can master these.

It looks like I actually gained 1.3 lbs for the week, however I really think that last weeks's measurement was just way low because I hadn't eaten very much.

I need to pick up speed if I am going to make it to my goal of 130 lbs by this summer!
                                                                                                                                                         Lesley

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A little Inspiration



I feel exhausted and overwhelmed! I just needed a little pick me up and I am a sucker for cheesy inspiration posters. They always make me smile and feel like everything is going to be okay. So today, feeling like I am drowning in the rain, or at least my pathology notes, I am refusing to let it get me down. I am going to try my best to dance.

                                                         Lesley

10 x 10 Akward


In life there are plenty of awkward moments, but medical school seems to have more than it's fair share.

During our second year, we are introduced to three clinical procedures, that we then perform. Two of which are practiced on standardized patients, the breast and gynecologic exam  and the other one is on unsuspecting urology clinic patients, the DRE, digital rectal exam.

First of all, I am not sure why or how these three are chosen as the ones to practice on standardized patients  out of all of the procedures that we have to learn. It might be because they are awkward and they (whoever makes the final decisions) want us to feel more comfortable with them before we do them on actual patients. Well this could be true for the first two procedures that I mentioned, but not the third. From the patients perspective, I can think of hundreds of procedures that I would want medical students to practice before performing it on me for the first time ever, but I didn't make the rules.

Recently, we started this new afternoon class, Introduction to Clinical Medicine or ICM for short (in medicine everything has an abbreviation). On the first hour of the first day of this new class, even before the hour long course introduction, we are informed that we will first be hearing from two physician. Who then tell us that we will first start with a video. They start messing with the audio video equipment, but they are having a hell of a time trying to get the video to play. Just so you know this is a recurring them with tons of our classes. My bet, their difficulty is due the fact that they are working with a VHS tape. Really?

To set the scene for what happens next, it is important to understand the room that we are in. It is this tiny auditorium that barely holds all of us, which there are a few over a hundred. The ceiling is low making it seem even smaller, it is hot and noisy. The screen which is about 10x10 and covering most of the front wall, is only a few feet from the front row. Which I, luckily (insert sarcasm here) got there a little late and had to sit on the second row. So practically sitting on the screen, packed like sardines with my classmates, we wait for the video to begin.

Eventually they get it starting and...BAM.... THERE IS A GIGANTIC 10x10 PENIS STARING US IN THE FACES. And then the physician in the video begins to examen it. There is this long awkward pause because no one knows how to react, the physicians are scuffing about trying to start the video at the beginning, when we ALL erupt into giggles, professional right?  But what else do you do, we had not even been told what the video was about before they started it. Who would have guessed an enormous penis, well I mean the male genital exam.I can't even begin to express how colleagues it felt. As one of my classmates later put it, " it was like watching a porn video with ALL of your colleagues and professors, just not something you do".

They finally got it started from the beginning, which had a lovely introduction to what the video would entail before showing any genitalia. To note, I don't find anything funny about the male genital exam, it is merely the way in which it was introduced to us, that wow... I will probably never forget.

There was yet another surprise they had in store for all of us. They hadn't planned it as a surprise, we just had no idea it was coming. After the video and a brief explanation, we are told that a sign up sheet will be passed around, so that we can all sign up for the day that we do the DRE, digital rectal exam.

Still not funny, but WOW I had not woken up that morning planning that I would be picking the day for the first time I would be putting my finger up someone's butt. Only one word, UNEXPECTED. The day that I actually went to the urology clinic to do this is a whole other story that I will share at some point.
                                                     Lesley

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Weigh in Wednesdays ~


Week 13- 2.8 lbs!!!!


Don't get too excited it might just be because I didn't eat that much at all while I was studying. So it might just be temporary, but it still makes me happy. I was shocked, I mean I probably drank my weight in cherry cokes. I hadn't weighed myself in quite a few days so when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw 144 ...WHAT. I actually weigh myself 3 times to make sure it was right.

Weekly Tell-ALL:


Weight: 144.0 lbs (-10 lbs total)
Ave. Calories - yeah...I was memorizing drugs, sorry
Workouts - unless flashcard making burns calories, then no, no exercise
Mood: Momentum

Challenge for this week:
- Workout 3x for 30-40min
- Limit the amount of Cherry Cokes I drink- to 1 a day
- Drink at least 4 glasses of water daily (32oz.)

                                                   Lesley

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Weekend UpDate


My Desk

My weekend was spent glued to my desk chair, memorizing over a 125 drugs for my pharmacology test today.

Friday: Studies- 3pm-7am (Sat.)
Saturday: Slept - 7am to 2:30pm
                  Studied- 2:30pm - 6:30am (Sun.)
Sunday: Slept - 7am - 2pm
                Studied - 3pm- 6am (Mon.)
Monday: Slept - 6am- 1pm
                  Studied- 1:30pm- well...till I left for my test at 6:50am Tuesday Morning

SUMMARY: Crazy schedule, Not sure if I showered in there much, and drank more Cherry Cokes than I can count

On that note, I can't believe I am still functioning. Going to hit the sack, so I will be fresh tomorrow to start studying for my pathology exam next Monday!!!!  Yikes!
                                               Lesley

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

-Weigh in Wednesdays -


Week 12 - Lost 1.2 llbs!!!!




 Weekly Tell-ALL:

Weight: 146.8 lbs (-7.2 lbs total)
Ave. Calories - just a little above 1,200 (which is my daily goal)
Workouts - 2x for 40 min. each time
Mood: Determined

Challenge for this week:
- Workout 3x for 30-40min
- Limit the amount of Cherry Cokes I drink- to 1 a day
- Drink at least 4 glasses of water daily (32oz.)




PS. I got a digital scale for Christmas, hence the 146.8 lbs. I love it. My old one had the dial that bounced around, and I could never see what number it was at exactly. And worse of all I would bend over to be able to read it and it would bounce all over the place. So thanks to my Mama for my wonderful scale. Having the type A personality that I do, the inexactness of the other one was driving me bonkers!

                                            Lesley

Best Weight Loss App Ever!


Must Use App for weight loss!!!

This past week has gone surprisingly well. I have been keeping track of all of my daily calorie intake with this amazing app. It is called My Fitness Pal, it also has a website. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/learn_more


This little app is amazing!!! You can enter your starting weight, your goal weight and set your daily calorie goal according to how much weight you want to lose each week. Then just add everything that you eat, which is extremely easy. You can search for any food and they will have it. For, example I love Panera's Tomato Soup, and they have it listed or whole food's original hummus and they have it too. I have been quite impressed with the vast amount of food they have in their data base.

Along with the food, it has the calories per a serving, which you can adjust to the size of your portion. My favorite part is that it has all of the nutritional information for each food. Meaning that you can see how much protein or sodium or vitamin A you are getting each day. It also shows the goals for each of these nutritional categories, so you can see how you measure up each day or each week.

And finally you can keep track of you weight and other measurements if you choose.

This app greatly opened my eyes to what I was eating, the calories in foods per serving size and the nutritional value or lack there of in my everyday foods. It has made me more aware of eating healthy, with out feeling like I have to only eat raw vegetables, cause that just won't happen.

Being a busy medical student, this has been perfect for me? Check it out online or for your iPhone or Android.


Lesley

Monday, January 10, 2011

Creativity...Cards

As promised, here are a few photos of some cards
 that I made...Enjoy!






                                                  Lesley