So we've reached the end of this semester (16 weeks)...
To recap, my goal was to lose 15 lbs... but this goal would include the following components:
Nutrition/Eating habits:
1) eat less junk food & carbohydrates (i.e. rice, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc.)
2) eat more healthier foods, including fruits, vegetables, and tofu
3) decrease consumption of sugar-filled coffee drinks
4) decrease food consumption in general; stop eating when full
Physical Activity:
1) increase my overall strength and endurance
2) get in shape; tone my body; increase my muscle mass; decrease my fat mass
In order to achieve my goals, I plan on making small changes here and there, so as to make the transition easier and longer-lasting. I plan to:
1) cut all meals in half or thirds prior to eating, and only eat one portion at a time to ensure I stop when I am full (otherwise I just eat everything without noticing whether I am full or not)
2) limit my intake of carbohydrates, sweets, and junk food while still allowing a small amount occasionally to decrease the chances of binge eating or non-compliance
3) make sure I eat at least one serving of fruits/vegetables per meal
4) only drink half my coffee, and reserve for days when I really need it
5) take the stairs throughout my workday at the hospital; avoid using the elevator when possible
6) exercise 4-5 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time (i.e. walk dogs, exercise videos, etc); preferably immediately upon getting home so that I avoid getting too lazy
In regards to making these changes... I managed to keep up with cutting meals in half, limiting carbohydrates/sweets/junk food intake, eating more fruits/veggies, and drinking less coffee for only about half of the semester. I still continue to take the stairs throughout most of my workday... But in the past few weeks, I have gone back to eating regular sized meals, and decreasing my workouts to just 1-2 times a week. I have not done P90X in about 2 weeks... which is not ideal. But I still continue to go to dance class for a workout despite being busy, as dance is much more enjoyable and is a restorative activity for me as well.
What I've learned is that behavior change is REALLY hard... even with all the "small changes" I said I'd try to make... I only managed to maintain a few of those "small" changes for the full 16 weeks. But I also found that things got much easier as I started to lose weight and gain muscle from working out. It's like an upward spiral... because once you get in the habit of working out, you feel 'gross' not working out. So I feel gross at the moment, and look forward to getting on track with working out again once I survive this hellish week... even though I know how grueling the workouts can be.
Though I didn't meet all my goals... this is what I have managed to accomplish:
1) I have dropped almost one dress or pant size...
2) I've started to include more fruits and veggies into my diet again
3) I've definitely decreased my sugar-filled coffee intake compared to before this assignment
4) I take the stairs at work most the day.
5) I exercise/work out multiple times a week in general.
6) And finally.... my final weight is 1*5.2 lbs... (this was taken on a different scale than before because my scale broke... so my true weight will probably be even a little bit less than this...) which means over the course of this 16 week class, I've lost around 9.2 lbs (possibly a little more due to the difference in scales... I know that my scale weighs a little heavier than the one I had to use for this final weigh in).... granted the last few lbs I dropped might be from losing some of my muscle mass over the past couple weeks...
But, overall, I'm proud of myself, and I am motivated to continue on this track of eating better, and exercising more. I feel better, happier, more healthy, and more vibrant.
Thanks to Dr. A for having us do this assignment... it really was a push in the right direction at the right time for me!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Plug for my peeps...
All this time, I didn't think to even utilize the resources available to me within my own profession (occupational therapy) or school...
Here at USC, our Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy has a linked faculty practice, called the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice (OTFP) located conveniently on HSC in the IGM building on the first floor. Dr. Ritt-Olson mentioned this in class once... about Dr. Florence Clark (the Associate Dean and Chair of our division, and also the current president of our national professional association, the American Occupational Therapy Association) who worked with people on things like time management... well Dr. Clark's work has included so much more and has spun into a thriving practice. See below!
Check out the website: http://ot.usc.edu/patient-care/faculty-practice/
OTFP has many programs directly linked to the patients/clientele of the Doctors of USC and the USC University Hospital (e.g. Bariatric surgery candidates must go through the OTFP weight management program prior to, and often after, surgery; Living with Multiple Sclerosis group, etc)
Of note for you (my public health class peers), we have programs catered specifically to Weight Management (one of our longest running programs), Life Coaching, Lifestyle Redesign for the College Student (catered to college student issues such as time management, stress management, health/nutrition/physical activity, balance, healthy lifestyles, etc), a Diabetes Program, and more.
So what the heck is Occupational Therapy, and what can it do for you? This is taken straight from the website (the link I just provided above):
At USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice, we work with people to create customized, medically-sound treatments for a wide range of health and wellness issues. Our team of highly-qualified and experienced occupational therapists (“OTs”) will help you develop skills for healthy living, whether your goal is:
“Occupational Therapy” looks at how you occupy your time, and how your daily activities affect your health, wellness and life satisfaction. This holistic health care profession assists clients to improve performance, prevent illness and disability, and promote adaptation to life changes. Occupational therapists are licensed by the state of California and registered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. All practitioners hold a Master’s degree, and many have earned a clinical doctorate degree.
Contact us today, or speak with your physician for a referral, and get started on feeling your best in mind and body!
So check it out! For those of you who still got a year of school to go... or even medical school at USC in the future, its something to consider. Students who have USC health insurance get OT services included... (you may have to pay a copay... not sure so you'll have to check on that). You just need a referral from your primary doctor. Contact OTFP first and they'll tell you what referral to get, if you're interested.
Here at USC, our Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy has a linked faculty practice, called the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice (OTFP) located conveniently on HSC in the IGM building on the first floor. Dr. Ritt-Olson mentioned this in class once... about Dr. Florence Clark (the Associate Dean and Chair of our division, and also the current president of our national professional association, the American Occupational Therapy Association) who worked with people on things like time management... well Dr. Clark's work has included so much more and has spun into a thriving practice. See below!
Check out the website: http://ot.usc.edu/patient-care/faculty-practice/
OTFP has many programs directly linked to the patients/clientele of the Doctors of USC and the USC University Hospital (e.g. Bariatric surgery candidates must go through the OTFP weight management program prior to, and often after, surgery; Living with Multiple Sclerosis group, etc)
Of note for you (my public health class peers), we have programs catered specifically to Weight Management (one of our longest running programs), Life Coaching, Lifestyle Redesign for the College Student (catered to college student issues such as time management, stress management, health/nutrition/physical activity, balance, healthy lifestyles, etc), a Diabetes Program, and more.
So what the heck is Occupational Therapy, and what can it do for you? This is taken straight from the website (the link I just provided above):
About the Faculty Practice and Occupational Therapy
At USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice, we work with people to create customized, medically-sound treatments for a wide range of health and wellness issues. Our team of highly-qualified and experienced occupational therapists (“OTs”) will help you develop skills for healthy living, whether your goal is:
- to lower your risk of developing illness by managing stress, improving your eating and activity habits, reducing your cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure
- to lose weight and keep it off, whether you have few or many pounds to lose, or to help you prepare for bariatric surgery
- to get more satisfaction out of your daily habits and activities, no matter where you are in your life
- to get more out of your college years by learning ways to manage your time and gaining skills for handling your own finances, cooking, goal-setting, and more
- to deal more effectively with an ongoing condition such as Multiple Sclerosis or chronic pain
- to optimize your return to academic pursuits for veterans of the U.S. Military
“Occupational Therapy” looks at how you occupy your time, and how your daily activities affect your health, wellness and life satisfaction. This holistic health care profession assists clients to improve performance, prevent illness and disability, and promote adaptation to life changes. Occupational therapists are licensed by the state of California and registered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. All practitioners hold a Master’s degree, and many have earned a clinical doctorate degree.
Contact us today, or speak with your physician for a referral, and get started on feeling your best in mind and body!
“Occupational Therapists are the life designers, the architects of life.”
So check it out! For those of you who still got a year of school to go... or even medical school at USC in the future, its something to consider. Students who have USC health insurance get OT services included... (you may have to pay a copay... not sure so you'll have to check on that). You just need a referral from your primary doctor. Contact OTFP first and they'll tell you what referral to get, if you're interested.
Cheers!
Motivation....
I will be staying at this resort in Cancun... I fly out Friday! Just have to survive this week without stuffing my face with too much junk food to deal with the stress! Must also fit into a bikini.....
http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drecu/
The Cascade Effect...
So, as much as I'd like to believe that what I choose to eat and when/how much I choose to exercise ultimately affects only me and my weight/health... this is far from the truth.
In the past few weeks, as I've struggled with stress... my eating has gone downhill... just yesterday, as I was working away on final projects, etc... I ate soooo many brownie-bites that were available to me at work .. that I just felt so sick... made me tired and lose energy to do much else...
I turned down my brother when he asked if I wanted to work out... because I needed to study... so he ended up not working out either. I have not had the time or energy to walk my dog, who needs the exercise for her own health and well-being... so she's suffered as well...
Furthermore, the decrease in health and energy does affect the quality of the work I produce. And though my boss at work is rather understanding of the stress I'm under, there is no excuse when it comes to patient care and accountability...
I think this touches upon the idea of whether obesity is a moral issue... should we be accountable not only to ourselves, but to those around us? ... because ultimately, it seems our choices do affect not only those we love, but even people we don't even know...
Something I've been thinking about....
In the past few weeks, as I've struggled with stress... my eating has gone downhill... just yesterday, as I was working away on final projects, etc... I ate soooo many brownie-bites that were available to me at work .. that I just felt so sick... made me tired and lose energy to do much else...
I turned down my brother when he asked if I wanted to work out... because I needed to study... so he ended up not working out either. I have not had the time or energy to walk my dog, who needs the exercise for her own health and well-being... so she's suffered as well...
Furthermore, the decrease in health and energy does affect the quality of the work I produce. And though my boss at work is rather understanding of the stress I'm under, there is no excuse when it comes to patient care and accountability...
I think this touches upon the idea of whether obesity is a moral issue... should we be accountable not only to ourselves, but to those around us? ... because ultimately, it seems our choices do affect not only those we love, but even people we don't even know...
Something I've been thinking about....
Relevant articles, statistics, and links...
Topic: Post information about your health goal such as statistics about diabetes or links to articles about the benefits of running.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/14obese.html
-This article doesn't pertain to weight loss in particular, but I found it VERY interesting.... the CDC has released that the national obesity rates have hit a plateau... remaining steady for men for about 5 years, and closer to 10 years for women and children. However, of course these numbers have leveled out at a very high percentage as most of us know.... 34% of adults are obese, and 17% of children are considered obese. This information is controversial in that some believe that this news means we have halted the obesity epidemic, while others believe this is nothing to be proud of until the numbers begin to fall... what's your take on it?
http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-health-benefits-of-weight-loss
-Quick bullets of the benefits of weight loss... of note, even modest weight loss between 4.4 lbs to 9.7 lbs was enough to significantly lower blood pressure.
Santanasto, A.J., Glynn, N.W., Newmann, M.A., Taylor, C.A., Brooks, M.M., Goodpaster, B.H., et al. (2011). Impact of Weight Loss on Physical Function with Changes in Strength, Muscle Mass, and Muscle Fat Infiltration in Overweight to Moderately Obese Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Obesity, Volume 2011, Article ID 516576. doi: 10.1155/2011/516576
-Bottom line of this RCT: the physical activity + weight loss group (PA + WL) showed additional improvements in function over exercise alone or physical activity + successful aging health education (PA + SA) primarily due to loss of body fat.
http://weightloss.about.com/library/blhealthbenefits.htm
-Even losing just 10% of your body weight can make a huge difference in things like lowering cholesterol and BP, improving mobility and breathing, improving sleep, etc.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/101/nutrition-basics/health-benefits-of-weight-loss.aspx
-Similar article as above, that goes over the basic benefits of being at a healthy weight... how even losing just 10% of your body weight can have positive effects.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html
-Direct from the CDC website... information on assessing your weight, balancing calories, and healthy weight loss (via physical activity and nutrition) which helps you keep it off... also you'll find tips and guidelines on healthy eating and physical activity.
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
-From the Weight-Control Information Network, definitions of obesity and overweight, along with statistics and economic costs of these...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesity.html
-A collection of very relevant articles from MedlinePlus in the categories of latest news, treatment, research, organizations, statistics... to just name a few.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_110655.html
-An article I found off the above MedlinePlus site called: "Babies Born to Obese Moms face Higher Death Risk: Study"... straight from the article:
"Babies born to mothers who were obese in early pregnancy have a much greater risk of dying before, during, or up to one year after birth, a new British study says."
They recommend women reaching a healthy weight before becoming pregnant. Not that I'm planning to get pregnant any time soon... but definitely good to keep in the back of my mind as it may come in the future.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/14obese.html
-This article doesn't pertain to weight loss in particular, but I found it VERY interesting.... the CDC has released that the national obesity rates have hit a plateau... remaining steady for men for about 5 years, and closer to 10 years for women and children. However, of course these numbers have leveled out at a very high percentage as most of us know.... 34% of adults are obese, and 17% of children are considered obese. This information is controversial in that some believe that this news means we have halted the obesity epidemic, while others believe this is nothing to be proud of until the numbers begin to fall... what's your take on it?
http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-health-benefits-of-weight-loss
-Quick bullets of the benefits of weight loss... of note, even modest weight loss between 4.4 lbs to 9.7 lbs was enough to significantly lower blood pressure.
Santanasto, A.J., Glynn, N.W., Newmann, M.A., Taylor, C.A., Brooks, M.M., Goodpaster, B.H., et al. (2011). Impact of Weight Loss on Physical Function with Changes in Strength, Muscle Mass, and Muscle Fat Infiltration in Overweight to Moderately Obese Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Obesity, Volume 2011, Article ID 516576. doi: 10.1155/2011/516576
-Bottom line of this RCT: the physical activity + weight loss group (PA + WL) showed additional improvements in function over exercise alone or physical activity + successful aging health education (PA + SA) primarily due to loss of body fat.
http://weightloss.about.com/library/blhealthbenefits.htm
-Even losing just 10% of your body weight can make a huge difference in things like lowering cholesterol and BP, improving mobility and breathing, improving sleep, etc.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/101/nutrition-basics/health-benefits-of-weight-loss.aspx
-Similar article as above, that goes over the basic benefits of being at a healthy weight... how even losing just 10% of your body weight can have positive effects.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html
-Direct from the CDC website... information on assessing your weight, balancing calories, and healthy weight loss (via physical activity and nutrition) which helps you keep it off... also you'll find tips and guidelines on healthy eating and physical activity.
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
-From the Weight-Control Information Network, definitions of obesity and overweight, along with statistics and economic costs of these...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesity.html
-A collection of very relevant articles from MedlinePlus in the categories of latest news, treatment, research, organizations, statistics... to just name a few.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_110655.html
-An article I found off the above MedlinePlus site called: "Babies Born to Obese Moms face Higher Death Risk: Study"... straight from the article:
"Babies born to mothers who were obese in early pregnancy have a much greater risk of dying before, during, or up to one year after birth, a new British study says."
They recommend women reaching a healthy weight before becoming pregnant. Not that I'm planning to get pregnant any time soon... but definitely good to keep in the back of my mind as it may come in the future.
You can find everything you need on the internet...
Topic: Provide links to websites that had useful information
http://www.beachbody.com/
-Had to include this one, since a large part of my exercise regimen this semester was P90X. Here you can find all the "BeachBody" workout videos, community and support groups, fitness and nutrition tips, etc.
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/home
-This site gives you many of the tips that you would find in the "Eat This, Not That" books... but without having to buy the books.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/default.htm
-Healthy Eating and Diet tips from WebMD... great resource for the everyday person.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/MY00432
-The basics of weight loss... this page covers everything from alternative approaches like hypnosis, metabolism, counting calories, and BMI calculator, to portion control, and obesity/overweight at various lifespan development stages
http://www.weightlosshelpandtips.net/
-A lot of weight loss tips... and an "Ask the Expert" section
http://calendarscripts.info/weight-loss-calculator.html-One example of a free weight loss calculator... but this one also helps you to figure out the amount of time needed to reach your goal weight. What's interesting is that it will tell you if your goal is a healthy one (i.e. losing a reasonable amount of weight in a reasonable amount of time.
http://www.beachbody.com/
-Had to include this one, since a large part of my exercise regimen this semester was P90X. Here you can find all the "BeachBody" workout videos, community and support groups, fitness and nutrition tips, etc.
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/home
-This site gives you many of the tips that you would find in the "Eat This, Not That" books... but without having to buy the books.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/default.htm
-Healthy Eating and Diet tips from WebMD... great resource for the everyday person.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/MY00432
-The basics of weight loss... this page covers everything from alternative approaches like hypnosis, metabolism, counting calories, and BMI calculator, to portion control, and obesity/overweight at various lifespan development stages
http://www.weightlosshelpandtips.net/
-A lot of weight loss tips... and an "Ask the Expert" section
http://calendarscripts.info/weight-loss-calculator.html-One example of a free weight loss calculator... but this one also helps you to figure out the amount of time needed to reach your goal weight. What's interesting is that it will tell you if your goal is a healthy one (i.e. losing a reasonable amount of weight in a reasonable amount of time.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wanted to Share....
Dr. Florence Clark, Associate Dean and Chair of my department (USC Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Division), taught part of one of my doctoral classes this semester. She also happens to be the current president of our national professional association, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
As part of an assignment in her class, entitled "Innovative Competition", Dr. Clark asked us to create an innovative campaign to promote AOTA's Centennial Vision (our Occupational Therapy profession turns 100 in 2017):
"We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs."
**To clarify, occupation does not refer solely to "jobs" or "employment"; rather, historically for our profession, the term "occupation" deals with all the meaningful activities that 'occupy' one's time... which can be as simple as daily self-care like oral hygiene, or as involved and complicated as work, social, or leisure pursuits.
My classmate/partner for the project and I decided to examine ways to support the vision at the local and national/global level, respectively. For my national/global approach, I decided to create a video and youtube entry that would capture the inspiration I felt while attending the annual AOTA Conference in Philadelphia this past month. My hope was that it would inspire the OTs who attended, and those who did not... as I was inspired... to go forth and support the Centennial Vision in their own practices and locales around the country.
Dr. Clark ended up really enjoying the video, as it had personal meaning for her.... and my partner and I tied to win the competition! We will be recognized at our graduation in a couple weeks. Never expected to win at all. For those of you who do video editing and similar graphics work, you will know how long it takes to make such things... for this 2 minute video which was "quickly" thrown together, I still spent a good 15+ hours creating, producing, and editing this video. So, in terms of video editing, it is definitely not the most amazing work, and I would have loved to have been able to spend more time...
Nevertheless, it was well received. The following is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF14CadfI_Q
And how does this relate to my weight loss goals? Well, a few reasons... the Conference, making this video, and all related tasks really detracted from the time I needed to exercise... since many parts of the Conference, and editing the video were extremely sedentary tasks. But in general, I'm still proud of what I was able to accomplish... and as cheesy at it sounds, this weight loss... and the process of trying to maintain my progress towards this goal, has given me the courage and drive to try and accomplish feats in other facets of my life as well. Life change is hard... so success in one avenue can really spark the flame that drives change in other facets.
As part of an assignment in her class, entitled "Innovative Competition", Dr. Clark asked us to create an innovative campaign to promote AOTA's Centennial Vision (our Occupational Therapy profession turns 100 in 2017):
"We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs."
**To clarify, occupation does not refer solely to "jobs" or "employment"; rather, historically for our profession, the term "occupation" deals with all the meaningful activities that 'occupy' one's time... which can be as simple as daily self-care like oral hygiene, or as involved and complicated as work, social, or leisure pursuits.
My classmate/partner for the project and I decided to examine ways to support the vision at the local and national/global level, respectively. For my national/global approach, I decided to create a video and youtube entry that would capture the inspiration I felt while attending the annual AOTA Conference in Philadelphia this past month. My hope was that it would inspire the OTs who attended, and those who did not... as I was inspired... to go forth and support the Centennial Vision in their own practices and locales around the country.
Dr. Clark ended up really enjoying the video, as it had personal meaning for her.... and my partner and I tied to win the competition! We will be recognized at our graduation in a couple weeks. Never expected to win at all. For those of you who do video editing and similar graphics work, you will know how long it takes to make such things... for this 2 minute video which was "quickly" thrown together, I still spent a good 15+ hours creating, producing, and editing this video. So, in terms of video editing, it is definitely not the most amazing work, and I would have loved to have been able to spend more time...
Nevertheless, it was well received. The following is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF14CadfI_Q
And how does this relate to my weight loss goals? Well, a few reasons... the Conference, making this video, and all related tasks really detracted from the time I needed to exercise... since many parts of the Conference, and editing the video were extremely sedentary tasks. But in general, I'm still proud of what I was able to accomplish... and as cheesy at it sounds, this weight loss... and the process of trying to maintain my progress towards this goal, has given me the courage and drive to try and accomplish feats in other facets of my life as well. Life change is hard... so success in one avenue can really spark the flame that drives change in other facets.
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