Why a Registered Dietitian? It started with chronic disease symptoms.

My passion for nutrition came about in an interesting way.  

Like most people, I was trying to lose weight but I wanted to do it in a healthy way.  I saw the advertisements for the Special K diet and I thought that it would be a great place to start!  It encouraged eating multiple times a day, I already ate cereal on a daily basis, and I enjoyed their protein bars when I had tried them at my mom's house.  So, I decided to do the Special K challenge.  That was in 2009.

Within four days of doing the challenge I started having all of the symptoms of pre-diabetes: blurred vision, tingling in the fingers and toes, muscle weakness, increased thirst and hunger.   It was a terrifying time and I was so confused!  I saw my doctor and my blood sugar levels were high, she asked me what I had changed because I had been tested for diabetes earlier in the year since I was overweight and everything came back normal.  I told her about the diet.  She told me to get off of it because of the amount of sugar in it.

That's when I decided I needed to take charge of my health and what I was putting in my body.  

I wanted to lose weight, I knew that I needed to, because diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases run in both sides of my family.   My first objective was understanding diabetes since I experienced symptoms of high blood sugar first hand.   That's when I came across an independent documentary on YouTube called Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days.  The documentary follows six people with diabetes, most of them Type 2, over 30 days as they go through a program at a holistic, raw food camp.  I don't want to spoil the video but in the end, those who finished the 30 days lowered their insulin intake requirements, including the man who has Type 1 Diabetes!  

I wasn't sold on the idea of reversing it fully, but the prospect that through diet changes and exercise they could see dramatic health improvements, not weight improvements but HEALTH improvements, got me hooked on the idea of helping others improve their health through food and physical activity!

Fast forward to today and now I'm healthy, in college pursuing a degree to do just that while working a job that improves people's health through diet and exercise!  The topic of diabetes has stuck with me and it's an area I want to focus on during my master's program.  A study, Lifestyle changes may reverse development of the insulin resistance syndrome, posted in the Diabetes Journal supports the results seen in the Simply Raw documentary but the study took place over a year.  They found that diet changes AND exercise is key to lowering insulin resistance and over time this combination could reverse insulin resistance.  Another study, Effects of exercise and diet on chronic disease,  published in the Journal of Applied Physiology also supports this idea of reducing insulin resistance through diet changes and exercise.

Studies like these give me hope for my future clients and patients as a registered dietitian.  My main focus will be preventing chronic diseases like diabetes but to know that we can improve the lives and maybe even reverse insulin resistance leaves me feeling excited for the future.

References:

Roberts CK, Barnard RJ.  Effects of exercise and diet on chronic disease. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2005 Jan; 98: 3-30.  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15591300. April 19, 2015.

Torjesen PA, Birkeland KI, Anderssen SA, Hjermann I, Holme I, Urdal P. Lifestyle changes may reverse development of the insulin resistance syndrome. The oslo diet and exercise study: a randomized trial. Diabetes Care 1997 Jan; 20(1): 26-31.  Retrieved from http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/20/1/26.short.  April 19, 2015.

The Power of Visualization

"If you can't see it, then how are you going to get it?!"
That is a thought that was running through my head when I first decided that I wanted to lose weight.  Waay back before I actually understood my "why" behind my desire to lose weight and get back the physique I once had.  So, this thought has been in my mind recently, since I just discovered my why not too long ago.

The art of seeing what you want to achieve, and I do believe it is an art, is called visualization.  I'm sure we all know what visualization is, but just to ensure we have all of our i's crossed and t's dotted (=P) let's throw a definition out there:

Visualization is "...a cognitive tool accessing imagination to realize all aspects of an object, action or outcome".  In a sense it's kind of like day dreaming, but with a purpose behind it, because you (re)create a scenario using most, or even all, of your senses" (Baumgartner, 2011).

I use visualization on an almost daily basis now because if I can't see myself with a four pack in a bikini for the first time ever, then how am I going to know what to aim for?  How am I going to know when I reach my goal?

Visualization has many uses outside of helping you get the body you want.  Psychologists use it in their practice to help patients exercise specific reactions to situations; athletes use it before a match; actors use it before they perform.  It helps because the brain is being trained to perform the task, it's like practicing a practice match.

Angie LeVan, MAPP, (2009) goes over a great way to get started with visualization.  I've included the excerpt below:

Begin by establishing a highly specific goal. Imagine the future; you have already achieved your goal. Hold a mental ‘picture’ of it as if it were occurring to you right at that moment. Imagine the scene in as much detail as possible. Engage as many of the five senses as you can in your visualization. Who are you with? Which emotions are you feeling right now? What are you wearing? Is there a smell in the air? What do you hear? What is your environment? Sit with a straight spine when you do this. Practice at night or in the morning (just before/after sleep). Eliminate any doubts, if they come to you. Repeat this practice often. Combine with meditation or an affirmation (e.g. “I am courageous; I am strong”, or to borrow from Ali, “I am the greatest!”).

So, what is your highly specific goal?  Can you see it happening yet?  If not, keep practicing!

Reference(s):
Baumgartner, J. (November 8, 2011). The psychology of dress, the doctor is in...you closet! Visualize it. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-psychology-dress/201111/visualize-it.

LeVan, A. (December 3, 2009). Flourish! Seeing is believing: The power of visualization. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization.

The Benefits of Working on Myself...I Know My Purpose

I just realized tonight that it's been 60 days since I became a Beachbody coach.  I'm not where I want to be with the business but I have had success and I'm holding on to that because success means that I've reached out to people and they've taken strides to change their health for the better.

Anyways, during the first 60 days as a coach I was supposed to go through a "coach basics" course led by my mentor coach.  I got about a week in when my life decided that I needed to focus on something more important.  I know!  What could've been more important than following my life's dream of helping people through nutrition and exercise?  That dream is why I'm working two traditional jobs to get out of debt enough to pay to go back to college and get my nutrition degree.  That dream plays a huge part in my commitment to improve my own health.

However it turns out getting myself emotionally in the right mindset was what was more important.  It's something that I'm still working on, overcoming trauma and managing depression.  I've come a LONG way in the last 60 days.  I'm no longer relying on two medications, I understand myself and my mind more, I can talk to myself like I talk to everyone else (positively!!), and I can issue a self pep talk like no one's business.  I'm on the verge of...dare I say it, feeling truly happy on a regular basis!

My mind feels more focused and my drive is even stronger than it was for getting my body back.  I dug deeper below "I want to lose weight." and found soo many reasons that drive me so much harder, most of them selfish but I've come to realize that the honest reasons are what drive me the most.  I was treating wish to get healthy like...a wish.  As an after thought or something that I would like to have happen but probably won't happen.  I was mentally priming myself for failure, even though I wanted success.  Now, I NEED success.  It's a hunger that I haven't felt before, it's true motivation.
This same level of drive hit me tonight in regards to helping others live healthier lives.  It struck me so hard that I got choked up, I'm still getting teary eyed.   I wanted to make a video explaining why I want to help others and why I am a Beachbody coach, but I think I would just cry the whole way through, which is why I'm saying it in a blog instead.

I want to help others because that's what I'm supposed to do, I can feel it in my soul.  When I'm offering advice and helping people pick out workout programs (even free ones on here or bodybuilding.com) I feel complete.  I feel like I'm actually living my life instead of it just passing me by.  All of my life I've felt like time was slipping through my fingers and for the first time I have found something that negates that feeling.  I am not alive if I am not able to coach and guide someone through a lifestyle change...even though I'm still going through one myself.
I feel like a switch has been flipped in my head.  Everything makes sense because I not only know, I understand my life's purpose!  This is a glorious feeling!

(Originally posted on my Sparkpeople.com blog)