Winter is Coming
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I feel the need to post a progress update now, as I just experienced my first really strong urge to just sit down with a bag of kettle-cooked chips and go to town. Lol.
I think it's important during times like these 1) to remind ourselves of the reasons we committed to low-carb in the first place, and 2) to evaluate WHY this is occurring.
There is that loud and obnoxious part of our brains that says "NO, I don't want to think about any of that -- just do it!" And, if we are fortunate, there is that part of our brains that is calm and wise, who says "Now, hang on a darn second and THINK about this".
It has now been 12 days for me... and yes, I had to go back and count.
* My heart has not had any of those scary pounding episodes.
* I have not been short of breath or wheezing.
* I haven't once had that "geez, I'm puffy all over" feeling.
* I don't weigh myself, but I can tell I'm losing some fat.
* The knee that had been "locking up" / tight-feeling after sitting for awhile ... that has gone away completely, and I just now really realized it. That is HUGE.
I could probably go on, but those are the big ones for now.
I am aware that I probably under-ate on the protein & fat today, and that I probably ate too many cashews as an evening snack instead of having a real meal.
Also when these cravings pop up, my mind is trained to think of "HALT": am I hungry, angry, lonely, tired?
I was tired. For sure. I fell asleep reading to my son... and woke up thinking: "CHIPS!"
Nope. Not today, Ms. Loud & Obnoxious. Not today. I've got you figured out. 10 -
cricketpower wrote: »Thank you!
I'll be graduating in about 2 weeks. Grades have been great ... but there is still so much to learn. And the big exam in January to actually be a licensed RN. It's been a wild ride ~ and not much time for Game of Thrones ... so I guess it's okay that they took a break. Not that anyone asked my permission. Lol.
Good luck with the exam, as an RN, I can tell you it’s not SO bad. And the learning definitely never stops, you’ll quickly learn nursing school teaches you how to pass the exam, nursing teaches you how to be a nurse. Lol.
This x1000. I passed both LPN NCLEX and RN NCLEX (1st time, both times, whoot!) and you will learn way more of actual use working than you ever did in school.
I cannot reccomend strongly enough that brand new nurses spend at least one year as their first job out of school on a med-surg floor. It will give you an appreciation and perspective of the profession that I believe is invaluable. Plus, if you survive it, you'll be a great nurse.
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nicsflyingcircus wrote: »cricketpower wrote: »Thank you!
I'll be graduating in about 2 weeks. Grades have been great ... but there is still so much to learn. And the big exam in January to actually be a licensed RN. It's been a wild ride ~ and not much time for Game of Thrones ... so I guess it's okay that they took a break. Not that anyone asked my permission. Lol.
Good luck with the exam, as an RN, I can tell you it’s not SO bad. And the learning definitely never stops, you’ll quickly learn nursing school teaches you how to pass the exam, nursing teaches you how to be a nurse. Lol.
This x1000. I passed both LPN NCLEX and RN NCLEX (1st time, both times, whoot!) and you will learn way more of actual use working than you ever did in school.
I cannot reccomend strongly enough that brand new nurses spend at least one year as their first job out of school on a med-surg floor. It will give you an appreciation and perspective of the profession that I believe is invaluable. Plus, if you survive it, you'll be a great nurse.
"If you survive it" -- ha, exactly!
Thank you for your post. I'm an oddball, I know, when I say that I really have no desire to work in a hospital right now & I'm headed to long-term care ~ for better or worse. So hopefully I will bloom where I'm planted and become a great nurse in that area ... which, as we all know, has great need ~ and in my area, great demand, and great pay.
I liked all of my hospital experiences, did well in clinicals ... and in most of them, I thought, "I could do this". Except NICU. Just really, not my thing.
But I've felt led to LTC before I even went to school. I have a lot of reasons, things that have lined up, experiences I've had, and people I've met ... I won't go on and on. I'll just say I feel a peace about it. And that is pretty cool. 3 -
cricketpower wrote: »nicsflyingcircus wrote: »cricketpower wrote: »Thank you!
I'll be graduating in about 2 weeks. Grades have been great ... but there is still so much to learn. And the big exam in January to actually be a licensed RN. It's been a wild ride ~ and not much time for Game of Thrones ... so I guess it's okay that they took a break. Not that anyone asked my permission. Lol.
Good luck with the exam, as an RN, I can tell you it’s not SO bad. And the learning definitely never stops, you’ll quickly learn nursing school teaches you how to pass the exam, nursing teaches you how to be a nurse. Lol.
This x1000. I passed both LPN NCLEX and RN NCLEX (1st time, both times, whoot!) and you will learn way more of actual use working than you ever did in school.
I cannot reccomend strongly enough that brand new nurses spend at least one year as their first job out of school on a med-surg floor. It will give you an appreciation and perspective of the profession that I believe is invaluable. Plus, if you survive it, you'll be a great nurse.
"If you survive it" -- ha, exactly!
Thank you for your post. I'm an oddball, I know, when I say that I really have no desire to work in a hospital right now & I'm headed to long-term care ~ for better or worse. So hopefully I will bloom where I'm planted and become a great nurse in that area ... which, as we all know, has great need ~ and in my area, great demand, and great pay.
I liked all of my hospital experiences, did well in clinicals ... and in most of them, I thought, "I could do this". Except NICU. Just really, not my thing.
But I've felt led to LTC before I even went to school. I have a lot of reasons, things that have lined up, experiences I've had, and people I've met ... I won't go on and on. I'll just say I feel a peace about it. And that is pretty cool.
If I had remained an LPN, LTC is where I would be. My area however, is very low paying for both LPNs and RNs, aided by a fact that the hospital system I work for has built/absorbed most of the surrounding area. I spent my first two years out of school on an "ortho" floor that was probably more overflow med-surg than anything. Broken hips? Check! Cellulitis? Check! Diabetic wounds? Check! Knee and hip replacements? Check! IV drug users on a 10 week stay because their drug dealer/pimp stabbed them in the thigh multiple times and it (shockingly) got horribly infected? Check! Steel worker crushed a foot in the rollers? Check! De-gloved arm from a car wreck ejection? Check! Penis debridment (multiple)? Check! Medical ICU transferring terminal patients on morphine drips to make beds for someone who still had a chance? Check! Multiple trauma car wreck involving at least 5 broken bones? Check! Saddest of all, AMS? Check! We saw that all too frequently on Fridays in particular. Family members who hadn't seen their elderly parents/what have you in months come to visit, get freaked out by their everyday status, can't or won't deal with it, drag them to ED (and all too often, flee) and they get admitted for the weekend for their three night stay required by Medicare so they can be placed in LTC.
Alot of it was sad and frustrating, but it made me (I like to think) a very good nurse. Lots of hands on nursing, skills, dealing with family, confused patients, lots of total care. It was very rewarding, though. I took my talents to outpatient surgery (still at the same hospital) about a year ago and am much happier most days
The best of luck to you on your exam and your career!2 -
Thanks again for all of the good wishes. I appreciate it!
Re: low-carb: I think I reach a point where I am feeling so much better, I get too brave (or careless) and *sort of* forget what it really feels like to feel bad.
I gave in to the kettle-cooked chips the night before my last final exam, one week ago. I did not go crazy with them like I have in the past. Just enough to "take the edge off" of the stress, I guess. This lined up perfectly with PMS {rolling my eyes}.
Because I did not have any heart pounding or horrible fallout from that, I have continued to sit down with some kettle-cooked chips every day since. Everything else has been low-carb... it's "just this one thing" ~ right?
Right.
Tonight we ordered Mexican food & I had GRAINS for the first time in over 3 weeks. Good Lord... that made me feel awful. I don't do gluten, so it was rice & corn tortilla chips. Bad news. I have heartburn, brain fog, and oh yes my poor heart got to pounding afterwards. A feeling I do not miss -- and SO not worth it.
But tomorrow is a new day. I guess I needed the reminder ... now, it's time to get back on track. 2 -
I did quite a few desserts/carbs at an Xmas party for the first time in over 2 months. I was able to get back to keto eating the next day but I have noticed sweets cravings have come back. Thinking alot about certain favorite goodies.2
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gwendyprism wrote: »I did quite a few desserts/carbs at an Xmas party for the first time in over 2 months. I was able to get back to keto eating the next day but I have noticed sweets cravings have come back. Thinking alot about certain favorite goodies.
I hear you. That's exactly how it happens.
The great news is that (for me, anyway) ... it really only takes a few days of feeding those cravings with extra fat & protein to make it stop. The dilemma seems to be getting those few days behind me again. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get back in the groove, but once I'm there ~ I'm golden!
Best wishes to have your mind free of those thoughts again SOON.
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I've had sort of an epiphany here, which is going to make it a lot easier to stick with low carb, I think.
Have you ever had one of those "food epiphanies" where you can look back and see... it is SO obvious... but your mind just wouldn't let you go there?
Yeah. CORN. That's my big lightbulb moment right now.
I've had no real problem staying away from gluten since 2012 ... but when I venture back into carb-land ~ it almost *always* involves CORN. At times, while eating carnivore, I found myself daydreaming (and posting) about having popcorn & sno-caps at the movies. Mexican food binges is what ultimately derailed me... and I don't believe it was the rice I had with my chicken and cheese. I think I could have a handle on that. But it was the enormous amount of tortilla chips I could pack away with it. ...Crunch, crunch, crunch.
I've pinpointed that the things I crave most when it all starts to go downhill -- popcorn and tortilla chips -- make me feel like serious crap... in the short-run, yes, I suppose -- but in the long-run, FOR SURE. And this is not surprising. I've read about us craving things we are allergic or sensitive to ... I've read about that for close to 20 years now.
So corn is my new sworn enemy. I've decided it IS out to kill me.
And I think that officially eliminating it from my mental "ok" list is going to be a really solid improvement, moving forward.
Anyone else have any great epiphanies lately?5 -
@cricketpower I have a good friend whose daughter doesn't process corn well so they are well versed in avoiding it. It is in EVERYTHING it would seem!
Good for you recognizing it as a trigger for you, I think that's the very hardest thing...identifying the things we use to pull the wool over our own eyes!
Restaurant Mexican food or as we call it "Mexifake" lol Is delicious for a reason and I do love it. BUT! after living in AZ for so long I took the time to learn how to make a lot of things myself and I can have the flavor profiles I love that conform to the way I want to eat. I've made my own margaritas now for so long I can't even have one someone else makes. They're gross. (now
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