So the last post I posted was the night before I went to my endocrinologist at Emory.
Worst doctor's visit. Ever.
He basically did not listen to a word I said and basically ignored me. Yes, I know, I can be hypochondriatic sometimes, but shouldn't the doctor know everything? He originally told me my test results were whack and so he did them again--in the same vein as 4 days before--and told me those were fine. That is ridiculous. I am not a doctor and I do not think I know more than the doctor, HOWEVER, my blood results could not have changed as much as they had within 4 days. My general doctor even agreed with me. Thus, my general doctor and I searched for an endocrinologist here in UAB. I have an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow. I guess I should explain why I am so concerned that I need to find a new doctor.
Like I've said before my ankles/feet/legs have been swelling to enormous sizes. It has gotten to the point of ridiculous. And I have recently developed a slight rash across my chest and upper arms. Thus I feel as though I should probably talk to a doctor about it and since my last doctor wouldn't listen, I am getting a second opinion.
In good news, I am LOVING my internship. It has exceeded everything I have hoped for it to be. I love the people I work with and I love the work I am doing. Children's Hospital is such an amazing place to work for and I couldn't ask for anything better. :)
Now that I am in Birmingham--and loving it--I am doing a couple of things I don't love. I am a member of Gold's Gym at Auburn so I assumed I could go to any Gold's Gym. However, you cannot. But long story short, I have joined Gold's Gym here in Birmingham: Gold's Gym at the Colonnade. Its really great and everyone who works there are so amazing and really work with you (and not to mention pretty good looking ;)). Thus, because my doctor at Emory couldn't understand that I couldn't handle this constant weight gain, my mom agreed to hire a personal trainer for me 3 days a week. Out of my own choice, I have chosen to work out in the mornings at 5:45 am Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. Which, I know, sounds miserable. And the getting up part really is miserable. But I realized that by the end of the workday I would be so worn out and tired from working all day, what would really make me want to work out in the afternoon? I mean how many of us, and I do include myself, really feel like going to the gym after working all day 8-4:30? Thus so far it has been working out pretty well. My trainer is awesome. She's like this adorable little drill sergeant that pushes me to work hard. Thus I am so sore! So I will explain a little bit as to why I'm going a little crazy with this. My weight is constantly increasing and it seems that no matter what I do, it just keeps going up. After trying to talk to my doctor about it, he simply told me that I was being so stupid to even suggest that he give me something to increase my metabolism because he is trying to decrease my metabolism. Excuse me? I thought I was trying to control my thyroid and thus lose all this weight? So then I asked for maybe an appetite suppressant because one symptom of Grave's is an increase in appetite. But nothing. No go. All he could seem to say was watch what I eat. HELLO! Isn't that what I've been doing? On top of that my mother had been watching what I eat. Which caused the mother to basically get really pissed off at the doctor--especially after he told her to shut up.
This leads into my next point. Gold's Gym personal trainers are the best because not only do they work with you on working out, but they also create a nutrition plan for you. Which after they spoke to me, they realized I really had been watching what I eat. So they set up this awesome program called DotFit. They have yummy snack bars, meal replacement bars, supplements and lots of other things. On there website I can log my food in everyday and it tells me the goal calories I should eat. I guess you could say that it is similar to the online WeightWatchers program. It really makes you think about everything you eat because you know that your trainer can look at what you're eating and thus it holds you accountable. I mean everyone has the instinct to do good and exceed expectations.
So lately, I haven't really been eating meat. Not on purpose or anything, just happened that way.
Saturday evening after a long day floating the Cahaba River with 3 of my AMAZING and best friends, we all made dinner. The night before, I had made dinner for the four of us which was Easy Baked Penne with Ricotta and Basil. The recipe can be found on the Whole Foods Market Recipes iPhone Application. Its super easy and really delicious. Also, it is vegetarian for all you veggie-lovers out there---oh wait. That's me. But really it was super simple and really delicious. So Saturday night, Jason made some Peruvian jerk chicken and added a little twist of his own. And it was amazing! Also people, he is an amazing musician and serenaded us ladies consecutively for 2 nights. Katelyn made some yummy mashed potatoes. And my best friend/sister Anne Marie
For work, I have been taking a tupperware with organic mixed baby greens salad and organic cherry tomatoes with about a tablespoon of organic light balsamic vinaigrette along with organic baby carrots and organic celery sticks with a tablespoon of organic light buttermilk ranch dressing. The organic mixed baby greens salad can be found at Whole Foods in a huge tublike thing in which I can grab as much or little greens as I choose for my salad. I also have fallen in love with these granola/protein type bars made by Clif. They are called Clif Organic Zbars. Yes they are for children. But I LOVE them. I also love their Clif Organic Fruit Ropes. Yes, these are for children as well. However, they are also delightfully delicious and filling. When I'm at work I also snack on Cheddar Bunnies and/or I have a dotfit lemon snack bar. The lemon snack bar is produced by DotFit which is the program that Gold's Gym uses for nutrition. They also make a very yummy meal replacement bar that I usually have for breakfast at work which is a dotfit cookie dough meal replacement bar. Delicious! I like to keep both of these at my desk since I spend M-F 8-4:30 at the office.
Let me describe today's meal that almost equaled out to exactly 1500 calories and was incredibly filling :)
Breakfast: DotFit Cookie Dough Chocolate Meal Replacement Bar
Morning Snack: DotFit Lemon Snack bar
Lunch: Amy's Low-Fat Low-Sodium Butternut Squash Soup (which was delicious and
so are her other soups!)
Breakstone's 100 Calorie Cottage Cheese Doubles Pineapple
Clif Organic ZBar Chocolate Chip
Organic baby carrots (3 oz) with organic light buttermilk ranch dressing
Organic Creamy Peanut Butter with Organic Mixed Berry preserves on organic
whole wheat bread
Afternoon Snack: Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt with Caramel (SO GOOD)
Cheddar Bunnies
Dinner: 100% Natural Valley Fresh Steamers Cheesy Broccoli and Rice (the whole
bag)
Everything I ate today was absolutely delicious and actually equals up to 1482 calories! All of that!
Well I guess I will post again soon! Especially after I find out more stuff tomorrow!
Would love some comments!
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"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world--that is the myth of the atomic age--as in being able to remake ourselves."
---Mohandas Ghandi
