Hey there, it is nice to be back!
I haven’t blogged in a WHILE because I have had a lot going on, and minimal time to construct a readable blog. So, lets catch up….
This post will cover nursing school, fitness, the importance of exercise, and how proper nutrition and movement affects our overall physical and mental health. Basically, all the things Growing Healthies is built from, but with a bit of a new perspective and reflection.
Nursing School Update:
This summer, I literally fell in love with nursing school. I love my new school, met some awesome people, and I really enjoy learning there. My second time “around” really sparked this interest and enjoyment of going to school to be a nurse, and with that came a lot of applications of school to real life.
I feel like I finally learned how to study, prioritize time, and think critically. However, this took a lot of time and effort. My summer was basically revolved around school, lab, clinicals, and working when I could. Unfortunately for my family, they now have me to overanalyze any limp, cough, sore spot, or medication they have. But, thinking a year back to a devastated girl who had not passed her nursing course and had to apply to a new school, to now a year later, seeing this interest and passion in me now, is really exciting and encouraging.
New Pup!
Along with that, I adopted my first puppy who has brought me more joy than I could ever imagine, along with the most work I could ever imagine! She’s a nine month old terrier and black lab mix, who loves being outside, napping under my bed, chasing bunnies, and eating cheese. She was born on 12/27/21, the same birthday my Pops, Al had. Hence, Alie.
I have no idea how women with kids survive nursing school. I mean, walking Alie in the middle of the night every two hours after work and before an early clinical was so hard. Talk about being on autopilot.
Who we are is based on what we focus on:
Now as I somewhat have the hang of things, and Alie has some control over her bladder, I have learned that who we are as a person, comes from what we focus on. This is a somewhat simple statement to understand, but extremely hard to take action with.
Our lives can grow to be extremely busy, but we may start to lack the things that we need to make us the best we can be. “You cannot pour from an empty up” and “You have to put your oxygen mask on before you can help other people” are all popular statements, but very true.
I always hated these statements because putting yourself first seems somewhat selfish, and not the way I was taught growing up. However, these statements are true in the way that we will eventually crash without proper food, hydration, exercise, and relaxation.
Lifestyle modifications and diseases:
If there is something I learned in my summer semester, is that almost all diseases whether it be cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, diabetes, muscular issues, and even mental health issues can all be treated, prevented, or simply just slowed down with diet and exercise.
For example, the first line treatment for type 2 diabetes is diet and exercise. Then you talk about adding the Metformin, and oral anti-diabetics.
The first line treatment for hypertension is diet, exercise, and stress relief. THEN, we add the beta blockers, vasodilators, ACE inhibitors, diuretics, etc..
The first line treatment for depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are again, diet, exercise, and stress relief. THEN we add the SSRI’s and other anti- anxiety/depression meds HOPEFULLY after the patient has consulted with a mental health professional as well.
Of course you cannot simply cure osteoarthritis, congestive heart failure, mental health issues, and any other common diseases with eating well and exercising. I understand that many of these age related diseases are well, age related, genetic, and based on our history. I also understand that severe mental health issues are due to a chemical imbalance, and not just a bad mood. However, you can calm the symptoms, and slow the development with many of them by modifying your diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
A common discrepancy in the medical field is that there is a pill for everything. Although nowadays there pretty much is for many things, taking a pill only helps symptoms and does not treat the underlying disease. (unless we are talking about an antibiotic, that’s a bit different!)
Relying on a medication or pill to completely fix your health issues will not work in the long term. Every medication comes with a side effect and in order for it to work effectively, we need to be doing things like exercising, drinking enough water, and finding time to relax our body and our minds.
Diet, exercise, and relaxation should be a priority no matter how busy we are:
Whether we are talking in the medical field or not, this idea of giving ourselves extra time to move daily will not only make us feel better mentally, but improve our overall health and well-being. We may be able to slow a disease with diet an exercise, the same way we may be able to improve our physical, mental, hormonal, and overall health with the same components.
Before I started my summer semester of nursing school, I was working out everyday with meal prep, expensive supplements, organic isles of the grocery store, and plenty of time to grammar edit my blogs. The transition to the semester was quite different. I was working 3-11, walking a puppy in the middle of the night, walking up at 4:30-5am, an hour commute to school, not eating enough protein or veggies, and a stress level that was making my eyes literally twitch along with the daily stomach bug like symptoms.
Throughout the semester, I quickly learned that I will not thrive or pass school in this state. I was moody, tired, pushing people and my favorite things away. So, I realized mid semester that I had to find the time to work hard and study, workout, go on a long walk with my dog, and relax with friends. The time away from grinding and non stop work, actually was refreshing and gave me the ability to feel more focused.
Nursing school is hard and busy, but was not the root cause of exhaustion. The root cause of exhaustion and being in this autopilot state with a monster like personality, was due to my lack of exercise, nutrition, and relaxation.
If you put your priorities on the side burner, they will eventually go up in flames.
At times you may also focus on one thing, and put your priorities and interests aside. Although that one thing may be important, you will not achieve it without balancing and focusing on the other things as well.
If we are exhausting ourselves to the point of ruining our health and relationships around us, we won’t get to where we want to be, because we won’t be WHO we want to be. So, think about what makes you become who you want to be.
Who exactly do you want to be? How do they live?
Does the person you want to be rush out the door with a coffee as soon as they wake up, or do they get up early and take time to exercise, eat, and relax?
Does the person you want to be eat out every day to save time, or do they meal prep with nutritious foods to buy themselves more time down the line?
Does the person you want to be stay in to work or study 24/7 and miss their life? Or do they find balance and create strict time slots for themselves to both work and have fun?
Who we want to be is attained by doing what we need to do. In order to do what we need to do, we must prioritize exercise, nutrition, and relaxation/fun or else we will eventually burn. Growing a healthy lifestyle is filled with the balance and as the school year starts up and beach days are coming to a close, I think this is a good reminder for all of us. Put your full effort into what you need to do, drink your water while you’re doing it, eat both healthy and yummy foods, and don’t forget to make uninterrupted time with the people you enjoy being around the most.
You will become most successful, happy, and healthy when you balance all areas of your life!
Growing Healthies 
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