Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Crossing Things Off my List

Today has been all about crossing off items on my to-do list as I count down the semester.  Yesterday I had my last lab and reviewed for the Organic chem final.  I also studied for the Anatomy assessment. 

Today, I went to the dentist, ran by the grocery store to restock our fruit supply and pick up a prescription, studied more for the assessment, took it, printed off some lecture notes for my biology class, and now I'm back home, ready to study for the Organic final and go to Biology class tonight.  Whew! 

When times get hectic, I definitely make a to-do list broken down by day.  Today, I've crossed off 3 items and am looking at the simple tasks of "study" and "go to class."  Not bad!  I can handle that.  Tomorrow's Organic final is daunting, but I know I will feel so much better when it's over.  I hope the review last night helped and I'll be studying, going through online tools and working problems to prepare. 

After Organic chem is over, it's all downhill!  I'll have to prepare my folder to turn in for Biology and take the last test over tissues, meiosis and organ systems, but that doesn't scare me.

While studying, I have taken some breaks and found some fun diet-related articles.  After the past few weeks of not eating very healthy (lots of sweets and snacks), I'm looking forward to getting back on track.  Today, I spotted two plans that are reasonable (as in, not a crazy cabbage/grapefruit only diet) and inspiring (as in, I can do this on a regular basis, not just to lose a few pounds quickly). 

Ladies' Home Journal spotlighted this 7-day plan from the nutritionist on The Biggest Loser.  I like that you get your 3 squares a day plus two snacks, usually one sweet and one savory/salty.  I also like that a dessert is built into the dinner meal!  Some of the meals aren't quite for me (there's one for pork tenderloins, and I haven't been eating as much poultry lately), but one can always pick the meals they like and use them more often!  There's nothing wrong with leftovers!  When doing this, just make sure you're still getting all your fruit, veggie, protein and grain servings as I've noticed they change them up a bit (veggies in one breakfast, then fruit as a snack for one day, but the next day, fruit in the breakfast and more veggies in the lunch or dinner).

Eating Well has also comprised not four but FIVE weeks of 500 calorie dinner menus to choose from.  Again, if you have dietary restrictions, you can't use every single one of them, so I recommend browsing them and selecting your favorites to try on more than one occassion.  Eating Well has broken them down by category (i.e., "vegetarian," "fish," soups," etc.) on the bottom right-hand side of the page.  They all end on a sweet note and some even include a glass of wine, which is a dinner menu I can support.  You also might want to pop over to their article on 1,500 calorie day options (choose a breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack).  Of course, some people need more than 1500 calories, and frankly, some days you're hungrier than others, so you might need an extra snack or two.

Alright, y'all, back to my studies.  Enjoy!

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