What is Wellness?

Yesterday was the first day of a summer course I am taking at RIT.  The class is called Sports Physiology and Life Fitness.  I waited until now to take this specific lecture so I could listen to the beloved Professor Brewer.  He's the best!  So smart!

We discussed the Six Components of Wellness, and I thought I would share them with you so you can do a little self-check to make sure you are living a balanced, healthy life.

Physical Health

Includes physical fitness, proper nutrition, performing self-exams, and practicing personal safety (e.g., wearing your seat belt).  This is the cornerstone to maintaining a high level of wellness.

Emotional Health

Also called Mental Health, and includes social skills, positive interpersonal (intimate) relationships, self-esteem, and the ability to manage stress

Intellectual Health

Keeping your mind active through life-long learning, stimulating your brain with input and allowing yourself to have a form of output

Spiritual Health

Having a sense of meaning and purpose in life.  Note:  This does not necessarily mean you must be religious.  People can find meaning in their lives through community service, meditating, spending time in nature, relationships with others, etc.

Social Health

Developing and maintaining meaningful interpersonal relationships (friends), communication skills are crucial in maintaining strong social networks

Environmental Health

The influence of the environment on your healthy, and your behaviors that have an affect on the environment, i.e., Do you recycle? Do you keep healthy foods in your home?  Do you have athletic equipment that would allow you to workout out when you so choose?  Or, is your home or workplace filled with junk food?  Do you drive a gas guzzling vehicle?  Is the X-Box the focal point in your home?


The goal is to have a balance in all areas to achieve a high level of well-being.

Are there areas that you could work on to achieve a healthier lifestyle?

What I've Been Doing with my Time

Usually people do a weekend overview.  A sort of, "look what you missed!" But since I've been gone for so long, I'm going to try and smoosh the last half of April and the beginning of May into one big Monthly Recap.

Yesterday was my last final! Woo-hoo!! I'm free! Well, that is until June 6th when I start up my one summer class.  It should be fun though.  I am taking Sports Physiology and Life Fitness with my all-time favorite professor.  The end of the quarter was filled with lots of papers and projects and exams.  Basically the bulk of the work wound up in the last couple weeks.

My neighborhood has been absolutely gorgeous.  I love spring blossoms.

 
May 1st I ran The Flying Pig Marathon!  If you follow me on twitter, you heard all of the details.  I ran the race in 3:54:27 which is an 8:57 pace.  It's a new PR for me!! I am really proud of my time.  I placed in the top 10% of all the women marathoners.  Not too shabby for my second marathon!

 

 Excuse my tired eyes. The race started at 6:30am! Yuck. 

It rained pretty hard for the first 5 miles.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but we all got soaked.

I finished really strong.  It was a great feeling. 

By the way, that's the Finish Swine, instead of line. Cute. :)

I pretty much have the rest of my summer planned out.  I'm a looking forward to a LOT of working and volunteering.  Here is a rundown of what I've got going on:

• Diet Technician at Strong
• Nutrition Educator at Arc of Monroe Enrichment 2011
• Dietary Staff at the American Diabetes Association's Camp Aspire
• 'Running Buddy' for Girls on the Run
• Nutrition Counselor at the RIT Gym
• Develop a new Mentor Program for incoming Nutrition Majors at RIT
• Publish the Genesee Dietetic Association's Cookbook
• Train for the Boilermaker 15K and the Rochester Half Marathon
• Blog!

Crazy busy, huh?  I can't wait!

Back to School

Yesterday was my first day back on campus after our break between quarters.  The day kicked off bright and early with Restaurant Operations at 8am.


I have been a little concerned about this class.  Restaurant Ops is a class where the students run a real life, fully functional restaurant called Henry's.  It is a six hour class, twice a week.  Now, I like to cook, but I hate being rushed.  I guess we shall see how it goes... 

I am excited to look up recipes, though!  The class gets to create their own menu to serve.  So far I have found recipes for a lemon-cornbread-pound cake with berries and cream (of course, I found dessert first), a colby and pear panini, and stuffed goat cheese turkey burgers topped with an apricot soy glaze.  Oh boy, oh boy! Don't they sound absolutely divine!  I hope at least one of mine gets chosen!


In other news...

HAPPY RD DAY!!!

A big shout-out to all the RDs out there! THANK YOU!

Now, back to my school day.  


I had my first Safety and Sanitation class following Restaurant Ops.  We took a mock-exam to see if we could pass and receive our Safeserv Certification. Oh yeah, I would have passed, but just barely. 

After class got out, I volunteered with a couple of the members of the RIT Student Dietetic Association at an exhibition called, "What Women Ought to Know."  Our table was all about eating disorders and healthy eating for college students.  There wasn't a huge turnout due poor planning by the exhibition sponsors, but a couple of girls seemed to have left our table with a little more knowledge. That's what counts, right?

Here is our beautiful poster, created by the talented Miss Ilissa Palmer.

And our Presidents, Brianna and Ilissa, who circled the wagons and allowed the SDA to take part in the exhibition.  

Rockin' the latest ADA Journal.

Last night, after taking me to my favorite restaurant for gourmet burgers (we did Mardi Gras up right!), my wonderful boyfriend helped me create the SDA t-shirt in honor of NNM.  Well, he did the creating, I basically just bossed him around. ;)


Here he is hard at work.

Such a sweetheart.

Pretty cool, huh?  He's amazing.


On a completely different note, I can't decide what to give up for Lent.  Something to think about...


Have a great day!

A New Blog is Born

 Happy National Nutrition Month!

I can't think of a better time to start a blog about my journey to become a Registered Dietitian.

As a  nutrition student, self-proclaimed athlete, and all-around curious person, I hope to share with you the things I discover on a daily basis.

Currently, I am a fourth year Nutrition major at Rochester Institute of Technology.  I have finally completed all of my sciences courses. Yahoo! And now I am on to the the fun stuff.  In five short days I will begin Alternative Nutrition Therapy, Sports Nutrition, Restaurant Operations and Safety and Sanitation classes.  Should be interesting!

I am also training for my second marathon.  I will be running in Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon on May 1st.

So what can you come to expect from me?  My experiments in the kitchen, little nutritional factoids, training tips, and all around healthy-living advice.

Well I'm off to go run a 7 miler now, then attempt healthy eating at Paula's Burrito Place with the boyfriend and his sister and brother-in-law tonight. Let's see if I can follow the NNM (National Nutrition Month) challenge:

Eat Right With Color!

Wish me luck!