Personal Goals

It is that time of year for annual self evaluations at my work. That is not my favorite thing to fill out, but it got me thinking about personal goals. I am a strong believer in always having goals for yourself. No matter the area of your life, having a goal and working towards something is important. I like to have personal goals for my job, for my finances at home, for my fitness and for my marriage. If you can't tell, I really like having a list of goals and then accomplishing them. 

http://tinyurl.com/ydgvaj3j

I wanted to focus on personal job goals. I have had some conversations with students (in college) and colleagues at work about setting out goals for your job each year. What do you want to accomplish through your work and how do you plan on pushing yourself. 

This year I started off the year with some goals and now I am noticing that those goals are shifting/changing. For example, I have been working towards becoming a IBCLC (lactation consultant) and I wanted to try to get my exam scheduled by the end of 2017. Well we are now just about at the end of 2017 and I am still needing to log 45 education hours before I can sit for that test. Life happened throughout this year and that kept pushing back my ability to do self-study materials to log those 45 hours. There have been several new projects/opportunities that have come up and I needed to focus on. 

Goals for 2017 

• Nominating Chair for the Indiana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAND).  
• Work on self study materials for IBCLC Exam. 
• Schedule IBCLC Exam. 
• Re-launch NICU Nutrition Committee.  

When you write down goals for yourself, then you can go back and see how those goals need to change. Being flexible is so important. Life never goes as you think it will, but the beauty for setting goals is having the power to change and adjust them. That is what I have had to do here in the last month. I have had several new opportunities come my way and I have had to change my goals for myself to allow me to work towards those new goals. 

Updated Goals for 2017

• Continue to serve as the Nominating Chair for IAND. 
• Scheduled Neonatal Nutrition Committee and put together agenda in our NICU. 
• Started to work on a nutrition communication book through Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) as a co-author. 
• Chosen to work on a committee with AND for creating a pediatric critical care board exam. 
• Re-designing our formula room to use breastmilk scanners in our NICU. 
• Look at continuing education for IBCLC Exam.

I really believe that creating a list of goals for the year is so important. I always work towards doing my "daily work" and then working on side projects. I enjoy being a NICU RD, but all of the charting get a little old so adding in additional projects makes my daily routine more fun and engaging. Again, I wanted to share my personal work goals with you, but I believe that as a professional you should have your own goals. What do those look like for you? What do you want to accomplish in the next year, professionally? Are there things you have always wanted to do? Author a book? Create questions for a national board exam? Teach a class? Whatever goals you have for yourself, write them down and then work towards accomplishing them! 

http://tinyurl.com/ycop5dkc

Motivational Monday

Some times I feel like I am just treading water in life. Between work and then things at home and trying to fit in time to exercise and prepare lunches for the next day ... my day is over and I am left getting some sleep before starting the cycle all over again. I thought I would share with you some of my favorite Motivational Posters to help gear you up for a great week. 

What do you do during your week to help you be successful? I have learned that everything for the next day needs to be packed and ready to go the night before. With the diaper/bottle bag for the baby, lunch boxes for Chas and myself and then my pump bag along with my work bag ... there is SO much stuff to keep track of. Staying organized is so important to making sure that everyone has everything they need for the day. Lots of nights I would rather just go lay on the sofa, but I know that getting things ready for the next day will make the morning routine go so much smoother. Being a working Mom makes your life crazy, but it is worth the hassle. That is what I keep telling myself ... especially on Mondays. 

Gearing up to Move

Just wanted to update you all that my family and I are moving. We are staying in Indiana, but we will be moving into Indianapolis from the suburbs. It is exciting, but will be a slight headache over the next 2 weeks. Just wanted to let you know in case I ended up missing one of my Monday blog posts. 

With all this extra stress in life it definitely makes eating healthy and exercising tough. When life gets crazy it is so easy to use that as excuse to throw health out the window. It is way easier to stress eat and then grab fast, unhealthy foods compared with trying to reach for a healthier alternative. Honestly with moving, it is tough, because you are packing up your kitchen equipment and that means preparing food at home is challenging. Whether you are gearing up for a move and another stressful life change, work on handling that stress in a positive way.

Ways to stay healthy while stressed: 

1. Plan and stay organized. I think this is such a challenge in the midst of moving or a stressful time in life. These are the times when you feel like you don't have time for lists, but it turns out to be the time when you need them the most. Coming up with a goal for your time and list of things that you need to accomplish. I know I have put together a list of places to contact to let them know of our change of address. I have been working my way through that list the past couple of weeks and I have been adding to it when I think of another place I need to contact. I  am going to make a list of what is left to pack/organize in each room this week as well. For example, I am going to get all the pictures off the walls by the end of Tuesday. Then I am going to make sure that everything is pulled out from under the bed and packed by the end of the week. Set small goals for yourself and then stick with your list you have made. Being organized and having a plan will go a long way in decreasing your stress levels. 
2. What you eat matters. I am not sure if you have noticed this, but stress eating is a thing and then when you have over-indulged, you feel terrible. At least, I do. I literally feel like crap. Stress eating isn't going to help solve any of your problems. In fact, it might lead to more stress. So set yourself up for success, try to have healthy options around you and avoid the urge to purchase something you don't need. If you have to indulge. Try to have that food item in moderation. Really enjoy your small cup of ice cream and remind yourself when that craving comes up again that you already had that treat and you will have to wait. I have been using dried fruit as a trick for my sweet tooth. I have been trying to eat less sweet things and so I portion out a small baggie of dried fruit each day to take to work and that is my "sweet snack." 
3. Make time to rest/sleep. Your body needs to rest and needs to unwind. Taking time to sleep is so important in your overall health and well being. I know that with the stress of moving, when 10pm rolls around, stop what I am doing and get ready for bed. All of the boxes and stuff will be there in the morning and I can deal with it another day. This holds true with anything. Work on your task as hard as you can for a set period of time and then take a break, walk away and get some rest. This will help ensure that you are ready for the next day and you can continue to work hard tomorrow.

Hopefully these tips will help you as you head into whatever challenge you are facing. I will definitely be sharing some pictures and moving progress on Instagram so make sure to check that out. It can be exciting to face a new challenge and at same time difficult. Embrace the change and remember to stay organized, make smart food choices and take some to rest. 

Working Moms

I have a new round respect for working mothers. I didn't realize how crazy life is being a working mom. It is a totally different experience than what I ever imagined. I have learned so much about myself and realized what I am/am not couple of over these last 5 months of being a mother. 

Things I have learned, as a working mother ... 

1. You can survived on little sleep. In fact, you can do better than survive you can go into work, do your job for 8hrs, come home, do tasks around the house and you can accomplish all of this while waking up 4 times during the night. 
2. You can multi-task and do at least 12 things at once. It is amazing how my multi-tasking skills have improved over the last 5 months. I can think of at least 3 things I need to do while completely another task and then start in on working on those 3 things I was just thinking of. 
3. Must plan ahead. So the next day to do smoothly, everything has to be ready and put together the night before. That is only way this entire operation functions smoothly. So each night there is whole routine that must get accomplished - the lunches get packed, bottles get labeled, diapers get rinsed, and the bags get all packed for the next day. 
4. If it outside of the normal routine ... it won't happen. The things that I have forgot/messed up have been changes to my routine. If there is something that I have to do outside my normal rhythm of things, then chances are that I am going to goof it up and something is going to get over looked. 
5. My personal time has decreased quite a bit. That means that my time end up being at the when I drive to work, when I have time to take a shower and when I finally lay down in bed for the night. The entire rest of my day is filled with taking care of things at work and coming home and taking care of my family. 
6. I do laundry ALL the time. I have a love/hate relationship with my washer/dryer. I love putting all the dirty clothes and diapers into the washer and and getting them out of the dirty clothes hamper. It is such a great feeling, but then when the laundry is done in the dryer I have to fold it and put it away and that is part that I don't enjoy. 
7. My exercise time has to happen during the day or in the evening with William. My time to exercise isn't have flexible has it use to be. This means in the evenings that if I work it, it is normally with William and we go running. If I want to go to the gym or do yoga I have to take time during my lunch break to fit that in. 
8. Cooking dinner can be tough. Have the time/energy to prepare dinner is challenging. Learning how to balance grocery shopping and then food prep with a baby is tough. I think that I have a nice rhythm down .... finally. I go to the grocery on the weekend and get items for the upcoming week. Then I make sure that whatever I am cooking can be done in about 30 minutes. That is the only way we end up with a warm, nutritious dinner is if I have something already in the refrigerator I can prepare and it takes no longer than 30 minutes. 
9. I love my job. I really do love what I do every day. I enjoy the challenging and using my brain in a different way than I use it the rest of the time. Some times I wish that I could be hanging out with William or puppy, but I also work to really value my time away from work. In the evenings, I try to be present and spend as much time with William before bed time. I really value that time with him. 
10. Some times I need to step away. It is so easy to get caught up in the all the things with work, extra activities and then hectic-ness of running a house. Sometimes I have to disengage with all the extra things and just relax. This weekend I had that chance. I took a nap with William on Saturday and on Sunday ... gasp! I know! I can't remember the last time I actually took a nap. It had been too long and let me tell you it was glorious. 

Life is crazy and being a working mom is even harder, but I love it. I am so thankful for my amazing job, great co-workers, and my wonderful family. I am glad to have a flexible job and the chance to do what I enjoy. I am still working hard to keep all of this in balance and some days go better than others. To all my working mothers out there ... keep it up. If you work outside or inside the home ... it all counts and it is all a challenge. 

Breaking the Sugar Habit

I have a confession. I have been obsessed with sugar and I have been eating WAY too much of it since becoming a mom. Yes, I am blaming my over consumption on my child, because I use to have more time to sleep better, eat better and exercise more prior to my child entering our family. Since his arrival, I sleep WAY less than I would like, I have WAY less free time do anything and then I have been eating more sugar, because I am starving and it sounds good. 

It has gotten so bad that my husband even noticed. He made a comment to me about eating most of a cake that I made and a blueberry buckle coffee cake. So it is time to break this cycle of too much sugar. My husband, Chas, is going to do this with me and we are working to eliminate unnecessary sugar sources in our diets. We are cutting out soda (don't need it and really should be drinking more water instead, even though it was diet), no more candy or other sweet treats (except for special occasions) and less sugary breakfast cereals. I am going to try to get up earlier again, go to bed earlier and then make breakfast in the morning (toast with an egg). I tend to eat better throughout the rest of the day if I have some protein in the morning. Breakfast cereal just doesn't stick with me that long. 

It is tough to break a habit. Eating too much sugar is a habit that I have fallen into over the last 4 months and it is something that I need to work to change. I really would like to lose the last 5lbs of baby weight and get my abs back. I need to focus on building back up my abdominal strength so that those muscles can help support my back and in my activities of daily living. Being able to make some small changes and break some of these bad habits will be helpful in living that "health lifestyle." 

I wanted to share this with you to help hold me accountable. I believe that sharing the good things in life and the struggles are important. We all struggle with things and have bad habits that we want to change. What is holding you back? What is keeping you in those bad habits? Once you have taken a moment to pin that down, then you can start creating a plan to make some healthier changes. Well so far I have made it all morning without needless sugar snacking ... I will keep you posted on how things are going!

Motivational Monday

I wanted to write a blog post about motivation and try to encourage you to get up, get moving and meet your goals. What do you want to accomplish this week? How are you going to meet those goals you have set for yourself? 

1. Put together a list of the things you need to get done this week. Each week I make out a list of the things I need to get done at work and in my personal life. These things are items that I need to get done and it serves as a reminder to me of what my priorities are. It is so easy to get off track and lose focus. My husband had to remind me to this last week and encourage me to stay on task and get my work done quickly and well so when I come home I am not stressing about work.
2. Re-evaluate that list on Wednesday. Taking some time to look at how you are doing on your task list part way through the week can be helpful. You might find that you ahead of schedule or behind. Then after your re-evaluate your progress you can decide if you need to buckle down or maybe you do something fun and take a break for a moment to reward yourself.
3. Once you have accomplished the tasks on your list, celebrate! At the end of week, take a look at how well you did with your task list. Is everything done? Did you meet your goals for the week? If so, then great! Do something special for yourself. Last week after charting on ALL of my patients by Friday, I took the time to leave work a little early and I stopped by Target on my way home. It is a nice treat to do something fun as a reward for all the long hours I had put in earlier in the week. If you haven't met all the goals on your list then take a moment and see what needs to get done right away and maybe some of those things can get push to next week. 

Experience with Interviewing

I have spent the last week doing interviews for a formula room technician position at our hospital. As one of these RDs at our hospital, we help to oversee that formula room area and help with the hiring process. This has been a great opportunity to get some management experience. I also think that using formula technicians/diet technicians is a must for that job and helps bring the skill level in that area up to par. I believe that the chance to interview for a job is a great opportunity to practice how you introduce yourself, communicate with people you don't know and to answer questions in a polished way. I think that even if you are interviewing for a position is a great opportunity to get practice with first impressions. Being good in an interview takes practice! 

I thought that I would share some tips that I think might help people when it comes to interviewing well. Obviously, these opinions are all my own and would apply to my area of practice, dietetics in a hospital setting. 

1. Arrive on time. Make sure that you know exactly where you are going and give yourself plenty of time. It is better to sit in the car or lobby for a few moments before the interview, rather than rushing and arrive late. Plus it shows the people you are interviewing with, that you will be a reliable employee. 
2. Dress professionally. Also dress to impress! Make sure that you are wearing business professional clothes, closed toed shoes and tights/hose with a dress. There is nothing worse than being too casual. It is always better to be over dressed and make an impression that you are serious about this job than under dress, which can come off negatively. 
3. Shake hands and smile. When you enter and leave the interview space, thank the people that are interviewing you and shake their hands. Make this a firm, confident hand shake. Also remember not to be seated until the person that has brought you into the room sits or gestures for you to sit down.
4. Ask questions. Stay engaged with the interview. Think of questions to ask ahead of time and this shows a level of interest/engagement with the interviewer. This also allows the interview team to get to know you. It is hard to some one to make a decision about you if you don't speak up and least carry on a conversation. 
5. Be proud of who you are and what you want to accomplish. Take yourself seriously and be proud of what you have accomplished. This is different than bragging or boasting. Play up your skills and really sell yourself, because this interview team will make a decision based on ~30 minutes of time with you. 
6. Send a thank you note. Follow up with whomever you interview and send a thank you note. It is amazing how many people don't take the time to do this! An email would work, but ideally a hand written note goes a long way! Out of 5 interviews we did last week we got 1 thank you via email. That one person that took the time to say thank you will be remembered.

Good luck with your next interview and take the time to enjoy it. This is a great learning opportunity and hopefully things will work out and you will land that job.