I *heart* the ADA

Yay for the American Dietetic Association!

While attending Bastyr University, some of the professors gave the impression that the American Dietetic Association (ADA) is a conservative organization. I took conservative to mean “doesn’t want anything to change.” How wrong could my assumption be?

Very wrong.

On the contrary, the American Dietetic Association is on the front lines of the political scene, advocating for change. For as long as the health care debate has been going on, ADA members have been communicating with their legislators, advocating for greater visibility in the health care field. As a result of their efforts, the HELP Committee: Affordable Health Choices Act includes and ammendment which requires registered dietitians be included in the medical home team!

I am proud to be a member of this progressive organization.

Finding a Groove

In a previous blog post, I portrayed the American standard cereal-and-milk breakfast with disdain. I need to rescind that statement.

Although it was accurate to my sentiments at the time I wrote it, my pretentious standards have significantly loosened since moving to Virginia. Perhaps it is the fact that I am staying with relatives and don’t want to inconvenience them with my sporadic, and sometimes unfounded, food aversions. Or the fact that I don’t feel like going out of my way to make allergy-free meals because the house is always wonderfully and conveniently stocked with conventional food items. Or maybe it’s because I’ve finally stop stressing about the small stuff and, in response, my stomach has stop stressing about the food I eat.

Whatever the reason, my strict food regulation has ended. What I’m trying to say is that, I eat cereal with milk (albeit soymilk) for breakfast four out of seven days of the week and don’t think twice about it.

What’s more is that I am feeling healthy again. In fact, I’m fairly amazed at how well and how quickly I’ve fallen into a groove with my new internship. After surviving the first two weeks (which were sleep-deprived and stressful as hell), I am now falling easily asleep each night, sleeping 7-8 hours, and am excited to wake up each morning. I joined a gym (the same one my cousin, Michelle, attends) and low forward to my new-found exercise: rock climbing.

The days are very full for me, but I love my constant engagement with the world. Maybe all I needed was a little fire in my life to help warm up my dampened spleen/stomach.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the heart organ system (element: fire, emotion: joy) nurtures the spleen organ system (element: earth, emotion: worry). Therefore, in order to help bring fire back into the digestive system (there’s a reason we call it “burning” calories), it is sometimes necessary to spice up your life!

p.s. The picture is of me at a Washington Nationals game on August 21st. They lost badly to the Milwaukee Brewers, but it was a good time and a great introduction to the Capitol City.