Finals

Stressing is an understatement. I have finals starting Monday. Here is the order of the tests:

• BacT on Monday
• Pharm on Tues (AAAHHHH!!!)
• Viro on Wed (tears. just tears.)
• Path on Thurs

Here is the order of the exams based on scary factor:

1. VIRO
2. Pharm
3. Path
4. Bact

For the last two nights I didn't even get home from school before midnight. Tonight I am finding it hard to focus so I am trying to get things sorted out so that all I have to concentrate on is finals. Hopefully pre-finals planning will really benefit me and my diet. Last semester I was so freaked out that I just went to the grocery store and bought 6 days worth of hoagie sandwiches (12 total) chips, and a ton of diet coke. Lets just say after 6 days of eating nothing but junk I felt miserable. I know that the stress of finals is something I have no control about but I can plan to make my body be the absolute best. And lets be truthful, I have worked hard to lose 15 lbs (yay me!) and I don't really want to complete screw it up because at midnight I get the munchies and order pizza. So here is my diet plan -
-PROTEIN! You always hear how protein is brain food, well Lord I hope it is!
-lean deli turkey, tuna, white beans, chicken, and nuts for snacking
-Soup! filling comfort food that actually has veggies!
-I made a cabbage soup that is full of veggies and I froze it in individual portions
-pre-packaged soups - hey chicken noodle is comfort food! and I know exactly how many calories I am consuming.
-Fruit: peaches, pineapple and banana - already sliced up and in individual servings.
-Veggies: those in the soup (seriously my cabbage soup probably has 3 servings of veggies for every portion!); celery and salsa - my new favorite snack. I honestly don't think I will ever go back to chips and salsa. Celery is SOOOO much better and it gives that crunchy bite!
-Carbs: okay, I am actively avoiding these but I do have whole wheat cracker sticks because I do get the munchies.
-Yogurt!
-WATER!!! lots and lots of the stuff. I know that I will be downing the coffee and diet coke (Lent ends on Sunday!!!!) but I am hoping to keep it to a minimum.
-Eat a mini meal every 4-6 hours. Hopefully this will keep me from feeling any kind of crash or feel like I am starving myself.

So that is the diet plan. Other than that I have picked out clothes to wear for each day of the week to save time. I have to be as efficient as possible. No wasting time because time is precious. I think I am prepared. It really just needs to be all about school. No distractions. It sounds like I am going to battle. But in a way I am. Failure would be about a $40,000 failure. Failure would be pushing my wedding back. Failure is a constant threat hanging over my head that I refuse to allow to squash me and my dreams. I am going to go study some more.

White Chocolate Strawberry Goodness

This is my new friend. I am sure I don't really want to know what is in it that makes it taste so yummy but I love it. It has only 100 calories, no fat, less than 5 mg of cholesterol, 5 grams of protein, 250 mg of potassium, and it has 20% Daily Value of Calcium and Vitamin D, 15% Daily Value Vitamin A and Phosphorus. On the down side it does have 85 mgs of sodium and 14 grams of sugar :(
I am dieting. Again. After only 3 weeks I am minus almost 10 pounds :) Unfortunately, I am one of those people who can be really successful dieting for about a month then I get bored/frustrated with the whole thing and give up. But hopefully this time I am going to be more motivated to stick with it. I have been going to the gym at least 3 times a week and at least once a week going for a long swim or playing beach volleyball. I have been doing at least 45 minutes of cardio and some light weight training and I am seeing results on the scale and some of my pants are fitting better. I am not really on any type of "diet plan" really I am just neurotically watching every bite I take. And trying to really balance out my diet. Which brings me back to the I love me some flavored yoghurt story. I don't drink milk. I just don't like to drink it straight from the carton. (and in St. Kitts it is also not always the most available product) Now if I put some Cinnamon Toast Crunch (the same cereal I have been eating for the last 15 years) in my milk I have no problem eating the cereal and drinking the left over milk. But have you ever looked at what is in Cinnamon Toast Crunch? LOTS of SUGAR! Which is probably why it is so so good. So while I know its not perfect for a calcium source, yoghurt is at least something that I will eat. Plus, the white chocolate strawberry is freakin delicious! It is sweet and makes me feel like I am really indulging but sans guilt.
With finals coming up and a lot of late night studying and sitting on my bum for hours on end I am worried that my diet may be in jeopardy. Then I am going home for two weeks which means I will have access to places like SONIC and their crispy fried french fries! Oh dear.