Sac adventures aka Psychation Part 1

Hello. Is this blog dead? Probably. Actually, I think I'm going it resurrect it. I suppose an 8-month hiatus isn't so bad, considering it was during the most grueling year of medical school, but this was also meant to be a cathartic outlet for me and I shouldn't keep neglecting it, even when I'm busy busy busy. New goals for 4th year. I cannot believe I'm already an MS4. (More on that later.)

Anyway, Rotation 3 was Psychiatry, and I definitely had more time on my hands than before (weekends off! whaaaaat). Cue some adventures such as going to the Crocker Art Museum. I love going to museums, and cannot believe I hadn't been to the Crocker yet. When med school friend F signed us up for a free session there, I finally got my chance. It was a group of us touring the museum's newest collection for about an hour, discussing how we felt about the art pieces (for an art therapy/pain management research project), and then we were free to explore the rest of the museum for the day (FOR FREE!). What a steal! Glad I got my art fix in.

Since I also had plenty of time on my hands, I decided to take an elective class as well. Yep. Elective during 3rd year of med school. I had actually meant to take this class last year, but it conflicted with another commitment I had, so I was excited to take it this year since most of the sessions were during my Psych rotation so I knew my evenings would be free. It was a "Healthy Living Fit" class, divided into Nutrition, Exercise, and Mindfulness modules. The nutrition portion really introduced me to some things I hadn't thought of before and encouraged me to swap out certain things in my diet. For example, I rarely buy ice cream now (shocking). Though I will definitely eat it once in a while, just not like on the daily at home. I also swapped out cow's milk for almond milk instead, and started using almond butter. I also tried to incorporate more protein in the form of beans instead of meats, although that is still a work in progress. I always thought I was a healthy eater, even though I need help with portion-control, but logging my food intake made me realize that my fat content is way more than I realized, at the expense of my protein content. Things to think about.

Free weekends = treat yourself

Conveniently have a fridge magnet to remind me which foods are better choices and which aren't. Why are chocolate chip cookies under "extremely limited consumption?"