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When I had a health issue the doc said to stop caffeine, I told him I needed to stay awake as I worked night shift, he then said drink orange juice, and guess what it worked well for me.I also switched to coffee substitutes like Postum , etc,. (they recently brought it back).

I'm prepping about two weeks of lunches for work so I don't fall into the junk food trap.

It sounds good! I just saw that this board is posting a recipe exchange forum? 🙂 So, I plan to head over there too. 🙂

Persian spiced turkey meatballs. with grilled onions and peppers. Rice pilaf and steamed veggies to round it out. Pictures to follow.

Congratulations!

Starting a new diet: I have been looking at programs that my husband who also needs to lose weight and decided to try Bistro MD. Starting weight 232 lbs. Will you join me on my journey.If you chooses to use Bistro MD let me know as you get a discount and I get free meals If I refer you! Hppy

I appreciate your reply. I wonder what responses I would get from more Male Nurses on their perspective on this topic? As I have heard a few times from Male Nurses on Youtube that it is inevitable that I will be chosen because I am a Man in the Nursing field, even if you are overweight, to lift heavy things, deal with physically violent patients, and basically be the "intimidating serious muscle". That won't always work with me, I prefer to avoid confrontation and although I do follow a sort of "code of Honor" as Man to protect everyone, especially those more vulnerable than me, I would not like getting singled out for these tasks every time as I am sure there are those more experienced than me in dealing with these situations of difficult patients, regardless of Nursing Gender. I did not sign up to go into Nursing to become a security guard or a Human forklift, but to heal people with my hands and through compassion. I prefer the idea of using a heavy training dummy over lifting free-style gym weights that don't look like anything I would ever actually lift outside of strength training. I despise the gym and am very practical orientated: if I want to get stronger at lifting heavy bags, then I lift heavy bags; boxes then boxes, etc. Although I do see value in body weight training as being faster, more agile, flexible, and stronger will help in all areas. My goal is to be able to do things like "The Human Flag Pole", walk on my hands for long periods of time, and feel like my body is almost weightless. I want to be good at practical things like swimming, climbing, running, jumping, etc. in urban and natural environments. Is Running still useful when you spend most of the week on your feet? I enjoy running long-distance, but would hardly ever have the time once I start a 30 or 40 hour work week.

I appreciate the responses. amoLucia: As I have already stated before in my previous posts, if you had read them you would already know I expect to use the proper equipment and procedures for patients in every kind of situation. I don't plan on training with weights or in Martial Arts to daily get into situations where I would need to dead-lift an unconscience patient or disable an aggressive one who's having a PTSD episode. I train and prepare so I am capable in as many situations as possible to be the most help and yes, I agree diplomacy is the best option and the one I use to settle almost all real-world confrontations. Pride and dignity are worthless to me. I see violence, physical or otherwise, as a loss for everyone involved. I don't like that you are going off-topic and accusing me of having unrealistic expectations based off of my previous replies in a completely different topic. Your opinion on many subjects is well noted though.

I would not advocate for a mannequin for strength training as there are few if any situations where you would be responsible for lifting a patient alone. Sure there is the occasional unexpected occurrence, but good core strength and lifting techniques should suffice. And many patients could be injured, or already have an injury that could be exacerbated. I am not in gyms lately due to COVID, but I use my own body weight plus resistance bands to maintain strength. And I run.

OK - getting back to the mannequins. I don't see any useful purpose. What do you expect to happen after you reach your weight lifting training goal? No HC employee is expected to do a dead weight body lift of some pt. Even for one who has fallen, you should have ancillary assistance for a safe & efficient move. Not to injure the pt nor you during the move. For a confrontational pt, you would not be doing a take-down!! In fact, for these situations, a 'HANDS OFF' is usually the recommended & expected approach. So for all intents & purposes, other than your own personal desire to exercise, there is NO reason to purchase that mannequin (at least or work-related purposes)! Every facility I've ever worked, always had body mechanics training for staff incl how to 'assist' a pt to the floor. And for the aggressive pts, there's usually training for staff to recognize & respond with CRPI (Crisis Recognition , Prevention, & Intervention). Your concerns seem as unrealistic as your UNREALISTIC germ-fearing need to shower at you job.

Perhaps "those without mental illness" is a better reference? I suppose going into every new relationship (with patients or not patients) without assumptions would be better than to expect the worst from them, however in my time as a Home Health Aide I did decide not to take care of those whom I learned had a history of violent, verbally abusive, or hostile attitude or those who did not want me around. If a patient doesn't want me around or is likely to attack me physically or verbally, I respect their personal wishes and will not take care of them. I understand it takes special people to work for people who hate them, physically attack them, verbally abuse them, etc. whether the patients forget or don't understand what they do doesn't take away any harm they cause. I appreciate and pray for those amazing workers, but I am not one of them. Maybe God will change my mind later on or maybe not. Thank you for all the amazing work you did. One of my previous patients as a Home Health Aide is now living in Hospital and is now mentally declining and I am saddened by this because when I called he didn't remember me, but I am so grateful to the staff that cares for him, like you might have done something similar. Anyways, can we please get back to the main topic of this subject and talk about Training with Weighted Dummies?

I apologize for being such a stickler, Christopher, but referring to patients with no signs, symptoms, or diagnosis of mental illness as normal is rather condescending. There continues to be a stigma behind mental illness that has improved greatly in the past several decades. Those patients diagnosed with a mental illness have the potential, and can be, as highly functioning as any other member of the population. I have worked with psych patients who were more intelligent, talented, and humorous than I will ever be. As a physical illness affects the body, a mental illness affects the brain. For example, as diabetes affects the body (e.g. pancreas, Islands of Langerhans) to utilize sugar normally, schizophrenia affects the brain (e.g. dopamine) to act & react emotionally or cognitively appropriate. Identifying our fear is the first step in overcoming it. We tend to fear that which we do not understand. If we gain understanding, we can lessen our fear. Good luck on your journey of understanding, Christopher!

I can't stand using machines like eliptacles or treadmills, I need to be outside running or biking and climbing around. I am sorry for using the term "crazy" that was insensitive of me. I edited my post to "mentally ill". I like to earn normal patients' trust over time which is very difficult with mental illness especially for me as it causes me to be afraid of people like them, but over the years of dealing with this kind of thing with non-patient friends I am learning more about dealing with them.

I found that daily workouts using a universal, a free weight, and an elliptical every day, and a short workout before leaving for my job helped to keep my strength up and avoid injuries. At 63 years of age before retiring, I could handle about any situation. I also bicycled quite a bit after work and on my days off. With all due respect, Christopher, it's not appropriate to refer to those with a diagnosis of mental illness as crazy. And yes, it is possible to gain trust with patients diagnosed with a mental illness. I spent the majority of my 36 years as a nurse working psych, and was able to gain the trust of the majority of psych patients. Individuals with mental illnesses usually merely have a nonconsensual perspective on reality and react accordingly. You might want to check out the psychiatric nursing forum here on allnurses to gain some insight. Good luck to you, Christopher!

I'm thinking about buying a weighted Martial Arts Dummy (70 pounds=140 pounds dead weight apparently according to the reviews on Amazon) and using this not only to practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also to increase my strength. I don't like the gym or lifting weights as I like having practical strength not big muscles or isolated muscle workouts. I am going into the CNA Hospital field next year though and once I do I was planning on buying a dummy like I mentioned. My goal is to be able to lift 200 pounds of dead weight maximum of a person, I don't want to be huge or like superman but I guess that 200 pounds is a good maximum (could take 5 or 10 years to get there, but I'm OK with that and gradually increasing the weighted dummies from 70 to 90 to 120 x 2 = actual dead weights). I don't go looking for fights as I don't like confrontation and prefer being a peacemaker, I would like to not be assigned to mentally ill patients as much as possible as I like to earn normal patients' trust over time which is very difficult with mental illness especially for me as it causes me be afraid of people like them (but over the years of dealing with this kind of thing with non-patient friends I am learning more about dealing with them), I would use the proper equipment whenever available like Hoyer lifts, and I do not want to be the 1st choice for lifting heavy things just because I am a man going into the Nursing field. But I do want to be ready for any situation like a patient falling, getting violent, etc. Would you or have any of you ever lifted training dummies to increase your strength for dealing with patients? Does lifting normal weights help with that to and if so what exercises are good for that? (since I can't buy the dummy right now)

I completed a 10K last Saturday and survived to tell about it, LOL. Actually, other than a sore knee and feet, it wasn't so bad. I'm not going to set any records, but I plan to do another. I have a Garmin watch that has training programs as a guide. 2 years ago I was obese, tired and short of breath. I was in atrial flutter with a heart rate of 40 and felt like doo-doo. From the time I woke up in the morning, all I could think about was when could I lay down again. Had an ablation, got a pacer, and once the soreness was gone, started a walk to 5K program. I have since lost 40 pounds and really changed my way of eating.

Congrats on a very productive and relaxing day!

I could actually post this in Animal lovers, Gardening and Exercise but I don't want to say it all three times so this will have to suffice, This was my last day of vacation and I have to say I was busy....... I cleaned my entire kitchen, washed the dog, and cleaned out the planters in front of my house. Then I planted them with a profusion of lilys, gladiolas, dalias and bearded Irish. Should be pretty spectacular in the weeks to come. I am tired in that way that pleasantly and kindly worked muscles make you feel. When the flowers start blooming I'll post pictures! Hppy

So I get most of my spices at ethnic markets or on-line and can often get small quantities. If they are old they have proably lost potency and are not much good anyway

If you can't remember when you last used them toss them out. Then when you feel like cooking again just buy what you need. Hppy

Girl you are gonna kill your gut. I had 18 inches of my colon removed in 2012 due to severe necrosis. I was getting septic all the time and they finally looked at my gut. My gastro Doc basically told me that artificial sweeteners are like steel wool to the walls of your colon. So even though I am diabetic I do not consume any artificial sweeteners. I do drink a fair amount of green sweetened with fruit and raw honey and would be happy to give you the recipe. I try to drink about a half gallon of water a day. Being properly hydrated inproves your mental function and mood. Hppy

These https://www.morningstarfarms.com/en_US/products/veggitizers/morningstar-farms-buffalo-wings-product.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=MSF|Google|Search|Brand|Veggie+Classics|BMM|2020&gclid=CjwKCAiAmrOBBhA0EiwArn3mfAf5Tv0S5jN8byLqRywTiuaiq2bY8G5AJll-J3Qhacwn2zPbaqP-ghoCCbwQAvD_BwE They aren't all that and hardly worth a splurge but convenient and quick. I'm a pretty healthy eater usually eating whole foods plant based and not a lot of processed foods generally.

I was getting ready to grind a new spice mix this am and realized that many of my herbs and spices were stale or outdated. I usually go through them prior to the Holidays but since we weren't entertaining this year I didn't think about it. Now it's all cleaned up, old stale spices thrown out, new added in and I am ready to start grinding my Turkish, Persian, tex-mex and Tuscan mixes.

The lighting isn't very good and the whole meals needs salt but otherwise a success.

Yeah! Just cutting back on the Cafiene and sodium found in Diet soda will make a big difference. Just beware that many people report experiencing head aches and irritabilty when detoxing off Caffiene. My Gastro Doc told me that that diet soda is a huge contributing factor in IBS, UC, and Cancer of the colon. After about a month I bought a regular soda when I was out and it was so sweet I gave it to my kid. Your lunch sounds great! What would you normally eat for breakfast and dinner? It's important to never let youself get hungry enough to reach for the junk food. I have a vacuum sealer and make up snack size bags of nuts, granola, and dried fruit. I make them into 2 ounce packs and throw them in my nursing bag, purse etc, This month while I am on LOA I am playing around with spices and food prep methods. I know one shouldn't play with their food but I really have nothon better to do. I used up the rest of the Turkish spice my son mixed up and put on Chicken thighs with rice pilaf and sauteed zucchini squash. Photo to follow as I haven't plated yet. Hppy