Do you Watch what you Eat?

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I am just curious, how many of you watch what you eat in some way? If you do watch what you eat is this because your doctor or other healthcare provider has recommended you cut back on something, or is it of your own initiative? Do you find it hard to eat right with a nurse's schedule?

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I eat better now that I am pregnant. My food aversions are limiting my diet a lot right now.

[Rhi007]

No I don't watch what I eat, primarily because due to meds I could eat lettuce and still gain weight even though I play sports so if I'm going to gain weight I want to eat happy food. My heart, lungs and overall health is excellent I just have excess body tissue... I'm healthier than my mum(57) and sister(23) mostly...except for my brain.

[SwansonRN]

I have a pretty poor diet, my nursing schedule I think contributes to that. When I am working nights especially! I wake up at 5 in the afternoon and I am starving so I usually stop for something quick and unhealthy along the way. And then there's always that aide that goes around taking orders for take out...I am going to start packing lunch it's one of my goals.

[RNperdiem, RN]

At age 40 after having 2 kids and a slowing metabolism, I do watch what I eat.

No doctor has recommended this, but if I want to keep my girlish figure, I can't get careless.

The nurses schedule makes it easy. Breakfast before work, lunch around 1300 and a light dinner after work. No snacking while working since it doesn't occur to me.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Yes. My own initiative. I have had weight issues all my life and borderline BP and cholesterol since I was 20. So I stick to a healthy dieat 90% of the time and exercise for 1 hour 5 days a week.

[Ginger80]

I watch what I eat, especially in terms of nutrition (less worried about calories). My thinking goes "Have I eaten enough fruit today? Did I get my good fats?". That's not to say that I never divert from this, but overall I think it's important to make good choices.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I track what I eat as well as my exercise on a website. It's a combination of my own initiative and my doctor's advice. When I became a borderline diabetic a few years ago, I could have chosen to maintain my unhealthy diet and exercise routine and gone on medications. But I decided to make the recommended lifestyle changes instead. Logging it all on the website (SparkPeople) helps me stay on track.

It's been 6 years six my diabetes diagnosis (not all of it on the website) ... and I still maintain health blood glocoses with just diet and exercise (no meds) ... and have lost 45 pounds.

Sure, I slip up ocassionally. But I do watch it and do a pretty good job most days.

[gloryfied]

I generally eat healthy, with exceptions of depriving some foods, but I work out every day too. I watch what I eat, because it will benefit me in the long run, and not drown me in this profession, that has taken control of many lives of nurses. It sort of annoys me when I see a tremendously obese nurse. In my opinion, how are patients suppose to take you serious?.when telling them to be healthier. not to say they would not make fun of a skinny nurse either, clearly, FIT is the goal here. but. .. a patient who comes in with chest pain receiving education from a clearly unhealthy looking nurse, may or may not take you too serious or atleast have a thought in their mind " s(he)'s teaching me about being healthier, this is regrding chest pain, but what about your weight".

I just think as health care advocates and promoters, we need to take care of ourself, and lots of nurses im seeing are completely opposite of this.

As I get more stressed from this job, I just feel obligated to push myself when Im not at work, sleep, eat better, work out, and mentally guide myself. Alot of the defeat has happened mentally, as this job drains us, and we just dont want to give ourself personal time.