Nurses can eat properly if they manage their time

[Brian]

Nurses, as we all know, often skip meals while they work. And, that isn't healthy. Sometimes we can scarf down a meal without chewing, and, that isn't healthy either. Those bad habits can spill over in our personal lives, too. The old saying, "chew your food at least xyz times before swallowing", is true. To avoid unpleasant GI issues or worse, we must take time during work and home to eat properly. Do you have trouble finding the time to eat healthy (if at all) at work and then carry bad habits home? What healthy ways have you found to eat at work?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

No, being fat is not a contradiction of a nurse's role. The role is to provide competent nursing care. The role is not to serve as a paragon of healthy living.

As I enter the room of a patient who will become an organ donor is a few hours, I say to the distraught family, "My name is Here.I.Stand, and I'll be your paragon of healthy living today."

No? That's not what I'm supposed to do??

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

Indeed I do. I have read plenty of posts here about what it is like at other LTCs to realize I am lucky to work where I do.

If it's not too much too ask, please PM me and tell me which organizations you know of that provide this (I don't care about the free food as I eat extremely healthy and would bring my own), meaning time to eat or just have 30 minutes of peace. Wherever I go (can only work weekends due to school and child care) I have been the only licensed and cannot even leave the building for I may be needed. I understand not sharing in a public forum that's why I'm asking for a possible PM.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

geez , for being judgmental about all us fatties out there , cheezewhiz has got to be the most unhealthiest snack in existence - why would you have that as a name?? closet fattie?? oh im sorry , closet person of size haha.

maybe I'll change my name to carrotstick.

The screen ne confused me too. I went to work one day and a co-worker asked me if I'd like some cheese. I said, "sure, but only a little". She whipped out a bottle of cheezewiz! I said, " second thought, I'll pass but thanks"....last time I checked real cheese belongs in a refrigerator and never, ever comes in an aerosol can...jeez, that's worse than Velveta! (I actually eat very healthy and have a BMI below 20 so I'm not a "fatty" who likes cheese either. I'm not insulting people who are overweight, I just don't understand the screen name for a "healthy" post)

[imenid37]

OMG. I think I got fat from working nights for years. I eat fast and all of the wrong things. It is a cartoon, do a little LOL and chill out. I think the cation should read and for my next trick, I will not void for the next 12 hours, despite drinking three diet cokes on the run and possessing otherwise robust renal function.

[wanderlust99]

I don't void or eat much while at work. I am a firm believer in workplaces providing healthier food options for its employees. I worked at hospital with such a great cafeteria, a salad bar better than whole foods, always some kind of healthy grilled fish or protein and vegetables. They also displayed the calorie count for what you were getting. I lost a little weight while working there and felt a lot better.

My current hospital has the typical nasty cafeteria with zero healthy options, so I find myself grabbing a pre packaged sandwich from Starbucks which aren't the best for you. Yes I know I should prepare my lunch in advance, but I don't really always have time to do that.

[TheGooch]

The screen ne confused me too. I went to work one day and a co-worker asked me if I'd like some cheese. I said, "sure, but only a little". She whipped out a bottle of cheezewiz! I said, " second thought, I'll pass but thanks"....last time I checked real cheese belongs in a refrigerator and never, ever comes in an aerosol can...jeez, that's worse than Velveta! (I actually eat very healthy and have a BMI below 20 so I'm not a "fatty" who likes cheese either. I'm not insulting people who are overweight, I just don't understand the screen name for a "healthy" post)

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

"Do you have trouble finding the time to eat healthy (if at all) at work and then carry bad habits home?"

NOPE.

Despite the name "All Nurses," this site poorly represents America's nurses because most of the nurses that I work with are relatively healthy and not obese. Based on responses and emotional reactions to my previous posts critical of obese nurses, I have found that most people who post on this site are obese women who are easily offended at any attempt on these forums to point out their hyposcrisy. They have a book of excuses for why they weigh 300+ pounds and have bariatric charting chairs at their nursing stations, and they want all of us normal people to bow down and serve them, to spoonfeed compassion and empathy to them, to coddle them. Makes me sick. Nurses have an obligation to be healthy. JUST DO IT.

I laughed and remembered my mother and sister staring at me one evening when we went out to dinner. "Hungry??" my mother asked. I couldn't answer because my mouth was bulging with enchilada. I was half done and they'd just taken their first few bits. I still eat too fast even at home. It's a very bad habit, and the only thing that makes sense as a cause is working in acute care for the last six years. I'm working private duty (thanks to my right knee blowing out and the surgeon thought it would heal on it's own -- it hasn't) and I STILL eat too fast.

Eek, I just read your last paragraph. What you have is called "a chip on your shoulder".

These 'chip problems' aren't just about obese nurses flaunting their flab in your face, they can be caused by many things, like other nurses who don't flatter you nearly as much as you deserve, and refuse to treat you like you are 'special'.

I'd say this 'chip' is by far a bigger problem for you and anyone who gets too close to you than a fat nurse strutting her 300+ pounds, getting blatant 'favors' like a chair that he/she can sit in.

You too can beg and wheedle for special services, kinda like you are doing now. Stick up loudly for your specialness, your unique sensitivities, the squeaky wheel always gets greased. You have pages and PAGES of attention, all just for little ole you!!

[TexMex22]

cheezwizz you are hilarious. I'm dying as I read this ������������������

@ICUman: LOVE that avatar!!

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

My current hospital has the typical nasty cafeteria with zero healthy options, so I find myself grabbing a pre packaged sandwich from Starbucks which aren't the best for you. Yes I know I should prepare my lunch in advance, but I don't really always have time to do that.

I hear you on this one. My husband works as a medical service engineer for the manufacturer and has to pack his meals on ice while he travels throughout the state. He has gotten stuck eating in hospitals a few times when he forgot his lunch and he actually asked the person serving the food if this was how they acquired more patients when their census was down. All fried and/or greasy food. The only salad was iceberg lettuce. Absolutely disgusting and hard to believe that people with a medical background would willingly poison themselves with this garbage on a daily basis.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Same unhealthy options in my hospital which, considering we are promoting health is disappointing.

The food is expensive and mainly deep fried. I bring my own lunch.

[Jensmom7, BSN, RN]

Actually, when I was in school, we used to deliberately talk about blood, gore, guts, various mucus colors and the wounds we saw in Clinical, especially if the pretentious "pre-Med" crowd was sitting nearby. Gave 'em something to think about while they were cheating their way through Organic Chem and Physics lol.

But, back on topic, yes, it can be difficult to maintain healthy eating habits when you're working. Heck, how many of us flirt with UTIs because we can't take 5 minutes to pee in 8 or 12 hours!? I'm at the age where I tend to only want two meals a day, so breakfast and dinner are both at home and healthy, and a light snack in the afternoon between patients usually does it for me.

[loriangel14, RN]

I pack my own food and fill up on veggies, fruit and lean protein. I go to the gym 4 or 5 times a week.