Thank you for reading! Lets keep up this great momentum

I would like to say thank you so much to all of you who are reading the blog. This has been a wonderful creative outlet and I hope to continue - I can think of no better way to procrastinate than share what I am learning....productive procrastination - - or structured procrastination (Click here - this s a great little blurb- The author is a philosophy professor at Stanford)  . I thought I would say hello from my home on the graduate campus of Columbia University. See video below!

Break the bad snack habit with a brown news-boy hat

Break the bad snack habit with a brown news-boy hat

I thought I had some primary resistance to homesickness. Nope. I woke up this morning after dreaming about In-N-Out. I don’t even like In-N-Out that much. It figures I would be thinking of the one thing I can’t get in New York City, aside from a decent priced bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and real Mexican food.

This also may have been brought on by my efforts to break my midnight snack habit. Let’s face it, our bodies don’t want to break habits, especially those that cause us to lose weight. Apparently I was at one time a hunter-gatherer. Although, I would consider grocery shopping in New York City a, “hunter gatherer,” lifestyle, especially when you get left by the shuttle that brought you to the market because you could not decide between the higher priced real maple syrup and Aunt Jemima’s sugary concoction. That being said, our bodies are very good at storing fat and too nostalgic to let it go easily.

Beth Duncan from Cooley Law School in Michigan asks, “how do I avoid excessive snacking when I am tired and trying to stay awake to study?”

This is something my body tricks me into too. Somehow I feel that a very difficult and/or time consuming project requires an ample amount of chocolate, carbohydrates (my body tells me ESPECIALLY the refined empty calorie type carbs), a few pieces of fruit to make me feel like I am negating the empty calories of the other snacks, and all consumed on several kitchen trips that I deem to be my, “last snack for the night.” The obvious thing our bodies may need at that point is sleep. But, being realistic, that is not going to happen until the 20-page paper is read and the other two-projects are done… and we visit facebook on accident on 20 minute intervals looking for something or someone very important.

So… How do we break the sneaky-snack cycle?

First we need the proper hat. A brown newsboy hat seems appropriate. Studious enough to make a homemade thin crust whole-wheat veggie pizza in and with enough integrity to investigate this complicated cycle. 

Whole wheat, no trans-fat pre-made pizza dough. Lightly brushed with olive oil. Topped with tomato sauce, light Mozzarella shredded cheese, sliced fresh mushrooms, garlic, diced tomatoes, a bit of fresh ground pepper/salt/basil. Bake for 9-15 min depending on crust preference. Perfecto! 

Personally, when I turn into a study snack maniac I reach for hot tea. If I need to stay up I drink something with some caffeine, if not, I choose something decaffeinated. This generally fills up the tummy and because it is warm, it is more pleasurable to drink than a plain cup of tap. However, you are smart enough to be the judge of what goes in that tea. I have been known to put an entire doughnut in the tea, again somehow negating the calories of a deep fried, jelly filled, wad of dough. Another thing that is important is that the brain runs on glucose. Maybe some fruit or a moderate amount of carbs or small sweet treat are acceptable. Don’t underestimate the importance of glucose (carbs and my tea drenched doughnut are big glucose suppliers) but the key is getting that glucose from a healthy source and not letting your body’s urge to eat just anything win.

So how do we stay accountable?

Most likely nobody wants to hear every time you have a carb-binge so keep a food journal. It is a common practice. Be honest and write down EVERYTHING you eat. I can almost guarantee you will not want to eat that random Sweedish fish or 7.5 chocolate covered peanuts and so on because is eating it worth the time of writing it down? Since habit breaking is tough, it may require some prayer so I like the idea of keeping a food/prayer journal. Check out ones that I have picked for you. You can purchase them from my site! These have little bits of scripture and are visually appealing. We need to make habit-breaking doable. 

My Sassy and Sophisticated journal... yes that is what it is called! I think it is very masculine too - ha

Next: Assess your overall snacking and diet

Go to  www.mypyramidtracker.gov . Sign up (painless).  Click on “food tracker” (see the youtube video - as Darth Vader teaches you to use the site) 


enter the food consumed in one day. Then adjust the quantity. Finally, hit save and analyze. This will give you a breakdown of how many calories, fat, carbs and so on you consumed for the day. Then, above the table, click on the link to show you recommendations. This will let you know if there is anything that the food pyramid recommends that you adjust. This is also good because knowing that doughnuts drenched in some bizarre tea is not a noted food item, maybe I would be more likely to eat something reasonable. Maybe you will too =)

Good luck and let me know what you think! Let me know if you have any additional questions that I can look into or other advice that I did not mention.

For now I am off on a run to ponder pollution and the birth weight fluctuation of those living in urban populations… Graduate school reading is intriguing.

Hats off to you! Have a happy day

Grandpa dancing...need I say more

I feel this can stand alone... I am sorry it is sideways....I tend to like to do this. Just tilt your head...no the other way ;)

Also another Niagara Falls Video.....

Eggplant and Jersey Shore

I am here and this is the beginning. I am also hungry which means this should be some of my best writing yet; brief.

Classes started this week but I have failed to inform everyone of the previous week when I was on Jersey Shore. That was a tricky use of words. I was on the barrier island, not the show.

I need a snack.

Barnegat Lighthouse on Long Beach Island....frame-worthy

Okay I just ate an entire eggplant. I love eggplant. There is a great farmer's market right in front of our classes in the Hammer Building every Tuesday. I bought eggplant. I love eggplant. It has nothing to do with eggs. This is deeiving. I like to slice it, put it in the pan with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste (this is good because it is monounsaturated fat - - we are allowed to use a bit of this and still call ourselves nutrition master's students at Columbia. I am so excited to be here =)

This last holiday weekend I was fortunate enough to be invited to Long Beach Island ( Jersey Shore) by my fantastic Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Michael Michelis. This place is amazing. The only islands I have ever visited include: Catalina Island, the Hawaiian Islands, and Treasure Island (Los Vegas) - all of which you cannot see from side to side from on vantage point. Long Beach Island, on the other hand, I was able to see from ocean side just by standing on the rooftop deck.

I am sure the people there thought I was odd. I am not accustomed to dining with AIG executives, IBM executives, judges, physicians and so on. Even our waitress was an attorney, I am not joking. When I started talking about wine in boxes, apparently only acceptable in California, someone quickly switched the conversation topic to politics and religion. I didn't know box wine was such a faux pas. Strolling on the beach we invited neighbors over for pre-dinner cocktails and hors d'oeuvres (this was not an easy word to spell). It was like something you see in a movie. Fantastic. Thank you Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Michael! Had the time of my life! Glad we didn't run into Snookie - that would have been awkward.

Working on secondaries, I came across this video on Virginia Commonwealth University's website. I think this is great. I have no idea if these guys are medical students BUT if this was funded by the price of secondaries I will be thoroughly upset.



I recently met Rene and Ellen in the admissions office for Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia's medical school)... wow- they could not have been nicer. Very kind ladies. This school is an amazing community. My roommare, Varun, always things it is strange when I say someone was kind. "What did you think they were going to be like?" He asks in an Ummmm-duh-they-are-nice tone. But really, the faculty, admissions office, students....all very nice. I am sure impressed.

Aside from criticizing my appreciation for the overwhelming KINDNESS here at Columbia - Varun helped me to put together my bookshelf last night. It was $29 and from Wal-Mart online. I think putting this thing together should be part of the admissions requirements for graduate school. Luckily we figured it out and Varun had the novel idea that Ikea, Wal-Mart and Lego (and any other put-your-own-junk-together type stores)should pair up with Habitat for Humanity and send entire houses in boxes with instructions like we had - - can you imagine how many houses would end up assembled upside down? Haha-this would be counterproductive but make a great reality TV show. Everyone would be yelling..."I need part number 0 no not O but Zero." I think they add unnecessary confusion for fun.

Next blog I am going to talk about MyPyramid.com (a very neat tool but controversial pyramid design) and fashion week . . . in no particular order.

I need a jacket. Fall in NY is = to winter in CA.

Ciao for now...

p.s. Thank you so so much Aunt Beth, Uncle Sean, Grandma and Grandpa for the amazing care package! A rope/safety ladder, milk frother, several hats to be work together nicely as shown, a toffy bar and then some =) This was amazing.

If anyone else feels so inclined to send care packages I will not be upset =)

RV Trip to NYC with Grandma and Grandpa G!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Pictures from Brittany Kunza

Click here to view these pictures larger

Arrival in Manhattan...And David Letterman

The general population would agree that bringing a motor home into Manhattan is not the best idea of 2010. My grandfather, however, says this is the thing to do.

I am not sure if Manhattan-Motor-Home-Driving has ever been attempted but it is up for nomination as a new Olympic sport . . . right along-side the “push-the-ridiculous-disk-thing-on-the-ground-with-a-stick” sport, it is a horrible name they chose, I know. This driving extravaganza includes: driving the wrong way on a one-way street and an incredible parallel parking job and multiple-day-camp-out right in-front of our apartment. Thank you to security guard Nathanial who refuses all offers of cookies due to his recent weight loss. I like the people here.


So grandpa only hit one car. I would consider this a success. He also did it while driving the wrong way on a one-way, this is for bonus points. We were right next to a restaurant called “Covo’s” – a fantastic place with Dominicans and Italianos and everyone kissing and hugging, dating must get confusing amongst the staff there. Anyways they have salsa dancing Wednesday nights and I am interested to go. Someone said the Dominicans dance salsa like the Puerto Ricans...we shall see. If so, this includes the men spinning the women and being so focused on their own moves that they generally let go and potentially drop the women.

These last few days we have been furiously cleaning. “Furious” is not even strong enough. Grandma was put on bleach probation by aunt Beth when she used an entire bottle to clean the bathroom and suffered slight asphyxiation.

Grandma wore white for a reason...bleach queen!

After that and many “son of a bitch”s (pronounced fast as “son-va-bitch”) as grandpa’s catchy key phrase, almost as catchy as Reba, I had enough. We did what we could but then I called in housing. Prayed on it to calm down, but was thoroughly upset with housing. After visits, calls, and notes…housing has been amazing. I know nearly all of the maintenance staff in our building and what kind of Vodka our polish (I think?) painter likes.

 I can’t believe pre-health professionals lived like this.

Don't worry... Tanya and Marco in housing have been a huge blessing. We have a brand new dishwasher and stove.

Previously inhabited by M.D. pH.D. students who apparently fried everything – food, their books, cereal and the kitchen cabinets – I think their curriculum should include a cleaning course. Is Monavie religious? Hmm an infomercial is on.

In an effort to maintain integrity on the west coast - - I am going to continue the blog. What should I name it? Take the quick survey! The winner will escape future harassment via my blog =) Vote now- just click here!

To see all pictures of our trip- check out the next post ( it is a link to shutterfly =)