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"Success doesn't just come and find you. You have to go out and get it." So much has happened over the last few days! ✔️Completed our anatomy course as part of 3rd year of residency and passed with an A! ✔️Ran for and now officially the Rehab Department Resident Wellness Chair who will be representing our department as part of our hospital's GME House Staff Council! 😍 As you guys know I'm all about health and fitness/wellness, and I'm so excited to implement more activities amongst our program as well as make some lasting changes on a larger scale. ✔️My hair turned ashy purple/rose gold. 😆 ✔️Just took another Krav Maga Combat and Fighting class and then came back and did my LIIFT4 workout 😨 {I may regret this tomorrow} ✔️I'm getting better at EMG/NCS studies and did 4 all on my own so far!! 😍 I'm becoming a pro at upper extremities {kind of 😜} but not so much lowers... ✔️My energy is coming back and I love it now that I'm following a solid, easy to follow workout routine with 3 rest days! ✔️Finally put up a garment rack which has been sitting in my apartment for a good few months 😂 and halfway done cleaning my apartment as well as donating/selling more clothes! It's a good week so far. I'm feeling like my life is starting to get back on track. Funny how that seems to correlate with how physically active we are and when we get back to taking care of our bodies, huh?
Forgot to share the finished product with you guys... @nekairahbeauty did such a good job with my hair on Saturday night! I've needed a touch-up for quite some time now... Got rose gold balayage a few months ago and the color faded out a while ago but just never had time to go back until this past weekend. I love how it came out! No more bleached orange/blonde 😁 now it's more of an ashy purple/blue with rose gold at the ends. I'm sure it'll look different once I wash it, but I'm trying to maintain the color as best I can. --- ➡️ Anyone know of any good hair products to prolong color-treated hair? Also anything to combat the frizziness?! ⬅️ I already use sulfate-free shampoos but I'm sure there are better products and brands out there I'd be open to trying.
Here's a new coffee that I got to try out recently called Vitacup. ☕ I got to enjoy this on Friday after lunch for a pick-me-up {we have a coffee machine that no one uses so I thought why not}. Vitacup comes in K-cup coffee pods, so if you have a Keurig or any machine that uses these pods, you're good. They have a bunch of different flavors including French vanilla, French roast, gourmet house blend, and breakfast blend. I chose the French vanilla and it tastes great! The unique thing about these coffee pods is that they have a special vitamin blend added in {B vitamins, D3, and antioxidants}, so you can have your cup of Joe with added nutrients too {nope, you can't taste them}! This coffee tastes pretty good but is a little strong for me. Not bitter at all even without creamer though! I did feel jittery after only drinking half a cup, but I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine {too much coffee actually makes me tired.. Go figure 🙄}. I definitely recommend it though especially if you are a regular coffee drinker, because why not drink your vitamins and antioxidants with it too? #drinkvitacup #ambvitacup #ambcollab --- ➡️If you want to try for yourself, click on the link in my bio. Use my code to get 25% off: TRYVC25 at checkout.⬅️
"The greatest risk any of us will take is to be seen as we are." Happy Saturday! Coming at you right after my 30 min of pure HIIT workout. So. Much. Sweat. --- As part of my health and fitness journey, I've learned to stop caring what other people think of me and express myself exactly as I am. It took 26 years of my life to get here. I used to care so much about what others thought of me that I purposely avoided being in the spotlight and doing certain things just so I wouldn't get picked on or avoid people in general. Apparently I was a super bold kid and I needed a leash so I wouldn't run away per my mom 😂 but once I got older, I became super shy. I would get nervous talking on the phone to order takeout and even ordering food off a menu at a restaurant. I avoided all eye contact and used to get so flustered and nervous. And public speaking was out of the question. --- Since making a vow to focus on myself and my body, I've really come out of my shell and changed for the better. I owe that all to this coaching opportunity that not only made me more health conscious and healthier than I've ever been but also the happiest and most confident in my own skin. ❤️ This is why I share my story and this coaching opportunity for those who are looking to do the same. It has and continues to help me become the best version of myself physically, emotionally, and mentally. --- ➡️ If any of the above resonated with you, please don't hesitate to direct message me or email me at driristian@gmail.com ⬅️
Who works out just to eat delicious food? 🖐️ Of course that's not the main reason I work out but it's a huge factor especially since I'm living in NYC and surrounded by so many great restaurants! My motto has always been "life is too short to deprive yourself of eating well." Whenever I hear people say, "I can't eat that. I'm on a diet" or "being on a diet sucks. I'm tired all the time," I get a little sad for them. Because the reality is you need to fuel your body with the proper whole foods nutrients in order to lose weight or gain or maintain muscle. And just because you have a cookie once a while doesn't mean you'll lose all your results! I think people often think in order to lose weight, you have to starve yourself. That's far from true! Eating less decreases your metabolism because your body's in starvation mode and once you do go back to eating regularly, your body will absorb and store everything as if holding onto it for dear life thinking you'll go back to starvation mode soon {at least that's the vivid picture I have in my mind of what happens biochemically 😂 it painted a good picture though, right?}. --- It's all about the 80/20 rule, which you may have heard me talk about. 80% healthy. 20% cheats. Most days of the week, I make a conscious effort to eat healthy and well, so I can enjoy myself on weekends. Of course, on cheat days, I don't go all out and binge eat, but I do enjoy a piece of cake or pie or a cookie or ice cream. Whatever it is - don't deprive yourself because you're bound to fall off at some point and binge eat what your body has been craving. --- ➡️ If you need some help with your current nutrition plan, don't hesitate to direct message me or email me at driristian@gmail.com. I'd love to go over your weekly meals with you and come up with a plan together!⬅️
Because people don't believe me when I say my hair literally looks like a lion's mane if I don't straighten it, especially with this heat wave. 🦁
My patient told me today, "Wow. I didn't know you'd be so strong" when I was testing muscle strength in his arms. I know I should take this as a compliment but... Apparently I look like a weakling? 😂 --- It's funny because I forgot to post this from this morning, but I'm finally starting to get some arm muscle back! I'm onweek 4 of LIIFT4, the brand new weight-lifting/HIIT program that I get to try out before it's officially released to the public in October. I'm seriously loving this program! If you're in a busy profession or just find that you don't have much time throughout the week to workout but want to stay active, you HAVE to try this out. You seriously can't beat 4 days a week, only 30-40min/day with 3 rest days. But just because it's 4x a week doesn't mean it's easy peasy. On workout days, you WILL definitely work and feel sore the next day. I mean, how else can you expect results? I'm excited to share my end results! I will likely do this program over because I'm short on time these days and this is one of a few programs that is designed to mold into your own schedule, not the other way around. ➡️ If you're curious this program or have other questions for me, send me a message or email me at driristian@gmail.com ⬅️
Guess what?! My residency class and I are officially done with our anatomy course!! 😍 We took our written and "practical" {tagged structures on cadavers} exams and I'm confident we all passed 😁 Going over anatomy the second time around, focusing on muscles and nerves, was so much more fun and I felt like I have a better grasp of everything including understanding the clinical relevance of why we do certain tests based on origins and insertions of muscles, injuries based on where nerves and vasculature are located, etc. Of course, no matter how much we study, there will always be more things to learn {and forget 😅}, which is why I love medicine - it's a field where we are constantly learning and reading. --- Finished up early so I got to run home and get my workout in! Didn't get much sleep last night so I was dreading doing any type of HIIT workout today. But to my surprise, it was circuit training today aka weightlifting with quad sets and core work! Thank goodness but still got my heart rate up to the 110-120s - yes, just from lifting. So if you think lifting doesn't incorporate a cardio component, you're silly 😋. And my arms seriously have never given out on me like it had today during these quad sets. ➡️ Random thought: does anyone else sweat in the weirdest places?⬅️ I've noticed that although I sweat all over, it's mainly in the chest and the back of my neck. So bizarre. 😐