A New Year is always a good time for both reflection and looking forward. It’s strange actually because there’s nothing physically special about the transition from December to January but I still find myself looking forward to the opportunity to “start fresh” and plan for my next year. To be totally honest, before this year I never really cared much about New Years resolutions. If I felt it was necessary, I would just do it when I felt like it, or so I thought. As life has become increasingly jam-packed I’ve slowly started to notice thinking more about “in the future” while not actually getting to that point in terms of taking action. So for the start of 2017 I thought I’d take a look back at some of the Starving RD posts that mean the most to me and if you’re new here, get you acquainted with my writing style. Be sure to sign up at the bottom to stay updated throughout the year!
5. The Revolution is Health Advised
The foundations of this blog rest on the trifecta of food, technology, and wellness. The funny thing is I didn’t know it would be about technology so much when I first started it. Look at my first dozen or so posts and there’s hardly a word about technology. It wasn’t until I started getting feedback that I realized I should write for my strengths, and technology was a big one. What this ultimately taught me about life is that you don’t need to know the destination, but you have to keep searching until you find it. [Link]
4. Introverts Guide to Healthcare
I have always been, and will always be very much an introvert. Under the right context my wife would probably describe me more like a hermit in fact. For better or worse this has played a pretty significant part in who I’ve become but one thing has always bugged me. In the U.S. it seems as though society expects extroversion. Headed into my internship one of my biggest fears was that I would be too introverted for healthcare. Writing the ‘Introverts Guide’ was a way for me to reassure myself by putting some of the tips and tricks I had learned onto paper. Today I manage much larger teams at work and despite ‘curing’ the majority of my social anxiety, still reflect on this post from time to time. [Link]
3. The Starving RD Study Guide Part 1 and 2
I started this site shortly before I started my internship in 2013. It was a good way for me to solidify what I had learned in undergrad and also a way to spread information for my friends and family who always had questions. So imagine my surprise when my top post of all time became a two part series I wrote giving helpful tips about the Dietetic Credential exam. I wasn’t aware I even had that many students reading my blog before that post and was amazed to watch it spread like wildfire. One thing I made certain when writing was to not include anything too specific. I wanted to give timeless tips that would hold 5+ years down the road and even now I get excited when I see new page-hits. If you’re a Dietetic Intern or even if you’ve already received your credential, take a look and see if you can take something from it. [Link1] [Link2]
4. Hungry Hungry HIPAA
Seeing as I work in healthcare, I often have a lot to say about the current state of it. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot I can’t say. One thing I felt going through my undergrad, and then my internship, was that nobody really talked about the frustrations of working in healthcare. It wasn’t until I found myself in those shoes that I realized I owed the truth to the RD interns reading my thoughts. Hungry Hungry HIPAA is a perfect example of a post that shows how I work through frustrations in my job and articulate them into something that can be solved. I mean, if something can’t be solved, why waste time complaining about it? So I worked through them at the time on paper, and over time I’ve been able to work on them for real, in my department. How’s that for the power of writing. [Link]
5. Becoming Me
Last but certainly not least. My very first post and one that I’m proud to look back on. When you’re starting internship there’s so much that stands between you and your credential that the task feels overwhelming. Put another way, it feels like you’re packing your suitcase for a year in a foreign country. What should you bring? What if you forget something? What if it doesn’t work out? With so many questions bouncing around the anxious energy has to go somewhere. So you think, and you open a notebook, and you start a blog. [Link]
Be Good to Each Other,
Hey there! I’ve lined up some of my favorite nutrition topics for 2017 that you won’t want to miss. Nutrition tips for sunburns, diets designed by computers, and the truth behind Juice Plus are just a few you can expect to see. Stay in touch by following on Facebook, Twitter, or WordPress.
Cheers!
Starving Dietitian 