Mexican Chocolate Protein Smoothie

Here with another fun recipe, because why not? This recipe was very important for me today because of how cold the weather is now -> I had snow on my car this morning and it's not even November yet!

So I love chocolate, because its sweet, rich, and pairs well with so many flavours. Plus it gives you a nice little energy boost, and cocoa powder is a great source of magnesium, which is great for helping relax stiff and tense muscles. I have a chocolate protein smoothie most days, serving up loads of protein and healthy fats.

The issue with smoothies this time of year is that from a Chinese Medicine perspective, they are very cool in nature. As the weather cools down, it's important to have more warm and cooked foods in order to support your digestion and energy. Mexican Chocolate to the rescue!

There are multiple variations on Mexican Chocolate, but the key is using warm spices like cinnamon, allspice and hot peppers. So without further ado, here is my take on a Mexican Chocolate Protein Smoothie.

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup milk or unsweetened non-dairy milk of your choice (almond milk is my go to)
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I prefer whey, but plant based works as well)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of hot chili pepper
• 3-5 ice cubes

Recipe

1. Drop the ingredients into your blender in the order listed and blend until smooth.
2. Pour the smoothie into a glass, sprinkle with some extra cinnamon and chili pepper, stir and enjoy!

Note: You can substitute chocolate protein powder for vanilla if you add 2tbsp of cocoa powder. You can also use an unflavoured protein powder with the cocoa powder, then add 1-2tbsp of maple syrup to taste. 

The chili pepper gives a wonderful kick that really gets you going in the morning. Delicious!

Student Leadership

Quick post today because it's late and I've gotta get to bed. Today we had one of our roundtable meetings for the NSA executive. The meeting obviously has some tedious points, but it also reminded me why being part of student leadership is so great. I really enjoy getting to spend time with lots of like-minded students who want to be involved, and work together to improve the student experience for all our colleagues and classmates. It's also great to hear about all sorts of different activities and initiatives you may not have heard of and learn how to get more involved. And of course, after the meeting, we had an awesome potluck dinner where we got to just hang out and rap about anything.

There's a lot of different aspects to being a student leader, and I'm happy to talk about any of them if someone wants to comment with a question. In general though, I think that being a student leader is an amazing thing that you can do at school. We only have limited time here, and I think that you get what you put into your experience. As a student leader, you have a lot of opportunity to make a difference, both for other students and for yourself. And it's important to note that being a student leader is not restricted to being elected on student government, or as a class representative. There are always opportunities available for those who are interested, all you have to do is ask.

On a quick school note, crazy assignment time has finally quieted down a little bit. After finishing my RCIA last week, having my live patient DRE and GYNE exams, my Health Psych Case Formulation, Homeopathy Case Analysis, Primary Care PEP (busy week because as Scribe I was in charge of ensuring everyone got their work done and doing final edits) and Phys Med Practical Case, it was nice to have a little bit of a break this weekend; some time to chill out and not worry about much. We did start our partner cases in Asian Med this week, so I took the case of a classmate, and I need to workup the case, come up with a differential diagnosis list, and a treatment plan for my classmate this week. I'll present that to my TA on Thursday, and if its approved, then I'll start treating my classmate in a couple weeks. They're also going to do the same for me, which is pretty cool, hopefully we can see some good results with each other.

Alright off to bed, have a good week everyone!

The Importance of Community

Back again for my second "regular" Sunday post. I'm kind of procrastinating doing some work tonight, it's been a long day, but I'm going to do my post as promised.

This has been an interesting week as always, with our first ADNSA meeting, practicing CBT on standardized patients in Health Psych, trying out moxabustion and cupping in Asian Med, the Jays clinching the playoffs (woo! I'm such a bandwagon fan but boy is it a fun energy to be part of! Plus my grandfather loves the Jays and it's really nice to share something with him), and a really big one, the Proclamation Celebration on Thursday. That's right, the Naturopathy Act of 2007 has finally been proclaimed in Ontario - Okay, well it was actually proclaimed in July, but we're finally celebrating it. As with anything politically related, this is just one step on a long road, and you can't appease everyone as many people are a little upset about certain things, but overall, this is really great news for NDs in Ontario and across Canada and the US really. Improved regulation and legal rights leads to better patient care and protection, and better outcomes for doctors in the end. It was great to celebrate this occasion with fellow students and doctors, and to look back on how far we've come as a profession.

Anyway, onto the topic of my post for today. Community. An awesome TV show (well at least season 1-3); but also, an important word. A quick google definition of the word shows the following: "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals." Coming from a large family, I think I've always taken for granted the importance of community, but it was really while reflecting on my last week, and doing some digging into some old psych notes that I got a greater understanding. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is an interesting concept based upon what it takes to find your purpose in life: self-actualization. I think this is something that everyone should and eventually will want to achieve, to answer the big question, "why am I here?" Maslow posits however, that in order to reach this point, you first need to attend to your most basic needs. This starts with physiologic needs like food, water and air, and then moves on to safety. How can you worry about your purpose if you can't eat, breathe, or drink, or if you don't feel safe from harm? But the next part of the pyramid is actually a feeling of love and belonging. We as humans have always survived and flourished because we build communities; we work together to help each other succeed; together. 

Of course being aware of this concept has led me to reflect on my recent past, going through this difficult program of Naturopathic Medicine. Could I have done this all by myself? Without a strong community? I really don't know. I do believe that we are all amazing beings with tons of potential for success, but I also think that we can all be better with the help of each other. In my first two years of CCNM, I was provided with endless resources from older students to help me succeed in my classes. I was given motivational speeches, invaluable tips, and people to talk to when I've felt overwhelmed. The help this community provides extends beyond just the older students though; my friends and classmates, future colleagues, are always there for each other. We all know that we have what it takes to succeed, but sometimes we need help to get through certain aspects. Individually, we are strong, but as a community, we are unstoppable. It is because of this that I am so glad to be a part of the NSA executive - my goal is to always help foster this sense of community among the students in years below me, and also students in my year and the one above me. 

This week I really appreciated the opportunity to give talks for the 1st and 2nd years on how to approach midterms, as it can be a little daunting. Having been in their position before, I know that it's tough, but I also know that they have what it takes. And more importantly, I know that they have what it takes to help each other get through. I have been pleased to see lots of sharing of resources and responsibilities among these students, sharing notes, creating study groups. This is the benefit of having a strong community, and I hope to continue to help build it stronger and stronger.

That's all for now, I've got work to do and my ability to write well is kind of flopping, but I'll leave you with this quote from Helen Keller: "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much."

- and okay fine I'll put a funny cartoon this week!

But I swear I'm going to do my work today!
.... But maybe a quick break since I just wrote this blog post...

Thursday, and the most posts in a row ever!

It's Thursday, which means only one thing....tomorrow is Friday! Let's just say it's been a long week, the first full week of the year - well technically last week was, but I was still kind of recovering from unity summit and dragon boating (things I'll hopefully touch on in future posts), so it didn't really count haha. Anyway here are the courses for today

Nutrition 3 - As this is a big class, we've got it twice a week, so just the same stuff, though Dr. Prousky tends to get us working on a case together in little groups for part of class on Thursdays.

Asian Medicine Theory 3 - Taught by Dr. Kassam again, here we're learning the more advanced treatment and theory stuff that we'll later on apply in our practical. For fall, the theory and practical class are side by side, and you have the choice of doing them in either order; but no problem, the stuff we do in practical is based on last weeks lecture, so if you have practical first, you aren't in trouble. Having lecture first is beneficial because we start class at 1, meaning we have a break from 11-1; but having practical first is beneficial becauase you end class at 4 instead of 430.

Asian Medicine Practical - Here we get to actually practice all the stuff in theory class. So far we've just been working on acupuncture, doing some advanced techniques, and then advanced points. Today we did the more advanced points that we didn't do in first and second year, the most infamous of course being Stomach 1, 2 and Urinary Bladder 1. These points are infamous due to the fact that they are right around the eye. It was actually completely fine though, you feel these points less than you feel points in your arm. Once you get over the initial fear, and realize the safety and your control, they are no problem. In the future we're also going to do fun stuff like moxabustion and cupping, and we're also going to start doing cases with each other. These will be great because we'll be able to take everything we've learned and and practice developing appropriate treatment protocols. I'm excited!

After class today, I had my regular clinic appointment at the RSNC. I think I've mentioned it in a previous post, but self care is extremely important, especially in this intense program. The RSNC provides extremely affordable naturopathic care for students (free if you're on the student health plan), and it's a great opportunity to learn about what you will be doing soon from people who were in you shoes just 1-3 years ago. It's also nice to act as a patient so to provide more practice for the interns, and of course it can benefit you immensely, helping work on all sorts of issues. I personally have been doing lots of MSK related stuff in my own visits, but some mental/emotional stuff comes up too, and it's always great to have someone non-judgemental to talk with about anything.

Ok it's 11:15 and I'm going to bed a little bit early today! Here's my funny cartoon for the day, see you tomorrow.