Christian's Blog

Hi AGAIN! 

I can't believe we are already back at National and the start of the summer trimester is upon us! I hope you all had a relaxing and fun-filled break with those close to you. My first week of break included tearing up the kitchen with my dad (you know, man things) because my mom found some cool cabinets and wanted to redo the kitchen while I was home (she's an expert interior designer who can do anything with nothing lol). I went to Boston with my best friends from high school and hung around Fenway Park and different parts of Beantown, which I always love. I also got to 'highspeed' palpate some of my friends, which is always fun introducing them to chiropractic. My 24th birthday was indeed over this break, and I always look forward to the family dinner, reflecting on my first 24 years and looking forward to 76+ more (the Centurion Club is on my bucket list, so yeah, I eat healthy).

On the NUHS front, I AM DONE WITH BASIC SCIENCES. I AM DONE WITH BASIC SCIENCES. I AM DONE! (Thank god) After a long road of hard studying in the basic science program that just about bashes your head in, you pop out the other side telling yourself that wasn't so bad (and then you pause and realize it's what you make of it). I would like to thank my friends who became my proverbial NUHS family out here in Chicago. Without great people in my life and exciting seminars on weekends, I wouldn't have made it! Now that I'm in the clinical sciences, I look forward to the next chapter in my education and the refining and betterment of myself as a future doc!

After much deliberation, I'm staying on the full track through clinical sciences, time on the grind for the next year, and then kill it in clinic where all the hard work, practice, practice, practice, and extensive seminars, will pay off. If you don't know me by now, I will be opening my own practice after graduation. By historical numbers, less than 10% of graduates go right out into practice on their own after grabbing their NUHS diplomas.

Which is a perfect segue (I think) for next week's (and maybe the week after) blog on what to expect post graduation, the options, the disadvantages/advantages, and a few interviews with graduates for some lessons that will speed your learning curve and hopefully give you insight into what you might like to do once you're a DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC.

A world of possibilities is at your feet. You game?

Peace,
CC 

Hey Cygnets,

Happy Easter Weekend to all and hope everyone who celebrates it was able to spend time with family and friends. Week 14 is upon us and the following 2 weeks are littered with anywhere from 7-11 finals depending on your trimester. If that doesn't boost Starbucks' profits, recede your hairline, or wreck your circadian rhythms than you're probably a mutant. Or you read this article. Probably the first one. ;)

Me and the dog in an Easter food coma at my house. Ha ha.

This article is about How to Survive Finals Week. I Googled that phrase and literally got THE MOST BORING article after article of "Sleep more...Double Check your Exam Times...Study Hard..." Ummm… Tell me something I don't know! Here's the "5 classic tips" with my own spin on them.

1. Do Better On Midterms: When 2+2=5 and How to Take Advantage of it.

Ha ha. Duh, but hear me out! It has literally taken me 5 trimesters at NUHS to FULLY appreciate this tip. This tip works disproportionately well at NUHS. Why? Because we don't give 'Pluses' or 'Minuses'. That means, according to this fine institution, that a 100 = 90. An 89=80, 79=70, 69=60. In other words, there is a TON of leeway for grades. I was planning this out with my buddy Kendall: I have an 85 average in Pathology 2 through two exams, which means I can basically get a 75(ish) on my final and still get above the 80 threshold I need in that class to get a B. Remember 80=89. For many classes, the difference in studying to get 9 points higher on an exam is another 6-8 hours of time on the grind (TOTG as my buddy in college would call it). Now, it may sound like I'm cheating myself, but I am using that opportunity cost of studying for more Pathology 2 to apply it to my Renal Physiology final for which I do need a much better grade to get my grade up to the NEXT level. So, it goes both ways. You just have to plan it out and study accordingly. Don't hate the game; hate the system. 

2. Don't Worry About GPA, APPLY IT.

GPA is NOT that important anymore. 99% of you are in the last school you'll ever apply to. I'm going to open my own practice when I get out of here. I'm not giving myself a raise if I get a 3.5 instead of a 3.0. I'm not saying don't try hard! I'm saying KNOW the information in respect to APPLYING it to your future patients and the real world. If you get a 4.0 and you can't treat a patient (which can happen), do you think your patient cares what GPA you have when you're adjusting their occiput? Nope. There's so much minutiae you will learn in plenty of your classes that you will never use in the real world and if you get that question wrong, who cares? Don't freak out. It saps the energy you need to study for the next class. Stay even keel and keep the bigger picture in mind. Like the British in WWII, keep calm and carry on. 

3.  Caffeine Physiology and the 'Off Switch'.

Sometimes you get into a rut and the wall of information overload sets in. Just give up. Ha ha, just kidding, here's a chance to take a break and multiply the benefits of caffeine.

1. Leave your notes on the desk
2. Drink a cup of coffee.
3. Lay down and close your eyes for 30 min. (It takes about 30 min for caffeine to get into your blood stream and to your cells. By then it will start working its magic...just in time for you to wake up and be ready to blast through that previous information overload barrier.)

Hint: Don't Overuse. Be Strategic.

4. Blood Sugar Drives Human Behavior.

Hydrate. Eat protein. Eat low glycemic foods. The experience of most students during finals is Manic--sugary snack-filled highs followed by hypoglycemic, insulin-driven lows. These lows are the part we need to keep an eye on. The low sugar blues are often just that, slightly depressing and one can easily feel overwhelmed by the workload as your brain efficiency plummets, starved of glucose availability, as your adrenals work hard to drive gluconeogenesis.

Eat protein at each meal for optimal satiety between meals. Eat every couple of hours for stable blood sugar. Optional: Talk to an ND student and consider taking an adaptogenic herb for stress management.

5. To Music or Not to Music.

When you walk into the library during finals week its almost a cliche' how many people have headphones. Did Steve Jobs possibly foresee taking over all the study rooms with his Apple gadgets? God Bless America. Anyways, I have found that during cram time I cannot study very effectively with music. Whether it's bobbing my head to dub step, crying to the country song, or rapping with Snoop...it takes me 2x longer to absorb information with music. Maybe Dr. Darby could explain the left/right brain activity or maybe it's just too much input into my nervous system, but I've tried to be 'cool' for 5 straight trimesters. This time I'm gonna be the weird guy in the corner cubby without the trendy white headphones that fall out of your ears on a run. ;)

On an NUHS note: This is the last blog of my basic science track!!! Woo hoo!! See you all after break. My 24th bday is a couple days into break and I'm sure the first blog of next trimester will have some stories. :)

Take care over break.

Later Gator,
CC

WAAZZZZUPPPP! (Remember when that was the cool thing to say?)

I strolled by the magazine section at Jewel Osco the other day and not to my surprise every other cover had something along the lines of 'SUMMER BODY,' 'SLIM DOWN in 6 weeks,' 'Tone your Beach Butt,' etc. Haha. It got me thinking. Since I want to keep this blog up with the Jones', I'll do my quick version of a tabloid magazine headline. 

How To Get a Beach Bod: The 10 Rules You Probably Won't Read in a Magazine

Note: This is the 80/20 version. The 20% of workout/diet advice that will deliver 80% of your results. Some of it's unconventional. But it will work. Try me. I'm going to do it starting when my rule number 8 comes in from Amazon. I'd like to turn my 2-pack into a 6-pack again. 

"Out of Clutter, Find Simplicity" - Albert Einstein

1. Eat 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.
2. Do not eat anything white.
3. Eat simple meals.
4. Only drink water. Drink half your body weight in ounces per day.
5. Eat a piece of lean protein at each meal.
6. Don't eat fruit.
7. Fat-burn cardio 3x week for 20-40min. HR @ (180- your age) +- 10. (So I'm 23. My heart rate goal is 157-147.) Monitor it.
8. Take Cissus Quadrangularis 2400mg 3x day.
9. Workout Plan (2x a week):
   2 Sets of 5 Reps on Bench
   2 Sets of 5 Reps on Squat
   2 Sets of 5 Reps on Seated Cable Row/Lat Pulldown
   Your Favorite Core Exercises for 20 min.

10. Get 8 hours of sleep. No less.

I could give you detailed physiology, published research, and witty reasonings. Or I could give you a checklist of 10 things that I know will work and are easy to do. What does it look like in real life?

• Morning Breakfast: 3 eggs and some spinach
• Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken
• Dinner: Beef and veggie stir fry
• Supplement: Cissus Quadrangularis. Maybe a whey protein powder if you have a hard time consuming enough protein at meals.
• Water: 6-8 glasses throughout day
• Exercise M-F (take the weekends off to relax and recoup). Choose cardio M/W/F 20 min. and lifting T/Th. That workout takes about 20-35 min. See YA. Too easy.

If you have questions just email me.

(The picture is of my roommate's dog chilling with me on my back porch…awesome.)

- CC

Lose 14 lbs. in 10 days. Lose that Waist. Burn the Fat. The Fat Loss Secret. The Fat Miracle, Bla Bla Bla...Don't they sound ridiculous? Granted, they aren't real titles (well maybe) but nearly every month there's a new 'DIET' promising the new 'SECRET / DISCOVERY / INNOVATION' to those stuffed white adipocytes (fat cells). Melt Fat Away! Get those Sexy Abs! Tone that Beautiful Booty! 

What the heck? And the weirdest thing, PEOPLE BUY THESE. Seriously, look at the top 100 best sellers. Why do people fall for this stuff? First guess, they need to lose weight and the other books didn't work. Second guess, because they have BAD information/education on how/why weight gain happens.

I've read A LOT of health books, a scary number of them, which is why I can make a claim like, "How to read all of B&N in 5 minutes."

So... how do you reduce the irreducible? First, start compiling the similarities. Cut out the hundreds of pages that are basically retold in a different enlightening voice. (Note: you should read a couple, but after the first few you realize most of the new books are rehashing the same stuff in a new way--in order to sell books. They don't call it best writers or best researchers; they call them best SELLERS.) Then, test out what works and what doesn't. This last option is tricky if you haven't self-experimented or researched as much as I have, but that's why I'm here!

The Top 5 Health Tips

1. STOP EATING JUNK FOOD. Stop the sugars, cereals, candies, sodas, pastries, donuts, cakes, and otherwise anything else that could stay on the grocery shelves for a few decades.
2. EAT MORE VEGETABLES. Captain Obvious and Dr. No Brainer agree. Vegetables are not only good for you (vitamins, minerals, fiber), but also are low in calories. One cup of veggies is 25 calories. One cup of rice is 300. You do the math.
3. UPGRADE YOUR FATS. Here's a mind blower - fat doesn't make you fat! Fat with carbs makes you fat. So the hamburger and bun probably makes you fat; but without the bun, the hamburger itself won't make you fat. Mind blown. Cook with olive oil, butter and coconut oil. Stop using vegetable oils such as canola, soybean, corn, etc. NEVER eat hydrogenated fats. No margarine ever. They all lead to heart disease. Eat nuts occasionally. No peanuts (ultra high omega 6's). Include a fish oil for increased Omega 3's.
4. EAT LESS GRAINS. Here's another widely accepted fact. Eat your whole grains sunny! Mark Twain once said, "When you find yourself on the side of the majority, stop and reassess." In this case, reassess. Don't eat grains. They are loaded in omega 6's, which increase systemic inflammation in the body that can lead to weight gain and heart disease among many others. Trust me, the extra 'fiber' doesn't make you 'healthier' in this food group.
5. SHIFT MACRONUTRIENTS. Eat Less Carbs, More Protein and Fats. Most people have blood sugar handling issues that wear down their adrenals and pancreas and set them up for metabolic syndrome X and more serious diseases later in life. By eating lower glycemic foods, adequate proteins, and healthy fats you assure your body has the building blocks for optimal function.

Pretty standard, huh? I saved you 1,000 hours of reading. You're Welcome. Of course, if you're interested in learning more I would be remiss in not telling you the biggest book bang for your reading dollar.

Biggest Book Bang

1. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Literally Life Changing. Buy this book. Part Cookbook, Part Awesome Research on Traditional Diets.
2. 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. Finally, someone took the research about dieting and TESTED IT on real populations of people and TRACKED the simple changes that people could actually IMPLEMENT into their lives for optimizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Very Entertaining. 

Those will cost you about 30 bucks and will give you more information per page/time invested than any nutrition class I've taken.

From National: Not too much on the class front this week as we enjoy that awkward week between the end of midterms and the start of finals.

Peace Out Cub Scout,
CC

Hey Everyone, 

The MIDTERMS have FINALLY ended!!!! And the first thing I did was pass out...and when I woke up, I felt like my brain resembled more of the puddies from Power Rangers than the thing we dissected in Trimester 2 neuroanatomy. (Yeah, I just put a Power Ranger analogy in a med school blog, you're welcome. :)  Eventually reality came back and this post was finished.

Me in the cab going to St. Patty's in Wrigleyville.

A question came via email last weekend and I'd like to help you (what else am I supposed to do?). Since most of the time more than just the person who emailed me needs the answer, I open it up to a little blog action.

Q: "I'm entering NUHS in August and I don't have a place to stay or a roommate and I don't know anyone there! What would recommend?" 

A: Classic Question! Have No Worries. Unless you plan on living under a rock and sitting in the corner of class with a scowl on your face (no offense if that's your style;) you will meet plenty of friends at National. However, if you are looking for a roommate before you start, you either have to start creepin' on Facebook (Twitter, if you're into that kind of thing) or email Pam in Housing. I'd recommend the later. Pam Thomas has been fantastic in sorting out housing arrangements and getting you set up on campus. If you have your heart set for off-campus living, there are A LOT of apartments within 1 mile of campus. Google and your telephone will help narrow your list.

Tri Games

On a side note, Tri Games is this Friday and dodge ball is the game of choice! Search my old posts for an explanation of past Tri Games. I've been practicing dodging wrenches all week at Average Joe's Gym. Ya, I'm ready. 

Talk to y'all next week,
CC