I am thrilled and honored to be featured as a role model on The Curiosity Science Program website, an amazing organization created by Erin McKenney that highlights women across the globe in STEM professions. As she describes it:

"I created this STEM program for young women, starting as a Girl Scout Gold Award program. It is used by several nonprofits in New England and a few small groups globally. It also received BBC recognition in 2016.

The program is based off of interactive lab activities and role modeling. It makes such a huge difference for girls to have positive examples that they can relate to. We did this by having female STEM professionals from around the world write to my students about their careers, any advice they'd give, and what else they enjoy doing (to give girls more ways to relate to them and show them a variety of other interests)."

Erin asked me to include my perspective on life as a doctor after seeing my post for International Women's Day on Pantsuit Nation. While many aspects of the letter are found on my blog, it is exciting to compile everything together. It was even more awe-inspiring to read about other women out there tackling stereotypes around the world, from an American volcanologist to a Mexican virologist and a British information technologist (from which she earned her dame-ship, the equivalent of knighthood). Check out all the incredible letters here at: https://curiositygirlsscience.wordpress.com/blog/

Lastly, congratulations and a big thank you to Erin for all of your hard work in creating this program. Best of luck to all the young women out there.

In anticipation of the upcoming March for Science, I wanted to touch upon a very exciting event that took place at work.

For International Women's Day, we organized a group photo of the amazing female doctors in our residency program. We turned it into a banner that now hangs in the hallway at our hospital. This photo represents us as clinicians from all over the world, fluent in several different languages, and united in our universal commitment to healthcare. We are practicing physicians, loving daughters, caring sisters, working mothers, devoted wives, and giving friends. We stand for the success and strength of generations of women who fought for our rights to equality, working alongside men, and rising above stereotypes.

This was the caption for the photo that received over 13,000 likes and over 200 comments on Pantsuit Nation, a closed group of 3 million+ members united in our belief for establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common Defence, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity (credit goes to the forefathers of our nation).

As this photo was shared in a private group, I will not post the comments directly. Many of them reflect on the diversity of the photo; that the strength of seeing us women united in the healthcare field exemplified the steps we as a collective group have taken to break down barriers. The post made several contemplate what led to the success of their careers in science and inspired others to continue pursuing their dreams in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines.

A few even mentioned the recent JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) article: "Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians," which shows patients treated by female physicians have better outcomes than male physicians. While I know many well-trained, competent male physicians, it is a powerful article that affirms the need for women in medicine.

Thank you Pantsuit Nation for being a source of support and inspiration for all and allowing us to share our message. Everyone's comments have been so heartening and reassuring. The pride shared in our progress is humbling. We have been offered enough encouragement to last a lifetime.

And on April 22nd, I am rooting for the fellow men and women in science who are defending our right to learn, discover, and heal the lives of our patients and our planet. While I may not be able to march with you in person, I will be there on Capitol Hill in my heart and in my mind, complete with my very own specialized Pantsuit: Scrubs!

This post is a few weeks late because I changed my schedule around - had to carve out some time in order to make my 5AM spin class before work. Luckily, it's never too late to try something new!

When cooking for health, it's important to have a guideline for how much of each food group you should consume.

Not sure? Hold up your hand and count down with me:

• 5 servings of fruits/vegetables
• 4 servings of dairy
• 3 servings of protein
• 2 servings of whole grains
• 1 serving of "extra" stuff - dessert, drink/wine, etc.

#healthhack
Eat off of a smaller plate or bowl
It helps with portion control and leaves you more satisfied with a clean dish

Last week I talked about how to shop for your health. You know you've got the shopping down right when the cashier comments on how much produce you've picked up. As promised, this week we're going to focus on meal planning. Meal planning makes you more conscious of what you're eating and helps prevent grazing to keep you full throughout the day. It also takes away the stress of cooking every day and it saves you money. Check out my full blog post to read more about why I love to meal plan here. When it comes to preparing your food, the following are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Balance: To keep yourself full, the Blogilates 28 Day Reset taught me the importance of keeping a well-balanced diet. Try to have protein with each meal and replace carbs with vegetables and fruit as much as possible. You'll see in my cart, I opted for eggs, turkey-bacon (low fat, low sodium), and some good ol' Italian meatballs. That's not to say you can't have carbs - it doesn't hurt to have something fun for the week to enjoy like those sesame seed sticks (just don't eat them all at once!).


2. Snacks: In addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you should include a snack between each meal so you aren't hungry as the day wears on. One of my favorite snacks is veggies and hummus with almonds. Space these out every 3 to 4 hours depending on your schedule. My schedule looks a little like this: breakfast between 6 and 7, snack around 9 or 10, lunch between 12 and 1, snack at 3 or 4, and dinner at 6 or 7 (preferably 3 to 4 hours before bedtime).

3. Variety: The best way to keep your meals interesting so you don't get bored as the week progresses is to add some diversity to the menu. That means switching some meals up every other day. A great way to change it up is to keep the foundation and swap out the toppings. For example, you can have a Caprese salad for lunch one day then a Chicken salad or Greek salad the next.

4. Foundation: Speaking of foundations, pick a few what I like to call "bases" for your meals that week - pasta, tofu, cauliflower, orzo, eggs (frittata anyone?), lettuce etc. You can use these to put together your meals, whether you're making a soup, stirfry, spaghetti, or if not savory, maybe something sweet. I made overnight chia oatmeal cups with blueberries for breakfast thanks to Cassey Ho's recipe book. Last week I set aside a mix of fruits and veggies into individual bags to store in the freezer so they were all set for me to make for smoothies the next morning.

Pro tip - turn your favorite vegetables into pasta with this amazing Spirelli Spiral slicer:


4. Packaging: Whether it's Zip-Loc bags (I recommend recycling or re-washing these so they don't go to waste) or Tupperware, have a go-to method for storing your food so it's an easy grab n' go when you're on your way out. I use the Rubbermaid stackable, microwavable, and dishwasher-friendly sets. They are the perfect size for my Fit & Fresh lunchbox, which keeps everything cold throughout the long hours at work.

5. Portions: Getting your meals ready beforehand helps you think about what you're going to eat as well as how much you're going to eat. Portion control is important to not only prevent over-eating but also to ensure you're eating enough of the right foods. This is my favorite go-to chart to help me figure out how much I want to set aside for each meal: Tune in next week for my post on Cooking for Health with some of my favorite recipes and how to make time for it all amidst a busy schedule.