Work!!!

     For the last 3 months I have been out of work.  Last year I took a class to get certified as a Medical Assistant.  I enjoyed the classes very much and made really good grades.  Then I had to take a certification test.  I froze.  My test anxiety got the better of me, and I failed the test.  I was hired as an MA here in Idaho because the state doesn't demand that you are licensed to practice.  I worked for a government subsidized health care system.  I thought I was doing really well.  Keeping up, and helping as many as I could.  About 3 months in, they fired me, saying I just didn't fit in.

     Then about 2 weeks later, I was hired by a pediatric office.  I worked hard, and did the best that I could.  Things were getting easier, but I was always under the microscope and felt a lot of stress with this position.  They put me with a doctor that was new to this office as well so we were learning together.  Then they called me into the office to let me go.  This made twice.  I was done.

     For 3 months I looked for work, and in the interim became more familiar with a plant based diet. I was concerned about my health and had to find a way to work and stay healthy.   If you have read my introduction, you'll know I have done lots of reading on nutrition.  I just never had a chance to put it to the test.  I jumped in with both feet, but even though I've been collecting unemployment I knew I had to become employed...and soon.  I would go stir crazy, and our finances needed more than unemployment was giving us.

     I had worked for a local home care company off and on since 2008, and decided that I really needed to go back.  I went back with hopes of someday getting into the office.  I work as a CNA with the elderly, and even though I love the work, my body is getting older and I can't do things like I used to.

     Wait, what about my diet?  What would I do?  I was committed to getting more healthy, but could I keep up with all this?  I work early mornings into the afternoon, and haven't been able to pay much attention to food preparation.

     Can I just say that this is probably the easiest lifestyle I have ever lived!  It's not so much a "diet"  since diets in the past don't work.  It has to be a lifestyle.  Anyway, I have only worked now going on 3 weeks, and I have found that I have to be very organized.  This way of eating is so much easier and less complex. I don't forget to take meat out of the freezer because I don't eat that way anymore.  If I come home late, I can throw a potato in the oven or make a quick salad, and eat fruit for dessert!

     I have an Instant Pot and I can cook beans and rice in a snap.  I can use my spiralizer to make zucchini noodles and throw on some sauce with mushrooms.  I don't have to leave my crockpot on all day and wonder if what is inside is going to burn.  I can prepare my lunch the night before with lots of veggies, hummus, or whatever sounds good.

     As I get used to my job, I can enjoy the pleasures of eating vegan and regain the health I once knew.