my honors thesis loses a little weight
Sometimes we all need a little change in our lives. Sometimes, we all need a big change. Sometimes, we just need to change the topic of our honors thesis and we've got it made.
Yesterday, I woke up thinking I was going to have to spend another year trying to figure out Postpartum Depression. While it interests me, I don't see the relevance of PPD in my life, let alone how it could have any future in my later graduate studies. I know I'm going on to get some sort of doctorate, and while I've been thinking a lot about babies and mommies, there's something that keeps popping up in my head- general health. Why is it that America's Type II diabetes rates have skyrocketed within the past decade? How come heart disease is such a huge issue now? Isn't it obvious? America is obese. We've allowed ourselves to get into the sedentary, fast food, television lifestyle, eating hundred more calories than we need in a day, sitting at our desks during the week, and never getting a bit of walking in during our free time. This is not me being judgmental, this is the truth. Look at any bit of research or any website around these days, and it's about how huge (no pun intended) obesity has gotten.
As you guys know, I've been really getting into being healthy. I have been eating better than I ever have in my life, incorporating a very well-balanced diet while never going hungry and never even depriving myself of the foods I love. I feel more in shape than I ever have. My stress levels, while I still have issues, have been more under control thanks to my new lifestyle and outlets. I am happier, not due to my new self-esteem (I wasn't that crazy to think I was overweight last spring), but because of my diet and exercise habits. It's not about me losing weight or being skinny as hell. Amazingly enough, it's more about me being healthy. I want to keep this up for the rest of my life so that I can prevent diabetes and heart disease- my body type puts me at a higher risk for it all- and be healthy for as long as possible.
So, as I looked at my new interest in health promotion and the growing rates in our growing waist lines and my future profession as a nurse, who has an obligation to be a role model and teacher for her patients, I thought, why not change my thesis to something that I am interested in and that would actually make a difference. What if I could do something that could actually change a couple lives? I'm not looking for making the Lindsay Diet and I am no nutritionist, but if I could effect nursing practice, wouldn't that be cooler than calling a bunch of women after they have babies?
Good, no? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision with my honors adviser and she was completely on board. "You could take the topic all the way through to your doctoral thesis." Oh, yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. It's something that will keep my attention long enough and it's something that's actually really relevant to a huge (again, sorry for the pun) population. Now, I just need to flesh it out. What population do I target? Do I go with one sex or the differences between men and women? What age group- postmenopausal or younger? Do I want to see which weight loss programs are the most effective, find out why people are having such issues losing weight or gaining the weight back, or something entirely different? My adviser though it'd be cool to try a program out on sedentary people who work in an office all day, seeing if pedometers could actually work. If any of you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
It's really nice to finally be excited about this!
Yesterday, I woke up thinking I was going to have to spend another year trying to figure out Postpartum Depression. While it interests me, I don't see the relevance of PPD in my life, let alone how it could have any future in my later graduate studies. I know I'm going on to get some sort of doctorate, and while I've been thinking a lot about babies and mommies, there's something that keeps popping up in my head- general health. Why is it that America's Type II diabetes rates have skyrocketed within the past decade? How come heart disease is such a huge issue now? Isn't it obvious? America is obese. We've allowed ourselves to get into the sedentary, fast food, television lifestyle, eating hundred more calories than we need in a day, sitting at our desks during the week, and never getting a bit of walking in during our free time. This is not me being judgmental, this is the truth. Look at any bit of research or any website around these days, and it's about how huge (no pun intended) obesity has gotten.
As you guys know, I've been really getting into being healthy. I have been eating better than I ever have in my life, incorporating a very well-balanced diet while never going hungry and never even depriving myself of the foods I love. I feel more in shape than I ever have. My stress levels, while I still have issues, have been more under control thanks to my new lifestyle and outlets. I am happier, not due to my new self-esteem (I wasn't that crazy to think I was overweight last spring), but because of my diet and exercise habits. It's not about me losing weight or being skinny as hell. Amazingly enough, it's more about me being healthy. I want to keep this up for the rest of my life so that I can prevent diabetes and heart disease- my body type puts me at a higher risk for it all- and be healthy for as long as possible.
So, as I looked at my new interest in health promotion and the growing rates in our growing waist lines and my future profession as a nurse, who has an obligation to be a role model and teacher for her patients, I thought, why not change my thesis to something that I am interested in and that would actually make a difference. What if I could do something that could actually change a couple lives? I'm not looking for making the Lindsay Diet and I am no nutritionist, but if I could effect nursing practice, wouldn't that be cooler than calling a bunch of women after they have babies?
Good, no? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision with my honors adviser and she was completely on board. "You could take the topic all the way through to your doctoral thesis." Oh, yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. It's something that will keep my attention long enough and it's something that's actually really relevant to a huge (again, sorry for the pun) population. Now, I just need to flesh it out. What population do I target? Do I go with one sex or the differences between men and women? What age group- postmenopausal or younger? Do I want to see which weight loss programs are the most effective, find out why people are having such issues losing weight or gaining the weight back, or something entirely different? My adviser though it'd be cool to try a program out on sedentary people who work in an office all day, seeing if pedometers could actually work. If any of you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
It's really nice to finally be excited about this!