Day 159: Zita Unplugged

Jalapeno double cheeseburger on rice cakes, unsweetened tea. I'm diggin' it!

I had lunch at McDonald's today.  I ordered a jalapeno double cheeseburger and a large unsweetened ice tea. I threw away the bun and plopped the burger and fixings onto my rice cakes. It was really quite good!  I mean, sometimes I just want a cheeseburger!  I looked up the nutritional content online just now:  Total calories: 430. Fat grams: 23. Carbs: 35 g. Protein: 22 g. Sodium: 1,030 mg. Dietary fiber: 2 g. (http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/dining/drive-thru-gourmet-mcdonald-s-jalape-o-double-not-as/article_1739e775-bcc5-5e93-8c58-daa3377cb011.html)

Yikes!  Look at that sodium content!

I looked up the calories in the buns I tossed: "There are 150 calories in a 1 bun serving of McDonald's Hamburger Bun. Calorie breakdown: 12% fat, 75% carbs, 13% protein."
(https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/mcdonalds/hamburger-bun)

Then I looked up the nutritional content of a Quaker Oats rice cake:

Serving Size 1 Cake (9g)/Calories 35/Sodium 15mg/Total Carbohydrate 7g

  (http://www.quakeroats.com/products/rice-snacks/rice-cakes/lightly-salted.aspx)

 

So my jalapeno double cheeseburger, minus the bun, plus two rice cakes was 200 calories. Not bad. EXCEPT all that sodium!!  

 

This will be my once in awhile comfort food treat.  

 

But it tasted really yummy! 

 

But now back to a slightly more disciplined life.  I made pizza meat loaf today.  I combined ground beef, ground turkey, mushrooms, marinara sauce and eggs. Baked about an hour.  And then topped with more marinara, mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni. I put that in my dinner bag along with two rice cakes, a smidge of hummus, celery sticks and yogurt.   

 

I had a nice walk this morning and some good stretching.

 

I am needing to sit down and journal. I've been thinking a lot lately.  More than usual.  Feeling really frustrated with the state of our world and the overload of conflicting information on the internet. I need to unplug and write.  

 

I wrote the following post on my Facebook page yesterday: 

 

 
How about a true story with a happy ending? Involving a group of total strangers?
I don't know about you, but I am so weary of bad news. Not that I avoid it. I read the news, and listen to various news radio stations throughout the day. To keep informed. And to keep my prayers current.
But today a very good thing happened.

I was on the city bus in Salem, heading to a piano student's house. I was sitting near the back of the bus, headphones plugged into my head. Suddenly there was a big "thud". And the men in the back of the bus started screaming, asking the driver to pull over. I looked back, and there was a young man on the floor in the midst of what looked like a grand mal seizure.

Amazingly, the man in the far back had "caught" his fall on his leg, so his head didn't go back and smack the floor. Luckily, we were only a block from Salem Hospital.

We all worked together. We agreed to clear the area and make sure he didn't hit his head. Someone said to put something in his mouth so he didn't bite his tongue. But I remember from first aid training years ago, and from my mom a retired nurse, NOT to put anything in their mouth or try to restrain them. Just let the seizure take it's course.

I told them this and they agreed. Someone else had heard the same advice.
I asked if anyone knew him. One of the younger fellows said, that he had attended his high school, but didn't know his name. We found his ID. We talked to him. We called him by name and told him that he was going to be ok. That the paramedics would be there soon.

He was out cold for a bit, but then he started to moan. Within a few minutes, the paramedics arrived and we moved out of the way. Except for the man who had caught his fall. He didn't know that young man, but he was there with him the whole time. We all watched as they loaded him on the stretcher.
Some people had jumped off the bus at the hospital stop, muttering about having to catch another bus.

But one of the young men told me he was going to be late for a college class, but "it didn't matter. It was worth it to get involved in something important like this."
I agree. And I was glad I was there to witness some beautiful, selfless humanity today.

One of my Facebook friends is a retired 9-1-1 operator. She said we absolutely did the right thing by letting his seizure run full course and not attempting to put anything in his mouth, and protecting his head.

I have this desire to be helpful and to make a difference somehow in this world. Not to be just a consumer. 

I will be pondering some more to see where my path will lead. I think by taking control of my health, I am making an important first step. If I am healthy, strong and energetic, then I will be more useful!

But for now, must go teach piano.  I do love teaching.  It brings me outside of myself. And in this world of useless information overload, I am positive about the information I am teaching. I can see it applied right in front of me. And the simple joy that it brings for a student to learn to be the vessel in which music is released.

Happy Thursday!