Back at it, like whoa

It's SUCH a great feeling to be back in Dunedin!  I've been extremely busy with thesis work, MInT study stuff, and finding a gig (or two) to bring in $$$ after the MInT study wraps up.  On top of that I've started getting back into running after a two month hiatus (injuries/illness kept me down, but I'm back!).

The MInT study has been following families for two years to compare two groups: families that did/did not work with a mentor to make healthy changes.  I've been responsible for booking measurement appointments and doing the measuring for height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure.  We've got about three children left to measure and then the analysis will begin... All children were overweight (based on BMI) at the start of the study and now we'll see what happened to children's body composition and look to see if the type of intervention group may have influenced outcomes.

I've also been through a little bit of training to measure babies' length and weight for the BLISS study-this study will look at baby-lead eating practices.   I also got a job with a qualitative study where I'll be responsible for going door-to-door to interview people on quality of life related issues.

My own research has taken off recently.  I received a lot of good feedback after my presentation on psychological flexibility and women's weight changes at the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science conference in Sydney - it makes me super excited to continue my research knowing that so many people find it interesting in these early stages!

Related to that - I've almost wrapped up the entire analysis for these two questions:

• Does baseline psychological flexibility predict 3-year weight change/stability?
• Does baseline intuitive eating predict 3-year weight change/stability? 

I'll still need to analyze our data to look at baseline mindfulness and weight change/stability, but now that I understand our statistics software and how to run analyses, check diagnostics, blah, blah, blah, the process should go quickly.  All of this data analysis has also got our team thinking about what to ask with the 5-year Women's Lifestyle, Eating Habits and Wellbeing survey, which will take place in 2014.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to explain a little more about my own research findings and share pictures of recent adventures around New Zealand.  In fact, on Monday I should have pictures from my first experience as a spectator at an ultramarathon! WAHOO!

Ironman Lake Placid 2013

I went up to Lake Placid to catch the Ironman triathlon and volunteer with friends from the Broome County Triathlon Club on the bike course.

At the bike aid station we were responsible for handing off water, Powerade, gels, bars and bananas to athletes as they zipped by us.

Caps had to come off all these bottles!

A kiddie pool of ice kept the drinks chilled.

Prepping the Powerade:

 The group waits for athletes:

After the shift, I went into town to look for BC Tri Club members who were out on the race course.  I saw this spectator rocking a fancy orange/pink ensemble: 

Watching the Ironman finishers reminded me that all the effort and pain of training and racing is so worth that feeling of accomplishment at the finish line.

I can already sense that I'm running out of time in New Zealand and so I'm not sure how feasible Ironman New Zealand would be - financially and time-wise.  I brought my road bike back to New Zealand with me, but I think I'll use it for cross training because I've decided to do a little 50k race that will take place in March.  =)

HOME! Boston to Binghamton

I arrived in Boston at 10pm on a Saturday night.  I was absolutely knackered from traveling and lack of quality sleep over the past week.  Thankfully, my friends Peter and Scott were at the airport to welcome me back to the States and treat me to some DELICIOUS pizza (funny thing - I couldn't eat enough pizza when I was home! I craved it all the time). 

View from Peter's apartment:

This is a view from a park in Peter's neighborhood:

Memorial/tribute to Boston Marathon bombing victims: 

I spent a few days in Marblehead and Ipswich and visited with my Salem State College friends before I drove home with Beth.  I was SO excited to be back in my hometown!  It was great catching up with family and friends and exploring the city.

My high school: 

In honor of

Rod Serling, class of 1943

creator of "Twilight Zone"

award winning dramatist

playwright and lecturer

1924-1975

American Civic Association Memorial Park: 

As I took a picture of the memorial some guy drove by wagging his middle finger out the window and yelled, "Hey lady! Take a picture of this!" Oh, Binghamton. You're so classy!

Chenango River:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade: 

As I took a picture of this, four guys walked by and one introduced his friend as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s son and asked if I wanted a picture with him. *facepalm* I declined the invitation.

Court House:

Interesting what you notice with fresh eyes:

Washington St walking bridge to the south siiiiiide!

Monday Afternoon Club, Phelps Mansion: 

Thank you to all the friends and family that made time to catch up with me!  I wish I had more time to spend with you. xo Sara

AUSTRALIA!

Time to get back to blogging!

It's been several weeks since I presented at the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science World Conference in Sydney, Australia.  I presented my analysis of the association between psychological flexibility and body mass index change/stability over 3 years in a sample of middle-age New Zealand women (basically, baseline Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II scores did not predict BMI change (gaining/losing weight) nor BMI stability (staying within 3% of baseline BMI).  The presentation had a few hiccups, but the rest of the conference was FANTASTIC.

I had the opportunity to listen to speakers like:

• Joseph Ciarrochi
• Steven Hayes
• Kelly Wilson

I was particularly interested in the talks related to interventions delivered online and via smartphone apps.  Jonathan Bricker's work was particularly interesting - his smartphone app really caught my eye because it uses ACT for smoking cessation and his presentations gave me a few things to think about as I get ready to start developing a web-based intervention for weight gain prevention.

I spent most of my days at the conference, but I stayed at a hostel in nearby Coogee (I honestly cannot recommend the hostel for a variety of reasons...travelers to Coogee would do themselves a huge favor by avoiding the place I stayed at).  Despite the less than ideal accommodations, the beach was pleasant to walk around before heading off to the conference.

I wasn't able to spend much time in Sydney, but I did treat myself to a harbor cruise - that was cool!

It was a nice way to wrap up my travels in the southern hemisphere before my trip home - the first visit in 1 1/2 years!

Next stop - San Fran then Boston!

*Crickets*

There hasn't been much action with the blog lately, but (hopefully) I'll be back at it in no time!  Long story short, my laptop got left behind in the Sydney airport and I also needed to replace my camera.  I assumed that figuring out how to get my laptop back was going to be my biggest worry of the trip, but here I find myself... 7 hours away from leaving for New Zealand and I don't have a flight from Auckland to Dunedin. *facepalm*

Yeaaaaaaaah, soooooo...