Gratitude

Shame

I must be honest. I have fallen off of the health wagon.

Ok.....maybe just being dragged by a rope behind it. Still following because I can't unlearn.

 I have lost ambition, somehow, and found it easy to make excuses to make unhealthy decisions.


 Some may still refer to me as the healthiest person they know, but I no longer consider myself a health martyr. As much as I love to be an inspiration to people, I feel like I have let them down. Most importantly, I have let myself down.
I have been skipping meals because I don't want to create a new recipe, or opting for something quick and easy....like a Papa Murphy's pizza. Twice in the past two weeks. *shame*
My sleep is not a priority anymore. I have been working late, or getting done early and staying late to have a glass of wine. Or two. Or three....... And I'll briefly mention the "air pollution" that comes with the bar atmosphere. *unbearable shame*  sigh.
The part that makes me beat myself up, is that I KNOW I am stumbling, and pretend I don't care. Until the evil deed is done...then I suddenly regret it. Then, I mentally punish myself. Also unhealthy.

It is so hard to be an eagle in a flock of buzzards.

Maybe I have let myself become obsessed with this lifestyle. Maybe the habits are who I am? How does one escape?

Why me? Why was I chosen to have to deal with this? Why can't I binge like everyone else and not have to worry about the effects? Why do I have to be constantly reminded of the reason I live this way every time I take a shower, or get dressed and assemble my prosthetic breast?

Tis the season to be jolly.. falalala-fooey. It's not easy being me. I just want to be happy and healthy. But it seems impossible to be both at the same time.

I am not looking for sympathy. I am not looking for, "it's ok, ya gotta live" comments. I just want the worry to go away. Because not a day goes by that I don't check for lumps or bumps or pains or fatigue or any other side affect that "might be cancer." I just want it to be easier. I miss who I was before I had to worry.

I want to try yoga, but haven't a clue as to where to begin. Or energy healing. Perhaps I just need to pray more.

Sorry... my guest writer Debbie Downer made this blog post. She pops up once in awhile to prove that I am still human.

Today's moral of the story: be thankful for what you have. Even if the only thing to be thankful for is a lack of worry.

Time, Money, and Will Power

I get a lot of people telling me that they can't eat healthy because of the following excuses:

"I don't have the time to cook every night." 

"Eating healthy is just so damn expensive," 

and probably the most common,

 "I don't have the will power to stick to it."

Let me just say, I can appreciate these reasons. I may have had the 'advantage' of having my life depend on it. There are some things that I have learned along the way to maybe make it a bit easier if you are trying to transition into a nutritious lifestyle.

Numero Uno: Time.
Ok. I don't have time to whip up a Julia Child entree every time I am hungry either. I won't lie, a healthy hearty meal won't come together with a snap of your fingers...unless you prepare. So how can I eat healthy everyDAY let alone, every meal?
THINK AHEAD: It starts at the grocery store (or farmers market). Shop the perimeters. Walk around the produce aisle for 15 minutes instead of zipping trough. Salad mixes/ spinach. Peppers. Onions. Radishes. Carrots. Tomatoes. Avocados.  It's ok to get just one! If half of your cart/basket is produce, half of your plate will be. Get enough meat for a few weeks. Eggs. Olive and coconut oil. Grab some nuts and dried fruit for snacks. If your kitchen is stocked with good food, you will eat good food. Set a bowl out on your counter with colorful fruits. YOU WILL eat them if you see them every time you walk in the kitchen!

You know you want one.

When you get your bags of goodies home... Get to work! This cooking you do now will last all week, or if you plan it right, maybe even a month.

Clean and chop your veggies ahead of time for easy use.

Chicken breasts? Grill or bake them off. Slice them up into strips and put them on a cookie sheet on top of some parchment paper. Freeze flat for an hour. Remove and transfer to plastic freezer baggies. Label.

I also get a rotisserie chicken, de-bone it, and freeze it the same way. Keep the carcass and skin. We'll use this too. Here is a quick example of stock you can make with it to be used in a variety of healthy recipes.

Hamburger is a good one too. I brown and season grass-fed beef with onions and freeze it in ice cube trays. Pop em out when frozen. Bag and label! Now I have single serve hamburger for a quick taco. (I use a boiled cabbage leaf for the shell..YUM! Even my 3 year old loves it. We call them "Mommy Tacos")
Then there is the option of a quick Sloppy joe... just add tomato sauce and mustard with a bit o honey. voila! (as paleo, I eat it sans bun)


This cook and freeze concept can be done with pretttttty much everything.
Broccoli: Blanch. Lay flat on towel-covered cookie sheet. Freeze.
Potatoes: Bake until just under-done. Slice. Lay flat. Freeze. (Not Plaeo, but I keep it handy for the non-paleo family.)
Pesto: Make desired recipe, put in saran wrap lined muffin pan, freeze.

You get the drift...

Now you have the basics to throw together a quick meal in minutes. If nothing else, just go raw! At least you have variety to keep it interesting!

Smoked Salmon, Ants on a log (almond butter),
Radish, Oranges,  Paleo granola

Numero Dos: Money. 

“While it is true that many people simply can't afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we've somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority. p.187” 

― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Yes, organic is best. I try not to eat anything else. However, in a penny pinch, I will purchase non-organic produce...but only the safest. Produce like berries, greens, and apples have higher concentrations of pesticides and yucky residue your body doesn't need.

12 Most Contaminated Peaches Apples Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (Imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes  Least Contaminated Onions Avocado Sweet Corn (Frozen) Pineapples Mango Asparagus Sweet Peas (Frozen) Kiwi Fruit Bananas Cabbage Broccoli Source: http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214

Buy in season. This stuff will be in abundance and cheaper. Don't know what's in season? Go to your local farmers market. Also a GREAT way to save money. Buy extra and preserve.
Meat: Grass-fed and pasture raised is the way to go. More nutritious, and usually leaner. Buy in bulk..the family packs are a good way to go. Just separate and freeze as needed.

Numero tres: WILLPOWER:

I am a cheater.

I think it is the only way to stay sane. Just don't make it a daily habit. If you allow yourself MINOR cheats now and again, you will be more likely to stick to your program. Things I will NEVER EVER consume again? Fast food. Soda. Boxed meals.  Anything that I fear may contain GMOs. Pretty much anything with a label with words I cannot pronounce.

To help you stay on track, remove the temptation. Time to make a donation to the local food drives! I shoveled about $300 of food I will no longer eat to the less fortunate. It was sting to the account.. but after I gradually gathered a new supply of healthy goods, I didn't think about it as much. Temptation is the key to failure.

You CAN make the shift. When you do, health will fall in place. You won't have to count calories. You won't have to worry about weight gain.

Just eat real food!!

 It's easier and cheaper than you might think... You just have to reset your priorities. 

My Paleo Tour

Some of you may have heard me talk about my health journey and the many different paths I have taken to naturally heal my system from cancer. It has been an interesting journey so far. A few pit stops, a few accelerations, and a lot of cruise-control into uncharted territory. 

Recently I embarked on the Paleolithic diet. I came to this decision after following a few different vegan/vegetarian diets over the past few months and just feeling..off. By off, I mean light headed upon standing, moody, spacey, and just not at my optimal level. I nearly buckled to the ground one day when I allowed my salivating-self to splurge on a rotisserie chicken at the Valley Natural Food store. I had been vegan for nearly 5 months at that point. I quickly continued my shopping and checked out. 

I didn't make it home with that steaming hot chicken. 

Instead, I took it to the store's cafe, and with out a plate or utensils, began ripping the bird apart with my bare hands. I felt so barbaric. And guilty. Guilty because I have been told time after time that the way to heal cancer is by vegan diet.  I felt that I deliberately threw that out the window, so that meant that I didn't care. After more debate in my head and physically feeling superior post-barbaric session, I decided to listen to the "experts" close, and my body closer. I studied briefly the "blood type diet" and "metabolic diets". They all seemed to have a connection. Being a type O, according to the diet, I should be eating meat. That I metabolize animal flesh much easier than type A or B, and definitely better than AB. So based on my new research and my pure love of meat, I slowly added clean animal protein back into my diet. First in the form of bone broths..then salmon...a little chicken.. and before I even recognized it, I wasn't experiencing my light headedness anymore. My mood improved. My er...bathroom happenings..improved... Although I was still reluctant to let go of all of my previous knowledge, I began to understand that different people require different foods! So enters Paleo....

What is Paleo? The short answer is no dairy. No grains..not even beans. Not even GREEN BEANS.

 Oh boy I love my beans! Raw cheese! Cream in my coffee! And my healthy organic sprouted bread! How could this POSSIBLY be unhealthy!? I was eating so clean, but clean food that the body wasn't designed to eat is still toxic, according to paleo. So on 10/22/12 I began my month long challenge to eat the food my great Type-O ancestors ate. So if I was feeling good, why change anything, right? Well, I am a believer (now) that the body is a messenger... While I felt I was improving on the health front, there was still something bothering me...my acne. At first I thought it was a detoxing mechanism .. and perhaps it was, because it greatly increased when I started everything in April. (Juicing and whole foods diet after the Standard American Diet of pizza and fast food several times a week) But months later, it persisted...and when I added  dairy, it became painful and ugly.Time to change something. Our skin is the window to our digestion...so something needs to be fixed in there. 

I am now 10 days into my new path. Pretty strict with the exception of Halloween. I am not even kidding, I have already noticed improvements in the skin department. The painful bumps are healing, and if I get a new one- which isn't as common anymore- they are a different 'type' of zit. A type that isn't painful and heals quickly. I am excited to see what I will look like this time next week. I am going to take a picture and compare! haha

A few people have asked me what I eat... so here is a sample menu.

Breakfast: Sauteed veggies-(anything and everything) with scrambled eggs, salsa, and avocado

Lunch: Salad with home made dressing.

Snack: Green Smoothie

Dinner: Nuts, Homemade Jerky, Apple, Etc...quick eats on the run since I work nights.

It has been the most satisfying diet BY FAR that I have succumbed to. So easy, ANYBODY (even a caveman) can do it.

So if you have gluten sensitivity, colitis, celiac, digestive issues, tummy aches, acne, vertigo... maybe you should try paleo with me! The trick is to not think about what you can't have, but what you can have. There is a world of whole-food paleo recipes out there.

I have a ways to go yet before I get preachy, though ;)

I'll let you know how it goes!