Fighting Breast Cancer With Healthy Lifestyle Choices

[europa]

Paula O: I write children's recipe books and owned a bakery (which I sold 3 years ago). Because of the darn cancer I started working on a recipe book taking favorite dishes and cravings into healthier dishes. I am co-writing it with two others, a food editor and another cook. Here's a wonderful recipe for chocolate cake that cuts on a lot of the not so great stuff (Not my recipe but one I love to make, I'm still tweaking mine):

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 sugar (or Truvia)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tblsp unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tblsp brewed coffee or espresso
1/2 cup baby food prunes
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate (or 90% chocolate)

Preheat oven at 300 degrees
Spray a 10" round pan with vegetable oil spray and lightly dust with cocoa

Sift together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl

In a small bowl mix applesauce, milk, extract, coffee, prunes, egg whites and egg. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

When cake is cool, cut through disc to make two discs. Spread "cream cheese" buttercream inside and outside.

Buttercream recipe:
1/2 pound Neufchatel cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until nice an smooth.

[Paula O]

Europa, you got right back on track, good for you! I'll have to remember your salt trick if I don't have somebody to give the food away to to get it out of the house, like at night. Neato that you write recipe books for kids! Thanks for the recipe. Truthfully it would trigger chocolate cravings for me right now and chocolate is out of my system so I don't want it back in but I know my kids would like it so maybe I'll make it for them when I am stronger and can resist better. Carob is always a possibility but right now I am better off without baked sweet treats I think as they can be a slippery slope for me. Do you have any ideas for yummy, totally healthy, low fat substitutes for crunchy snacks like potato, corn, or tortilla chips that are either low or no added sodium? I might experiment with a kale chip recipe done in the dehydrater. I'm looking for the tasty crunch factor. Talking about fruit leather made me hungry for some---I started a batch of strawbery leather in my dehydrater last night.

Atta girl, 'Lizbeth getting back to the gym! You are on your way to better eating, taking off excess pounds, getting into shape, and getting that blood pressure back in a healthy range. You are going to feel so terrific back in your ideal weight zone!

I was wondering if anyone was interested in losing ten pounds "together' with some extra motivation that we would both send each other a little gift in the mail as a reward once that other person loses ten pounds--nothing expensive, but a nice little unknown fun surprise that the other person could look forward to once they've melted away ten excess pounds. This wouldn't be a race or competion--each person does it at their own speed using whatever plan suits them best and they get their prize after their ten pounds is off.I am aware of the merits of slow weight loss but I've got a long ways to go and I'm hoping to take mine off fast while eating very healthy and upping my physical activity. If anyone is interested, please let me know here in this thread--I'd like to do it with the first person who responds. If possible (and please no offense whatsoever intended), my preference would be to link up with someone in the U.S. just to keep postage reasonable. If I find a "10 pound reward partner" and there is more than just me and one other person who wants to do this, speak right up-- if there is additional interest, others could also team up for a mutual reward prize if desired. I've got lots of weight to loose and multiple groups of ten pounds that need to bite the dust off this body. I'm five down and ready to tackle my next ten now and this time I want to do what it takes to make my weight loss to be permanent. If nobody here wants to do this little mutual reward idea with me, I'll think of something else for self-incentive.

Do you guys know about the 212 Degree principle? http://play.simpletruths.com/movie/2...-extra-degree/ It dovetails very nicely with healthy lifestyle goals as well as other areas of life.

Have a great day, everybody!

Paula

[europa]

I have some recipes for baked veggie chips. Also, nut mixes with spices are wonderful. Crunchy and tasty. Let me find the recipes and I will post them/.

[Paula O]

"It's just as hard to do things wrong as to do them right. It is just an illusion that it is easier, faster, cheaper to do things wrong, to take short-cuts, or to sell ourselves short. This rule applies to eating as well as business and most other things in life. Taking the time to make a healthy meal and sit down and eat it vs. grabbing whatever along the way might take a little more effort in the moment, but ultimately makes life so much better. Just like exercise is always a great investment, so is giving yourself the time to do things right! As we allow ourselves to take the time to do things well, it almost seems like time expands to accommodate us!"
Jinjee

[Paula O]

Sounds good, Europa. Thx.

[babysandpiper]

I LOVE this thread! It's just what I needed to find today for motivation. Thank you!

I have gradually let myself slide only to find that now that I am older and have less (or no) estrogen due to menopause and tamoxifen, I cannot easily lose weight like I used to be able to. So this will take some work! But I am worth it! We are all worth it!

My healthy goals are:
Lose 10 lbs
eat 5 servings of fruit/vegetables daily (rainbow of colors)
reduce alcohol intake
some form of exercise daily (even if just taking a short walk or bicycle ride)

[IrvineFriend]

Sandpiper,

I have the exact same goals, except I want to lose 20 lbs. vs. 10. But I still cheat a little. I'm having a football game party at my house this weekend and my boyfriend is making his infamous margaritas. I'll just have to spend an extra half hour on the treadmill! (like that's really going to combat margaritas and pizza) ...

I think portion control is the most important thing. I'll limit myself to one piece of pizza.

This is going to be my first real social event since my surgery and I'm looking forward to laughing with friends once again (and yelling at the TV).

[karen z]

I am still finding the app I bought for tracking food very helpful. I have been walking more but viewing it as walking to relieve stress rather than "exercising". Doing better with this approach than I have for a long time. I am mostly walking around a lake that is beautiful and has benches/and rocking benches to soak in the view. Lots of ducks around and interesting vegetation. I am getting used to (finally) walking to relieve stress. My back is hurting less with more walking and I need to stop less.

[Paula O]

Way to go one your exercise progress, Karen! I'm glad that walking is helping with stress relief and that your back pain is better.

How are you doing on your health promoting goals BabySandPiper and Julie? You can do it!

I am going to do a "28 Day Total Reset" over at Raw Food Rehab. I'll share the link here in case others are interested:
http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/forum/t...sg_mes_network

How's everybody doing on the healthy lifestyle areas they are working on? If you are making progress, super! If not, TODAY is a great day to hit the reset button, leave the past behind, and start again. It's progress, not perfection that is key to lasting poositive change.

Paula

[karen z]

I would encourage anyone struggling with food intake to get an app called "MyNetDiary" ($9.99) Although I use computers constantly for writing and activities related to teaching I am most definitely not computer savvy. But the app I got (for an IPad- this one or others can be bought for phones- is super super easy to use. I am really just walking to get out into nature more and feel less stressed- but I can see other benefits in terms of helping my back and losing a bit more weight. However, I am really trying not to think of this as "exercise" and only started after tracking my food intake for a couple of weeks. I think "one thing at a time" and when one feels comfortable- move in is a better way to go. But feeling better.

[Kkmom]

Count me in also. From the time I found out about this beast (breast cancer), I have wondered what lifestyle I have been living that cancer could have invaded. I am about 30 lbs overweight, I ate terribly - processed foods, too much sugar, way too many diary products - you name it did it. Sedentary, did not get enough sleep, never exercised - I WAS a classic host for cancer.
Since the day of my diagnosis - December 18th, 2012 - I have done a complete turnaround. I am not 100% sugar free - but I am a strong 90%, about 95% diary free and I am using a pedometer. I have lost about 10 lbs out of sheer fright from this circumstance and I plan to lose 30 more.
I think to myself - I did not get into this situation in a day, and my habits will not just change over night. They can change gradually and then they will be a part of my life, not just a tiemporary fix.
I am so glad I found this thread and count me in. I look forward to not only reading everybody's else progress, but I also look forward to posting my progress.

[Paula O]

KKMom, good for you on all these positive lifestyle changes you are making and for that 10 pounds biting the dust. Keep up the good work!

I've been struggling lately with carrying through the goals I've got with my eating, weight loss, and exercise but I am beginning anew today and back to heading in a good direction.

Paula

['lizbeth]

Staying on track is so difficult, but we must! I'm down 7 lbs from my highest holiday weight.

I've reached a plateau and determined to work through it. Eating less, exercising more, drinking plenty of Fluoride free water.

[Paula O]

7 pounds gone for good, 'Lizbeth! That's SUPER! Just three more and it'll be TEN! You're going to blast through that plateau and leave all the excess pounds in the dust. Great job.

What are you guys who are also doing this wanting to accomplish in the 22 days left in February? Got any goals you want to write down and share? Remember, "Don't look back, you're not going that way". We can take all the fresh starts that we need. Is there at least one thing you can do TODAY that will build up your health?

Paula

[conomyself]

So this past week I figured out why I wasn't losing weight.....I was eating too much! Ha ha!

Seriously, I started tracking my diet and exercise on a free iPhone app called "Lose It!" and realized that my morning smoothie was around 1000 calories by itself! I got in that habit during chemo because I was losing too much weight too fast after my first infusion, so I bumped up my calorie intake.

I started 6 days ago and have lost 3.2 pounds. I want to lose 35 pounds ultimately, but 20 would be a very good start. Before my cancer diagnosis and chemo I had a very difficult time losing weight, but maybe that was part of the imbalance with the cancer. Plus I drank a lot of beer...

I would recommend this app for anyone wanting to track their progress, but there are a lot of good ones out there. My strategy is to keep my calories in check, keep carbs to 100 - 125g per day, and keep protein to at least 75g per day. Nearly all of the fats in my diet are good fats and carefully selected, and almost all of my animal products are local from pastured animals. I eat lots of veggies.

I've been spending 30 minutes on the treadmill per day for about a month and a half now, and I listen to Anthony Robbins for motivation. During the 30 minutes I spend 10 minutes also lifting 3 pound weights for my arms. I love the Anthony Robbins stuff and it makes me look forward to my workouts!

During chemo exercise made my head feel clearer and I felt a little better overall, but it just 20 minutes would make me feel so tired I had to do it at night before bed! It's better now that I've been off for almost 2 months, but it was still making me too tired. I talked to the nutritionist at the cancer center about it, and she suggested that I take my pulse readings and make sure I'm staying in the cardio range. Sure enough, I checked it and I was going at it too hard! So I slowed down and now my workouts are way more pleasant.

Getting outside more is a big thing for me. Lately we've had a lot of snow and I shovel it a little to get myself outside. But I tend to stay inside too much and I'm working on changing that.

Thank you Europa for the cake recipe! I will try that one for sure!

Thanks Paula for starting the thread, I'm enjoying reading what everyone is doing to stay healthy!

Way to go ladies!!

[Paula O]

[IMG]http://api.ning.com/files/KJkUluOPEUXx0Km0t6clrh-qvcfi4kWw8rS*Z9FSOPmK4juxYx*5pWVyX9kf75MDpvV-iyB7I26hUmlJ0bzEG*fVATBKCu0o/Scale.jpg[/IMG]

It does help me to keep on track to weigh myself regularly but the photo is a good reminder to me that my number on the scale is but a helpful tool in my weight loss efforts, nothing more.

So how's it going with your healthy lifestyle efforts, guys?

Good for you on the healthy choices you are making, Conomyself! You can reach those goals you've set for yourself. Got any good, motivating Anthony Robbins thoughts you care to share that you heard during your workouts?

I've had plenty of struggles on my eating plan in January and February (and before) but am on a good path now, thankfully and making progress which is my aim. This weekend I am loading up on fresh carrot juice and lots of raw fruit and veggies. Putting excellent fuel in my body and getting exercise always makes me feel like a million bucks.

Let's make our bodies as inhospitable to cancer as possible! There are lots of things out of our control but what goes into our mouths (and doesn't) and getting physical activity, drinking plenty of water, daily fresh air and sunshine, and getting to bed at a decent hour are all things within our control and will build up our bodies instead of tearing them down.

15 days left in February, including today. What kind of progress do you want to make by March 1st?

Paula

[lkc Gumby]

Hi Paula. I am finally joining. I knew I couldn't " do it" before Christmas . So here I am ! I have been a slug for atleast a year or so. and although eating well, I was drinking too much alcohol and eating too many sweets, working too hard at work and not exercising at all!My goal is to lose 15 pounds, but 10 would be ok. So this is what I've started. No beer at all. No more wine with the occasional lunch. Actually no more alcohol during the day.No more desserts, cakes cookies, etc, etc. I've cut out all carbs except for steel cut oats that I have for breakfast. so no more potatoes, rice pasta bread. All the food I typically crave.
snacks are celery, carrot sticks, nuts. I only drink green tea as my beverage & sometimes tomato or orange juice. Only fish and chicken, no red meat.one glass fo organic wine ( red) at night w/ dinner.
Exercise, walk at least 3 x a week, aiming for 4-5. Light weights and aerobic too.
I am doing the diet for 6 weeks, and then will gradually ease back into some carbs. Hopefully I'll have more control. Wish me luck!

[Paula O]

Atta girl, Linda! I do wish you luck. :0) Just THINK how great you are going to be feeling and the progress you'll see on the scale and how beautifully your clothes are going to fit in these six weeks of all the great changes you are making! Maybe you want to take before and after measurements--sometimes when the scale doesn't budge, happy changes are made on the pants-o-meter as inches melt away.

Paula

"At any given moment you have the power to say, 'This is not how this is going to end'".

[Paula O]

---oops, I just deleted a link to a photo with the quote above--my goof, would appreciate it if you delete link without clicking on it if you automatically received it as part of subscribing to this thread if it gives you access to a private raw foods forum (with a fee for access). My bad.

Paula

[Mel3]

Hi Paula,

I gained a few extra pounds during the holidays and that put me at an all time high weight and I felt awful. I was actually in very good shape when I was diagnosed, but gained 17 pounds during treatment. I worked with a dietician and monitored my eating and exercise and she was puzzled. We both came to the conclusion my metabolism was stuck. It was very discouraging and seemed no matter what I did I couldn't drop the pounds, so I quit trying. My eating habits have gotten worse the past six months, mostly due to a move and stress. Two weeks ago I had enough so now I am working out with a trainer 2 days a week, in addition to yoga and Pilates. I am now focused and plan on working up to 5 or 6 workouts a week by March. I need to get away from the junk I've let creep into my diet, but with help from this thread I know I can do it. I'll check in again soon. thank you for the support. Good luck ladies!