Bunny Food
It didn't take long for my amazing work colleagues to notice my super leafy lunches that I started bringing in a couple of weeks ago. Within the first week, a friend commented that my Tupperware of greens looked remarkably similar to the veggies her husband was putting outside for the family of rabbits that lived in their yard. Thus, the contents of my lunches quickly adopted the nickname of bunny food.
 |
| cilantro, yams, almonds, beets, shoots... |
Why bunny food?
It's tough to even scrape the tip of this iceberg in a short blog post and I definitely don't want to push too much 'bunny food' propaganda; however, I can summarize my reasons for adopting this modified diet in 3 bullets.
1) Your body runs on the stuff you put in it, not dissimilar from a car. The better the fuel, the better the performance.
2) Certain foods and/or types of foods are linked with cancers. There are boat loads of studies that demonstrate that some foods can promote the growth of certain types of cancers. Cutting out these foods was a no-brainer- Why would I feed the cancer? AND... My Dana-Farber docs fully supports boosting cancer treatment with a good diet.
3) I love yummy foods and no, I'm not talking about kale (sorry, kale). I'm talking about comfort foods that are chock full of butter. Do I think they taste exponentially more delicious than broccoli sprouts and flax seed? Absolutely! Do I think they taste sooo delicious that I would be willing to give up seeing my kids graduate college - absolutely not. ...And that is exactly what goes through my head when I smell or see the delicious food. Yes, this is extreme, but for me, as I sit here typing today knowing that there is likely some ductal carcinoma hanging out in me, it hardly seems like a tough decision. I'm going to starve the cancer!
Observation
studies have linked diets high in red meat with an increased risk of
developing cancers (colorectal, lung, breast, uterine, ovary, prostate)
and cancer recurrence. - See more at:
http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2012/07/anti-cancer-nutrition-protein-101/#sthash.a0OE8ezf.dpuf
Observation
studies have linked diets high in red meat with an increased risk of
developing cancers (colorectal, lung, breast, uterine, ovary, prostate)
and cancer recurrence. - See more at:
http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2012/07/anti-cancer-nutrition-protein-101/#sthash.a0OE8ezf.dpuf
Observation
studies have linked diets high in red meat with an increased risk of
developing cancers (colorectal, lung, breast, uterine, ovary, prostate)
and cancer recurrence. - See more at:
http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2012/07/anti-cancer-nutrition-protein-101/#sthash.a0OE8ezf.dpuf
Observation
studies have linked diets high in red meat with an increased risk of
developing cancers (colorectal, lung, breast, uterine, ovary, prostate)
and cancer recurrence. - See more at:
http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2012/07/anti-cancer-nutrition-protein-101/#sthash.a0OE8ezf.dpuf
 |
| A benefit to eating healthy - fresh, local bread from Iggy's |
Learning to Be Mindful...
Cancer or no cancer - most people I know lead pretty crazy lives. Whether it is my personal to-do list, a project at work, or getting all of the kids fed in time, I can be stressed out from time to time. I just call myself 'type A' and continue to ignore any stress - after all, I am being super productive! Little did I know that meditation could help relieve the stress and make me more productive. I know it sounds like 'crazy hippie stuff' (as a few of my friends have said) but there is some science behind it... really.
Dana-Farber is a HUGE proponent of learning to be mindful - regardless of your cancer status. The NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that regular meditation can reduce chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, substance abuse, cholesterol, post-traumatic stress disorder, and blood 'stress' cortisol levels. Meditation may also improve mood, immune function, and fertility.
 |
| www.headspace.com |
It all sounded great but let's be real, WHO HAS TIME FOR MEDITATION!?! I was getting stressed just thinking about how to find time to meditate - I can't even shower without one of my kids visiting. Cue my new favorite app - Headspace. I'm not going to launch into a full infomercial about the app but I will say that it requires only 10 minutes. Bonus! The first 10 meditation sessions are free so you can give it a try (OK, that bordered on infomercial).
The way I see it, even if it is 'crazy hippie stuff', you may like it.
Here's a quick TED talk that the owner and founder of Headspace, Andy Puddicombe, gave...
T minus 28 days until the big day!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment