Read 100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It Online
Authors: Florence Strang
Tags: #Health; Fitness & Dieting, #Diseases & Physical Ailments, #Internal Medicine, #Oncology, #Cancer, #Medicine & Health Sciences, #Clinical, #Medical Books, #Alternative Medicine, #Medicine
your face . . . smiling, evil, clownlike people who are tempting you to ruin
your healthy eating streak!
You don’t have to be a victim. And you don’t have to seem like you’re
on some kind of starvation diet to those around you by carrying a little
Ziploc baggie full of carrot sticks in your purse. There are some good strate-
gies you can use when going to these types of functions that will help you
stay on the healthy eating track. Choose the ones that work for you and will
still allow you to have a good time at the shindig.
●
Eat before you get there.
You’ll be less likely to eat the wrong things if
you’re not hungry. Your before-party snack should be something with a
bit of fiber and protein like a small salad with added walnuts and seeds,
or whole-grain bread with almond butter. Fiber and protein will keep you
fuller longer and help you resist the urge to overdo it.
●
Don’t have your one alcoholic drink right away.
If you’re going to stick
to the one drink max that is recommended by the National Cancer Insti-
tute guidelines, don’t have it as soon as you get there. Chances are, during
the night you’ll have another, and maybe even another if you hang
around long enough. Have your drink, but start off with sparkling water
with a splash of fruit juice. Heck, stick one of those little umbrellas in
there, too. It will still satisfy your taste buds, put you in a festive mood,
and help you bide some time until you’re ready for your drink.
●
Look at everything first.
Take a moment to take stock of what’s on that
hors d’oeuvre table. Make a mental note of what you’ll have before you
Perk #36: Cancer Streamlined My Christmas Shopping
143
start making up your plate. Choose fresh whole foods like veggie sticks
and fruit and limit creamy or cheesy dips. If you do choose dips, put a
small amount on your plate and walk away as opposed to standing near
it and “robot dipping” over and over.
●
Only put two things on your plate at a time.
If you fill
your plate with a heaping mound of food, you’ll eat it
Make a plan for party
and be back for more. But if you only put two things on
eating, but don’t stress
the plate at a time, you’ll space out your consumption.
about it if you don’t
Grazing, over time, allows you to digest what you’re eat-
follow it.
ing, and it forces you to fill multiple plates and make
multiple trips.
●
Hold a drink in your dominant hand.
Occupying your “grabbing” hand
will make it tough to “grab” another cheese puff.
●
Above all, have fun.
Enjoy yourself. Keep these rules in the back of your
mind, but don’t let them ruin your evening. If you eat more than you
planned, don’t beat yourself up. There’s always tomorrow to put you back
on track.
Perk #37
Cancer Allowed Me to Keep
Better Tabs on My Teens
L
ife before cancer was a whirl-
wind. I would work all day, come
home to prepare three different
meals to satisfy my finicky eaters
(Okay, I am not going to win Mother
of the Year after that comment!),
then try to spend some fun, yet edu-
cational time with my youngest
child, Ben. That didn’t leave much
time for my teens, Kaitlyn and Dono-
van. However, cancer slowed the
pace of my life and allowed me to
become more involved in theirs.
I am not sure if that was exactly
working to
their
advantage, however,
as nothing could slip by me. Let’s
take, for example, the mysterious case of the flu that hit Donovan on the
same day that the Xbox game Modern Warfare 3 was released. I think it was
a bit of an epidemic among the guys in his
school. I will give the devil his due; he might
Cancer gives you
have even gotten away with it had he not posted
a lot of downtime.
to Facebook, “My life is now complete,” with a
Put it to good use by
picture of the game. Yes, I was creeping my son
snooping on your kids.
on Facebook. When you have cancer, you can get
away with doing that.
I 144 J
Perk #37: Cancer Allowed Me To Keep Better Tabs On My Teens
145
HEALTH TIP #37
Put That Downtime to Even Better Use
by Picking Up a Hobby
I
should add “a stress-relieving and healthy hobby” such as fishing or scrap-
booking to this tip title. I don’t think entering hot dog–eating contests
would qualify in this category!
It all goes back to stress relief. Reducing stress has been shown to reduce
your risk for many illnesses including cancer. Most examples of stress relief
have to do with being able to shift the focus of your stress away from what
is causing the stress (thoughts about your illness, work schedules, family
issues) and onto something completely different, even if it is just for a short
time. This shift not only provides some short-term stress relief but has been
shown to have benefits on overall well-being too when done routinely.
Hobbies that include physical exertion, like gardening and walking the
golf course, have the added benefit of keeping you physically fit as well. This
in turn can help you lose weight, thereby reducing your risk of cancer even
more. (Pretty neat, huh?)
In addition to the physical benefits, hobbies also provide psychological
benefits. Creating a finished product like knitted goods or a model airplane
gives you a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. A hobby like painting
or pottery making will also give you an emotional and psychological outlet.
Many hobbies allow you to connect with others in clubs, furthering the heal-
ing benefits by providing health-promoting socialization and friendship.
See all the things you can accomplish in your free time?!
You can go with the usual hobbies like rock and coin collecting, but
here are a few inexpensive and enjoyable hobbies that you might not have
thought of:
Goldfish keeping.
Don’t laugh. Raising goldfish is easy, inexpensive, and
there are hundreds of beautiful goldfish varieties that you can explore.
Believe it or not, there are goldfish shows, just like dog shows, that judge
your goldfish on color and size, and, yes, even personality. This hobby elim-
inates stress on many levels:
146
100 Perks of Having Cancer
●
Watching fish swim has been shown to
reduce stress and even lower blood pressure.
●
Pet keeping in general is shown to reduce
stress. Feeding and taking care of the tank
while you watch your goldfish grow will give
you a sense of satisfaction. Don’t be surprised
if you find yourself getting emotionally
attached to “Goldie”!
●
Winning a blue ribbon in a goldfish show will increase self-worth and
raise your endorphin levels. Endorphins are the brain’s natural “feel-
good” medicine.
●
Joining a goldfish club will help you connect with others, which is a
healthy form of socialization.
For more information on goldfish showing in the United States, go to
www.goldfishsociety.org.
Disc golf.
This is the “poor person’s” form of golf because all you need is
a few special discs (what you and I know as “Frisbees”) and a disc golf
course. Disc golf is played just like real golf, except the hole is a basket. The
object of the game is to get the disc in the basket in the least amount of
throws. The rules are pretty much like regular “club golf” and there are even
pars for each “hole.” The nice thing is, it doesn’t matter how old you are or
what your ability level is. Everyone can play. Playing disc golf will:
●
Get you outside and moving, which is good for your health by com-
muning with nature and increasing your activity level.
●
Builds friendships by buddying up with a friend to play. If you don’t have
a disc golf partner, you can find one by joining a local club.
●
Compete in disc golf tournaments to meet new people and have fun. All
those things are good for general health and self-confidence.
For more information go to www.pdga.com (Professional Disc Golf