Choose You Blog

Today, I was talking with a local reporter who was interested in my Choose You story. I told her to tell people to come here to the blog. “We’re not perfect and we don’t try to be,” I said, “We’re just human beings and we’re sharing the true story, with its ups and downs, of trying to make better health choices. At no point do we hold ourselves up as icons of perfect health perfection.”

Not at all. We’re here and we’re committed but we’re also fallible, as this summer proved for me. This summer I had a (wonderfully) heavy work schedule and a lot of business traveling. But, it had its downside for my Choose You commitments. I went from regular 5 day a week minimum exercise and a solid diet to grabbing what food I could when I could while on the fly (literally) and throwing in some weak excuses for exercise. I did pool laps a few times in hotel pools, considered walking instead of taking a taxi my daily quota, threw in some yoga, and so forth. And that’s about it. I was tired, so I tended to eat a little more, especially heavier meals such as lots of protein, and I was overall really inconsistent in keeping my plate balanced with the necessary food groups.

Worst of all, my vanity prompted me to postpone my follow-up skin cancer appointment. I knew the cryosurgery on my nose had failed and I didn’t want to manage all of my summer engagements, many of which required me to speak to groups, with a big ugly scabby nose. I also didn’t want to have to explain it all the time.

I started castigating myself but then, all of the sudden, I thought, “You know what, I did my best.”

I tried to eat the best I could while traveling. I made sure to drink water, and I kept up my sunscreen use. I exercised when I could.

As a woman, if I open up my ears, I can find myself under a constant barrage of messages all around me that scream how much self-improvement I require. One ad tells me I need a douche to advance in my career, another wants me to apply a chemical to make my lashes grow. Other commercials tell me about drugs I can take to burn my fat, get rid of my cellulite, erase my wrinkles, plump my lips, change my style, use a new product on my hair…and ACK! Enough! It can overwhelm a person until she thinks what’s the point, I can never achieve that perfection!

Time to call for OmegaWoman! I’m good enough, smart enough, and people like me! Ha! The point, really, is that I don’t need to achieve a prescribed perfection, I don’t need to look like the women in the ads or have or not have things products can “fix” (allegedly). I just need to be my personal best.

So, I’m back on my program. I have fat free sorbet in the freezer because life without ice cream is a sad place, I have my healthy food choices in the house, and we’re back to a regular schedule so I’m back to exercising every day. It’s pretty good.

Anyway, who wants to be Perfect Woman, as prescribed by media barrage:

More birthdays.

Those are words I truly appreciate; I know all too well that every birthday is a gift.

So I take the American Cancer Society slogan seriously.

As a serious chocoholic, I’ve always taken my chocolate choices seriously too.

My 45^th birthday was the worst of my life—because fate brought me the wrong C-word—Cancer, not Cake.

Cancer became even worse when I read that sugar was bad for cancer patients.

I cut it out of my life completely.

Chocolate stocks plunged.  Sales of chocolate dropped to precipitous levels.  I refused to acknowledge the color brown.

I forbid my friends and family– and myself– from allowing myself even a bite, not even one minuscule chocolate chip, not even on my birthday.

I felt not only depressed—but deprived.

Cancer + chemo + no cake didn’t make for much of a celebration.

6 miserable months later, I  allowed moderation—-and chocolate—back into my life.  The whole world looked brighter; Chocolatiers all over the world could smile again, and so could I.

And I realized even a bite of birthday cake might have brought a morsel of joy at a time that I really needed it.

A few days ago another birthday rolled around.   Though I didn’t have an official birthday cake, there was no pity party—I spread out my birthday for almost a week,  enjoying time with friends and family.

I also didn’t forget about my Choose You commitment…..but, yes there was sugar involved.

Because that Unhappy birthday taught me lessons I’ve never forgotten.

I choose health, of course;  and I also know there are times it’s equally important to choose joy.

I also learned to celebrate—every birthday—because no matter how old you are,  being here is always worth celebrating.

And celebrating life—with or without chocolate—  is what More Birthdays are all about.

Darryle Pollack finds joy in chocolate celebrating the big and little things about life on her blog, I never signed up for this….

Another study finds belly bulge contributes to four serious medical conditions that can ultimately lead to death.

It seems women should have a waist circumference no greater than 35 inches, otherwise they are at a greater risk for heart disease, asthma, breast cancer as well as dementia.

“Even if you haven’t had a noticeable weight gain, if you notice your waist size increasing that’s an important sign,” said lead author Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society, which funded the study. “It’s time to eat better and start exercising more.”

Bulging bellies are a problem for most Americans older than 50. It’s estimated that more than half of older men and more than 70 percent of older women have bigger waistlines than recommended. And it’s a growing problem: Average waistlines have expanded by about an inch per decade since the 1960s.

In this video Dr. Oz talks about how a high belly fat measurement can take up to 15 years off your life, and shows you how to measure it for yourself…Dr. Oz video

Catherine is the mother of two teenagers, she writes about health & wellness at BlogHer and catherine-morgan.com.

This is why:

You say no to that.

A few summers ago I was really sick, like affect quality of life and ability to get up and go about and do things, even simple things, such as parent my kids. I got creative, they got creative. And we made it through. While we were making it, I suffered guilt because this was not the childhood I had planned for them. When we made it through, I swore I’d take care of me. I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg, but my kids are just as committed to good health choices as I am. Something good came from a bad thing that happened. And we’re all the better for it. It’s not making lemonade out of lemons, this attitude. It’s taking a challenge and building up from it. When I chose to have kids, I chose to live for more than myself. And that right there is a key to making good decisions that affect my health in a positive way. overall, that’s a great way to choose me, this attitude. It definitely works for me on lazy Saturday mornings.

I admit it — I’ve been a TOTAL slacker this summer. I blame my Europeon vacation which started with an actual trip to London and Paris for two weeks followed by multiple weeks of total slack-i-tude back at home.

To say that the food in London was unnoteworthy is being kind, but Paris (yes, I can confirm the rumor) was just the opposite. We started each day with mouth-watering, fresh-baked croissants, we savored fresh salads and pastas at wonderful cafes throughout the city, enjoyed a happy hour of wine, cheese and bread before dinner every evening and ended each night with a rich dessert of chocolate or ice cream. It was heaven.

Amazingly, I didn’t gain an ounce in Paris. In fact, I may have lost a pound or two. Despite all of the fabulous indulgences, we did so much walking that it didn’t make a major impact on my weight. When we got home, the first thing I noticed was how BIG everything was compared to France. The houses are bigger, the cars are bigger, the refrigerators are WAY bigger here. Which is what I got when I continued with my wine and chocolate habit but without the walking here at home — five pounds bigger. Just in time to get news of this American Cancer Society study about larger waist-lines making you at higher risk of death from major diseases. Great.

So, needless to say, now that school is back in session for my kids (yes, we start this early down here in the South) which gives us all a better sense of discipline and structure than the lazy days of summer, I’m back on the Choose You wagon which includes exercise at least three times a week and a much more moderate diet (Au revior chocolate and wine…at least for a while…).  Hopefully I’ll be saying au revior to those five pounds soon. I’m also back to blogging which I totally slacked on too.

Amy Swygert is Vice President of Communication Strategy and the American Cancer Society’s National Home Office. When she’s not totally slacking, she sometimes blogs at her personal blog Up With Moms.

Earlier this week on the news I heard the question that fishing communities (like the one on the waterfront in mine) have dreaded: is seafood from the Gulf dangerous? Can it give me cancer?

In my town, the peninsula on which our entire fishing community operated — boat piers for the fishing and shrimping vessels and shacks for selling the day’s catch — was pretty much completely wiped out by Hurricane Ike (you know, the other hurricane, immediately after Katrina, the one everyone forgets all the time, the one that wiped out this coast here in Texas, the coast that seriously, one person said to me, “Well if Texas seceded your damage wouldn’t be our problem anyway.” Nice. As if feeling like the Jan Brady of the Gulf Coast wasn’t enough already, “Katrina Katrina Katrina.”). After Ike, that fishing community rebuilt itself so quickly I was surprised, and they came back better and nicer than ever. They really didn’t need a massive oil spill…but then, who did?

The areas where they fish have been declared safe, and there’s pretty stringent restrictions on fishing and selling of fish, anyway — even if buying out of a waterfront shanty seems pretty casual. Local sellers have begun advertising “non-Gulf” seafood or “farmed seafood” as well as “oil-free seafood.” But that’s locally — what do the people in the rest of the US where bulk seafood is shipped see?

Apparently nothing reassuring and they’d rather not take the risk — and apparently, according to the news story I heard — that’s because they’re afraid it will give them cancer. Not just from the oil, but from the other agents, such as dispersing agents. But lest you focus too heavily on dangers of domestic Gulf seafood, consider the story that imported seafood was discovered to be contaminated with antibiotics and chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and anemia according to this news article.

I’m no expert so I don’t know if any seafood — domestic or imported — is truly safe or has the potential to cause cancer (and I’m not sure if anyone knows), and truthfully, it doesn’t seem as if the FDA has a solid track record of perfect food safety, but when it comes to domestic products, I have  a much higher level of faith. The FDA and NOAA are working together to systematically test the nesting beds and water for popular Gulf seafood. I’m pretty sure right now they are hyperaware of the microscope they are under, and I feel certain their vigilance is set to high.

All of this is beyond my control, though. I can only control what decisions I make, and truthfully, I love my Gulf seafood and if the FDA says it’s safe, I’m going to trust that. That’s me.

What else I can control are the things that we know for sure harm my health and have a higher chance of causing cancer, for example:

According to a new study published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, “People with bigger waists had a higher risk of death from causes including respiratory illnesses, heart disease and cancer.

Other research has linked waist size to dementia, heart disease, asthma and breast cancer.

Bulging bellies are a problem for most Americans older than 50. It’s estimated that more than half of older men and more than 70% of older women have waistlines that are bigger than recommended. It’s a growing problem: Average waistlines have expanded by about one inch per decade since the 1960s.”

What’s the solution? The Wall Street Journal article includes that tidbit too:

“Even if you haven’t had a noticeable weight gain, if you notice your waist size increasing that’s an important sign,” said the study’s lead author, Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society, which funded the study. “It’s time to eat better and start exercising more,” Dr. Jacobs said.

There are more headlines about healthy, low fat eating (which for me, includes fish):

Study Links Processed Red Meat to Bladder Cancer (WebMD News)
Eating large amounts of processed red meats may raise the risk for developing bladder cancer, according to a new study. (Examines study from ACS journal CANCER)

Mediterranean diet tied to lower breast cancer risk (Reuters)
Women who follow a traditional Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after menopause than women with different eating habits, a new study suggests.

Obesity Rates Keep Rising, Troubling Health Officials (The New York Times)
Americans are continuing to get fatter and fatter, with obesity rates reaching 30 percent or more in nine states last year, as opposed to only three states in 2007, health officials reported on Tuesday.

A food bill we need (The Washington Post)
Last spring, a class of fifth-grade students from Bancroft Elementary School in the District descended on the South Lawn of the White House to help us dig, mulch, water and plant our very first kitchen garden. In the months that followed, those same students came back to check on the garden’s progress and taste the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. Together, they helped us spark a national conversation about the role that food plays in helping us all live healthy lives.

We know about the well-known, well-studied links to cancer, heart disease and overall health problems: unhealthy diets, obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, unprotected skin, and not getting regular checkups.

Hence the planks in the Choose You platform:

• Eat right
• Get active
• Quit smoking
• Get regular health checks
• Protect my skin

I’m not saying we shouldn’t keep out a close ear and eye when it comes to Gulf seafood. I’m just saying, choose to eliminate it or keep it in, either way, but make sure whichever way you go, you focus on the things you can control, which are the choices you make towards good health.

Big fear from scares such as “dispersing agents create cancer causing shrimp”  can make me want to throw up my hands in a big, “What’s the point anyway, if one thing won’t get me another one will!” But I think that’s focusing on things I can’t control versus things I can. Whatever happens, I want to know I did what I could.

So I’ll eat fish, exercise, wear sunscreen, see my doctor,  and stay healthy. On the Gulf.

This is a post I originally did for BlogHer in 2008, but since it still applies now, I thought I would share it here on the Choose You Blog.

Getting Reacquainted With Healthy Food

For the last few weeks I’ve been making an attempt at eating healthy. And usually this is where I would tell you that I’ve failed miserably. But, I’m happy to report that I have actually been doing pretty well. I think it is in part because, around the same time I decided that I couldn’t afford to gain another pound, I got an email from Elaine Magee.  Funny how we get what we need, just when we need it. Anyway, Elaine is the Healthy Recipe Doctor at WebMD, and she wanted to tell me about her newest book Food Synergy. Even better, she said if I wanted a copy she would send me one. The timing couldn’t have been better.

I’m not sure if it was the book or my total fear of gaining another pound, but I’ve actually lost about six pounds. It’s not that her book is a diet plan or anything…It’s really about eating healthy, and that’s what is so great about it. The book reinforced a lot of what I already knew, but also explained how different food combinations actually work to prevent disease and promote wellness. Not only is the book informative, but it is loaded with great recipes.

Evidence is mounting that certain components in the food we eat and drink (minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals, fiber, smart fats, etc.) interact to provide our bodies extra disease protection and a higher level of health. This advanced nutrition science is called food synergy.

Food synergy is like adding 1 plus 1 and getting 4 or 6 instead of 2; the total is greater than the sum of the individual parts (or nutrients).

From WebMD – At The Healthy Recipe Doctor – Top 10 Food Synergy Super Foods

1. Whole Grains
   Whole grains are naturally low in fat and cholesterol-free; contain 10% to 15% protein and offer loads of fiber, resistant starch and oligosaccharides, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and often, phytoestrogens. With all those nutrients in one package, it’s no wonder whole grains provide so many health benefits, including protection from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, and some cancers.
2. Veggies — Especially Dark Green Ones
   Whether it’s the two vegetables high in viscous fiber (eggplant and okra); the cruciferous veggies (like kale and broccoli) with their anticancer organosulfur compounds; or the carotenoid family (like carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach) with their rich mix of phytochemicals, the message is clear: The more the merrier! Eat as many vegetables as you can, as often as you can. Dark green veggies, in particular, showed up on all sorts of food synergy lists in my book: for vegetables high in vitamin C; foods with multiple carotenoids; foods high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium; and good sources of vitamin E.
3. Nuts
   Nuts contain mostly monounsaturated fat, and antioxidant phytochemicals (like flavonoids). Most also contribute phytosterols, which in sufficient amounts may help lower blood cholesterol, enhance the immune system, and decrease the risk of some cancers. Nuts also have some vitamins and minerals we tend to lack, like vitamin E, potassium, and magnesium. Two forms of vitamin E tend to work best together (alpha- and gamma-tocopherol), and you’ll find them in almonds, cashews, and walnuts. Walnuts also contain some plant omega-3s.
4. Tea (Especially Green Tea)
   With each sip, you get two potent flavonoids — anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin — plus a healthy dose of catechin, which may enhance the antioxidant activity of alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E). Green and black teas also contain antioxidant polyphenols, thought to block cell damage that can lead to cancer. Phytochemicals in tea have a half-life of a few hours, so have a cup now and another later to get the biggest bang for your tea bag.
5. Olive Oil.
   There are 30-plus phytochemicals in olive oil, many of which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in the body, helping to promote heart health and protect against cancer. They’re also found in the olives themselves, of course.
6. Fish
   Fish offers heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, along with a dose of potassium. It’s also a rare natural food source of vitamin D. A recent Norwegian study found that the intake of fish and fish products was strongly linked to higher mental performance in a group of men and women aged 70-74. And because lean fish had the same health benefits as fatty fish in this study, it may not be just the omega-3s at work, but perhaps a combination of components found in fish. Fish omega-3s may also have some synergy with plant omega-3s and olive oil, so cook your seafood with a little canola oil or olive oil. Or, serve your seafood with a side dish rich in plant omega-3s or lightly dressed in olive oil.
7. Tomatoes
   Tomatoes contain all four major carotenoids, which have synergy as a group. Few fruits and vegetables can say that! Tomatoes also contain three high-powered antioxidants thought to have synergy together (beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C) as well as lycopene, which has synergy with several food components.
8. Citrus
   The whole citrus family is loaded with synergy because it boasts plenty of vitamin C and the phytochemical subgroup flavones, which are thought to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in the body, as well as other benefits. Oranges also offer two carotenoids: lutein and zeaxanthin. Grapefruits are rich in the antioxidant lycopene.
9. Flaxseed
   Ground flaxseed seems to have synergy within itself on many levels, through fiber, lignans (plant estrogens), and plant omega-3s. But the seed may have synergy with several other foods, such as fish omega-3s and soy, and these are just the ones we know about. Remember, it’s ground flaxseed you want to add to your yogurt or cereal. All those healthy components aren’t absorbed and available to the body until the seed is ground.
10. Low-Fat Dairy
    Dairy foods deliver a team of players that’s important for healthy bones (calcium, vitamin D, protein, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamins A and B6), some of which have synergy together. Calcium combined with vitamin D, for example, may reduce the risk of colon cancer. Including a couple of low-fat dairy servings a day is also part of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet to lower hypertension.

So, I’m not on any specific diet plan at the moment, but I am eating a lot healthier. I’m looking at this time as my pre-dieting phase. I’m getting myself reacquainted with the taste of healthy foods, and weaning myself off the junk…at the same time, not putting a lot of pressure on myself. I know I will have to eventually go on an actual (calorie counting) diet if I am going to have any chance of losing the over 40 pounds I need to lose. But until then, I think I’m making positive changes in my eating habits, that will hopefully help me develop the willpower to stick to an actual diet in the near future.

The one thing that’s nice about trying to lose weight while blogging is – You never feel alone.

*Catherine is the mother of two teenagers, she writes about health & wellness at BlogHer and catherine-morgan.com.

My participation in the Choose You program came from the instigation and inspiration of my son Daniel, who’s been studying abroad in South America for the last semester.

As any parent can imagine, I’m beyond ecstatic that he arrived back in the US this weekend after being gone for 6 months.

He’s been keeping tabs on my progress long distance—but I thought I’d give a an official status report on his  feedback since he’s been home.

Time elasped since he’s been back on American soil:  36 hours.   Surprisingly he’s been awake for most of them.

Time elapsed before he asked whether I’ve kept up with a serious cardio program: 4 hours

(By the way, the answer was “no”.)

Number of meals we’ve eaten together since he’s been home: 6

Number of times he’s reminded me before, during or after those meals to eat less sugar–0

It’s not that he’s changed;  I have.

Without even realizing it’s happened, over the past few months I’ve developed some new habits—-healthy ones—-and have managed to drastically limit my consumption of sugar.  Even chocolate.

I’m not aware if I’ve affected the sales figures of Sees Chocolate for the last quarter.    This shift happened so gradually and organically I’ve barely noticed.    It took Daniel’s journey home for me to realize that my Choose You journey is well under way.

“You know ‘we’ get skin cancer too.”

The above quote was one of the latest ones shared by my grandmother. I was one of my first visits to see her after several weekends of doing any and everything in the sun. She hugged me and said, “You’re getting awfully brown out there.” She was definitely right…You see, I am a summertime sun junkie.

Bringing us to the next part of the conversation. My Granny turned to me and said, “I know you better be wearing sunscreen. I always wear it because I do not want any cancer. You know ‘we’ get skin cancer too.” My eyes shifted and I stammered a bit because I knew what she was saying and agreed but wasn’t acting like it. Unless I plan to be outside for more than 5 hours and/or it’s a 90+ degree day, I don’t use sunscreen.

While statistics show that melanoma is 10 times more common in whites than in African Americans, that doesn’t mean that I should behave like I’m exempt from this condition.  So, I promised my Granny that I would start breaking out the sunscreen and giving my body a break now and then from the sun exposure. To help me with this process, I’ve purchased lotions and face moisturizers that contain sunscreen so that I don’t have an added step, especially on a daily basis.

Tomorrow night is my Granny’s birthday dinner and I’m super sure that she will be asking me about the sunscreen and sun issue. Luckily, I will be able to tell her that I’m getting smarter about protecting my skin and my health. And, I think that is one of the best birthday gifts that I could ever give her.

My eight year old has a guide to good health. She says, “People who are healthy live a long life.”

Being healthy, making healthy choices aka Choosing You, according to her means:

• exercise
• eat healthy foods such as vegetables and fruit
• taking care of your body such as washing hands, brushing teeth, taking baths, and putting on lotion
• wear sunblock so you don’t get sunburned
• go to sleep on time so you don’t wake up in the morning all cranky and tired

That’s it, she says, the golden ticket to being healthy.

Grown-ups make it more complicated, she said, “I’m only eight, I don’t know everything about being healthy.”

But she does, apparently. She said all of this to me as she skipped out the door to go swimming, after a day of running around. She ate pot roast and vegetables for dinner, slept well last night, and woke up with energy this morning.

Granted, she is young, and young is often/usually/almost always the very best health tonic. And when you’re young and feeling good, it’s so easy to do the right health thing, or at least not suffer such harsh consequences if you don’t. So maybe the very hardest part of Choosing You is accepting the bygones of youth. So maybe the very hardest part is realizing you can’t just get away with it all anymore, and this means to keep up with what you once did means making really good health choices.

I’m not above admitting feeling a little resentful about that. I used to be able to get away with a lot. I miss that. I miss being skinny without trying, eating anything I wanted. These days the old adage “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips” is suddenly, painfully too true. I miss laying down in bed and going to sleep, only to awaken, refreshed, with the sun. These days it takes a lot to calm my mind, and hormone shifts disrupt my sleep.

But feeling good is worth it to me. So maybe in this case, the mother learns from the child, who learned from the mother, who needs to follow her own lessons. It’s that important to me for my child, so it must be that important for me.