A Collection of Thoughts

Feel Better Friday - Week One

If you are just joining in maybe pop back a post and read the intro to this new series I am introducing for the next ten weeks.

Everyone else -welcome :) I'm excited you are here.

You all know I love a good disclaimer - I'm not expert I am just going to share what's working for me and some interesting things that I have read and if something reasonates with you - even better :)

One of the most difficult parts of being in treatment is food- especially for us as we are a real foodie family. We love to cook and meals are an important part of our family celebrations.  Now I'm in a situation where some days I can eat other days I can't. Food tastes weird and smells weird. I went through stages of eating mostly white stuff - potatoes 2 minute noodles and drinking litres of milk. I knew it wasn't good but at that point it was all I could do. As part of my treatment my oncologist won't allow me to take any supplements - so all my vitamins have to come from food. It's no wonder I was feeling so bad.

I knew I would start to feel better if I started to eat better - but where to begin???

There's sugar free, dairy free, gluten free, low gi,  no carbs  - it's really overwhelming. Don't even get me started on the cancer fighting food lists. I really didn't know where to start to make some changes.

All I knew was that I wanted to eat more nutritiously and in turn hope that it would have a positive effect on how I felt.

So I decided on the MOST simple course of action.

Eat more unprocessed fresh whole foods than not

and be aware of how much I was or wasn't eating. 

The not eating thing used to happen before I was in treatment too- You know how you rush all day and then realise you haven't had anything to eat? So you grab a sticky bun ? Muffin?  Grande Coffee???

I attended a nutrition talk at my local gym and there were two key things that stuck in my head

• 80% focus on nutrition and 20% focus on exercise

• divide your day into waking hours and split it into 5 or 6 and that's when you need to eat - every few hours.  3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks.

They suggested that we keep a food diary ( I know something else to do aggghh) and I went home thinking so not doing that I know what I'm eating.

but then I had a little google and stumbled upon an app for my phone called My fitness pal. It allows you to keep track what you eat. It's seriously awesome. - AND FREE

I have it on my iphone and my sister has the android version - or you can just use it online so you don't need a phone.

It even allows you to scan the barcode and automatically adds things for you.

You can see at a glance whether you are getting your recommended daily intake of vitamins protein etc etc.

 So good.

I am so much more conscious of what I'm eating now because I pop it into the app and can see at the end of the day what I have had - I keep notes too as whether I'm  more tired or not nauseous etc etc. I've already found on the days that I don't have a decent breakfast by mid morning I'm fuzzier.

You can also add the exercise you do. It's just a neat simple tool that you can use for your own goals.

There are lots of reviews about it but here is one that explains quite well how it works - including the scanner part ( which I love! )

It helps me make better choices and most importantly makes me more aware.

I am loving this yogurt - It's rich and creamy and tastes so good. There are two low fat options - mango and strawberry - Or there is a really delicious Vanilla bean (which is not low fat but really good).  The website is here if you would like to read up.

This has become a favourite snack / dessert.  Blueberries and scoop of yogurt and a handful of crushed up almonds.

 

Can you make your body do this ? I can JUST -  I started yesterday.  I did it for 20 secs. I counted  1 crocodile 2 crocodile  all the way to 20 and then I feel down in a big heap.

Apparently if you do it every day you get better at it -and it's supposed to be way better than tummy crunches. It works your core and you should aim to do it for one minute. I know I can find 1 minute a day to give it a go - I'll be interested to see how much better I am at it by the end of the week.

You can tweet about it if you like too- there is a whole #plankaday movement :)  You can read about it too if you like.

I blogged about these fun waterbottles last week - bobble bottles for filtered water.  The other big thing that I have been making sure I do is get in my three litres of water a day -  It's a lot but I also track it on my app and on the days that I don't have my three bottles they are the days I suffer more from headaches. Having a cute water bottle makes it more fun for sure and makes me more conscious of having had my recommended intake.

 

 

Okay so just a little recap if you'd like to give it a try -

1. Start thinking about what you are or aren't eating .... maybe use an app or food diary to be more aware- even just for a day or so.

2. Grab a water bottle and get your water intake up a bit

3. Plank a day - start where you can and see after a week if you are better at it

4. Swap out an ice cream dessert or sugary cereal breakkie for some organic yoghurt and fruit and a handful of almonds twice this week.

via pinterest.com

Next Week's Topics - Yummy Breakfasts, White Tea and Setting Reminders.

Preview to Feel Better Friday

Just over a month ago I wrote about feeling lost without a purpose. Mentally I was struggling with the whole drain that comes with treatment and physically I was finding the day to day stuff really difficult.

I decided that I couldn't keep going the way I had been - I recognised that it wasn't good for me and it wasn't good for my family either. So I spent a heap of time reading a myriad of articles to see what could I do to make myself feel better.

I'm really really really happy to say that I have found some answers. So what has changed? Not much in the sense that I'm still undergoing the same routine of weekly  chemo - physically it's still challenging all the joyous side effects and heavy fog still exists BUT I have made some changes to how I go through each day and they are simple things that have made a real difference.

I have received so many emails and comments from people sharing their own stories of challenges - some of them are cancer related, others are health related, spiritual lostness and just the hard work that everyday life can be.

 It reminds me of this quote by Plato

via pinterest.com

This is so true. Just when you think you have it tough you meet or hear someone else who is doing it far worse and it gives you perspective. I think its safe to say that no one these days has an easy walk through life. That's not to say that our own lifes challenges need to be something huge  - it's the everyday stuff that I think makes some days harder than others and makes us feel less than at our best. I do get upset when I   my friends say oh it's nothing compared to what you are doing - I want you to know I want to hear what's going on with people.

Many of you who read here daily are of a similar age and stage in your life as I am. 40 ish with school age children. I know some of you aren't, but a survey I ran some time back popped most of you in a similar demographic to me. Busy, crafty, family orientated wanting the most out of life, inspired others. Even before before breast cancer I struggled with life balance and feeling good on many days.

What does this all mean?

You are all invited to join me while I finalise my treatment to work together to feel better. For the next ten Fridays ( yes just ten weeks to go! )  I am going to post a Feel Better Friday entry and share with you the ways I have found to make myself feel better.

I'll challenge you to give one or two a go each week and see what works for you - come back and tell me. Keep it in your routine or ditch it and then see what the next week has to offer :)

I'll share articles I have found to read that make me think,  yummy healthy recipes of everyday meals I am making for my family, ideas to make days go smoother, simple ways to incorporate exercise - (seriously the first week takes one minute a day - we can all find one minute) and general feel good stuff.

What I can guarantee you is that nothing I write will be hard or time consuming  - we are all super busy but I know for me that I want to feel better and I would love to share with you what I have been learning and what is working. Selfishly I want to gain my own sense of purpose - it's something that is very important to me.  So thank you for reading and allowing me to do this. I feel renewed.

I'll see you tomorrow with the first week - It's a long one so plan a nice cup of something to have while you read. Oh and why Friday ? Because it's the day I feel the worst and it's a great time of the week - end of school/work gives you a chance to think over the weekend and decide if you are going to give it ago and maybe, just maybe, feel better :)

I do hope you will.