Welcome and thank you stopping by. I have just recently started a podcast to correspond with this blog, so you can consume the information in the way that is best for you.
You can find my Podcast on the following services:
Apple Podcast, Spotify Podcast, Google Podcast and RSS Feed.
You might be wondering, why all this interest in diet? Well, I am on a journey. A journey to try and reclaim my health. I found that if I put it out to the world for all to see, it holds me more accountable. So, this is my journey.
In 2019, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage III Metastatic Triple Negative Cancer. I didn’t even find it, my cat did. The diagnosis was a shock. No one in my family had ever had a history of breast cancer. Where did this come from? Why me?
The doctors told me this was an extremely aggressive cancer. I was thrust into the conventional therapy wormhole. I was given multiple chemotherapies, radiation, and surgeries, but fell short, and could not finish either therapy due to complications. This was before I knew about a plant-based diet, and the effects it can have in assisting cancer patients overcome their disease. It didn’t matter, I didn’t want to eat anyway, not even with all the steroids.
By the grace of God, I am still here to write this blog and I don’t know how. There were ten women I met when with my diagnosis of TNBC. Some had lower stages than I, and some were bouncing from trial to trial due to their Stage IV diagnosis.
All the women have passed within about a year and a half except me. So, I am currently trying to educate myself on transitioning to a plant-based diet to see if I can overcome some of my health hurdles. I have found Dr. Kristie Funk MD on YouTube via Physician’s Committee for Response Medicine (or PCRM.org), and have gotten a lot of information from her and the channel. So, she, along with the others I have listed in my resource page on this blog, has helped me in my quest to further educate myself on diet and exercise.
I will say that chemo and radiation are the gifts that keep giving. For any of you who have gone through it, you will understand what I am saying without any explanation. All cancer therapies come with great costs, some more than others. When I say costs, I am speaking of financial costs and health costs. The drugs that save your life, can eventually kill you. They are not without risks.
When I was diagnosed, my cancer had already metastasized to my nodes. I had a tumor in my axillary region (under my arm), that was larger than most women’s tumor in their breasts. The primary tumor in my breast was large. Triple Negative is the second most aggressive breast cancer, taking a back seat only to Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
When I was in chemo, I would talk to the other people next to me and I would always ask what kind of cancer they had. They would return the question, and I would say Triple Negative Breast Cancer ( or TNBC), the next words out of their mouth were always the same, “I’m so sorry.” That wasn’t a warm feeling. I felt like I had a death sentence and everyone knew it but me.
All the other women I was there with that had Triple Negative, did not make it. They all passed within a year or two. So, I feel a bit guilty that I am still here. For some reason, God didn’t think it was my time, I still have work to do.
Triple-negative is a disease that likes to return quickly and when it does, it is always at Stage IV and has metastasized to all organs, brain, and bones before they find it. I would call that, a point of no return.
The therapies after that are, in my opinion, for the forward movement of science and science only. At this point, they are throwing every drug and trial at you that your body can stand. I am not sure if there is a TNBC Stage IV survivor in this world. I am going to have to do a bit of research. I am sure there might be, but very few.
For those that have more troubling diagnoses’, I am just wondering if conventional oncologists would use strict vegan diets along with conventional therapies if the survival outcomes would be greater? But then, will they ever do that due to cancer and their therapies, being “big cash cows” and financially huge for the doctors, facilities, and big pharma? That is food for thought.
We all hear of those stories of curing cancer and beating it back in submission. First of all, you never “cure” cancer. Cancer is living in our bodies all the time. It is just activated into a disease state when our bodies can no longer fight and the cancer replicates or divides faster than our cells can. Then we lose all hope of keeping it under control.
Second, I truly believe if I had refused the conventional therapies at my current disease state, and attempted a “diet only” approach, I would be dead within six months. When I came out of my fog after the diagnosis, I asked my oncologist, if I didn’t do anything, how much time would I have. He came back with “6 to 8 months, hard to say really.”
I believe that there are certain times when we have to intervene with conventional therapies, and then follow with a diet to achieve a successful outcome. I also believe that each human being is different, and what might work for one, doesn’t work for all.
You and I have much different meanings of the word “success”, than the doctors. For instance, success to us, is a cure, and we get to live. Success to a doctor is an extension of the patient’s life of 3-6 months beyond what the patient would have without any treatment.
There were a lot of things I wish I had known before going into my journey with breast cancer. I had a lot of sleepless nights on all the steroids and in pain, so I tried to put my time to good use. I wrote, and self-published Your Journey Through Breast Cancer, What You Don’t Know, Can Hurt You. In case you or your loved one have recently received a diagnosis, it will help you navigate the storm.
I have also created a matching corresponding lined blank writing Journal, to accompany the book. One of the things that got me through this difficult journey was journaling. It was a lifesaver.
Regardless of your lot in life, the nutrition you choose to put in your body, is the key to your health, whether you are battling diseases or not, “you are what you eat!”
Welcome to my journey.
Alicia
Disclaimer
The following article contains affiliate partner links. I could earn a small commission, at no cost to you, for any qualifying purchases.
This blog is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The information contained within this blog is not intended to diagnose or cure any medical condition. I am not a physician, licensed dietician or physical therapist. This blog is the result of my personal experiences and what I chose to do for a healthier lifestyle. As always, before you begin a diet, exercise program or add supplements, please consult your healthcare professional.
With the holiday’s almost behind us, and large quantities of food and beverage consumed, everyone is thinking about those pending New Year’s Resolutions. After all, they are just around the corner.
How do you even make a resolution and set yourself up for success? Well, here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.
First, you must find a quiet moment and sit down with a piece of paper and pen. Take a serious inventory of your life in the areas areas that are important to you (feel free to add other areas if you wish).
Work
Finances
Spiritual
Health
Family
Friends
Relationship
Next, in each of those areas, and list how happy you are on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least happy and 10 being the most happy). Look at your numbers. Are the results where you want them to be, or is there room for improvement? Be honest, this is the only way it will work!
Then take a look at those that are low scoring or which areas might be most pressing for you. Maybe your health is catapulted to # 1 because you just had a heart attack, or diagnosis of cancer. Maybe your marriage is heading for divorce. Next, ask yourself what are three to five things you can do to help you reach your goals for the end of the year. Write those down under each category. Remember, this is your inventory not others in your life.
Also, you need to write down realistic goals for each category you choose. Please do not say that you want to loose 100 pounds in six months. While that is a lofty goal and something you might want to achieve, is that really healthy? Keep this simple.
Keep in mind what you want the end result to be. Maybe you want to loss thirty pounds, or reduce your debt by $5,000 dollars. Maybe you would like to find a relationship, or say goodbye to one that is not working. How about doing nightly readings on scripture or watching motivational channels on YouTube? How about vowing to increase your exercise by 4 times a week for just 30 minutes. These are all small changes that can greatly impact your goals in the right direction over the course of the next 12 months, and have a positive effect on your outlook on life, as well as your mood.
Getting buy in
Now that you have your category list and three to five things in each category to help you reach your goals, you need buy in from friends and family. This is where you have those frank conversations, and ask for a little support.
Maybe it’s telling your friends or coworkers, that on your girl’s night out, you will be abstaining from alcohol. Instead of ordering that glass of wine or margarita, you can choose to replace it with a virgin margarita, virgin Bloody Mary, or even water. They need to support you and not give you grief. If it becomes a big issue time and again, maybe you need to take a step back from that friend(s) or family member for a while.
Remember, this is your life and you are choosing to improve it, by making these small changes, you are helping redirect the outcome. If they cannot support your goals, well then, I think you have your answer. You don’t need to be around toxic people when you are trying to inject positive changes in your life.
Blocking time for your resolutions
It is important that you look at your schedule and add small blocks of time during the week for the things you need to do (say 15-30 mins). This will help you keep on track. If you want to get four walks in a week, then add those thirty minute blocks to your schedule and try to stick to them. Understand that life happens, and we all get off track. The important thing is that we don’t stay there. The next day, get back on that horse!
Small blocks work best, say under 30 minutes. If you try and block hours at a time, you most likely will not do well at achieving your goals. After all, we all have responsibilities, but make sure you are making a bit of time for you and those things that are important to you.
Some things you can do to increase the joy in your life
Journaling
Gardening
Woodworking
Reading
Meditation
Walking
Biking
Swimming
Prepping meals/cooking
Writing
Listening to music
Playing an instrument
Playing with your pet or children
Church
Volunteering
Learning a new language/software program or instrument
Birdwatching
Hiking
Take a relaxing bath and practice some deep breathing
Yoga
The list is endless. We are all unique and have different thing we like to do, but keep in mind your goals, and make sure you are moving in the direction of those goals.
Happy New Year and may all your goals be achieved!
What is your why? Let’s take a look. Grab a journal and let’s get started. I am going to ask you to take a serious inventory of what you eat on a daily/weekly basis. Write everything down. Don’t worry, this is only an initial exercise for the first week. You will not have to log your intake past this point unless you want to. The one thing is you will need to be is totally honest with yourself or this will not work. I want every stick of gum logged.
I am going to write a scenario and I want you to see if you recognize any of these hamster wheel behaviors.
The routine
You wake after a not so good night’s sleep. You’re already tired. You put on the coffee while you take a shower. You have a cup of coffee while getting ready for work. You head out the door and swing into either you neighborhood Starbucks or fast-food drive-thru. You grab a Frappuccino and a morning combo meal. As you are sitting in traffic you consume both.
When you get to the office you have another coffee/soda before you head to a meeting. Everything is gone off the rails at work, and now you and your team are in crisis mode. Your stress level just increased even more. You head to the vending machine for a RedBull/Soda. You are hungry, so you grab a candy bar or chips too.
At lunch, you drive thru another fast-food line and get another combo meal with a soda or head to a restaurant. You down that and get on with your day.
Around 3:00 pm, you feel like your tank is running on empty, so you grab another soda/coffee/RedBull, and some more goodies from the vending machine.
You’re heading home from work and traffic is terrible. While you are sitting in traffic, you think to yourself, “There has to be more to life than this.” Once you get home, you are so tired, you just want to order DoorDash or a Pizza and call it a night.
You get in bed on your cell phones or tablets. You can’t sleep well for thinking about life’s little problems, like living paycheck to paycheck (or hand to mouth). You are worried about how you are going to pay for those mounting student loans, medical debt or credit cards. Each of those are big green monsters living under your bed. You get up sometime during the night and grab whatever you can find and begin stress eating. Maybe it’s cookies and milk, chips or something else. By the time you stop, half the bag is gone.
You go back to bed and finally fall asleep around 2 or 3 am. When your alarm goes off, you wake so tired and unrested, you head for the coffee pot, get in the shower and rinse and repeat the day. This is your life. This is a hamster wheel that I cannot seem to get off. This is a freight train that is about to hit a wall going 80 mph. How do I stop the madness? Does any of this resonate with you?
The outcome
Now, let’s say you logged your food and beverage intake for the entire week. Looking back on what you logged, what nutrients do you think you actually ingested? Nutrients that fuel your body so it can repair itself, and provide you with the daily requirements to make sure everything is working properly? Most likely, not many. In fact, wouldn’t you say that you did more harm than good with the high-fat, highly processed, sugary and sodium bombs you consumed that were layer is caffeine? Ask yourself, how is your body supposed to recover from that, day after day, year after year. At some point, it just cannot.
You body screams for help and breaks down. This is when diseased starts to occur. Things like high blood-pressure, diabetes, depression, GI issues, sleep apnea, heart, vascular, cancer and autoimmune. They mount one after one and you cannot see to get off the disease freight train.
You have now added more medication, procedures and diagnosis’ to your life. This means more missed work time, and expensive dangerous medications the doctor tells you that you will take for the rest of your life.
Remember those CDC stats I mentioned? Almost 75% of Americans are obese or overweight. As well as 50% of Americans have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and are on medication. There are now twelve year old children are being diagnosed and put on medication for high blood pressure. What do you think their future holds? After all, we most likely began our journey in our thirty’s or forty’s and they are starting at pre-teen ages! If case you missed the stats, here is a link..
Welcome to your WHY! Why, you should want to change these habits and create a better plan for what you give your body. Our body is like a temple, and this is how we treat it. We only get one, and it’s not too late to change your course. I don’t care how old you are. Change starts with you and only you. Let’s turn this train around!
When starting a journey like this, information is key to success. Think of information as your armor, as you are heading off to battle. The more you know, the more prepared and hopefully successful you might be. I use a book called, the world’s healthiest foods, by George Mateljan.
I purchased this book in 1995, and it is still my go to today. It is the most comprehensive nutrition book I have ever seen. I will put a picture of the book below. There are other versions, but I have the oldest version and it has served me well, and continues to serve me well to this day. This book is pricey at about $70 on Amazon, so if you do not have the money, do not worry. If you have access to the internet, then you can search for information on the web. You will just have to navigate a bit more.
In this book you will find a plethora of information at your fingertips. I cannot say enough about this book. I call it my food bible. This book is packed with information and also recipes. It tells you how to choose, prep and store all the food. It also gives you all the nutritional information from nutritional density, micros and macros. The keys to any success are knowledge, determination and hard work.
Honorable Mentions
In my personal journey, I will be choosing more of a Whole Food Plant Based diet. Some of my go to sites are the following:
Anything with Neal Barnard, MD on YouTube.
Exam Room Podcast with Chuck Carroll (YouTube) here is a sample:
Physican’s Committee www.pcrm.org
I consume a lot of YouTube content on health.
If you are leaning more towards Keto, then Thomas DeLauer, has a good channel. Especially check out his Mediterranean Keto Diet for beginners:
With technology like YouTube and podcasts available at our fingertips, there is a great deal of helpful information out there. You don’t have to dedicate time to watch or listen, just put it on while you prep or cook your meal. You can download a podcast and listen as you go for your walk. You don’t have to stare at a screen to get the information.
Diets can be confusing, so which one do you pick? Which diet is right for you, and which diet should you focus on to help you reach your wellness goals? This is the million dollar question.
Types of popular diets
If you have tried to diet in the past, then you know how confusing it can be to choose a diet that you can stick to. In my opinion, the diets that have standed the test of time, usually fall in one the three categories, The Mediterranean, Keto or Whole Food Plant Based. These or some rendition of these, have held the most success. Those are the heavy hitters that most are using today.
There are other honorable mentions like Whole 30, Noom, Weight Watchers, South Beach, and Atkins. It has always concerned me with the “pay to play” diets like Weight Watchers and Noom. However, I know a great deal of people that have successfully lost weight on those diets.
The big three
The Mediterranean Diet – This is a diet that is region specific to the Mediterranean area. It consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, dairy and whole grains. You are allowed small amounts of wine/alcohol on this diet. It is probably one of the easiest diets to turn into a lifestyle change. It is about healthy eating and reducing most processed foods.
The Keto Diet – This diet has been around for years and was originally used in the treatment with children with uncontrollable epilepsy. In recent years, this diet has become a major player in the game of creative marketing. This diet focuses on high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate intake. No alcohol is allowed since alcohol is high in carbs. The whole premise of this diet is to throw your body into a state of ketosis, where you cells are breaking down fat to burn instead of carbs.
The Whole Food Plant Based Diet (or WFPB)– This diet has really caught attention the past decade, due to the state of health this country. This diet emphasizes only plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, while eliminating all meat, dairy, seafood and highly processed foods and snacks. Some extreme versions even remove oils and avocados. You can have small amounts of wine/alcohol on this diet if you choose, but it is not suggested during your first weeks of the program.
My personal successes
I can personally speak for a clean Keto, which I lost 35 pounds in ninety days with no exercise. I was concerned with the hit my lipid profile took, and what it was doing to my cardiovascular system, so I stopped.
I then recently found the WFPB diet. At the time, I really didn’t think I could do it. I was always a meat and potatoes girl, and hit dairy really hard. I was always down for full butter, sour cream, milk, cream and I never met a cheese I didn’t like. When I began my personally journey within the last eight months, I lost another 35 pounds. That is huge for a woman over 50, again without any exercise.
I urge you to do the research
When I began having health issues again, I consumed all the information I could on YouTube and Pubmed, I could find. I found studies of the OG of vegan such as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and his reversal of a fully blocked artery with only a WFPB diet, no surgery. Dr. Campbell and The China Study, Dr. Michael Greger and more recent, Dr. Neal Bernard.
My personal story
My life depended on me being successful on this diet, literally. So, I purged my entire kitchen in one day, and gave boxes of food and meat away. Rearranged everything in my pantry. Loaded up on containers and meal preps with lids. Then I went to the store.
I cut out wine, diary, sugar, meat, fish, bread, sodas and anything processed, and I did it overnight. I hit it hard, and it hit me back. I felt like I had the flu for three days. The withdrawals were big, but my “why” was bigger!
My why
I had just been by my cardiologist, when I was going through my breast cancer treatment, the chemo and radiation damaged my heart and I was now in the beginning stages of heart failure. All I could think about was me making it through Stage III, Triple Negative Breast Cancer only to come out the other end with heart failure. I was too young for this. Life was being cruel.
I was given four very new and very expensive medications. I took one home and just stared at it. I began reading the side effects and researching the drug. To say, I am not a fan of medication, is putting it mildly. Probably because I have always had to take so much through my lifetime. So, I decided that food was going to be my medicine (or at least my first line of defense). I was holding on the medications, until I knew I had not other option.
I am in no way telling you to forgo a medical treatment. You should speak with your healthcare provider. This was a personal decision that I was making for myself.
Prior to my diagnosis of heart failure, I was having to return to the chemo center for Iron Therapy Infusions. I had eight weeks of the infusions to help bring up my red blood cell count. It didn’t bring my numbers up as much as I hoped it would. I thought I was going to have to be very careful going on an all plant-based diet. I believed my iron, pallets, red blood cells and B-12 were all going to tank, more so than they already were.
Much to my surprise, after 90 days on the diet, all of my blood work came back better that it had been in decades. I was elated and baffled at the same time. I didn’t understand this. Plants don’t have B-12 or heme-iron. How could this even be possible?
Shortly after this, life happened again, and I lost my job. I was thrown for a loop and I spiraled downward. I began reaching for those familiar comfort foods. I started drinking wine, eating cheese, meat and dairy and the weight came back on, as fast as it had gone. So, now here I am, back at my starting point. I am going to have to commit and go full steam ahead back into the WFPB diet. Only this time, I cannot flex out for any reason.
Which diet is right for you?
So, which diet is right for you? Only you can answer that, but before you do, please take this to heart. Before going on any diet or exercise program, you will need to talk to your healthcare provider and get approval for any diet or exercise program. If you get the green light, then it would be best to get some baseline blood work drawn at this time. This will give you an indication of your current state of health, and give you a benchmark for your goals going forward. After all, food is medicine and nutrition is health!
Congrats! You have now taken your first step in your journey to achieve better health and a better life!
Welcome to my blog. My name is Alicia. After successfully losing 35 pounds on a whole food plant based diet, I decided to “flex” out of my diet for my birthday. My sister wanted to cook for me. It is just easier sometimes to flex for a night or weekend, instead of trying to levy a restrictive diet on someone who doesn’t understand. So, I flexed.
Then the unthinkable happened. A little thing called life, reared it ugly head and I lost my job. The stress sent me straight to my comfort foods of diary, processed foods, cheese and wine. The weight has returned and I feel horrible.
I know what caused it, but I could not seem to stop. Why, because it is a habit. Like when you have had a stressful day at work and you come home and have that one drink just to take the edge off. Pretty soon, that one drink has turned into two, and maybe three. It gets so entrenched in your habits, the drink is in hand shortly after you enter the door. Habits, they can be difficult to break.
Maybe you go through your favorite coffee establishment or fast food each morning. A combo meal at lunch, or happy hour with friends. It’s all the same. It could be a huge bowl of ice cream or six energy drinks/coffee in a day. The effects these have to our health is outrageous.
I decided to create this blog, because I do so much better when I hold myself accountable. Putting my story out there, for even the possibility of one person seeing it, gives me that added drive I need to succeed.
This blog is a work-in-progress, and hopefully will be taking shape in the near future with content that can help you reach any goals you might have.
Thank you for stopping by, and please come back for updated content.
