food log- let's get specific

paige-allyson

Oops- it wasn't supposed to be that big!

Here's the dal- a little more normal sized.

I am working on my technology skills, making lots of progress this week.

Have a wonderful everyone! Keep up the good work! Allyson

TenderIsOurMight

Oh,, Allyson, it looks so delicious. You are clearly a cook!



Here goes:



breakfast: cooked oats with blueberries, 1/2 cup less strongly brewed Java!



lunch: slice of ww bread, lowfat cheese, one cooked beet, and apple



mid afternoon: one green tea



dinner: one low fat yogurt with probiotic, one glass V8, bunch of walnuts



Well, have a great weekend.



tender

dash

Well, you girls are quickly becoming my inspiration to get back to my healthy eating and exercising habits. I don't dare face this website without some healthy things to report! I love the idea of goal setting. My husband and I are signing up for ballroom dancing so I'm looking forward to that.

Aches and pains are almost gone! Thanks for your kind words.

Yesterday, I walked 1 and a 1/2 miles with Dash and then pulled out my new Denise Austin dvd(free from Naturemade vitamins when you purchase their products and register on their site) Anyhow I did that for 20 minutes and then again this morning. Hey it's a start! I'm so tired but I think the more I can exercise, the more energy I'll have. 

Love the pictures of food. LOL I do like taking pictures of food but I always think--who the heck could I show them to? Your meals look so yummy, Allyson! 

I just read a diet and health guideline that suggested 5 cups of vegetables a day is the number to shoot for.  

Yesterday-

breakfast--

plain low fat yogurt with  1/2 banana, wheat germ, coconut, flax, walnuts and buckwheat honey

Coffee

lunch--

lentil soup with yogurt

slice of cranberry nut bread

Dinner

vegetable sushi rolls with pickled ginger

dark chocolate 

snacks

frozen green beans

slices of good hard parmesan cheese 

Today--

Breakfast 

wheat germ and wheat swedish pancakes(2) with lingonberry sauce and yogurt

coffee

green drink with orange juice 

Lunch 

Eggplant, garlic with feta cheese and sardines

sweet potato

tiny piece of dark chocolate

Dinner 

Ugggg--my brother brought over pizza--my favorite kind 

Snack 

tea 

Here's my little love--

AnneW

I think the longest I ever kept a food diary was about 5 days. And I recorded everything, right down to the last Jolly Rancher. The eye-opener for me was not the calories, but the minimal protein.

I've made a concerted effort to up my protein, especially since I do a lot of activity that requires muscle strength (weights, climbing, cycling.) One of my favorite things to do is add a large scoop of whey protein to my cereal or to a smoothie at breakfast. And have tuna at lunch. Supper protein is usually no problem, as we are carnivores and generally have grilled meat with a salad.

When I'm good about protein, I don't crave the simple sugars, and my blood sugar is way more stable.

I've since given up on food logs, but I do log my physical activity now. At least for the past 3 weeks--a record for me, the procrastinator!

Anne

paige-allyson

Hi Anne- For some reason over the years I have become semi-hooked on keeping a food diary. However, my first love was keeping a running log. I am just starting to run again after a pretty long stretch of one injury after another prior to the bc dx. It appears that one of the benefits of having decreased energy with surgery, chemo, rads, is that I was less active- walked and occasionally biked- and this seemed to have allowed my knee to recover. I am being REALLY REALLY careful to start slow. I'm just back from a 30 min walk/run- no pain!

The food logging is good for me right now- my big thing is keeping tabs on the fruits and vegs and it gives me comfort to look at the log and see that I'm eating a lot of them.

Climbing those mountains pictured in the avatar background must be a great workout! Allyson

paige-allyson

Bay- your pup is gorgeous- love the photo. Re: the food pics- you could always show them to me- I love pictures of food (obviously). The things you eat sound great too- absolutely my style of eating- unusual for me to meet a kindred spirit when it comes to food besides my daughter. Everytime I see "cranberry bread" in your log it reminds me that I want to make some- keep putting it off/not having time. Mine will be a sweetish one though- not yeasted. Perhaps I'll even take a picture of it.

Re: your comment on fearing to show up here without healthy things to report. I think this may be a fear shared by others.

LISTEN EVERYONE OUT THERE- PLEASE DO NOT HIDE BECAUSE YOU ARE STILL WORKING YOUR WAY UP TO 5 VEGGIES (or wha

tever your goal is) A DAY- THE GOAL OF THIS THREAD IS TO SET GOALS AND SUPPORT/ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER IN ACHIEVING THEM. We are friendly and we will not judge you. There....hope that helps! I'll log what I ate today later or in the morning- gotta go chop my nightly mountain of vegetables. Allyson

mkl48

allyson,

I wonder what your reponses are to the the various listings of the phytoestrogen content in foods. Garlic has more estrogenic potential than I ever thought,

http://www.herbalchem.net/Introductory.htm  This site has good information even though the title is suspect.  

This is another  interesting site.  http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/phytoestrogen.php

TenderIsOurMight

Hi ladies,



Well last night DH and I joined friends downtown for dining. Oh yum...So the usual for the breakfast (nothing new), and yogurt/V8 for lunch and then dinner: Bibb lettuce salad with walnuts/orange, broiled rockfish with mashed parsnips, broccolini tips. Skipped the bread, drank sparkling water, but yielded to the chocolate pecan mouse which was small and not overly sweet and enjoyed with green tea.



This morning I was on the trotter for 2 some miles undoing some it! But most enjoyable.



AnneW: I get tremendous sugar swings and hate the feeling, so tend to do more protein too. And I do find this lessons sugar cravings. Family hasn't seen a pie or cake in months ala Mom. Also, I wish to look into Insulin Growth Factors and high glycemic foods. Has anyone read anything about this? Breast cancer patient's do best with low IGF, and I believe I read dietary milk and cheese elevate them.



AllysonW: Your food looks so delectable. Wow. Yum, yum, keep posting the lovely pictures.



Kmb50: I have modified my diet since learning how ubiquitous the phytoestrogens are. Just simply though, lightened up on my a.m. coffee, gave up seseme seed, talked with DH about garlic (although we eat lighter at night in general, with him being encouraged to have his main meal at lunch), am avoiding peanut butter but will use it as a "treat" (high in protein too), and sought out soy less bread. Just these steps I hope will help....



Amazing isn't it? I wonder if our health care specialists realize how hard we try....



Tender

mkl48

Tender,

I wonder why these questions have not been studied to a point of reccomendation. There was a study on BC.ORg recently about c-peptide -insulin. The impact of higher c-peptide was greater in younger women. Again a hint of a clue, but where are the definitive studies. Maybe there has been too much reliance on chemo. I know studies of dietary intake are very difficult and unless controled for menopausal, Her and Er status not much use.Beth

I have never seen it confirmed that vegetarians or 7th Day Adventis have lower incidence of BC, just cancer. Phytoetrogens may be useful in preventing lung , prostate and colon if substituted for red meat, but that may confuse the issue for BC. Beth

paige-allyson

Hi Tender, Beth, and All,

Re: the phytoestrogen concern. I looked again at the list from the second website you gave. Certainly covers many foods I like to eat, so first of all I hope phytoestrogens are our friends and not our enemies. Certainly the fruits, vegs, etc. on the list have a fraction of the PE levels that soy and flax have. Beth, in my PM back to you I agreed with your point that part of the difficulty is that this hasn't really been studied. Also as you point out it is very difficult to do dietary studies- it's hard to tease things out, and the data on diet is not always reliable, particularly retrospective data. So what can we do? I've been thinking about this since I read your PM...I'm brainstorming here- feel free to join me in this. We can look at BC rates/survival rates for women already dx within specific groups whose eating habits differ from the traditional western diet. For example, I believe that in addition to having lower BC rates, Japanese women have better survival/time to relapse outcomes.

We can look at laboratory results and "mousework." We can look at N=1 /anecdotal evidence from survivors that have done XYZ and have stayed NED for long time- Diana Dyer- others. I'd like to take a comprehensive look at all of the stuff I've read and do a real lit review of what's out there but I don't have time right now. I do want to start organizing the info I come across so I can put it all together in a more meaningful way. Have either of you engaged Edge/Constantine in weighing in on this topic? It would be interesting to hear his views. We could develop our own study here- this could include logging our food in excruciating detail over the years and seeing how things turn out . This thread could be a little databank-  I think we'd need to get a few more people to sign on for this to work ... For someone who doesn't really care for happy faces and such I have certainly used a lot of these little symbols- there must be a better was to express emotions...

Tender- your dinner sounds unbelievably good- my hunger level has quadrupled since I read your post. Jim is cooking our dinner and I am starving (as usual). He's made pasta for the first time with our super juice that also doubles as a pasta machine- curious to see how it turns out. Here's another thing for us all to factor in- eating a lot of protein- too much of it- depletes calcium, a concern if one is on an AI like me. In reading up on calcium it sounds like the big issue is not LOSING it versus eating/supplementing at a high enough level. Sodas, coffee, and excess protein are all depleters.

Garlic I love but limit after reading what Constantine had to say about potential interaction with Femara.

Beth the c-peptide insulin stuff is interesting. I bet somebody has specifics on 7 day Adventists and BC- let me see if I can turn anything up- I'm busy preparing to teach this class on 5 days notice so I may not be too quick with this.

Today's food

 Breakfast

Oatmeal, bran, wheat germ, cranberries, almond milk, 2 Brazil nuts, 1/2 caf coffee x 2, 2 t sugar, 1 c orange juice

Lunch- grilled chicken kabob wrap- lettuce, tomato, tahini, onion

 blk tea, green tea, 3 sm pieces Droste chocolate, 1/2 c. blueberries

Dinner- homemade linguine (not yet), sauce heavy on mushrooms and peppers, dk organic greens and whatever other vegs Jim's put in there

There are some things that have pretty solid support- intense regular exercise and calorie restriction. On that note I am going to go eat some pasta- actually I do restrict calories although it may be hard to tell. I am down 1.6 pounds since last week- a little closer to my goal of 116ish. Allyson

IllinoisLady

Hi everyone,

I just decided to see what I might learn about food by lurking here.  I try to eat reasonable, but have trouble often.  It's generally a family that is clueless ( all adults ) and just don't care.  Anyway, I don't expect anyone to change what they like just for me and dh and I have been bad in the past.  I am concerned about the way dh and I eat and would like to change some things.  I am overwt. though carry it well.  Not getting exercise much....weather, chemo se's and later on radiation.  I'm not concerned right now,but hope you won't mind a sort of non-contributor checking in now and then, and maybe asking questions or asking clarification for anything I might stumble across.  I don't want to get in anyone's way here, but I know I need to at least have the disipline to see what adjustments I may be able to make and try to get back to a healthier lifestyle in spite of all those around me who think FOOD is to eat.......even if it has two hundred chemicals listed on the label.  Thanks in advance and if you'd rather I didn't bother you just say so. 

IllinoisLady   aka    Jackie

paige-allyson

Hi Jackie-

Glad you stopped by. You are very welcome at this thread! Let us know how we can help or if you have questions. Contribute as much or as little as is right for you. What things would you like to change about how you eat? Are there any things that you have changed already that you are doing and feel good about? It is hard when others around you don't have the same goal but there are things you can do so that their behavior doesn't control you. Allyson

dash

Hi,

Busy weekend and I didn't write it down. I think I ate my regular low fat plain yogurt for breakfast and actually poached my salmon and had a piece of that when it was done. I don't think I ate a lunch other than banana...Dinner was another peice of poached salmon, cole slaw made with yogurt instead of mayo and a new recipe--curried quinoa with peas. I did take a picture of it, Allyson but I'm lazy lately so will post pics at once at a later date. 

Today, I started with fiber bread toasted with 2 organic eggs. And coffee and small oj

Lunch was leftover curried quinoa and part of a banana, frozen blueberries

Dinner-- I made a iced green and white tea with pomegrante and oj in it and a dropperful of echinachea(sp?)  My husband is getting sick and I hope it will boost his immune system. I'm also giving him oil of oregano capsules.

Anyway, my son had company and they wanted chicken noodle soup( I used organic broth) and cheese and no nitrite ham grilled on the fiber bread. we all had a piece of dark chocolate.

Well, definitely didn't get my veggies in today or yesterday. Weekdays are better for me!

We walked Dash at the park both days and did some cleaning in the garage.

During the summer, I logged everything for at least 3 months on fitday. It was great to track my calories and my exercise. I may get back to that as it was a great way to help myself balance from one day to the next. I lost about 20 chemo/steroid pounds without feeling deprived by just watching what I ate and making sure I exercised most days by walking or swimming. Ah, swimming--I miss it in the cold months.

lynne4

Finally made it in her today!! Welcome everyone!

I did not do so well over the weekend. Alot of emotional stuff on Friday. Had a few to many glasses of Merlot. ( and some popcorn )

Saturday I did great all day. Worked out HARD and am sore! Ate well, until Sat eve. Mashed potatoes.....way too many! My biggest downfall I think.

Sunday : Breakfast english muffin light , 8 oz milk, grapes

snack : grapefruit

lunch : grilled cheese, whole wheat light bread and low fat cheese, 3 c lettuce with fat free dressing

snack : 1 tbsp natural pnut butter , apple

supper : 2 eggs, 1/2 cup broccoli, sugar free jello

See everyone tomorrow!

Lynne

mkl48

What are the 5 whites-flour, sugar, potato ???? Chemo brain Beth

mkl48

Allyson,

You look too tall in your picture to need to get to 116ish.but it is a worthy goal to reduce weight. I did not gain,but had a hard time losing on an AI. Do you mean calorie restriction to the one third fewer calories that true restrictors aim for? Beth 

mkl48

Sunflower,

I would reconsider the tofu and flax or food with soy protein added. Licorice ,if the real kind ,does seem to be contra-indicated and was on a list once posted on BC.Org as one to be avoided. Some research has said that post-menopausal women are even more sensitive to large amounts of soy. Beth

paige-allyson

Nice to see you all congregating here Bay, Beth, Lynne, Suzy,Tender, plus others waiting in the wings! Suzy I have not been to Atkin's Farms but I love going there! On the tofu, flax, etc. My oncologist said "I wouldn't feast on it." I've reinterpreted this to mean it's probably not a good idea to eat it (unless definitive evidence were to come out that it is truly safe or beneficial). I'd keep eating the TJ broccoli, salmon, asparagus. I am going to buy myself some of these things tomorrow- going to my radiation onc in Worcester for a follow up and there's one about 1/4 mi from the hospital. Licorice- I think this may be bad but don't recall details. Sorry...

Beth- I'm smaller than I look- 5' 3'ish- was 5'4"ISH before I shranK. I don't do real calorie restriction the official way, but I do believe based on what I've read that nutrient dense, calorie poor, bottom of weight range living is (part of )the way to go to prevent /delay recurrence. Allyson

paige-allyson

Bay- your food sounds so great I'll look forward to seeing it sometime. Never heard of fitday but I do find it helpful to track exercise. Tracking today will be easy because I didn't do any. It's been FREEZING cold here and I've been holed up preparing for this class I start teaching tomorrow. I'm really excited about it but it's a lot of work.

Lynne- Excellent with the working out. Give me a couple more months of recovery and hopefully I'll be joining you. What did you do for the workout?

Allyson

dash

Did a half hour of floor exercises and went on an hour long hike in the woods. And got my 5 cups of veggies today--yay

Breakfast was onion(1/4 C), mushroom(4 fresh), and spinach(about 2 cups packed fresh) with 1 organic egg and grated parm cheese

coffee and OJ

Lunch

Lentil soup

Double fiber bread and butter

Dinner

WHole wheat flour breaded scallops and lemon

broccoli

kiwi 

Dandyblend roasted dandelion beverage with milk 

Snacks

plain yogurt with walnuts and berry compote

walking salad

5 pretzels

4 sesame cookies 

Beth--pm'd you about the ham. And I'd add white rice to the list but it's the only rice I'll use for my homemade rice pudding.

I have no plans on giving up anything. My doctors all believe anything whole is fine in moderation and so do I. I worry more about the additives and chemicals in food than in eating something like garlic, for instance. There's other good reasons to be eating garlic. 

Everything okay now, Lynne? Hugs 

mkl48

Good Morning,

I am wondering about Pomegrants or juice and ER+ BC. Dean Ornish is touting a new book- Spectrum- and he really like it. I am concerned that pre- er+ good foods may not be the same for us if we have developed it.Beth

Later in morning: The fruit is a powerful phytoestrogen and antioxidant, but is also an aromatase inhibitor so it might negatively interact with an AI or it might enhance it, but I am doubtful reliable studies have been done. 

lynne4

Bay, yes I'm feeling better now thanks for asking. We've had a lot of bills coming in and I think I'm going to need to supplement my income Head high though.

Allyson, I did 45 minutes on treadmill. I alternate walk/jog and different inclines so I do not do a steady state. I then did legs.

side shuffle lunges 

walking lunges

pop squats

leg extensions

wide leg dumbell squat

deadlifts

lying hamstring curl

alternating lunges 

It was a very hard workout, I superset everything to burn the most calories!

Here's my food log for Monday

Breakfast : english muffin light , grapes , milk

snack : grapefruit

lunch : tuna sand. 3 c. lettuce

snack : pnt butter, apple

supper : turkey, broccoli

Hope everyone has a great day!

Lynne

dash

Hi Beth,

Like almost everything I've heard conflicting stories on pomegrante. Here's an article I've had bookmarked since a friend of mine told me I should never eat another pomegrante. I usually eat the whole fruit, maybe 3 or 4 a year since I was a kid. I just can't imagine that such a small amount would hurt anyone.

http://www.ats.org/news.php?id=32

Today so far:

Breakfast

coffee and oj

I'd like to cut out the oj but I am able to swallow my morning vitamins so much easier with that than water.

Plain yogurt, walnuts and the blueberry/raspberry compote. That was so good, I have to make more.

1/3 of a banana

Lunch 

1+ Cup of grated acorn squash lightly cooked with  a drizzle of canola oil

Snacks 

1 stella doro breakfast treat

2 kiwis

few chunks of mango

Dandyblend drink

1/2 cup of light ice cream 

Dinner 

Salmon

Cup of lentil soup

green leaf lettuce, broccoli cole slaw, feta cheese, mango, olives and a bit of greek dressing

Orange slices 

Dinner was so good--looked appealing and perfect marriage of tastes for me. 

TenderIsOurMight

Well, I didn't post yesterday, as I ate good things (like salmon, and minestrone soup) and not so good (like home made jello with fruit by DH-he's regressing to childhoood in cooking and winter- and pistachios. Wonder about pistaschios..



So today's a new day!



I'll be back...

Tender

mkl48

Tender,

They were either the highest or second on phytoestrogen activity from the sites from me above. But I am still making Pistachio  Biscottii today . Beth

paige-allyson

Hi all- I am insanely busy today and writing this on the fly- hopefully I can catch up on posting tomorrow. Had an uneventful visit with my radiation onc and went to Trader Joes and stocked up. Am now indulging in one of my favorites- smoked salmon on a ww bagel with red onion and organic light cream cheese. Wish I could follow it up with a pistachio biscotti to go with my tea.

Bay- Why quit OJ (I'm almost afraid to ask)...Allyson

mkl48

Actually my son is making them. I promised some at Christmas to friends, but it did not happen so I won't be eating them all. I have walked 2 miles and done floor work 2 days now. I am so out of shape! Beth

dash

LOL--OJ is just supposed to be pretty high in sugar content, extra calories...nothing major for most people, I don't know why I stress out about OJ of all things.

paige-allyson

Bay I'm relieved. The only reason I drink it is that it is the only form of citrus that I can really handle on a regular basis- comes in a "low acid" form- normally whole fruit is best- but when it comes to citrus not for me. I agree re: juice in general and all the sugar extra calories- better to eat the fruit whole.

Now I am wondering along with Beth re: the "5 whites" - sugar, flour, potatoes, white rice....what else- lard? mayo? heavy cream? fat on meat?

cp418

Hi All - tuning in to this post finally and am loving the photos from Ally!

My breakfast is very similar to what others described typically a hot oatmeal with dried cranberries and crushed walnuts or black berries.  I typically have a dark green salad at lunch topped with cut up apple and chicken salad scoop.  A few nights we go to a small local restaurant where I typically order grilled salmon or chicken entree with dark mixed veggies, cup squash or veggie soup.  I'm very aware of trying to consume minimum 5 fruits/veggies per day.  Plus drink lots of green tea which I became addicted to during chemo - - - no longer drink coffee.  I minimize the amount of bread unless it's really good italian garlic bread with dinner or multi-grain or cranberry nut bread.  Love a slice with my hot tea as a snack.  I'll also snack on a few Kashi crackers if I need to nibble otherwise fruit.

I do avoid soy products as strong receptor + but have not been focused on specific foods - - - instead on the antioxidant and nutrition value.  Should I be avoiding certain foods as well?

Daily walks are critical for me and IMO opinion really help keeping weight under control plus help with fitness.  Started walking during rads right after chemo and I was really tired but there has been such an improvement in fitness that I keep it up.  Wear lots of clothes and long walk in the park with dog EARLY AM. Joann