Anyone make lifestyle changes?

TB90

Now that is what I need . . . an Onc to drink wine with

SelenaWolf

I believe in a "moderation in all things approach".  I always did follow a healthy diet and am extremely active, but developed cancer anyway, so I tend to be highly skeptical of many diets promoted as "anti-cancer".  That said, eating a healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, and moving more is good for you on many different levels, not just for cancer.  I do not deny myself the occasional glass of wine or - like yesterday - a slice of homemade apple pie (heavenly!) at a family dinner because these are things that are not part of my regular diet and are once-in-awhile treats.  As my MO, GP and nutritionist friend say, "... you've still got to enjoy life on occasion..."

Do what feels best for you, but think of it in terms of the "bigger picture".  You want to be as healthy as you can be overall; by narrowing your focus too much (i.e., addressing only the cancer), then you may neglect aspects of your diet that could help prevent you from being healthy in other ways.  All of you needs care, not just the cancer.

Gypsy_Dr34m3r

So far I haven't made any changes, apart from cutting down a little on smoking.
Its funny really, because I always said "if I ever got cancer I'd stop.........." and there was a huge list of what I would give up.

But then faced with the Dx, that went out the window.

I've known way too many 'clean living' people, (non smokers, non drinkers, healthy diets and regular exercisers) suffer from, or die of illness and disease commonly associated with 'unhealthy' lifestyles that I don't hold much faith in what causes what these days.
I remember when I was pregnant with my children, the doctors back then were big advocates on trying to get you to eat liver, (yuk) apparently it was full of iron and very beneficial to the growing fetus. Turns out nowadays, there's an enzyme in it that they believe may be linked to spinabifida.

Now I'm not saying that making healthy lifestyle changes is a bad thing, but it's not something I've personally decided to do.
I plan on enjoying the things I have always enjoyed.
I'd rather be a happy sick person than a miserable 'healthy' one

Footballnut

here I sit this morning drinking green tea and eating cranberries (which are dried so have sugar - not the best but a start). For those that know me I've never had a green tea or eaten cranberries. I made pasta primavera last night with Zuchinni peppers onion garlic and olive oil. Not bad for someone that doesn't cook!!  Lol. So many perspectives on this topic!!  It's do interesting!!  I don't think I was ever a terrible eater but in retrospect did rely a lot on processed foods like frozen dinners. For the past 15+ years I've worked 10+ hour days and then barely had time to do stuff for myself when I got home. Not complaining. Just reflecting!  So now I plan on using my time off to try and cook more. Again those that know me would laugh and say ang is cooking????  What did she just say?  But I'll still visit fast food once a week and will drink socially every now and then. What I truly want to get back into is the gym ASAP. I hope that I can continue this throughout treatment!!

SelenaWolf

I tend to do my cooking on the weekend.  There's just my husband and I, so I make full-sized meals that will feed us through the week or that I can freeze for one of those evenings when I don't have time to cook or am too tired to bother.  Save those trays from your frozen dinners for storing and freezing.

I embraced the "whole food" concept a number of years ago.  It was based on the philosophy of "... if your great-grandparents wouldn't recognize it as food, then you probably shouldn't be eating it...  I started to grow some vegetables in my tiny garden and taught myself how to can and dry, simply because I was interested in that kind of eating.  Didn't help prevent cancer, but I get a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself.

I would love to buy more organic; however, in my area (I'm not far from where you live) "organic" is stupidly priced.  For example, regular chicken is expensive enough at nearly $14.00 (if you're lucky) for a whole roasting chicken; an "organic" whole roasting chicken clocks in at over $23.00 for the same poundage.  Ridiculous!!

But, life being what it is, don't beat yourself up if you resort to processed food, on occasion.  Just choose those processed foods that have the least amount of ingredients/chemicals listed on them and watch the sodium levels.  Sometimes a "lower fat" alternative is offered at the expense of jacking up the carbs/sodium for flavour.

 

Anonymous

Lifestyle changes:  although I've extremely active, I made sure I was at least that active during all treatment. Cut way back on alcohol--basically eliminated it completely since the type of b.c. I had tends to respond worse to alcohol.  99% organic foods now, whole foods, no processed if I can help it to reduce my pesticide exposure.  I take 4000 i.u of Vit D daily, curcumin, and a multivite.  I'm careful to avoid parabens in what I put on my body (lotion, shampoo, etc).

Re organics and price: I shop sales.  And I cut out eating out and that helps hubby and I eat organic--I cook a lot more now since I can control what I eat that way.  Cooking real food actually doesn't take as much time as many of us think. My recipes are simple and pretty tasty.

I keep my weight down to a bmi of 20% or less (on the good days it's less!). I take my arimidex nightly.  Weight, eating clean, Vit D intake and regular sweating type exercise: those seem to come up over and over again as to how to keep this crap from returning.  And eve then, we don't know what causes it.  You just have to reduce your percentage of recurrence if you can, and buy yourself time till science finds a way to tx and manage it so tumors either stop growing or disappear.

I feel lucky as I was never a burger and fries gal, nor did I smoke, and I like to hike, bike, run, do yoga, etc. most days.  I feel unlucky since I was mostly doing all those before my dx.  Who knows why we get it? Environmental exposure at an early age, genes, one little tweak of a cell...????

Just work hard, is my motto, at keeping it at bay now. 

GwennyMD

When I was first diagnosed it was a week before Xmas in 2012.  For me, the holidays is about indulging, especially when it comes to fatty foods and desserts. My holiday season starts at Thanksgiving and lasts til the end of January.  The month of January includes a couple of birthdays and other celebrations I typically participate in.  Last year, that included the inaguration.  I live in the Washington DC area so my sisters and I attended several parties.  My lumpectomy was scheduled for Feb 7 so I wanted to have a blast before starting treatment.

After the lumpectomy we discovered that I needed chemo because the bc had spread to a couple of nodes.  Bummer.  At that time I started doing research about causes, treatments and prevention.  BC runs in my family.  My mom, 2 of her sisters and one of my sisters had BC.  None of them drank or smoke.  In fact, I don't think that mom or her sisters ever indulged. My sister probably indugled during the 1970's but that was 30 years ago.  I smoked for 35 years and stopped 2 years ago.  I am primarily a social drinker who enjoys wine and "girlie drinks".  I don't think that a change in lifestyle could have prevented my getting bc because of my family history.  

When I started chemo I tried to change diet by increasing veggies and decreasing processed foods.  I did eliminate alcohol durng the 6 months that I was taking chemo.  I did not want my liver to have to work too hard while cleaning chemo out of my system.  I felt that it was a small sacrifice.  However, my diet went to hell because the chemo screwed up my appetite and taste buds. 

I had BMX and DIEP in October.  I could not eat large meals but I focused on lean protein and veggies in order to recover.  When I recovered it was the holdiday season again. I have learned I cannot just stop anything at one time.  I want to eat beter and exercise more to be healthy overall.  We cannot just focus on BC.  I will however still have a slice of birthday cake or an occasional burger. 

ziggypop

TB90 - It's not like I hang with my drinking buddy oncologist, but he was my father's oncologist when I was diagnosed & then also became one of my best friend's oncologists. Ended up having him and his wife over for dinner after my dad died. I think he knew that I just needed to let off a little steam and act for a while like the cancer didn't exist at all. 

TB90

Oh Ziggy:  I meant that in the most positive of ways.  I love when doctors act like human beings and I love the moments when I too forget all about bc. 

vbishop

Me!  I quit smoking, started exercising more regularly and I am working on cutting out the bread and sugar.  I also quit sodas - diet or otherwise.  So far, so good.