Sheryl Crow's Cookbook Review and Giveaway!!!

As most of you who have been following my blog know I am a big believer in the mind body connection. I also feel that the food I put into my body can help me stay healthier. Now granted I didn't come to this knowledge until after my breast cancer treatment but better late than never is what I say!

Before my cancer diagnosis 10 years ago I never drank water, never ate veggies, and rarely ate fruit. I lived on diet soda filled with chemicals, prepared foods found in boxes and canned soups. Since then I have traded diet soda for water sometimes with a squeeze of lemon, eat fresh fruits and veggies and occasionally use a juicer. Don't get me wrong, I still do need my pizza and ice cream but try to keep that in moderation.

I was already interested in Sheryl Crow's new cookbook when I was contacted by her publisher to review her new cookbook. I have enjoyed Sheryl Crow's music for years and was inspired by her as a fellow breast cancer survivor. I was already interested in her new cookbook when I was recently contacted by her publisher to do a book review. As I have made significant changes to my own nutrition in my life as a cancer survivor I was curious to see what I could learn.

In the book Sheryl shares recipes created by her personal chef Chuck White. It is broken down into recipes for the seasons which was refreshing to see. I don't know about you but my apetite certainly changes from winter to summer. The book includes tons of recipes including appetizers, soups, snacks, main dishes, and some yummy desserts like the vegan chocolate-mint brownies and watermelon margaritas I am dying to try! It also encourages organic, local ingredients whenever possible which I think is important as well.

If you want to win a copy of Sheryl's new cookbook all you have to do is leave a comment below! That is it! I will be announcing the winner on Wednesday June 1st! Good luck!

PS . . . Feel free to share this blog post if you know any peeps that would be interested in the giveaway! :)

Can Good Nutrition Prevent Cancer??

When I was diagnosed with cancer I was hoping for the cookbook recipe to ensure I would survive.  If I do this type of surgery, this type of chemo, take this medication then I will be ok.  There were alot of decisions to make under the advice of my doctors but what none of them could tell me with 100% certainty is how long I would live if I survived.  

When treatment was over the fear of recurrence set in.  I felt like all I was going to do was wait for cancer to strike again unless I became proactive about my life.  So part as part of my quest I began to look for alternative ways to maintain my health and improve my lifestyle.

Nutrition was a good place for me to start.  As I looked back on my life and the things I ate it became no surprise to me why I was sick so much.  I never drank water, never ate veggies and barely at fruit.  I can't even tell you what I was eating although I can promise  you it's nutritional value was barely existent.  Over the years since I finished my treatment I have made many improvements to my diet.  I even began juicing.  But what I did notice though is I tend to become obsessed with it all.  And I am well aware that this obsession stems from fear.  

And then I think about people in my family that never had cancer.  Like my Grandma who lived to the ripe old age of 85 and smoked since she was 16, ate white bread with every meal, drank coffee daily, enjoyed pizza, nitrite laden cold cuts, and even KFC.  She was never sick until 2 years before she died and was diagnosed with emphysema.  I also remember how often she prayed.  And how positive she tried to be.  She always gave up her worries to something bigger than herself.  And she always advised me to do the same.  Now that is the part of haven't had much success with.  It is what I struggle with the most.  I have an easier time controlling what I eat than the crazy thoughts that swim through my mind most of the time.  

So, do I think that good nutrition can prevent cancer?  I am not sure to tell you the truth although I do believe it can help.  I tend to believe it is not one specific thing.  I think it is about balance.  A delicate balance the body and the mind.  I believe that the thoughts you put in your head can affect your health just as much as the food you put in your mouth.  

Tonite I will be a guest on the Stupid Cancer Show.  This is the topic up for discussion.  So join me to listen in and hang in the chatroom with other young survivors!  It is sure to be an interesting show!  Check it out here http://bit.ly/1D2pEB

Do you think that what you eat can affect your health?  Since your cancer diagnosis have you made changes to your lifestyle and/or diet in an effort to stay well?  If so what prompted this change in you?

My Juicer Is Dusty. . .

I remember when my mom used to try to get me to eat veggies.  I hated them.  Hated anything green.  I wouldn't even eat salad.  I was the one out to dinner declining the salad that came with my entree.  I never drank water.  Only high sugar fruit drinks, soda and then during my teen and young adult years it was diet soda or as I refer to it now...brown water with chemicals.  My diet consisted of processed foods, no veggies, and mostly crap.  Much of nothin!  It is no wonder that I was always feeling sick, always coming down with something.  I worked in a hospital and was exposed to germs on a daily basis.  I started missing the fact that I couldn't fight anything off for very long.  

Then came a cancer diagnosis.  Then my world turned upside down.  Since going through cancer treatment I have changed my diet in many ways.  After treatment was over I was figuring out how to get back to life after cancer.  Changing my nutrition was one of the lifestyle changes I made during that time.  It also became my way of trying to control the fear.  Fear of recurrence became a daily experience.  It was worse in the beginning but I still live with it today, 8 years later.  

With the help of a holistic doc I was encouraged to try juicing.  I began drinking mostly water, started eating veggies and consuming less processed foods.  I was trying to avoid ingesting chemicals.  Of course I was no angel.  I was doing everything in moderation trying not to obsess.  Once I started juicing 6 years ago I started to enjoy it.  I began with apples and carrots because they fed my sweet tooth.  Then I slowly introduced the greens.  Cucumbers and celery were about as far as I went until I tried kale.  

What I didn't realize though was my obsession.  I used the juicer every single day and if I missed a day I would get really crabby.  And then I would worry.  It got to the point that I felt as if the juicing was keeping me alive somehow.  Like if I stopped my cancer would instantly come back.  I never realized how deep the fear went.

4 months ago I stopped juicing.  I don't even know why. I think I just wanted a break from the hour I was spending tied to my sink cleaning veggies and then cleaning the juicer.   And I was scared at first.  Every day I said to my husband "I didn't make my juice today"  as if I would instantly combust right in front of him.  

So now my juicer is dusty.  I haven't gone back to using it yet.  This is the longest I have left it sitting there.  Sometimes I feel  like the worrying and obsessing over using it is worse for my health than the not using it.  Does that make sense?  Sometimes I feel scared, sometimes I feel guilty.  Then I wish for a time when I didn't even know the "c" word.

I still believe that changing my diet has helped to keep me healthy.  I wish I didn't feel as though it is the only thing.  I think I need to spend more time figuring out ways to keep my mind healthier for the sake of my body.

Have you made any changes to your lifestyle in response to an illness?  Ever tried juicing?  Do you obsess over things in an attempt to gain control?? 

Lemon Love

Something I really need to do more of on this blog is to share some of the ways I have tried to improve my health over the past few years.  One of which is how I changed my diet.  Of course this change was initiated by me getting kicked in the ass by cancer!  But what is important is that I am in a better place and am treating my body better. 

One of the things I have found that makes me feel all kinds of good are lemons.  I try to keep myself hydrated which is so important but sometimes I just get tired of the taste of water, or should I say lack thereof!  So I started squeezing lemons into the water for the better taste but never realized what it would do for my body.  Of course I always need some sweetness so I added some agave nectar to it as well and have a great healthy lemonade!  Agave nectar is a natural sweetener that comes from the agave plant and it is so much better for you than regular sugar.  

What I learned is that lemons help your body absorb all the water you drink better than water alone.  They also help your liver do its job which is to get rid of toxins.  Not to mention lots of vitamin C.    I get many headaches most of the time from dehydration.  Before I go running for that Advil I try some lemon water.  Most of the time I find that it gets rid of my headache.  I also had a recent bout with some skin issues.  And I found that the more lemon water I drank, the more my skin cleared up.  But if for nothing else lemons taste great and give you a good source of Vit C!

Anyone else love the lemon?