To be honest, before I got cancer, I pretty much ate anything and everything I wanted. Yes, that did include a whole bag of cheese puffs…my ultimate favorite! If I felt like ice cream or getting French fried mushrooms from Swensons, I did. Luckily, I wasn’t overweight, so I didn’t worry about that, but, I also didn’t overly worry about how bad the food was for me. I felt I had a pretty good family history of basically healthy people. I went in and out of phases of healthy eating.
Then, in January of 2022, I found out I had breast cancer. I went through it well. I did my self-care techniques and learned some new ones. I read books on breast cancer and being healthy to help heal yourself. This included eating clean, exercising, doing EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique/Tapping), deep breathing exercises and listening to what my body was telling me, using clean household products and skin care, keeping a healthy mindset, etc. I did this all to the best of my ability.
To the best of my ability…I say this because it seemed like each book said something different. “Don’t eat any dairy, nothing that comes from utters, to … you can eat dairy. Don’t eat peanuts, only almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, to…eat any nuts, they are great for you. So on and so on. Don’t eat sugar! Then, drink plenty of water, but don’t drink out of plastic, especially if the bottle has been out in the sun (because of the BPA). I already knew that one, but what I am getting at, is, it is not that easy to try to live healthy in this unhealthy world. I am not a nutritionist. I am just trying to give you some of the information I have found helped me. I advise you to speak with a licensed nutritionist to find what is right for you. I am trying to show how difficult it is to stay on a healthy, clean diet when you go out. This is just my perspective.
Anyway, I then started to stay away from dairy except for an occasional little bit of organic butter, oat milk creamer (2-3 grams of sugar) instead of my regular non-dairy creamer that had much more sugar. I drink water in a glass or a metal travel mug. However, it is difficult when you go to say, a ballgame or a fair to get water in a glass, or know that it is filtered water. I mean, I get it. People say then don’t go out or just have that as a cheat day. But, I want to go out and still be able to somewhat be healthy.
Being clean is important to me, however, I am not following it near 100%. The 3 things I state in this blog are the ones that I really work on. This is a work in progress, believe me! It is not all that easy, for the reasons stated above. Even just going outside and all you smell is fertilizers. Since my radiation, I cannot handle certain smells very well and mulch and fertilizers are probably the biggest ones I have a problem with, along with bonfire smoke.
So, here is my 3 things I try to do most of the time, even when I go out to try to be somewhat healthy in this non-healthy world:
- Sugar: Sugar, as we all know, is not good for you. Have you ever looked at how much sugar is in a can of pop? It’s scary! From my readings, and for my cancer, it is okay to have natural sugars. The ones in fruits and vegetables. My take on it is to avoid added sugars as much as you can. Do that for a month and see how much better you feel. This is all from my readings. None of my medical doctors gave me this information. It was what I wanted to do to be proactive for my health.
- Dairy: This is one that I have found to be pretty inconsistent. It really seemed to depend on which type of cancer you had, if they stated to watch dairy. In one of the books I read, the author who is a doctor stand, don’t drink any milk that comes from an utter! Well, okay then! Oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk and pea milk are not from utters the last I heard. I have not tried pea milk yet to be honest, so I can’t give you any information on that; but, I don’t mind any of the others. I get the vanilla flavored by unsweetened and they’re not bad. I love yogurt, but the Greek ones I love really had too much sugar and dairy, so I found plant-based ones, coconut milk yogurt that are pretty good. My toughest dairy product that I love is cheese. I unfortunately have not found a plant-based cheese yet that I really enjoy. I also haven’t really tried many because the first one had such a strange, plastic texture. But, I’m still working on it. I have not seen menu’s that say plant-based cheese. I may just be looking in the wrong places.
- White flour: The last on my little list. I never really cared to much or thought too much about white flour until I saw that I should stay away from it. Now, anytime I get pizza, I thoroughly enjoy it and miss white flour! HA! But, I can say, I have gotten store- bought cauliflower crust pizza and from a pizza shop, and have really enjoyed it. Also, there are great whole wheat pastas out there, too.
So, this is my little list of ways to eat a little cleaner, and it’s possible to do out in the real world. However, the water is probably the toughest one for me. As I already stated, go to a fair or ballgame, and all they have are water bottles that have probably been out in the sun, putting all that BPA chemicals in the water. I’m sorry, but no thank you. I want clean, filtered water. Maybe, one day it will be easier to be out in the real world and go places where you have an easier time eating clean and healthy. But, start with these 3 things and you can at least by on your way.