Thanks for the comments. I love our blog community...it's awesome :)! Minichick, my cancer started as nodules. My endocrinologist ended up doing a fine needle biopsy because my nodule was large (about the size of an egg, they said). The result was inconclusive. So they recommended getting that side of the thyroid removed. Now everything was really positive because only 1% of those with nodules end up with thyroid cancer & lots of people have nodules. The plan was to take half out during surgery, have pathology test the nodule for cancer. If no cancer was detected they would leave the other half, which could produce all of the thyroid hormones I would need. The results were benign, so they stitched me up leaving the other half. Well when the final pathology report came back the following week, cancer was detected. So a few days later I had the other half removed. Fun, huh!...2 major surgeries within 8 days. The hardest part was waiting about a month to find out if it had metastasized. All I could think about was my then 4 year & 1 year old. I ended up having to do a low iodine diet, radioactive iodine treatment, then a scan after the treatment that scans for thyroid cells. If any cells are detected in other parts of the body it has metastasized. The result - no metastasis!!! I've had follow up ultrasounds & blood test since then (2years) & no sign of cancer has been detected. I just have to take synthroid now. I definitely feel SO BLESSED. This is the number 1 increasing cancer among women, so I'm always encouraging everyone to have their necks checked by their doctor! This cancer is about 98% curable if diagnosed early.
Thanks for the encouragement Rosalie. You're such an inspiration. I know I can do it, no matter how long it takes. I love the idea of not looking back. I'll try that.
I've decided to blog my food for a while. I need all of the accountability I can get ;).
Breakfast was a new concoction. I usually have peanut butter oatmeal, but today I tried it with blueberries.
oatmeal, blueberries, cinnamon, butter, sun crystals = s/c value 5/2
After watching the anti-cancer video I decided to include more anti-oxidants. I like the peanut butter variety better, but it was good for a change.
Happy BFC'n.
Monday, November 8, 2010
As a cancer survivor I have to believe this is a healthy program, not just a weight loss program. I mean, take chemo & lose weight, but it's definitely not healthy. I've been praying to be directed to best lifestyle for me. I knew I needed one I could maintain for the long haul. I think I've found it in the BFC. I may do some tweaking along the way, but not now. I just watched this video by Anti-Cancer, A New Way of Life and lots of the lifestyle changes Dr. David Servan-Schreiber recommends fit nicely with the BFC. It's a long video, but SO worth watching! Please watch it & forward to love ones.
He states within the video the number one risk factor for cancer - OBESITY. That's me, OBESE! As a cancer survivor whose also a wife and mother, that's not smart.
From now on when I want to cheat, I'm going to wait 15 minutes, do another activity, anything. Believe me with a household & 2 small children it's not hard to come up with something to do. If I still want to cheat, I'm going to write down why. Maybe this will help me face whatever it is that causes this self sabotage. As Oprah says, it's not really about the food. I also quite ofter think about a YouTube video I saw a while back. She quoted Dr. Phil as saying & I'm paraphrasing here, if you're fat you want to be fat. You're getting something positive from it. Here's her video:
I went to the doctor today for a checkup. I knew it was coming...about 5 minutes into the appointment. "Oh Catherine, you were 151, then 158, then 162, then 170, then 174. Now you're 180. Are you happy with that?" Ummm, NO. He was very supportive of low carb. I really didn't feel like going into the BFC...I mean it's just words... I need action.
Same old story...wandering around wondering what diet I should do...all while eating every unhealthy, sugary food in sight. Because after all, I'm starting my diet in the morning & I'll never be able to eat X again, so I might as well get my FILL of it now. Lies. Lies. Lies. I keep coming back to the BFC. What makes it so great is it's flexibility to various eating styles. I have been flip flopping back & forth between vegetarian & omnivore. Here's the awesome part...either one can be done on this program!!! How cool is that.
For the rest of the month of December (starting today, day 1) I'm keeping a food log & posting it on this blog. Please keep me accountable. I may be posting several times a day at first...seems to help me stay on track.
I can do this. I've done much harder things...thyroid cancer seems to ring a bell. This is easy compared to that.
My motivation:
feeling sexy again! Woo-hoo!
fitting in those size 4 jeans in my dresser draw. I know that may seem small to some people, but I'm 5'3" with a small frame so I think this is very doable.
more energy to run & play with my kids (& my hubby, wink, wink ;) )
to be here for my 2 beautiful girls
having the energy to keep a clean, tidy house
sleeping better
healthier
going clothes shopping & purchasing an item knowing it will look nice!
cardio & strength health
the feeling, I can do anything!
My goals:
maintaining a weight of 115-120
fitness: run a mile (without stopping), perform a cart wheel & a back bend (bridge), perform 20 regular push-ups (not girlie style)
I think day 1 went relatively well, not perfect though & that's O.K. by me. I took the kids to a fall festival at our preschool's church. The kids had a blast. The dinner was a pig pickin' and the dinner plate came with pork, baked beans, coleslaw, hush puppies. I ate the pork with half of the coleslaw. The coleslaw was so NOT FT friendly as it contained carrots & definitely sugar. It was so sweet. Since this is a lifestyle & not a quick fix I was O.K. with eating some coleslaw. I rejoiced in the fact that I didn't consume hush puppies, baked beans, sweet tea, or any of the many delicious looking sweet treats common at every church function.
Then I came home and made these delicious FT approved belly good sweet treat. I did taste a little while I was making them. Then after they cooled I only ate one. I couldn't believe it was relatively easy to eat just one. Maybe there is something to this sugar is addictive thing. If they had contained sugar I would have probably eaten them all. Really.
It was REALLY DIFFICULT not to snack last night, but I didn't. Yay! Woo-hoo! Like Rosalie says you have to want weight loss really bad. I wanted to stick with the plan more than I wanted to snack.
I'm actually excited about the fast track. I love that I can choose from a list of food...no tracking required. I'm really not sure how long I'll do FT. I decided, instead of binging, if I'm really craving something I'll have it & just make sure I don't go over a s/c value of 5/2 for the meal.
Here's a video of the cutest little ballerina at fall festival, so happens to be my littlest one :).
I keep thinking that everyday I'll blog about how great my day has been, how well I've done on the BFC. Well that great day just never comes. So I decided to try something else here...blogging 1st to help keep me accountable. Over the past few days I've noticed once I cheat & it's always mid-afternoon, even one bite leads to more & more & more. Then it's like low sugar doesn't even matter...once I have that little taste I can't get enough. Like a friend of mine says, "one bite is too much & NEVER ENOUGH!" Also once I cheat I stop food journaling, like it doesn't matter if I don't write it down. So today the goal is to journal every single bite! I can do that! I've also decided to fix BFC friendly shake about 3 pm today. They always fill me up.
Well I'm off...going walking/running...need to get this day off to the right start.
Here I am BFC, dedicated motivated & ready to begin again! I've been on & off of a vegan diet these past few months, more off than on though. I may eat some veggie meals as I feel lead, but I'm not going to limit myself to those only.
I'm SO motivated to do this now. I've been playing around with different diets. Actually I'm taking a vegan workshop right now, that's fairly intense. While I'm including a lot of vegan meals, I'm definitely not vegan. I think however I eat will forever be guided by belly fat cure principles. I just can't get away from it. Just makes too much sense. I'm tracking what I eat with Amber's tracker found here. I have trouble following this plan without it. I think I've come full circle in a relatively short amount of time from omni to veg & back to omni. I want to eat healthy, but at the same time really want to enjoy food, like a good BLT on a hot summer's day. Right now I don't want to give up the foodie in me. Hopefully I won't regret it.
