How I Merrily Cope

An aunty of mine who has yet to venture into the realms of Facebook, so she shall remain nameless here, emailed me the morning after my last blog "...I am very interested in your diet.  ... I could use some tips...  So if you don't want to write that "long boring blog" on this subject, I would appreciate the reader's digest version when you have a couple of minutes."


Seeing as I have a couple minutes Aunty, I will write here for you and anyone else who is interested may peek. Those who aren't can click here.


When I got the tumor news I was shaken up and normally I would grab my chips and ice cream to comort. Something in me told me that might not be such a good idea. Soon Faith noticed the change and when I turned down ice cream asked perplexed  "...Because of the tumor?" I think we all instinctively know there's truth to "we are what we eat."

Let your food be medicine and your medicine be food....

~ Hippocrates 

Being someone who has tipped the scale past 300lbs and can fluctuate 20lbs easily - I know my food vices. I know how to feel if a Ben & Jerry's container is fresh (its top and bottom of container has no air pockets). I even have, or should I say had, my method of eating a bag of chips (lick one side, flip it, then put in your mouth = maximizing the flavor). 

During my Rubenesque period. 

Okay, getting off track here with memory lane. What I'm getting at is even with no formal dietician training, I was able to deduce that what I eat has an impact on my well being, including mental and spiritual. Googling "food health codes religions" we see on the top three results are Hindus, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists. One doesn't have to look long to find a few words of wisdom that when adhered to can improve ones spirit and health.

I'm not really wanting to go deep into my diet, but I did see a reputable nutritionist and got some tests done and was recommended a few adjustments. 

What have been the results? Well let's start with me on my bathroom scale prior to the change in diet:

Now I am about to get up and take a photo of me on it now...

I'm not dieting to lose weight, it was just a byproduct. Dieting might not be the right word either, rather I have adjusted my eating habits to what my body needs instead of what my emotions want. I haven't gone hungry in the slightest and my cravings for junk have pretty much disappeared. 

I'm eating organic where and when possible. Monday we just started receiving locally grown and organic food delivery program. For anyone in Victoria interested here's the link www.localfarmsdelivery.ca and it's cheaper than buying at the store, plus their bread is apparently fantastic. I don't know how much meat I was eating before but now I try to keep it around 10% of my intake. 

In summary how I merrily cope with this diet change in eating whole unprocessed foods is that it has aided in my mental clarity. My attention span has increased, my mood has improved (slower to get annoyed, even Will & Kate talk rolls off my back), creative thinking and comprehension has improved. My mom has noted that I've gone from a pasty white to having more color in my cheeks. 

All I wanted was to eat better to increase my likelihood of optimum healing from cancer, much more important than weight loss. Other benefits have been new recipes to try out and the discovery of sugar/dairy/gluten free coconut milk ice cream has been fantastic. 

I would write more but I have this to eat. nom nom nom

Please, if you have any gluten/dairy/sugar free recipes, tips or websites please share them! I'm a newbie and can use some guidance.