October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with that in mind when was the last time you checked in on the girls? :0) Regardless of your family history, everyone should check 'em at least once a month.

Here are the signs to watch out for:

Lump
Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening
Change in the size or shape of the breast
Dimpling or puckering of the skin
Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
Pulling in of your nipple or other parts of the breast
New pain in one spot that doesn’t go away

The Komen Foundation has a great online tool if you need instructions or tips. Here's the link:

http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/BreastSelfAwareness.html

Don't think it can't happen to you. Be smart. Check them.

Choices

I think the best thing that Weight Watchers OnLine taught me is how to make better choices. Everyone makes food choices every day. But do you know really what you are eating and how much of it?

I was reminded of this yesterday when I went to Panera Bread. I go to Panera alot to use the Free wi-fi for work, typically I get a coffee and that's it. Yesterday when the cashier scanned my frequent user card she said "Oh! Happy birthday! You get a free bagel!" I was going to say no, and then saw the Pink Ribbon Bagel, and figured I could eat it as my lunch. So I got it plain in a to go bag and took it home with me.

A great cause ( $.50 of each bagel goes to breast cancer research in the month of October), and a really yummy bagel, I ate it plain for lunch and enjoyed it. Then I went online in the afternoon and looked up the points value. 8.5!

So just to make my point clear - for lunch yesterday I had one, plain, pink ribbon bagel.

For that same points value I could have had all of the following:
oatmeal
a banana
an apple
yogurt
a chocolate vitamuffin
the whole can of Progresso light Santa Fe Style Chicken soup

Which do you think would fill you up more? One bagel or that list of food?

This is the basis of Weight watchers. The choice is yours, and if you want a bagel sometimes then have it, but if most days you pick the list, you will not be as hungry, and you will loose weight.

Your diet does make a difference....

This week I am inspired by my good friend Martin. Martin and I have been friends for over 10 years, somewhere along the way he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He takes two different pills to control his sugar levels, and like most type II diabetics, is to watch what he eats. Martin, like most diabetics, got a little lax recently on watching what he ate, and when he went to the doctor was surprised to hear his hemoglobin A1c was really high. Not good! His doctor gave him the option to try and better his score with changes to his diet, and if that did not prove to be successful then Martin was headed for insulin shots. That same day I got an email from him asking "can you help a brother out?". :0)

Of course I was eager to help! I love to tell other people what to do! LOL. So we started with testing his sugar more then once in awhile, Martin impressively tested for me 4 times a day. He was hitting high levels after eating both lunch and breakfast. So we took a look at what he was eating. Here's his typical day:

Honey Nut Cheerios
Milk
Coffee

Bagel (white)
Turkey
Cheese
Mayo

Stir fry shrimp and veggies
White rice

A few cookies

A lot of empty carbs, so we decided to switch those up and see if there was an improvement in his numbers. After much work on his part he stitched to:

Scrambled egg whites
1 piece whole wheat toast
2 pieces turkey bacon
Coffee

2 slices whole wheat bread
turkey or ham lunch meat
low fat cheese

Chicken/turkey/beef
Veggies - steamed or stir fried
Brown rice or a smaller serving of white rice

OK now it took over a week to find this pattern, but the changes made his sugar levels drop down and remain impressively low. When he started having some sugar levels that were too low, he researched one of the medications he was taking and figured out he would be better off taking it at another time during the day. With this additional change his high sugar levels have disappeared! Martin is proof that you can take control of your health, you can work at it, tweak it, change it, and you can make a difference. His doctor gave him a decision, and he acted on it, and persisted until he had the outcome that he wanted - better sugar levels. He is proof that what you eat directly effects your health, every-single-meal.

He inspires me to do better and try harder at my own diet, not letting myself fall into a food rut. But more then that, about a week into our "project" he texted me that he was out to dinner with friends and he was having a margarita. And my heart sank I was so disappointed. Then the next day I got an email telling me about this wonderful dinner he had with great friends celebrating there birthdays at a great Mexican restaurant. And it was my turn to learn a lesson, and be inspired further by my friend Martin. He has taught me that life is too short to not stop sometimes and enjoy those special occasions with those we love, and the food we love along with that. It's just one meal, in the long run it wont make a difference to your diet - but the happiness and joy we get from friends and family is something that can never be measured.

Your diet makes a difference in your health and in your life. It goes both ways as Martin and I have proved. Watching things closer can bring you better health and help you feel better. And, letting loose sometimes to enjoy food with family and friends can help you truly live life.

Drug trial update

Just a quick update this morning on the drug trial, since I know I haven't mentioned it in awhile. I do not have the bloating anymore (yeah!) so I'm not sure what this was, but hopefully it was not a side effect of these pills. I do still have numbness in my left hand fingers, which has been ongoing for 3 months. I also have a remarkable amount of itchiness on my left palm. Weird, but possibly a side effect.

Last week I did catch a cold from Brad. Not thinking I took advil cold and sinus and went along with life. At lunchtime I decided to walk 3 blocks to the ATM and got so dizzy I almost had to sit down. I figured my sugar level was low and didn't think about it again. The next morning I took more advil cold and sinus and went for a run with Brad. About mile 3 I got so dizzy I thought for sure I was going to pass out. I completely lost all of my energy and was just out of it. I never have had an issue with advil before, and I take it all the time. That night when I spoke to my friend Marianne she asked me if I had called the drug nurses before taking it - OOppps! No I didn't. So I called them and they said they didn't know of any drug interactions but to log it all in case I had some side effects. I still had no energy, and I still felt very dizzy - but my sugar levels were fine. So I stopped taking the advil. Within 2 hours I felt 99% better - my energy came back, I was no longer dizzy - sure I had a runny nose and a bit of a sore throat, but the difference was remarkable.

So, I still don't know and can't say if it really was a drug interaction. But if you are out on the Internet like I was last week looking for someone else to tell you they tried this and did not feel good at all, then here you go. I took Advil Cold and Sinus with Neratinib and I lost 80% of my energy level, and felt very dizzy!

legs

I am inspired this week by my niece Katie. My family is not what you would call a "sports" family. My sister and her husband did not play sports growing up, and I played soccer and basketball only after getting type 1 diabetes - as a way to stay active. Mom would come to my games, but it was rare for anyone I knew besides her to be there. So this summer when I was at the lake with my niece we went to the local YMCA. She ran on the treadmill, and after we were chatting and she mentioned to me that she might like to try out for the cross country team. I was floored. This is the same girl a few years back that didn't like to have to walk too far. :0) I was so excited but didn't want to push too hard, so I tried my best to be objective and supportive.

Well, she joined. I was so excited I was jumping up and down, and I took her out immediately and bought her good running clothes. Then she asked me if I wanted to come join the team and run with them on a Saturday practice - of course i do!! LOL. So I went, and when the option was given to turn around at 2 miles or go to 5 miles I suggested we go the 5. The coach was shocked, and we were the only girls that went the longer distance. :0) I went to the first meet prepared to not embarrass her. I really tried, but it only lasted about 2 mins when she moved quickly into first place. I was screaming and jumping up and down, running all over the course to keep screaming and jumping up and down. She came in third, her first race ever. I am so proud! First place was her teammate. In each race since she has been in the top two finishers for her school. As I stood at a meet watching her coming far off in the distance I noticed the boys team standing by the fence, so I kept quiet and listened. "That Legs?" one said, "I don't know, she took off fast bet she tired out" the other said back to him. "Nah, not Leg's", he said "she's gonna blow them all away".

To say I am proud of her is an understatement. As Brad said over the weekend, she is the real deal, she is running, she is stretching, and she is eating right. She is eating healthy foods, extra protein, and staying away from anything that can negatively effect her running. And she's having fun. This is from an email I got from her today:

Cross Country is going pretty good. It gets easier every day. I can keep up with the boys at practice now (they can't stand a girl beating them). I only have one more chance to make the 15:00 club on our course before I leave James Wood. I have a meet tomorrow and we are going to dominate for the girls team! I'll have to tell you how it goes.

This week I am inspired by Leg's - now let's all go out and beat the boys!!

Come run with me!

Last fall my cousin Shelley met and interviewed Jim Atkins, Chairman of the Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation. The Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation was created in honor of Cheryl Clayton Atkins, whose childhood nickname was “Cherry Blossom.” Her death from breast cancer and her wish that her husband would work to make life better for those who followed her, were the motivations for the formation of the Foundation. In 2006, her husband, Jim and some of her friends began their breast cancer effort.

Three simultaneous Walks/5K runs for breast cancer will be held on October 10, 2010 in Leesburg, Middleburg, Warrenton, all named “Cherry Blossom Walks for Breast Cancer and 5K Runs. Conducted during national Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Walks’ net financial objective is $300,000, 80% of which will be awarded to Fauquier and Loudoun charities and nonprofits for breast cancer detection, treatment and education; 20% will be granted to regional research.

The Leesburg Cherry Blossom Walk and 5K Run for Breast Cancer will begin at 1 pm, Sunday, October 10 at Morven Park’s Equestrian Center just north of Leesburg, at Tutt Lane off Route 15.

Come on out and join us for a great cause!! Sign up at:

http://www.cherryblossombreastcancerfoundation.org/

Three things I learned on vacation

This past week I've been on vacation with Mom. We had a really great trip to the Hudson Valley. We toured all of the mansions from the Rockefeller's, Vanderbilt, Washington Irving, FDR, and Jay Gould. I came away from this trip relaxed, restored, and having learned three lessons.

ONE: The Hudson Valley is really very beautiful, and I cannot believe I have never been there before. The combo of water and mountains, farms and city, is just incredible. It should be on everyones bucket list.

TWO: I have a sweet tooth, this I've always known, but now I have confirmation that I get it from my Mom. This could also be called the vacation of desserts. We typically had two per day, one at lunch and one at dinner, and we covered it all, everything from NY cheesecake, to cookies at tea time, to sherbet. We had cake, pies, mousses, cookies, candies, you name it, if it was a dessert we had some. Another plus of the Hudson Valley was the food was incredible. Everything we ate was delicious. And so we ate more.

THIRD: One day of eating out and eating bad makes me feel sick. But what I didn't know, is after eating that way for several days, I stop feeling ill, and I just feel like eating more sweets. Not good. Luckily for me I was smart before I left and I scheduled a session with my personal trainer for the morning after I got back. And it took everything in me to go this morning, but now I feel so much better, and I am back on track and eating healthy and working out.


So I am up a few pounds, but back on the healthy track. And I'm relaxed, restored, and have alot of happy memories from a great trip. :0)