100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (36 page)

your face . . . smiling, evil, clownlike people who are tempting you to ruin

your healthy eating streak!

You don’t have to be a victim. And you don’t have to seem like you’re

on some kind of starvation diet to those around you by carrying a little

Ziploc baggie full of carrot sticks in your purse. There are some good strate-

gies you can use when going to these types of functions that will help you

stay on the healthy eating track. Choose the ones that work for you and will

still allow you to have a good time at the shindig.

●
Eat before you get there.
You’ll be less likely to eat the wrong things if

you’re not hungry. Your before-party snack should be something with a

bit of fiber and protein like a small salad with added walnuts and seeds,

or whole-grain bread with almond butter. Fiber and protein will keep you

fuller longer and help you resist the urge to overdo it.

●
Don’t have your one alcoholic drink right away.
If you’re going to stick

to the one drink max that is recommended by the National Cancer Insti-

tute guidelines, don’t have it as soon as you get there. Chances are, during

the night you’ll have another, and maybe even another if you hang

around long enough. Have your drink, but start off with sparkling water

with a splash of fruit juice. Heck, stick one of those little umbrellas in

there, too. It will still satisfy your taste buds, put you in a festive mood,

and help you bide some time until you’re ready for your drink.

●
Look at everything first.
Take a moment to take stock of what’s on that

hors d’oeuvre table. Make a mental note of what you’ll have before you

Perk #36: Cancer Streamlined My Christmas Shopping

143

start making up your plate. Choose fresh whole foods like veggie sticks

and fruit and limit creamy or cheesy dips. If you do choose dips, put a

small amount on your plate and walk away as opposed to standing near

it and “robot dipping” over and over.

●
Only put two things on your plate at a time.
If you fill

your plate with a heaping mound of food, you’ll eat it

Make a plan for party

and be back for more. But if you only put two things on

eating, but don’t stress

the plate at a time, you’ll space out your consumption.

about it if you don’t

Grazing, over time, allows you to digest what you’re eat-

follow it.

ing, and it forces you to fill multiple plates and make

multiple trips.

●
Hold a drink in your dominant hand.
Occupying your “grabbing” hand

will make it tough to “grab” another cheese puff.

●
Above all, have fun.
Enjoy yourself. Keep these rules in the back of your

mind, but don’t let them ruin your evening. If you eat more than you

planned, don’t beat yourself up. There’s always tomorrow to put you back

on track.

Perk #37

Cancer Allowed Me to Keep

Better Tabs on My Teens

L
ife before cancer was a whirl-

wind. I would work all day, come

home to prepare three different

meals to satisfy my finicky eaters

(Okay, I am not going to win Mother

of the Year after that comment!),

then try to spend some fun, yet edu-

cational time with my youngest

child, Ben. That didn’t leave much

time for my teens, Kaitlyn and Dono-

van. However, cancer slowed the

pace of my life and allowed me to

become more involved in theirs.

I am not sure if that was exactly

working to
their
advantage, however,

as nothing could slip by me. Let’s

take, for example, the mysterious case of the flu that hit Donovan on the

same day that the Xbox game Modern Warfare 3 was released. I think it was

a bit of an epidemic among the guys in his

school. I will give the devil his due; he might

Cancer gives you

have even gotten away with it had he not posted

a lot of downtime.

to Facebook, “My life is now complete,” with a

Put it to good use by

picture of the game. Yes, I was creeping my son

snooping on your kids.

on Facebook. When you have cancer, you can get

away with doing that.

I 144 J

Perk #37: Cancer Allowed Me To Keep Better Tabs On My Teens

145

HEALTH TIP #37

Put That Downtime to Even Better Use

by Picking Up a Hobby

I
should add “a stress-relieving and healthy hobby” such as fishing or scrap-

booking to this tip title. I don’t think entering hot dog–eating contests

would qualify in this category!

It all goes back to stress relief. Reducing stress has been shown to reduce

your risk for many illnesses including cancer. Most examples of stress relief

have to do with being able to shift the focus of your stress away from what

is causing the stress (thoughts about your illness, work schedules, family

issues) and onto something completely different, even if it is just for a short

time. This shift not only provides some short-term stress relief but has been

shown to have benefits on overall well-being too when done routinely.

Hobbies that include physical exertion, like gardening and walking the

golf course, have the added benefit of keeping you physically fit as well. This

in turn can help you lose weight, thereby reducing your risk of cancer even

more. (Pretty neat, huh?)

In addition to the physical benefits, hobbies also provide psychological

benefits. Creating a finished product like knitted goods or a model airplane

gives you a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. A hobby like painting

or pottery making will also give you an emotional and psychological outlet.

Many hobbies allow you to connect with others in clubs, furthering the heal-

ing benefits by providing health-promoting socialization and friendship.

See all the things you can accomplish in your free time?!

You can go with the usual hobbies like rock and coin collecting, but

here are a few inexpensive and enjoyable hobbies that you might not have

thought of:

Goldfish keeping.
Don’t laugh. Raising goldfish is easy, inexpensive, and

there are hundreds of beautiful goldfish varieties that you can explore.

Believe it or not, there are goldfish shows, just like dog shows, that judge

your goldfish on color and size, and, yes, even personality. This hobby elim-

inates stress on many levels:

146

100 Perks of Having Cancer

●
Watching fish swim has been shown to

reduce stress and even lower blood pressure.

●
Pet keeping in general is shown to reduce

stress. Feeding and taking care of the tank

while you watch your goldfish grow will give

you a sense of satisfaction. Don’t be surprised

if you find yourself getting emotionally

attached to “Goldie”!

●
Winning a blue ribbon in a goldfish show will increase self-worth and

raise your endorphin levels. Endorphins are the brain’s natural “feel-

good” medicine.

●
Joining a goldfish club will help you connect with others, which is a

healthy form of socialization.

For more information on goldfish showing in the United States, go to

www.goldfishsociety.org.

Disc golf.
This is the “poor person’s” form of golf because all you need is

a few special discs (what you and I know as “Frisbees”) and a disc golf

course. Disc golf is played just like real golf, except the hole is a basket. The

object of the game is to get the disc in the basket in the least amount of

throws. The rules are pretty much like regular “club golf” and there are even

pars for each “hole.” The nice thing is, it doesn’t matter how old you are or

what your ability level is. Everyone can play. Playing disc golf will:

●
Get you outside and moving, which is good for your health by com-

muning with nature and increasing your activity level.

●
Builds friendships by buddying up with a friend to play. If you don’t have

a disc golf partner, you can find one by joining a local club.

●
Compete in disc golf tournaments to meet new people and have fun. All

those things are good for general health and self-confidence.

For more information go to www.pdga.com (Professional Disc Golf