This is a new beginning (again): My story of diets, cancer and nutrition.

Tower of Onion Rings
by Brad Snoke

Something most of my friends and family do not know is it has been one year since I decided to have the surgery which led to a cancer diagnoses. I think back to those days and wonder how different things would be if I had known where this journey would end. I definitely would have made sure the cancer was removed with the first surgery rendering the second operation as unnecessary.  Unfortunately, I would still be required to go through those scary months trying to determine how far the cancer had spread. Thankfully, or as my mom says, PTL (praise the Lord) every place it had spread could be removed by surgery.  According to my last set of tests, I am cancer free and very healthy. My cholesterol is even within normal limits. The only thing I need to be concerned about in regards to my health is my weight and high blood pressure. Losing the weight is going to be an issue for multiple reasons. One: I love food. Two: the HRT medication I am taking makes it virtually impossible to lose weight. Third: I love food. I know I already said it but I really do love food.

Since I need to lose weight and build up my body’s health, low-calorie nutritious eating needs to be a very important part of my life. I am having a tough time with consistency in my goal of eating healthy.  I will go for a few days eating right and then those processed, fake, high-calorie foods reel me into their tasty grips and I fall off the proverbial food wagon. I guess that every day I eat well is better than one more day eating like a starving victim of food rationing that has been let loose in an all-you-can eat buffet. But I need to make this a change that lasts a lifetime not just a few days. That is what the reviving of my blog is all about, accountability. I read somewhere that if people blog about the changes they want to make, it is easier to make the change. So here I go.

My goal is to eat on a daily basis a wide variety of food that is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. I also want to make it a high priority to exercise 45 minutes a day. Through this I should lose some weight and lower my blood pressure. These are great steps to living healthier.

 I am also in the beginning stages of using Genesis Pure. Genesis Pure is a nutritional product line created by Lindsey Duncan who believes in using top nutrition to create overall healing and wellness. I hope to eventually take their full product line, but at this time I am using their Immunity6 (which has gotten rid of all my allergies) and their  MetabolismBoost.  I have heard wonderful testimonies from many people (my mom included) who have received great results from their product and I am looking forward to using them to improve my health.

Thank you everyone for stopping by and reading my rambling words. May God bless you and receive the Glory for his good works.

My bucket list theory

I find it ironic that just a couple of weeks ago I had a “bucket lists” discussion with a co-worker. I patiently explained my theories to him, but I do not think he agreed with me.  See, I have always thought that bucket lists were silly. First, when it was time for me to die the last thing I would be thinking was “Man, I wished I had gone sky diving”. I would be thinking about my family and friends. Second, when I had passed away, I don’t think I would care about the things I had not done on a stupid list. I would be more concerned about what was going on in the after-life.

Now, I know I was wrong. In today’s society we have the wrong idea about what a bucket list is. Since the name of the list is said to have come from the term “kick the bucket”, we have defined the bucket list as a list of things to do before you kick the bucket. It is about a list of things to do, but it is a list of things to do while you are living.

Bucket lists are not about regrets or dying. They are about living life to the fullest. They are about getting as much out of life as you possibly can. Sure, Heaven will be fantastic someday, but God gave us a wonderful world that is full of beauty, and he wants us to enjoy every bit of it. He instilled preferences, likes, and interests into us humans so that we could choose the parts of this world that we would love the most. He gave us family and friends to share these things with.

That is what a bucket list is for. It is not about the things that you want to do before you die. It is about the things you want to do now to enjoy this wonderful world God has given us. A bucket list should be full of experiences you can share with family and friends. It should include things that make you a better person and help you enjoy the time you have here. It is about leaving this world a better place.

I found a wonderful website, bucketlist.org, where you can post your bucket list, share it with others, and mark items as you complete them. I started my own bucket list and I challenge you to do so, also. As Tim McGraw says we should all “live like you were dying”. If you do not know the lyrics to this song, I highly advise you to read them. It actually has some very good advice. Good night everyone.

How do you tell people you have cancer?

How do you tell family, friends, and co-workers that you have cancer; especially a rare form of cancer? This question has plagued me for the past couple of days.  On Tuesday, an oncologist told me I had carcinoid cancer. It is a rare, slow growing cancer that people can live with for decades and never even know they have it. On the other hand, this is the cancer that killed Steve Jobs, Dave Thomas (the founder of Wendy’s hamburger chain) and countless other people. How do you tell people who you care about and who care about you this type of news?

In this social media world we live in, what is the etiquette for this type of news? Do I tell each person individually, maybe do a post for all of my friends or tweet it to all of my followers? Should I take a picture of the pathology report and pin it to Pinterest? I do not know what to do. I do not want to offend anyone or make anyone upset that they found out by a post on Facebook. On the other hand, it can be tiring to say the words “I have cancer” over and over again.

I am thankful that the type of cancer I have is very different from the traditional cancer everyone is familiar with. As my oncologist stated “Most people die with this cancer not from it.”  It would only be under the most unusual of circumstances that I would need to have chemotherapy. The traditional treatment for Carcinoid Cancer is surgery and medication for symptoms and to slow tumor growth. Unless things go bad, most people would never even know I had cancer. Let’s pray that things do not go bad.

 I will admit I have some major guilty feelings going on. I feel guilty that I am scared about where this could go when my treatment is so easy compared to what other brave souls are facing. To all those who have faced or are facing cancer in your own lives, know that I honor you and your bravery.

Well, now that I have finally spilled my guts for all to read, I will say goodnight. May you all have sweet dreams. Oh, for you Grammar fanatics out there, I wrote this straight from the heart, without a thought for proper punctuation and grammar. Please forgive me for all the mistakes. I will try to do better next time. See ya.

Wrinkles and Taco Bell

Hello! There are two things that have been on my mind this evening; wrinkles and Taco Bell. I am very much aware that this is a strange combination of topics and am sure you are questioning what these topics have to do with “family life in the new millennium”. Well, read on and that question might be answered.

First, wrinkles. I have determined that this mother needs to find herself a good wrinkle cream before she begins to look like an old pug dog. Not there is anything wrong with pugs. I love pugs. I just do not want to look like one. I need a wrinkle cream that will work really well, but not cost a fortune (yes, I do believe in miracles). I must research wrinkle creams to find the one that will work best for me. The answer may appear in a future post, because we all know that mothers of the 21st century do not age gracefully. We fight it every step of the way.

Second, Taco Bell which was the restaurant of choice for this evening. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I am fighting getting old. Part of that fight is my desire to reach a healthy weight. You would think that my opponent in this fight would be my own body or my cravings, but no. It is my husband. My husband loves to eat out and eating out is not always easy to do when you are trying to be health conscience. I must admit fast food has come a long way in creating nutritional food, but they are very, very sneaky. For example , at Taco Bell the Cantina Bowl with chicken looks very healthy. Although it has plenty of vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, pico de gallo and guacamole; it actually has over 500 calories. Don’t even think about getting their Fiesta taco salads. The calories on those run in the 700s. Thankfully, Taco Bell has some great choices for low calorie meals. The Fresco Menu items are all below 350 calories and taste fabulous. If you are like me, though, and enjoy going old school; you can get a couple of tacos or a burrito supreme for less than 500 calories. I did not have the nutritional info on hand when I was ordering so I ended up with a 520 calorie 5 layer burrito. I went for cheap since the burrito costs only $1.49.  Oh, well. I can eat more calorie conscience next time. Again, something that almost all women in America are hoping to do.

Well, it is time for me to go fix my youngest daughter something to eat. So, I will talk to ya’ll soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Coupon Inserts for Chattanooga 9-18-11

Thanks This is Chattanooga for providing us with this weeks coupon insert list. Not a great week but I have seen worse.

SmartSource

TGI Fridays	15% off your tables entire purchase		10/23/2011
Dole	On 1 package of DOLE Fruite Crisp	$0.50	11/30/2011
Pedisure	Any 1 PediSure product	$2.00	11/30/2011
Logan's	Off food purchase of $10 or more	$3.00	10/20/2011
Logan's	Off Food purchase of $20 or more	$5.00	10/20/2011
Tom's	Any 1 Tom's of Maine toothpaste or mouth wash	$1.00	11/2/2011
Tom's	Any 1 Tom's of Maine deodorant	$1.00	11/2/2011
Tom's	Any 1 Tom's of Maine bar soap	$1.00	11/2/2011
Johnsonville	Any 1 package, variety of Johnsonville Italian Sausage	$0.50	12/31/2011
AirWick	Any 1 Twin or 2 single Air Wick Scented Oil refills	$1.00	10/30/2011
AirWick	Bogo 3oz candle, wyb 2 3oz candles	bogo	10/30/2011
AirWick	Any 1 Air Wick candle 5.29oz	$2.00	10/30/2011
AirWick	Any 1 Air Wick Flip & Fresh	$1.00	10/30/2011
Purina Busy	On 2 packages of Busy brand chew toy	$1.50	12/18/2011
Purina Busy	On 2 packages of Busy brand chew treat	$1.00	12/18/2011
Purina Busy	Any 1 Busy Rollhide or Chewnola chew treat	$1.00	12/18/2011
Carolina Pride	Any size of Jumbo Franks	$0.50	12/30/2011
Carolina Pride	Any size of bun-size franks	$0.50	12/30/2011
Carolina Pride	Any variety of 10oz lunch meat	$0.50	12/30/2011
Carolina Pride	Any variety of 12 oz bologna	$0.50	12/30/2011
Clairol	1 box of Clairol hair color	$2.00	10/31/2011
Clairol	1 box of Nice 'N Easy Color Blend Foam hair color	$3.00	10/30/2011

RedPlum

PF Chang's	Any 1 PF Chang's Home Menu for 2	$1.00	10/16/2011
Ultra	Any Size bag of ULTRA Food for dogs	$4.00	10/31/2011
Crest	One Crest Rinse 440mL or larger	$0.75	10/31/2011
Sprayway	Any Sprayway Product	$0.50	12/31/2011

FNF Band of the Week (Week 0) - Ooltewah - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

Here is the best Band in the Chattanooga area

FNF Band of the Week (Week 0) - Ooltewah - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

Grocery Trip 5-21-11

Today was my daily shopping trip to the grocery stores. Unlike the extreme shoppers shown on TV my trips are mostly items that we eat on a daily basis that coupons are not available for or when they are it is very difficult to stock up the six weeks couponers advise.  I have couponed for almost 4 months and have seen poptarts on bogo one time. I do not have room to store the 32 boxes required to keep us in poptarts for four months. If they come on sale again, though, I may make room.

Anyway, today I hit Walmart and Publix. I am waiting to go to Bi-lo after the coupons come out tomorrow. I have heard word that coupons may be available for items on bogo at Bi-lo. Here is the breakdown for today's trips.

Walmart-Total before coupons and sales 59.45
Walmart-Total after coupons and sales 55.06
I know it does not sound like a lot but this includes all my meat, produce and other items that do not go one sale often.
Great buys:
Ivory Soup (3 bars) .97, coupon $1.00 made profit of .03
Dawn Dish Soup .97, coupon .25 total .72
Speed Stick Deo. .98, coupon .50 total was .48.

Publix-Total before coupons and sales 28.28
Publix-Total after coupons and sales 15.91
Great buys:
Wishbone Salad Dressing 2.79 with bogo and 1.00 coupon paid .39
Dentastix 3.59 with bogo and 1.00 coupon paid 2.58 for two of them (1.29 each)

Bi-Lo (if all works out)

I am going to take advantage of the Pick 5 for 19.95. I figure the prices for the items I am going to purchase are typically around 6.50 each. That would work out to a $12.55 savings. Not a great percentage but it works for me. I will be stocked up on those items for a while. Beyond that, Bi-Lo has a few bogo items that I have coupons for.
Ball Park Franks 7.18 (2 packs); with .75 coupon and bogo should pay 2.84
Lance Sandwich Crackers 5.98 (2 boxes), with bogo and 1.00 coupon (5-22ss, fingers crossed) 1.98 for both
Mueller's Elbo Macaroni 1.94(2 boxes); with bogo and 1.00 coupon 2 boxes FREE