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Archives for October 2010

Breast Cancer: Surprising Ways to Reduce Your Risks

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Breast Cancer Prevention Starts at HOME!

Eat Hormone-free Meat and Dairy. When we eat meat and dairy products, we’re also eating the residue of what those animals ate, including pesticides, growth hormones and contaminants. Choose hormone-free beef or dairy to eliminate those traces of hormones that can enter our bodies and contribute to an increased risk of breast cancer. – Breast Cancer Fund.org

It’s nearly the end of October and that means several important things:

  • Time for Joi to put up her Christmas tree (yes, I’m one of those annoying early birds… sorry)
  • Time to buy my outside cats plenty of straw for their loft
  • Time to bake those Sweet Potato Pies!
  • Time to start Christmas shopping
  • An end to Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The one that concerns me is the last one.  As a mother of three daughters I am pre-conditioned to love all females.  Every one of them symbolizes my much, much, much beloved and treasured daughters.  So I’ve loved seeing all of the extra talk about preventing breast cancer.  I’ve heard my own daughters talking about breast cancer prevention, about getting extra exercise, about eating healthier, and about choosing Breast Cancer as one of the diseases they personally want to support and fund.

Eat Your Veggies, but Kick the Can. We all know vegetables are great for us, but the lining in canned food can leach chemicals like BPA. Farmers’ market-fresh vegetables are a better choice, but if you can’t make it to the market or want something out of season, choose frozen over canned or look for brands that make BPA-free cans. – Breast Cancer Fund.org

It has been a wonderful thing and I can only hope that November 1st doestn’t bring it all entirely to an end.  How educated (and healthier) we’d all be if other diseases had their own month to raise awareness!

Before October runs out of time, I want to tell you about another GREAT resource for Breast Cancer awareness and prevention: Breast Cancer Fund.org.

Breast Cancer Fund is all about raising awareness for Breast Cancer treatment and prevention. Their October never ends… they’re heores/heroines proudly wearing pink capes!

Here’s something I do and something I tell my daughters to do as well.  Now…. I’m suggesting it to you as well. I’m bossy like that when it comes to health.  I have a Favorites folder on my computer called HEALTH – I place the best websites under this folder that have resources, information, news, recipes, and so forth that promote better health and fitness.   Dr. Oz lives in this folder as does Everyday Health, WebMD, the American Heart Association,  Breast Cancer Fund.org, and a host of others.

I have certain times of the day/week (those that update often warrant daily peeks) when I check in on these trusted sites for news and updates.  You’d really wax especially brilliant if you did the same.

Breast Cancer Fund has a great publication that you’ll love, State of Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.

The science is here: it’s State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment, the landmark publication from the Breast Cancer Fund.

Our just-released sixth edition catalogues the available scientific research into breast cancer’s links to toxic chemicals and radiation.

arrow2 View State of the Evidence online.

Find out why….

  • We should take special care to protect pregnant women, newborns, young children and teens from exposures to certain chemicals.
  • Exposure to mixtures of chemicals in everyday products matters.
  • Traditional factors like family history represent only a small part of breast cancer risk.
  • “Just a little” exposure to some chemicals and radiation can be a big concern.

The weight of the evidence can be overwhelming. The good news is, the Breast Cancer Fund is working every day to translate this science into action that reduces breast cancer risk for you and for all women. In fact, we use State of the Evidence as a roadmap that shapes our public education and policy work.

Toss (or Cover) the Crumbling Furniture. Older furniture with foam stuffing, cushions or mattresses could contain harmful flame-retardants called PBDEs, and, if the foam is falling apart, the PBDEs are more likely to be released into the environment. Exposure over time could increase the risk for breast cancer, so it may be time to upgrade that hand-me-down easy chair! – Breast Cancer Fund.org

I hope you’ll visit Breast Cancer Fund and learn more about the many things we can do to prevent breast cancer.  Click the following link and educate yourself, then share the information (and link) with your family, friends and everyone you know!  – Reduce your risks and prevent breast cancer

Ways to Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk

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This has been a great month for Breast Cancer Awareness. It seems to me that there are more organizations and businesses proudly waving their pink flag, so to speak, than ever before.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a lot more.  But what pink strides!

Of course, the entire purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness month is to educate women, and men, on things they can do to lower their risk of ever getting breast cancer.  It’s also a means to educate the public on things they can do if this particular nightmare ever shows up on their doorstep.  I love all of the beautiful, smiling survivors you see in magazines, on websites, on t-shirts… and everywhere else.  These brave fighters are living proof that breast cancer is no longer a dead end.  It’s simply a detour – a particularly tough one, of course.  But the strong, the educated, and the inspired can make the journey with aplomb.  These survivors serve as guides to help and assist others on their journey.  No matter how you look at it, that’s a beautiful thing.

I also love all of the information that’s available.  Those of us who are fortunate to have avoided this visitor are able to learn about things we can do to improve our chances of never receiving a visit.

Below are healthy habits we can all adopt today to attract healthier tomorrows:

  • Lose weight. According to Everyday Health, being overweight raises your breast cancer risk after menopause.  Furthermore, consistently gaining weight throughout adulthood also puts you at higher risk.   If you have extra weight, buckle down, get serious, and take it off.
  • Throw Watercress into salads, sandwiches, soups, stir fries…. Natural News has a fascinating article explaining how watercress turns off a signal that causes tumors to develop.
  • Get Regular Exercise. Experts ALL agree that regular exercise lowers your breast cancer risk.  It also improves your heart’s health, makes you feel and look better, and promotes better mental fitness.   When it comes to preventing breast cancer, however, most women probably aren’t getting as much exercise as they should be.  Truth be told, it’s probably true with most people!  The goal is to aim for around 45 minutes at least 5 days a week.
  • Lay Off the Alcohol and Cigarettes. I’m not trying to preach, just giving the facts.  Cigarettes and alcohol increase your odds of getting breast cancer – in addition to many other ailments, I might add!  Okay, that was preach-y.
  • Manage Your Stress. Research after research after research prove that stress is woefully unhealthy – mentally as well as physically. If you feel anxious or stressed most of the time, find ways to relax and unwind. Very often, simply realizing how wound up you’ve become can set the unwinding in motion.  It’s not normal to always feel on edge or to always feel on the brink of yelling or crying. It isn’t normal and it isn’t healthy.  If you need to get professional help, don’t hesitate for even a second.  Better to seek help for something now than something worse later.
  • Approach Hormone Therapy With Considerable Caution. I’m not a doctor.  I don’t even play one on tv.  So, I’m leery of approaching this subject in depth.  Research shows a link between hormone therapy and breast cancer.  A strong link. Don’t just take hormone therapy because your doctor says that’s what you have to do!  If you aren’t having severe menopause symptoms, you might want to consider bypassing hormone therapy.  In any case, read up on it.
  • Eat Healthy! Finally, you HAVE to check out the Anti-Cancer Diet put together by Everyday Health.  These foods (which include garlic, turmeric, green tea, tomatoes…) can protect you from a host of cancers, including breast cancer.  Watch the slide show and write down your new favorite foods.

New bodybuggSp Calorie Management System and the p90X Workout

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24 Hour Fitness is introducing the NEW bodybuggSP personal calorie management system!

You’ve probably seen the bodybugg on The Biggest Loser.  Personally, I’ve always wanted one but had no freaking idea how to go about it.

Problem, solved. The bodybuggSP is smartphone compatible with Android and iPhone, which makes it easy for customers to  manage the calories they consume + burn in real time.

Right now, you can get the bodybuggSP system for just $249.99 + FREE ground shipping and an $10 off with promo code (see below).

bodybuggSP Features

  • Smartphone compatible with Android and iPhone – upload your calorie burn, steps and activity from your armband straight to your smartphone. No more need for the digital display!
  • Food logging available on Android and iPhone – no need to wait until you are in front of a computer! (also available with bodybugg version 3)
  • 6-month free online subscription! (also available with bodybugg)
  • Free phone coaching session (also available with bodybugg)

Speaking of The Biggest Loser, I can’t wait for tonight’s episode. Bob Harper has called this episode, “INTENSE.”  All caps.  Look out!  Duck, Frado and friends! I think it’s about to hit the fan.

 

Snarky Bumper Sticker On an Old Truck

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I love bumper stickers.  I’ve never put any on a vehicle of my own, but I gotta admit, I get a kick out of reading others.  They kind of give you an idea about the driver.  One of my favorite ones was on the back of a pick up truck being driven by a man in his 30s or 40s.  This husband of one lucky woman let the world know, “I Love My Wife.”

I thought that was pretty sweet.

As a UK Wildcats and St. Louis Cardinals fan, I always exchange knowing smiles with drivers sporting these bumper stickers.

As a mom, I always smile when the bumper sticker informs me that their child achieves high grades or is enrolled in the military or a particular college.  Again with the smiles.

Of course there are the occasional angry ones or bumper stickers that are filled with as much hate as their driver is.  I always wonder, “Why advertise your bigotry, hatred, or redneck status to the world?  Are you that stinking proud of it?”

Yesterday, on a trip to Wal-Mart I happened to notice a car in the parking lot with a bumper sticker that read, “I’m Retired… Don’t Ask Me To Do a Damn Thing.”  Oddly enough, the man that got out of the car looked like he might have been the angriest little man to ever draw breath.  With or without his bumper sticker, I doubt many would ask anything of him.

He can relax. Finally.

Ironically, as I entered the store with the bumper sticker’s “IT’S ALL ABOUT MEEEE” attitude on my mind, I noticed one of this particular store’s regular greeters – a sweetheart gray-haired man who is obviously well past retirement age.  He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.  He doesn’t just stand and greet, he goes out of his way to make everyone comfortable and happy.  I think giving out stickers to kids is probably the highlight of his day.

Forget probably.

He was in the lobby part of the store, a little away from his station.  He asked me how I was doing and I said something like, “Starbucks and Wal-Mart in the same afternoon? I’m doing great.”   I asked how he was and he said he was great, too…. that he’d had Starbucks for breakfast.  Then he bent over to fix one of the rugs.   My fellow Starbucks worker said that they kept puckering up and that he was afraid someone would fall.

He laughed and said, “I must have fixed these rugs ’bout a hundred times this week.”

I couldn’t help but be struck by the contrast in the two gentlemen and in their attitudes.  Mr. Don’t Ask Me to Do a Damn Thing passed right by the greeter as he struggled with his rugs. Little did he know that he was part of a scene that made a lasting impression on my mind and heart.

And he wasn’t the protagonist.

This bumper sticker is meant, of course, to be funny.  And a lot of good-natured retired men and women kid about such things.  They’ve put in years of work and now they don’t want to be called upon to do anything else. However, is that kind of mentality all that funny?

The NFL is in the midst of a little bit of a controversy right now.  Some players are peeved because they’re being asked not to make “nasty” hits – you know, going helmet to helmet.  HELLLO, guys, it’s for your protection as well as everyone else’s.

How about the skanky athletes and celebrities who are caught with their pants down.  Literally. They certainly aren’t thinking about the shame, embarrassment, or pain they’re causing their wife, children, fans, or family.   They’re only thinking about themselves.

It’s all about meeeeeeeeeeee!

The mentality sickens me.  Thank goodness there are still countless people who are interested in serving others and lending a helping hand wherever one is needed.  After my daughter Emily’s wedding, 9 of us (all family members) stayed behind to clean up the huge mess.  A lovely young girl who’s a friend of Emily’s and served as the photographer actually stayed to help clean.  She came up to me and didn’t ask, “Is there anything I can do?”  She didn’t say, “I can help if you need me to.”

This beautiful, graceful girl (who I told twice that she was on the wrong side of the camera!) marched up and said, “Tell me what I can do to help.”  I was so impressed, I asked if she’d mind helping me pick up rose petals.  She said she’d love to and we did it in no time.

After that, she said, “What’ll we do now?!”

We folded tablecloths.

Basically this is a long-winded post that simply has one thing on its mind:  To make people realize that we’re all in this together. We all need one another.  If you’re the sort who wants to push everyone away, scared to death they may want something from you.. I promise you this, they’ll go.  They’ll go so far you’ll forget what they even look like.

Then you’ll be all alone – you’ll also be up a creek when you need something! The It’s All About Me philosophy is a plague.  It ceased being funny a long time ago.

Go out of your way to help others, to inspire others, and to make someone else’s day brighter.  Even if it’s just a smile and a kind word, never approach life as though it’s all about you.

Because it isn’t.  It really isn’t.