Part 1
When my mom first told me she had stage four breast cancer in , I knew we needed to change our whole life style (my boyfriend, at the time and I were living with her when we got the news) . I guess not completely, we weren't that ridiculous. But I knew we needed to be healthier to even have a chance. We ate processed food multiply times a day, drank too much caffeine, and didn't exercise. Mom and me weren't master chefs by any means. Most of my childhood was spent traveling because of my parents business, so we ate out too much. I have great genes, I've never had to worry about the weight aspect others battle. Im 5'2 110lbs, Why should I eat healthy? I ate small meals all day and haven't grown out of my high school clothes. I felt fine.
Both my mother and my boyfriend smoked cigarettes. Amazing they both quit within a month! My boyfriend cold turkey, my mom had a harder time, cancer causes stress, stress makes you want to smoke. After being stuck in the hospital for three weeks all that was left was the craving. Her cancer wasn't caused by cigarette smoke though. It was caused by the estrogen medicine she took. She joked that she thought she would have gotten lunged cancer. She always found reasons to laugh.
We started cooking more. She ate bunches of broccoli and asparagus, I hated the smell. We filled our kitchen with a plethora of fruits and veggies. We still had our morning breakfast a couple times a week at one of our favorite restaurants. It was our thing. I started studying yoga, she exercised more.
There were too many pills to take and chemo every other week. It was destroying her faster than we could fix her. The doctors made it seemed so hopeless. more medicine, new things wrong with her, she needed potassium shots, her hemoglobin was too low, they thought she had shingles, but it was contact dermatitis. she was in and out of the hospital too much. three months before she passed, we found a holistic doctor. she had a menu to follow, we bought super foods. We were ready to fight hard. It was hopeful. she seemed to be back to herself almost.
Two months later the doctors told her she has less than 6 months to live, they told her there is nothing else we can do. I couldn't believe that, she was living her normal life working and very full of life. She believed it though. It hit hard. Days later her legs swelled, she couldn't do much of anything. Her stomach hurt, her legs hurt, she was tired. Two weeks later she was gone.
I gave up, eating healthy was pointless. I gave up on myself.
Nine months after her death I started over. New house, new roommates, new job. One who inspired me to eat better and cook! She saved me. I was ready to yell at the world "I REFUSE TO GET CANCER!! She also turned me on to essential oils for healing aches and pains instead of always grabbing the pain killers. Peppermint is my favorite go to. (I will tell you more about my experiences with oils in later post.) I haven't mentioned yet that I have asthma. I use to get bronchitis twice a year and have asthma attacks multiply times a year. I haven't had a asthma attack since I started really trying to eat better and exercise, a little over two years. I've only gone to the doctors once for what was the start of bronchitis/ sinus infection. I craves fruits and veggies more than greasy burgers and fried chicken. I feel a real difference!
My goal is one year from now, I will be eating at least 75% organic, raw, or grown by myself! I hope to have found a receipt for ever super food I love to eat. Thank you Pinterest for helping! Go check out my board for some healthy eating inspiration(and a couple snacks, I said 75%)! I have been doing awesome with my yoga routine every day. If you would like to check out the poses I incorporate in my 45 minute routine poke here! I am also hoping to turn my coke cola caffeine addiction into a green tea addiction! (Its the only real "bad" habit I have. Never smoked cigarettes and I don't drink.)
Not only do I want to eat healthier, I want to keep the chemicals from common beauty and cleaning products out of me! I have a small Pinterest board fill with healthy D.I.Y.'s poke here. I hope you will join in on making them with me or if you have any you would love to share.
This will be a challenge for me since I love quick, easy just add water food! I was raised on eating out. I still have so much to learn! But I will be documenting it all here and hopefully we can inspire or teach each other something new!
Have you struggled with eating healthier? Has anything woke you up to the idea of eating better? Tell me about your eating healthier adventures in the comments below! Id love to hear them and any tips you might have for me on my adventure!
Thanks for reading. <3
Mer
