One cancer-fighting tip that is often recommended on cancer forums or discussion boards everywhere is EXERCISE. When you have a life-threatening disease like cancer, getting fighting-fit is absolutely essential, and regular exercise helps to achieve this.

Exercise is particularly important with hormone-dominant cancers like estrogen-positive breast cancer. Fat cells harbor estrogen, so the more weight you lose, the lesser your estrogen load. Having a “spare tyre” is dangerous for people with estrogen-sensitive cancer. Exercise also helps to alleviate many side-effects associated with drugs prescribed for cancer like aromatase inhibitors.

Since I started on the aromatase inhibitor Letrozole (Femara) a couple of months ago, I have been putting on weight, a common side-effect of AIs. This is not good for someone with my condition. I had actually been losing weight steadily over the last couple of years, until Femara came along. Now, it seems to me that no matter what I do I just can’t seem to lose weight. It’s so frustrating.

So I bought myself a pedometer last week, to help keep track of the number of steps I walk daily. The recommendation is to take at least 10,000 steps each day. Not counting the steps I take when I’m indoors, this translates (for me) to two hours of brisk walking. Each time I walk my dog, Ginger, it takes 25-30 minutes, and I do this twice a day. Either I walk her four times daily (ha! ha!) from now on, or I’ll just have to find some other way to get the other 5,000 steps in. So far, by taking an additional long walk each day, I’m averaging 9,000 steps. At least the pedometer reminds me to walk at least 10,000 steps everyday.

I’ve also been looking at other things I can do naturally to help lose weight, like drastically reducing sugar intake. I already hardly consume any sugar, so I’ve just switched from drinking “reduced-sugar” soy milk daily to “sugar-free” soy milk. Hopefully, that will help. I’m also thinking of taking virgin coconut oil daily, as my research shows that it assists weight loss, besides providing many other health benefits.

Weight-bearing exercises are supposed to help burn fat too. I used to have a pair of barbells. Wonder where they are now? Must look for them. Meanwhile, I bought an exercise band yesterday, so I can do some resistance-based stretching and pulling, even while sitting at my computer. I spend hours working at my desk, so every bit of exercise I can work in helps.

If you have any other ideas to help me lose weight safely and quickly, please share. I’m not doing this for vanity’s sake, but for my life.

Posted: May 12th, 2010 under Cancer, Enemies To Health, Exercise & Fitness, Hormone Health, weight loss.
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I often joke with my husband that most people ought to have square eyes as they spend so much time either in front of the TV or the computer screen. Some people I know easily spend a minimum of 6-8 hours daily just slouched before the goggle box. Often, they’re not even watching any television programs, but snoozing.

Call me restless, but sitting still throughout a TV show is a challenge for me, let alone indulging in TV marathons. The minute the commercial break comes on, I like to get up to do something active and productive, such as washing the dishes and tidying up. Given a choice between watching TV and going for a walk, I choose the walk every time. Unless the program is really educational or inspiring, it seems like such a waste of life to spend hours in front of the television set.

I had a really nice walk yesterday when I visited my sister-in-law’s resort home. While everybody else stayed indoors to – you guessed it – watch TV, I enjoyed a lovely, invigorating walk along the coastline. The weather was cool and the sea breeze was refreshing. There were many interesting plants, trees and flowers to discover along the way, as well as beautiful homes to admire. Of course, I sometimes stopped to pat the occasional cat or dog. Gazing across the sea into the distance was a good break for my eyes, accustomed as they are to near-sight activities like reading and working on the computer. The setting sun also gave me my daily dose of Vitamin D as well as therapeutic far infrared rays. What a wonderful, rejuvenating walk that was!

In January, a six-year Australian study reported that living a sedentary lifestyle can shorten your life. Surprise, surprise. Researchers from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in the state of Victoria traced the lifestyle habits of 8,800 adults aged 25 and older. They found that each hour spent in front of the TV daily increased the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease. Published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the study found every hour in front of the TV was associated with an 11% increased risk of death from all causes, a 9% higher risk of cancer death, and an 18% increased risk of death related to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The researchers said: “Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily, those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46% higher risk of death from all causes and an 80% increased risk of CVD-related death”. They said this association held regardless of other independent and common CVD risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol, unhealthy diet, excessive waist circumference and leisure exercises.

The findings suggested that any prolonged sedentary behavior, such as sitting at a desk, may pose a health risk. Said researcher Professor David Dunstan, head of the institute’s physical activity laboratory in the division of metabolism and obesity: “The human body was designed to move, not sit for extended periods of time. For many people, on a daily basis, they simply shift from one chair to another – from the chair in the car to the chair in the office to the chair in front of the television set.”

These findings applied not only to the overweight but also to those of a healthy weight: “Even if someone has a healthy body weight, sitting for long periods of time still has an unhealthy influence on their blood sugar and blood fats. In addition to doing regular exercise, avoid sitting for prolonged periods and keep in mind to ‘move more, more often’. Too mush sitting is bad for health.”

I’m off to walk my dog now!

Posted: April 5th, 2010 under Enemies To Health, Exercise & Fitness, Health Basics 101.
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My husband finally flew his new kite recently. His cousin and young son had popped by for tea. It was a lovely, windy day, so we decided to go to the field nearby to try out the new kite. We knew that our guests were weighed down by many cares, as the past year had been extremely difficult for them as a family. It had been two years since our nephew had last gone kite-flying, and he missed it so.

Getting the kite up into the sky wasn’t easy, but how we laughed at each other’s antics as we tried. When the kite finally soared up into the sky, it was a wonderful feeling. There’s just something so liberating about kite-flying. Sheer delight wells up within you as the kite climbs higher. For a while, you’re a child again, carefree and happy.

We enjoyed the cool breeze and fresh air while we were out kite-flying. It was so relaxing and therapeutic to feel the wind blowing through our hair and caressing our skin. We were even blessed to see a rainbow in the sky. To think we would have missed all that had we stayed indoors. We had a good time together. It was particularly rewarding to see our little nephew laugh, and his mom smile.

Kite-flying is good medicine for the spirit as well as the body. A regular dose of kite-flying should be what the doctor ordered. There’s a kite festival on next Sunday near my home. Like to come along with me?

Posted: January 27th, 2010 under Exercise & Fitness, Healthy Spirit.
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