As someone who was diagnosed with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer, keeping fit and trim may make all the difference in keeping cancer at bay. Besides the ovaries, estrogen is produced in other places, such as the fat cells, so losing weight has been a priority for me. So far, taking a realistic and steady approach, I’ve been losing a kilogram per month. Just three more kilograms to lose, and I’ll be back to what I weighed on my wedding day, pretty much my ideal weight. By following a daily program of walks and salads for either lunch or dinner, I actually lost weight during the December festive season, in spite of enjoying festive treats. My pants have become so baggy that I’ve started to give them away and I’ve had to buy new pants. What a great feeling!

The other positive and productive thing I try to do is take advantage of every beautiful day that comes along. The weather has been so cool and breezy lately that I venture outdoors as often as I can. Glorious nature and fresh air nourishes both my body and spirit every time. Some new cafes and restaurants have just opened up by the river just 20 minutes walk from my end of the river, and they’re perfect for chilling out at, while watching the sun set over the water. Absolutely delectable.

Then I try to spend more time with people who matter to me. Like my mom, for instance. She has dementia and she quickly forgets every visit I pay to her. But she’s happy when I’m there, so I’m glad about that. I try to have more conversations with my sister who lives overseas, so that she’ll know how much I love her and appreciate her. I try to cultivate a good relationship with my in-laws too, such as by remembering them in little ways. I tell my dear husband every day that I love him, and we spend lots of quality time together. We make time for fun, because joy is such a tonic.  Building bridges makes life richer and makes you stronger. When the dark days come, these relationships will sustain you.

It’s a brand new year. A clean slate, filled with opportunity. Forget the past, it’s time to look forward and make the most of every day. I know there’s lots more I can do to make my life better, healthier and happier. What about you?

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia which affects an estimated 26 million people worldwide. Brain cells are slowly killed off in those afflicted, and there is presently no cure for this disease. However, activities like walking have been shown to build brain volume.

The University of Pittsburgh study – published on Wednesday in the journal “Neurology” – began in 1995 and involved 299 volunteers who were free of dementia and who were asked to keep track of how much they walked. Nine years later, their brains were scanned to measure brain volume. Four years after that, researchers tested the volunteers for any dementia or cognitive impairment. They found that the risk of developing memory problems was halved in those who walked roughly 9.7km to 14.5km a week.

Researcher Dr. Kirk Erickson said: “Brain size shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems. Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease”.

Prevention is always better than cure, so put on your walking shoes!

Besides eating healthily, regular exercise is an absolute must if you want to lose weight and keep it off. Twice each day, I walk my dog Ginger for a minimum of 25 minutes each time. I like to walk briskly, which helps to burn calories as well as keep muscles, joints and other parts of the body well-oiled. At least every other day, I try to fit in another walk in-between of at least 25 minutes duration. Fortunately, there are several shopping malls just 10 to 20 minutes walking distance away from where I live, and there’s also a scenic river just across the road. Finding incentives to go for a walk is easy.

Don’t get the wrong idea, I don’t have iron-clad willpower. I still snack daily, and my nibbles include naughty things like chocolate, ice-cream and cookies besides healthier stuff like dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Hey, you’ve got to have quality of life! Of course, I’m particular about the quality of my snacks and go for top-quality ingredients with nothing artificial added, as far as possible. You can still lose weight without depriving yourself. Just be discerning about what you eat and exercise, exercise, exercise.

Being overweight causes all kinds of health problems, such as high cholesterol, high-blood pressure, cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and joint problems. It can also be a factor in cancer. Maintaining a good healthy weight is plain common sense, if you’d like to live long and well.

My next target is to lose another kilogram by Christmas, which is less than a month away. Wish me well!

This feline is such a character. He likes to knead his paws on my tummy (ouch!) and he loves to get under the covers with me. When I take out the ironing board, he leaps on it before I can start ironing because, for some reason, he thinks it’s a place for massage and I’m his personal masseuse. So I have to massage him before he’ll get off, leaving fine kitty fur all over the board.

Billy also enjoys ambushing Ginger, my sweet-natured doggy who found him when he was barely a month old. You should see him lying in wait, flicking his tail and wriggling his posterior as he gets ready to pounce on poor unsuspecting Ginger. Ginger puts up with Billy. She thinks that he’s always trying to steal her food, which is really hilarious as she’s 10 times bigger than Billy is, and her kibble is more than Billy can manage. She probably thinks that way because she’s stolen Billy’s food many times. Those two furballs are a riot and they provide me with endless hours of amusement, companionship and love.

Keeping a pet is good for your health. Their therapeutic powers range from helping to keep the blood pressure in check (unless they poop on the carpet, of course), providing comfort during depression and improving physical fitness levels. Pets, even cranky ones like Billy, are natural mood enhancers. They always look up to you – except maybe for cats who can be snotty – and make you feel good.

Generally, spending time with your pets will reduce your levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. Serotonin levels (a chemical associated with well-being) rise. Too much stress is harmful while rest is healing. It’s elementary.

Having a dog who needs to be walked twice a day forces you to get some exercise, a good thing for urban-living sedentary types. If your pooch is anything like Ginger, who has a mind of her own and is constantly in a tug-of-war with me, you’ll also benefit from weight bearing activity which strengthens your muscles and bones. Walking your dog is a healthy and inexpensive way of preventing osteoporosis.

For some great true stories about cats and dogs who helped their guardians through breast cancer treatment, check out:

The true story of kitty-cat Luke and her guardian Karen who had Stage III triple negative breast cancer
AND
The true story of Great Dane Kenya and her guardian “lifegoeson” who had Stage IV breast cancer

If you don’t have a pet, why not adopt one from the animal shelter? You’ll be saving more than just the animal’s life – you could be saving YOURS as well.

Recently, in a series of studies, scientists found that when people leave their concrete surroundings to spend a few hours in a more natural environment – forests, parks and places with plenty of trees – they experience increased immune system function.

Several factors play a part. One is stress reduction. The other appears to be airborne chemicals called phytoncides which plants emit to protect themselves against rotting and insects. A study found an increase in white blood cells, which lasted a week, in women exposed to phytoncides in forest air. A 2007 study showed that men who took two-hour walks in a forest over two days had a 50% spike in levels of white blood cells.

A study published in January this year included data on 280 healthy people in Japan. On one day, some people walked through the city for a few hours while another group of people walked through the forest. On the second day, they traded places. Scientists found that being among plants produced “lower concentration of cortisol, lower pulse rate, and lower blood pressure”.

Various studies have shown that visiting parks and forests seem to raise levels of white blood cells, which help to fight infection. Interestingly, in Japan which has one of the world’s highest life expectancy, its people enjoy visiting nature parks for its therapeutic effects. This practice is called “Shinrin-yoku”, which means forest bathing.

Think about it, people who live in rural areas and walk everywhere are known to have lower incidences of diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Ultimately, the best way to stay healthy and well is to have a strong immune system which functions properly. Medicine can only do so much. Time for me to go forest bathing.

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.

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!

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?

1) Drink more water
Drinking water before you eat helps to give a sense of fullness, so you’re less likely to binge. Water also helps to improve bowel movement and detoxification. Other fluids you can take are sugar-free ones like plain tea and coffee (without milk or cream) and herbal teas. Go easy on the ones with caffeine, of course. If you must have a soda, make sure it’s sugar free. Fresh fruit juice is another good option, and it also helps to flush out the toxins from your system.

2) Indulge in fresh fruit for dessert
This will definitely be a challenge, but try to avoid desserts which are loaded with sugar and fat. If you want a treat, have a tiny portion. Tucking into plenty of fresh fruit will help to satisfy a craving for something sweet, making you less inclined to gorge on unhealthy, sugary foods. Indulging in fruits will also nourish your body with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fibre.

3) Watch your carbohydrate intake
Carbohydrates aren’t necessarily evil, but they can be bad for you when they’re saturated with sugar and fat and other noxious ingredients. Be fussy about what you put into your mouth. Always choose the healthier option, rather than the “heart-attack-on-a-plate”. To fill yourself up, go for vegetables, fruits and liquids like water or fresh fruit juice. You’ll then be less likely to consume large quantities of unhealthy carbohydrates.

4) Curb your fat intake
The advice for resisting unhealthy carbohydrates works just as well here.

5) Enjoy healthy snacking
Feel like nibbling? Reach for healthy snacks like dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Make yourself a trail mix you can snack on every time you feel like putting something in your mouth. Dried seaweed, Japanese rice crackers and home-made popcorn without butter, sugar or other sweet toppings are also healthy, satisfying snacks. These healthy treats will keep your mouth busy, with fewer calories and fat than the usual festive goodies.

6) Watch less TV
Reduce your television couch-potato time by half, and you’ll burn more calories. It’s not rocket science.

7) Exercise more
To prevent weight gain during the holiday season, you either need to ensure that you don’t eat more calories than usual, or you need to burn more calories. Make exercise part of your daily routine and find every opportunity to burn more calories than you normally do.

Being a fast mover seems to be a good thing, according to studies measuring the correlation between walking speed and life expectancy. In a presentation in July at the IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics held in Paris, researchers reported that slower walkers have shorter life- spans than faster walkers. Their findings were based on nine previous studies that included 34,000 men and women whose average age was almost 74. The participants were tracked from 10 years to 20 years.

Walkers who moved at a gait speed of 1.4m per second or faster were more than twice as likely to be alive after 10 years than people who walked at 0.4m per second or slower. After 15 years, the survival gap between faster and slower walkers widened even more.

Why should gait speed make a difference to a person’s longevity? Researchers note that walking is influenced by many vital body parts, so fast walking seems to indicate that a body is functioning well, and therefore is likely to live longer. This holds true regardless of gender, ethnicity and even health condition.

These findings concur with other studies like the one conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh two years earlier, which tracked almost 500 people aged 65 years or older. After nine years, 77 per cent of the slower walkers had died, compared to only 27 per cent of the fastest walkers.

Researchers from Paris-based medical research institute Inserm carried out a five-year study, beginning from 1999, involving more than 3,200 relatively fit men and women, aged 65 to 85, living in three French cities. The results showed that older people who are slow walkers are almost three times more likely to die of heart disease and related causes that older people who walk faster. This study found that the death rate among the slowest-walking one-third of participants – men whose gait speed was about 5.8 kmh or slower and women who walked at about 4.8 kmh or slower – was 44 per cent higher than among the two-thirds of participants who were faster walkers.

Dr. Alexis Elbaz, director of research at Inserm, has this message for the general population: “…maintaining fitness at older age may have important consequences and help preserve life and (muscle) function.”

Walking is a great way to exercise various body parts and keep yourself healthy. Best of all, you can do it anywhere, anytime and it’s free. No gym membership or costly equipment required. So come on, let’s get those feet moving!