Sentiments by Denise

Indianapolis Race for the Cure

This morning, right before dawn, Emilee and I headed downtown to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The weather was a bit dismal - cloudy, cold, and drizzly, but we persevered and made it a fun time!
 
This is my 7th year as a breast cancer survivor - and my 25th year of surviving cancer the first time around (diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease when I was in my 9th month of pregnancy for Emilee!). I have so much to be thankful for and feel so blessed for each day that the Lord gives me. I try not to take LIFE for granted and know that I'm here on this earth for a purpose.

There were over 40,000 participants at the Race today - lots of pink! We saw many humorous t-shirts, lots of families walking, many young men out supporting the women they love, and even some pets...
(a little donkey all decked out in a pink blanket and hat!)

The Race for the Cure has brought a lot of attention to breast cancer awareness over the years and continues to promote self exams, early mammos, etc. I would love to see more attention brought to prevention - there are many things that we can do to prevent breast cancer or lessen it's attack on the lives of women across our country. Prevention in the areas of better nutrition, healthier habits (non smoking and drinking), regular exercise, low stress, good sleep management, and giving of ourselves to help others. I have discovered many of these things over the last few years and they've made a significant impact on my health and well being. Some are just common sense; some take discipline.

 
We need to educate ourselves, our daughters and granddaughters to eradicate cancer in our future.

 
I pray my daughter never has to deal with this disease in a personal way (it's enough to go through it with someone you love). I believe PREVENTION is the key!

It was a good day, spent with my sweet daughter who I love dearly, for a cause that is very near to my heart.

 
I am blessed and grateful for those who stood by me seven years ago as I went through my journey with breast cancer - for my husband Ed, who never waivered from the vows of "in sickness and in health" and loves me so strongly; for my son, Stephen, whose silent strength and support gave me a will to fight; for my daughter, Emilee, whose tenacious spirit drove me to work hard to get healthy and stay that way; and for all my other family and friends who prayed, loved, and gave of themselves so generously. Cancer is a dreadful disease, but I must say that I am a stronger, wiser, more caring person because others showed me their strength, their wisdom, and their giving attitude throughout my journey and continue to bless my life today - I did not allow cancer to steal my joy. God has been faithful in my life and I give Him the glory for all that He has done to lift me up and make me stronger. {Phil 4:13}

One thing cancer has made me realize:  learn what is important, prioritize, and
don't sweat the small stuff!

Healthy Reflections of 2010

A little over a year ago (Dec '09), I sat in my doctor's office and cried. I was overwhelmed with how poorly I felt. I was not getting enough sleep. My skin and hair were dry and unmanageable. I was extremely overweight. I had no desire to exercise. I was irritable, sad, and weepy.

I was a mess.

Fast forward to two weeks ago (Dec. '10). I was in the doctor's office again, waiting to see her. She peeked her head in the door and mentioned that she needed to check with the nurse who measured my weight/vitals, as she thought there was a number recorded wrong. I asked her about that and she said that the chart showed I had lost a significant amount of weight. Then I stood up, twirled around and said, "Does it look like I've lost a significant amount of weight?"  Sixty pounds are gone! No more cholesterol medications (since Mar.'10)! Sleeping so much better! I'm exercising on a regular basis and eating a primary plant-based diet. My doctor was beyond pleased with my hard work over this past year.

There's something to be said about making your health a priority. I've learned so much over the last twelve months on how my body works, what is best for me in terms of food and fitness, sleep and managing stress. I've read many books on nutrition and health. I'm learning the best way to manage the diseases I have (past and present) so that I can live a low-maintenance life.

Here are a few things I've discovered the past year that have been helpful to me:

• I am what I eat. If I eat highly processed, sugary, saturated fatty foods - then I'm going to feel listless, fat, angry, sad, slow, and tired.
• Reading books on health, nutrition, and fitness have provided me with the right tools to make the best decisions for improving my health. Books such as: The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Foods to Fight Cancerby Richard Beliveau, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, The Cancer Survivor's Guide by Neal Barnard, Clean Food and Clean Start by Terry Walters. I've read many others, but these have had a definite impact on many of the changes I've made over the past year.
• Strive to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. I'm not going to lie - I struggle with this one on a regular basis. My job is such that I must commute over 45 minutes each way and I work a minimum of nine hours each day. This makes for a crazy long day! And it doesn't leave me much time during the week to do the things I need and want to do. So often I sacrifice sleep. Not good. I notice how much better I feel overall when I sleep those full seven hours (or more - usually on weekends!). This translates into more energy, more alert thinking, less irritability, less baggy-looking eyes, and remembering to think before I speak ;) The body does a lot of recovering/healing while you sleep, so it's important to make this healthy habit a priority.
• Exercise gets easier the more I do it. Until I had lost the first 30lbs, I was not able to move very well, so I didn't exercise much. Then after I had lost some weight I started slow, using Leslie Sansone's walk at home DVD programs. These are great for beginners, but I still use them on a semi-regular basis to supplement my fitness workouts. Thirty minutes in the morning is a great way to start my day. Then, if for some reason I can't make it to the gym or get outdoors to walk, I know I've done something healthy for my body in the way of exercise that day. Our Church has a fitness center with an indoor track, fully-equipped weight room/cardio equipment, assorted fitness classes, and a personal trainer available. Taking advantage of these opportunities this past year has helped me so much in my journey towards wellness. I'm already setting goals for the new year in this area (I'll share those in another post).
• Thinking outside the box when it comes to food. I'm learning to combine foods that I would never have put together in the past. For example: roasted vegetables (like squash or brussel sprouts) over leafy greens, different whole grains added in unusual places (wheatberries or quinoa on salads, stirred into oatmeal or as a yogurt topping), green smoothies (raw spinach teamed with banana and other fruits make an amazing smoothie!), a veggie omelette with goat cheese, or even raw cheddar slice on whole grain seed bread with pumpkin butter. Some of these combinations may sound crazy to you, but I've been using a little bit of creativity to make sure I get my daily allowances in and the tastes that I'm experiencing are really fabulous. I try to make my meals as colorful as I can by incorporating different fruits and vegetables. Yellow peppers, green zucchini, red onion, orange carrots, brown crimini mushrooms, and purple cabbage all add great nutrients and wonderful color to a veggie saute mixed with red quinoa and brown rice. Who says cooking vegetarian can't be adventurous?
• Not focusing so much on my weight (as an end goal), but pursuing wellness and good health. Losing weight (and it continues) has been a great benefit to the changes I've made over the past year, but it hasn't been my only goal. Sixty pounds is nothing to sneeze at, but I think I'm even more encouraged by the other things I see happening in my body that are benefiting me in the long run. Surviving cancer twice in my life, and dealing with an incurable kidney disease, along with hypothyroidism, has made me focus on my overall health and not just losing weight for the sake of being a certain size or seeing a certain number on the scale. I have more at stake in my wellness journey than just fitting into a certain size pair of jeans. For that reason, I only weighed myself every two weeks throughout this past year and every weigh-in day I either lost weight or stayed steady. I can honestly say that I have not gained any of the weight back that I've lost so far. In the past when I participated in other weight-loss programs (Weight Watchers, etc.) I would see-saw back and forth in my weight loss until I made my "goal" weight. Personally I think it was because I didn't really understand my body or nutrition and how it impacted my body, so losing weight became more of a game. I went clothes shopping today (desperately needed!) and found that I have dropped four clothing sizes in the past year! I still have weight to lose to get to a normal weight and BMI for my age and height. I don't stress about it - I know it will happen as I continue this journey that I'm on. (Fun fact: this past Christmas season is the first one that I can remember that I didn't gain any weight nor over-indulge in eating as I have in the past. That is an accomplishment in itself, as I realize that so many of the things I've learned this past year have helped me make the best decisions for ME!).
  ****************************************************************
  This post is getting extremely long, so I should close, but I want to leave you with a couple photos. The first was taken back in Oct. '09 at my 30th high school reunion. I like to think of it as my "before" photo. The second photo was taken a few days ago by my husband (sorry for the blurriness). This photo is my transition photo, as I still have a continuation of this journey to wellness that I'm pursuing.

 
(photo taken by David Hubbard)

 
(Photo taken by Ed Foxworthy)

Excited to see where 2011 leads me on my path to wellness!

 

 

Thanksgiving - Turkey Optional

Our Thanksgiving took a different turn this year.

We decided, as a family, to participate in the Drumstick Dash this year. This is a fund raising event for feeding the homeless here in Indianapolis every year on Thanksgiving morning. The run/walk is 4.5 miles or 2.3 miles, with other fun events for children. Emilee and I decided that we would do the long course and Ed planned to stick with the shorter course. Stephen was asked to be a volunteer "celebrity" greeter and also did some other volunteer stuff while we were doing the walk.

 
It was dark when we arrived in the morning (before 7am). And very wet - the weather man called for rain all day.

 
Emilee is ready to Dash!

 
At first, Stephen's job was to greet the media and the other volunteers that arrived at the Applebee's restaurant to receive their instructions for the event. Stephen enjoyed rubbing shoulders with local tv/radio celebrities. Later he helped with the removal of the timing tags at the finish line.

 
Heading to the start line.

 
Umbrellas - necessary!

 
Waiting for the start - there were about 12,000 people participating in this event. An awesome turnout on such a dreary day - over $200k was raised at this event by Wheeler Mission to feed/shelter the needy.

When we reached the point where those finishing at 2.3 miles veered off from the rest of us, we were told that the long course (4.5 miles) was closed due to flooding, so Emilee and I finished with Ed. It rained fairly steadily the whole time we were out.

Afterwards, we grabbed a couple snacks (bananas/soup) at the food stations, rounded up Stephen, and headed home to start our own Thanksgiving feast.

I didn't take photos of our meal/meal prep as I was busy supervising the kitchen (both kids helped cook) and I had dish-duty the whole time!

We bought a fresh turkey and stuffed it with an apple/onion/celery and baked it for the time required, but even after that it still wasn't cooked through when we were ready to eat, so back into the oven it went. Emilee and I were opting out of the turkey eating anyway (she's following a vegan diet and I'm following a plant-based mostly), so Ed & Stephen didn't get to eat turkey for Thanksgiving dinner - they were completely full before the turkey was finally ready to eat.

Ed and Stephen are enjoying the leftovers, though.

We also had:
Appetizers - Delicata/Gruyere Dip, Stuffed Mushrooms, Raw Veggies w/hummus
Sausage dressing
Vegan dressing
Green Beans
Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes
Giblet Gravy
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Pie

Desserts - Apple/pear pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Spice Cake

We ate plenty.

And it was all GOOD!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and time with family and friends meaningful to you also.

 

Livin' for the Weekends

It seems these days I live for the weekends to come and bask in both the activities and relaxation they bring. My work week is so busy, stressful, and I endure such long days - getting up at 4am, being away from home for 11+ hours each day - that when the weekends roll around I'm ready to just enjoy them.

I like to do my morning exercise outdoors on the weekends, because I sleep later and by the time I'm ready, the sun has come up which makes it safer for walking or bike riding. I love to walk outdoors in the brisk air when the sun is just peaking through. What starts out, however, as a quiet peaceful walk quickly turns into a medley of neighborhood dogs barking (in their homes or yards) as I walk by and stir things up! I'm sure my neighbors appreciate that more than I know! Ha!

Last night we attended the first anniversary celebration of our favorite coffee house downtown - Calvin Fletcher Coffee Company and enjoyed seeing lots of friends, listening to some great music, and partaking in the awesome beverages that CFCC offers. I'm a tea drinker rather than a coffee drinker and I love that CFCC has such a great variety. I've been hearing some good things about their Chai tea latte (blended) that I think I'll have to try it the next time I go in. My husband loves their espresso (and buys a pound bag of beans quite often to enjoy at home) and both of our kids frequent CFCC a lot.

I'm excited that the calendar shows this next week is the beginning of the Autumn season. My favorite! I'm already thinking of all the different recipes that I can try with seasonal vegetables and fruits, especially from the squash family! Pumpkins! There is some pureed pumpkin in my freezer that I'm excited to have, as I'm not sure how plentiful that beautiful orange gourd will be this year again.

Recently we had a couple "giant" zucchini that my Mom had given me from her garden - you know the kind... so with Emilee's help, we made a great stuffed zucchini meal loaded with good healthy grains and vegetables.
 

Stephen & Emilee both helped with this meal (I love that our kids enjoy cooking so much and are excited to try new ideas). The extra large zucchini were cut in half lengthwise, seeds were scooped out, and they were placed in a baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom of the dish. 
Emilee stirred up a filling of brown rice, red quinoa, lentils, onions, mini bell peppers and some seasonings. This was added to the "boats" and they were baked for about 45 minutes in a 375deg oven. We added some organic cheese to the tops (except for Emilee's) during the last 3-4 minutes of baking. Oh, and we got a little adventurous and put dried cranberries on a couple of them, too!
 
  
A very tasty and filling entree. Perfect with a salad and some steamed broccoli! These were even better as leftovers the next day when I took a half (of a half!) to work for my lunch!

This morning when I weighed myself I rejoiced at hitting the 50-lb loss mark and realized just how beneficial this new way of eating for me has become. I haven't missed many of the foods I've given up - I just don't crave meat, sugar, fast food, or processed food anymore since I've been concentrating on nourishing my body with such good healthy options. Eating has become a great adventure for me and not something I just "settle" for to fix a craving or get past a hunger pain. I like that I don't have to count anything (points or calories), I don't have to drink a special "diet" drink or depend on a pill to burn off the calories - just turn to the food that is in its most natural state and choose from the many options before me. I love challenging myself to try a new vegetable, fruit, or whole grain every couple weeks and incorporating it into my menus. I've found so many delicious foods this way that I never would have tried otherwise. So far, after eating this way exclusively for the past nine months, I have to say that it has not become boring at all!

This afternoon we attended a first birthday party for the daughter of one of our young married friends. It was so fun to see them again and celebrate this joy with them. We miss the ministry of working with young married couples since we left our former church, but try to stay in touch with as many of them as we can. It's great watching their families grow and seeing them thrive in God's goodness and His plan for their lives. We're starting to make some new friends at our new church as we get more involved there and are thankful for God's timing in leading us to a new place of worship. The teaching is just what I've been yearning for and I look forward each week to the pastor's message of Truth. Just last week we started attending a weekly small group with people mostly our age and I've joined the choir, which I've missed. More things may be happening - I'll keep you posted as they come about.

I think I'll head out right now for an evening walk in the neighborhood before the sun goes down - it just seems like the best way to end a wonderful weekend!

An Anniversary and Amazing Pancakes

Yesterday Ed & I celebrated 29 years of marriage together. We've been empty-nesters now for almost a year and it really feels different with just the "two of us". I told him yesterday that I had almost forgot what it felt like before we had children, when it was just us.
Our kids still live close to us and come over to hang out, eat, and do things with us, but mostly they have their own lives and stay busy.

Ed & I enjoy coming/going as we please, setting our own schedule, and  being spontaneous when we feel like it. We decided to go to church on Saturday evening and had a great time of worship, a stirring message from the pastor, and not feeling the rush the way we do sometimes on Sunday mornings. Since we did that, we woke up leisurely on Sunday and ventured out to the north side of town to Granite Cityfor brunch around 10am. We had a gift card that was given to us at Christmas last year and this seemed like the perfect time to use it.

 

Ed was delighted to find prime rib on the brunch buffet menu and custom egg creations were also offered. I splurged on a couple things that I haven't been eating these days, like a blueberry scone and some hash browns. I also enjoyed fresh strawberries, scrambled eggs,french toast, and some veggie slaw.
We decided that this would be our main meal for the day and only had a small snack later in the evening to curb the hunger.

I love my husband! He's such a strong leader in our marriage and loves me, takes good care of me, and is a great father to our children. I feel so blessed to have shared so many years together with him, knowing that God picked him out especially for me. I'm excited to journey through life with him even more now because it seems the longer we're together, the better it gets! It's a tribute to God's amazing grace in our lives!

This morning I made some awesome pancakes and then posted about them in my status on Facebook. I had several requests for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it here on the blog.

As you know, I enjoy reading and learning about nutrition and good things to eat. I visit several food/vegetarian blogs to get meal ideas. The other day I saw this recipe for Blueberry Carob Pancakes and decided that I needed to give them a try - they sounded so good!
I tweaked the recipe just a wee bit by substituting unsweetened baking cocoa for the carob powder, reducing it just alittle. Here's my version:

Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

1/2 c. spelt flour
dash of sea salt
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c. almond milk
1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Whisk all ingredients together, folding blueberries in after all other ingredients are mixed well. Spray griddle with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 of batter onto hot griddle, making a medium sized pancake. Repeat with remaining batter - makes three pancakes (1 serving).

 

I decided to follow Angela's example and mash a ripe banana, pouring it over the three wonderful chocolate-blueberry pancakes, then sprinkling some unsweetened coconut shreds and cacao nibs on top.
These were amazingly sweet, even with no sugar added. The cocoa powder made them so chocolate-y and I loved the flavor that the fresh blueberries added. 

I used spelt flour, but you could probably substitute what you have on hand. As you know, I've been experimenting with many different grains and spelt flour is one that is interchangeable in recipes that may call for whole wheat flour. It is a very healthy grain, higher in protein than wheat, and is easily digested.
You can also substitute your favorite non-dairy milk in this recipe. I used almond milk since it is my favorite and really adds to the flavor of the recipe.

Take a look at Angela's post for this recipe - her photos are much more eye-appealing than mine. I was too excited to dig into breakfast this morning and didn't really take the time for a photo shoot in my kitchen! My pancakes turned out very similar to hers - chocolate-y goodness with bursting blueberries galore! I will definitely make these again soon!