Happy New Year

It's New Year's. I'm off to pick up my new Prius (see yesterday's post) and play a concert of Broadway faves with the Westfield Symphony. But first a couple of thoughts & good wishes.

I'm reposting an excerpt from my very first New Year's post; I think it sums up my wishes pretty well.
There was a time when I was in treatment that I'd just had enough. I'd been through 6 rounds of chemo and was in the midst of radiation, and I simply didn't think I had the strength to continue. Every night I would cry, but each night I would decide that I would go for just one more treatment. I couldn't bear to think about the whole week, but I would choose just one more day. After more than a week of this, one morning while lying on the table I just decided I was too stubborn to quit.

So I made a deal. With tears streaming down my face, I offered a deal to the universe. I agreed to finish all of my treatments, but I wanted something in return. I figured it didn't make sense to make a deal for me - after all, I already had cancer so it didn't seem likely that it would just disappear. But if I could summon the strength to finish every treatment, then no one else should ever have to go through it. It's funny to me that making a deal for myself didn't seem logical, but saving the rest of the world did. Even though I know it doesn't really work that way, in that moment I really meant it. And in the years since, every time I hear about someone getting cancer or having a recurrence I not only feel saddened, but a little angry. I kept my end of the bargain. It's not fair.

My most fervent New Year's wish would be that no one else has to face cancer. But since that isn't what will happen, I hope those in the fight find all the strength they need. And I hope that through Life-Cise.com I can at least help a few people feel better.

To that I would add good wishes for a more prosperous year. This has been a really tough year and I know lots of people are struggling. We've also got a whole lot of people in harm's way across the globe. So, I wish hope, renewed energy, and rosier finances for us all.

Happy, healthy, and strong New Year!

Julie

Exercise or Exorcise?

My friends and some of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter know that I've been having a bit of a rough time lately. Everything in my life, or at least the physical things that surround me, are all breaking. My refrigerator was dying, prompting some level of kitchen renovation to make a new one fit, which led to other issues. My water heater may be dying - not sure just yet. My beloved '02 Prius with 180,000 miles needed a BIG repair. And then, the big Nor'easter just before Christmas ripped off a bunch of shingles from the roof, which now leaks. And these are just the highlights - I won't go into the myriad other things that have fallen apart in the last few weeks.

As you can tell from the date of this post, this is all happening just in time for the holidays - Happy New Year to me!

As if the holidays weren't stressful enough.

Some of my friends have started joking about my needing some sort of exorcism.

While I'm undecided about the need for an exorcism, I do know that I need to exercise. This is all very stressful. And what's a great way to relieve stress? That would exercise.

No, working out didn't fix my car (BTW, did just buy another Prius - yea!!!). It didn't protect my house from the elements. But it did ease my stress; made me feel like maybe I could deal with all of this.

Exercise is a great antidote to stress. Physiologically, it boosts your hormones that induce feeling good. It can help you sleep better - really important (at least for me) when stressed. And psychologically exercise can help you feel more in control, more like you can handle whatever happens.

So, exorcise, exercise? I'm definitely going with exercise.

Julie

A Little Advice, Santa

Researchers from University of Gothenburg, Sweden have been checking up on Santa Claus, and their findings are a little troubling. He clearly leads a fairly unhealthy lifestyle. His excessive abdominal fat and deep red cheeks are pretty strong indicators of serious underlying health problems. "I'm confident that he would benefit from treatment of both diabetes and high blood pressure. And cholesterol-lowering drugs would probably not hurt either. As if that wasn't enough, new research shows that his abdominal obesity is a risk factor for dementia," says Annika Rosengren, professor at the Department of Emergency and Cardiovascular Medicine.

Members of the departments of Mathematical Sciences and Physics analyzed his gift-giving feats, and are confounded as to explain how he manages: they estimate he would need to make 900 visits per second, and travel nearly 90 kilometers per second, or roughly 265 times the speed of sound. This would all need to be accomplished with the help of 1.9 million airborne reindeer. (You can read more at Science Daily, click here. It's quite entertaining.)

Now, I can't speak about the physics, but I do have a little advice for Santa.

His excess weight does put him at much greater risk for all kinds of health problems. There's heart disease, diabetes, numerous cancers, as well as joint pain from carrying around all that extra weight (something to think about since his job requires a lot of lifting).

Santa, maintaining a healthier weight is all about calories in balanced with calories burned. Try to increase your activity, especially in your "off" months. You don't necessarily have to spend hours at the gym every day. Start with adding in a little more activity to your day. Take the stairs rather than the elevator, walk a few blocks before you hail that taxi, park a little further from the door when you go to the grocery store. Or just go for a moderate walk several times a week. And as I wrote about yesterday, turn off the TV - just turning it off encourages you to burn more calories in other activities.

And you could seriously use a weight training program! You need strength to do all that lifting at Christmas. By keeping up your strength throughout the year, you'll be less likely to injure yourself by suddenly stressing your muscles and joints. I recommend a lot of focus on core strength, given your job.

And since you clearly have not been working out lately, start off slowly. Don't overdo it in your enthusiasm. Start moderately and increase gradually. You can increase your intensity, the amount of time you're exercising, or the number of days you're working out per week - just not at the same time. Only increase one element at a time.

Of course, activity is only half of the weight equation. You also need to get your diet under control. I know it's hard during the holidays - all those delicious cookies and treats. No one is expecting you to forgo all the goodies, but you could probably cut back a little without hurting anyone's feelings. Everyone leaves you treats, and you have to eat them, but maybe you could just eat one cookie instead of the whole plate....I'm just sayin'.

And finally, be patient. You didn't put this weight on overnight; it won't come off overnight either. Sustainable weight loss is a slow process. Just begin the process by making a few healthier choices. It will get easier as you go.

I hope these tips help - we'd like to keep you around for a good long time. Good luck.

And Merry Christmas everyone!

Julie

Burn More Calories, Turn Off The TV!

A small research trial reported in today's New York Times, and recently published in Archives of Internal Medicine, finds that simply turning off your TV can help you burn more calories. Overweight adults who cut television viewing in half for three weeks burned around 120 more calories per day than the group which did not cut TV time. The participants in the study were all overweight or obese and watched at least three hours of television per day. The average adult watches almost five hours of TV per day. (The reduction in TV time was enforced by a lockout device. All participants wore armbands that tracked their activity.)

When the TV was turned off, the participants spent more time doing light physical activity, or even sedentary activities that burn more calories than watching TV, such as board games or scrapbooking.

Now, 120 calories is not a lot - maybe the equivalent of one cookie or a handful of potato chips. But it is more than zero. And it is also about what you burn going for a one-mile walk.

Maintaining a healthy balance of calories in versus calories burned is important for everyone, but especially those of us who have had cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 25-30% of breast, colon, endometrial, kidney, and esophageal cancers can be linked to excess weight and lack of activity. And a recent study which was presented at the American Association of Cancer Research's (AACR) Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, found that high body mass index (BMI, normal score is between 20 & 25 for women) was linked to poorer outcomes for breast cancer survivors. Overweight women had a higher risk of distant metastases, a higher risk of dying from the disease, and interestingly, lost the benefits of adjuvant treatment sooner than women with normal BMIs.

With my Life-Cise clients, I often talk about making small choices. Each little step may not be enough to change your life, but add all the little steps up, and you might be getting somewhere. So, will turning off the TV suddenly make you drop those holiday pounds? Probably not, but it can be the start. If you add those extra 120 calories burned to cutting back a little on how much you're eating, and begin adding in some higher-intensity activities, you'll be on your way to a healthier weight. And that's good, because it does matter.

Julie

HealthCare Blue Book

While Congress continues to debate health care reform, I want to introduce a resource that can be helpful NOW - HealthCarebluebook.com. (A friend of mine who is currently uninsured and going through breast cancer treatment told me about this resource.) Health Care Blue Book is a free consumer guide designed to help you find fair health care prices in your area. There is useful information for everyone, but it's especially valuable for the millions of un and underinsured in this country.

Whatever your political ideas or personal feelings about healthcare reform, there can be no denying that under the current system, far too many people do not have access to adequate medical care. This is a resource that can help.

I think this is a valuable resource, so I have added Healthcare Blue Book to the Life-Cise resource page. If you pay for your own healthcare or have a high deductible, I hope you will check out this site. And please pass it along if you know someone who could use it. - There aren't very many things worse than postponing or not getting medical treatments you need because you don't have adequate medical coverage.

Julie

Weight Lifting Tips

Watching some people at the gym recently, I was reminded that it may be time to pass along some tips. There are some pretty common mistakes that not only make your workout less efficient, but can actually be dangerous.

Always engage your core when you're lifting weights. Stand up straight, draw your navel in toward your spine, and keep breathing. You want to keep your torso stable; don't lean one way or another as you lift.

I sometimes see people lifting weights throwing their bodies out of line in order to lift. Last week, a young woman was lifting fairly heavy weights above shoulder-height. But to do this, she would thrust her hips forward and lean back, creating a lot of pressure on the spine. She's young, so she might not have immediate problems; but down the road, she's creating possible injury and unnecessary pain for herself. She would be better off lifting less weight with good form.

This is a fairly common mistake. In trying to lift more weight, people sometimes throw their bodies into odd positions. This strategy is a great recipe for injury. You put excess pressure on joints and strain sensitive muscles.

And it's less efficient. It is much more effective and efficient to lift less weight, but do it properly. If you are trying to strengthen your shoulders or biceps, work those muscles - don't throw the work to your low back.

Always lift in a slow and controlled manner, both up and down. Engage your core to keep your body stable. Concentrate on the muscles you are working. Lift only the amount of weight that you can lift in good form.

At Life-Cise, we are huge proponents of weight lifting. Just do it safely and effectively.

Julie

Dance!

Have some fun!
And it's even better if you get up off the couch & get down while you're watching....

Julie

Another Mammogram Response

I continue talking and thinking about the recent mammogram debate. With it looking like legislators will step in and protect women's rights to screening, the subject may be fading into the background for many people. However, for myself and most other survivors, the subject is still fresh and worthy of discussion. For those of us whose lives have been saved by a self exam or mammogram, it is hard to set this aside as just another news story.

So, to the chorus of opinions on the subject, I add one more survivor's response: mine. You can read my latest article on the subject of mammograms on GALTime. (and check out GALTime anyway; it's a terrific online women's magazine!)

Julie

Oops, Correction

I made a mistake and I need to issue a correction. In my Nov. 22 post on mammograms, I wrote that there were approximately 135,000 mammograms given for women under age 50. That was taken from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that that number is just a sample, not the total number of mammograms. Thank you to my sister for pointing that out to me.

I apologize for the mistake. I had been swimming in breast cancer statistics for days as I tried to understand the recommendations of the task force.

So the number of women under age 50 whose lives would be saved by mammograms is actually larger than I stated. I believe my point still stands and is even stronger with larger numbers. However, I don't have the correct number. I have been unable to find the actual number of mammograms done per year for women under age 50. This seems like a straightforward thing to find, but I have not found it in any of the usual places. If anyone has the number or a good source for it, please let me know.

But the fast pace of the health care debate has overtaken this issue. On Wednesday night, the US Senate agreed to accept an amendment proposed by Senator David Vitter (R-La) to health care legislation requiring the federal government to ignore the new recommendations by the USPS Task Force. And on Thursday, an amendment by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) also was introduced which would allow doctors to determine whether mammograms are medically necessary and would require insurance to cover the screening.

These two amendments take away, for now, the specter of younger women being denied screening that may save their lives. However, it does not address some of the very real concerns raised by the task force.

Unnecessary biopsies and over-treatment are a concern. But we should not sacrifice a group of women in trying to fix the problem. We know that mammograms are an imperfect tool. We need more effective screening for younger women whose breast tissue is denser. Some research indicates there may be harm to young women with certain genetic mutations from the radiation from repeated mammograms. We need better tools for detecting which cancers are likely to spread. We should encourage younger women whose cancers are more likely to be aggressive and fast-growing to continue to do self exams. We should tailor screening recommendations to the appropriate population: older women tend to have slower-growing cancers, so possibly do not need mammograms as frequently; younger women generally have aggressive cancers, so waiting 2 or 3 years may be a death sentence.

While I am pleased that women's rights to appropriate screenings appear now to be protected, I hope that does not signal an end to discussions about mammograms. I repeat my call that what we need is better, more accurate, affordable tools for the detection of breast cancer.

Julie