Changing another environmental factor

I know I haven't updated in a while.  It was a conscious effort to try not to stress about my disease, especially since so many melanoma warriors seem to have lost their battles lately.  Playing ostrich didn't work, I'm back.

I've mentioned before all the research I did after my diagnosis.  One of the re-occuring threads in recent research was to control "environmental factors" aka food, sun, toxins, etc.  It's an interesting idea and one that's had me intrigued since June.  Unfortunately, not enough to make the dietary change I knew deep down that I needed to.  Well, that time has come.

I don't know what was the final straw for me. It might have been seeing the movie "Forks over Knives" or maybe "Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead" or maybe "The Engine 2 Diet."  Maybe it was doing additional research based on The China Study or Dr. Esselstyn's research.  I don't know but something finally just clicked.  And no, it wasn't the extra weight I've been carrying around for too many years. (It should have been).

So, I'm on a new path for my eating.  I would love to be a completely "Whole Food, Plant Based" eater but I won't be. I will admit I love meat, cheese, and dairy.  So I will have them in limited amounts like my upcoming Valentine's date with the hubster.  It will just be very limited because they are not good for me apparently.  Kind of like the sun. That thought came to me at 2:31am the other night and I just laid there and smiled.

So, in the last few weeks, I've slowly weaned myself off of large amounts of meat.  I did a modified juice re-boot of 10 days (tough but worth it).  I went shopping again today and have a menu plan for this week. I've found I love cold, cooked beans and quinoa with lime juice.  I've always loved salads so I'm experimenting with the dressings.  Homemade hummus is so much better than the store brand.  My favorite so far is jalapeno, spinach, and lime.  Almond milk reminds me of how my milk tasted as a kid after I'd dunked my cookies in it.  I've been making my own so I don't know how it compares to the commercial stuff but it satisfies both my milk and cookie cravings.

I know the transition will not be easy but that's ok.  If it keeps me from having to fight this melanoma battle for the rest of my life, then I'm all in.  I do not think this way of eating will make me cancer free. I'm hopeful it will help my body fight the disease when it does rear its ugly head again and I hope that will now be many years from now.

I don't suggest this way of eating for anyone. Even my husband.  You have to decide what is right for you.  I decided this way is right for me right now. And I'm going to give it every ounce of my melanoma  warrior fight.

PS: The hummus, mushroom, green onion, spinach, and whole wheat bread sandwich I made for lunch was seriously tasty. (Engine 2 cookbook)  I didn't even miss the lunch meat or cheese.  I never thought I'd utter those words.
And the arugula, kale, spinach, celery, pepper, ginger, pineapple, applesauce, orange, lime, cucumber, pomegranate seed, and grape juice I had for breakfast was super tasty.