Carbs and Salads

What wouldn't we give for

That extra bit more

That's all we live for

Why should we be fated to do

Nothing but brood on food

Magical food,

Wonderful food,

Heavenly food,

Beautiful food,

Food, Glourious food glororious fooooooood

What are we waiting for?.............FOOOOOOODDD!

Lyrics from Oliver

I'm a bit of a foodie. 

I enjoy cooking it and eating it. I enjoy watching the Food Chanel even if I can't eat much of what they prepare. Needless to say, before my "adventure", my weight was a wee tad on the heaver side of optimum for my height. My blood pressure - on the higher side of normal.

After Hubster had his heart attack, see link - http://verbalismbuffet.blogspot.com/2013/07/have-heart.html I decided that we would face the music. Our diet - although not bad, needed an adjustment. We began with smaller portions and more fruit and veggies.  We both lost a little weight. Off to a good start.

And then my world flipped upside down in January of 2014 with the cancer diagnosis. I knew it was all out war. Cancer or me. One was going down. I'm a fighter. Ain't no cancer gonna do me in. 
First course of action - vitamins and minerals to strengthen my immune system and extreme diet change. My naturopathic doctor (ND) put me on a reeeeally low carb diet. We're talkin' 35 grams a day low carb diet. 

If you go online, you'll get conventional doctors who argue that sugar does not feed cancer. Of course most of them in their medical studies are not required to take nutrition classes. On the other hand, naturopathic doctors do study nutrition. They understand the connection between what we eat and how our bodies process what we put in our mouths. Seems like a no brainer to me. 

Simple carbs turn into sugar. http://howtothinkthin.com/instincts2.htm
 Bottom line. Cancer does feed on sugar. http://www.naturalnews.com/024827_cancer_sugar_women.html
 So what does a low carb diet look like? At first - hell. No pasta, starches (potatoes, rice) bread, sweets, fruit - comfort food. Out went mac and cheese and cheese cake. Spaghetti Factory and Olive Garden? Nope. Instead, the salad bar became my best friend. And you know what? My body began to thank me. I lost a ton of weight. The pounds melted off of me. I began to feel better and had more energy. Sure it was hard. 

I whined a lot - glared at people who slurped down spaghetti noodles and chased it with thick slices of sour dough bread.

There were melt downs when fast fix chemo/radiation seemed better. Get it over with. Fill me with poisonous chemicals and  burning radiation. But thankfully the voice of reason (aka G~d) would remind me that His ways for me might be long and hard and restrictive, but in the long run, best. Did I want side effects which produce side effects or did I want one step at a time healthy alternatives that might take a lifetime? Quality of life won. And let me stop right here for a moment. I am not advocating my choices for everyone. This is the direction, after much prayer and thought, I have chosen to go. If you are or have gone the chemo/radiation route, may you have much success. May your life be full and long. We're all in a journey. This is the direction I'm to go in.
Next: So what treatment are you doing? 

Bamboo's Adventure - The Journey Begins.

 I'm at the airport!! We have a a few hours to wait for our airplane. Our flight was to leave at 8:30pm but when Papa and Nayna looked at the departure board, it said we'd have to wait longer. So that leaves us more time to eat dinner. Turkey burger and fries for Nayna and me. I'm hungry!

 Dinner over, it's now time to wait - and wait some more. I'm kind of scared. This is my first time to fly...ever. I still don't know how a big metal tube filled with people can stay in the air. I'm glad the pilots went to school to learn how to fly.

 It's finally time to board our plane. Nayna tucks me safely in her purse. We give the attendant our ticket and walk through a long tunnel to the door of the plane. So this is what it looks like inside. We get a window seat so I can look out. The flight attendants make sure I'm safely buckled in my seat before we can fly. We amble down the runway and then...
Wow. We're in the air. This is fun!

 We fly for an hour and a half. It's getting late and my big bear eyes are getting heavy. I look out the window and see so many lights. So this is Los Angeles. Kind of makes me dizzy as we tip down towards the ground below to land.

After getting our suitcases from a big carousel, we wait outside for about a half hour. Our hotel shuttle is coming to get us. I hope he comes soon because it's very late now and way past my bed time.

 Ahhhhh. My comfy bed. 4:30am is going to come way too soon.
Good night everyone.

 Good morning! It's so early, I get to watch the sun come up as we take our shuttle back to the airport.
Once again we have to go through security. While Nayna and Papa have to pile their shoes and belts and computers and all sorts of other things in plastic bins, I hide inside Nayna's purse. I think they can see me, though when I go through a big box on a conveyor belt.
We find our gate and wait until they tell us we can board the plane.

 This time we don't get a window seat. In fact Nayna and I are in an aisle seat in the middle and Papa is in an aisle seat across from us. While Papa makes friends with the man sitting next to him and they talk, Nayna lets me read a book on her Kindle. We also take a nap because we only got 4 hour of sleep last night.


Papa lets me sit with him for awhile.

 

 5 hours later we arrive in Newark, New Jersey. Now we have 7 and 1/2 hours to explore the airport and wait for our flight to Israel. That's a loooooong time.
We look in some of the stores, take a walk outside, go back inside the airport and find a Chili's restaurant. It's dinner time and I'm as hungry as a bear. Good thing because I AM a bear! Salmon, rice and broccoli. I dig in.
After dinner we go through security AGAIN and then find our gate. We still have a long time before our flight leaves at 11:30pm.
Finally people start arriving at the lounge area at our gate. Maybe it won't be long. I'm soooo sleepy, but I don't want to miss anything, so I keep my eyes wide open.

After what seems like forever, we get to board our last plane. It's huge.
But that story is for the next time.
I'll tell you all about my next adventure soon.

Back On The Bus

I'm beginning a series of travel blogs from previous visits to Israel with a takeaway message for the journey. Enjoy.

✡✡

Taking a tour of Israel is the best way to get your feet wet. Except for the occasional lunches not provided, and the extra suitcase you'll need to acquire for all the stuff you'll purchase, your trip has been paid for in advance.
You maneuver the airports as a group. You stay in nice hotels and eat great food - buffet style. You go from North to South, East to West, and depending on your tour, you stop at highlighted destinations that fulfill your interests. Your tour guide is full of information and keeps you out of unsafe areas. You meet new people and sometimes form lasting friendships.

Lets broaden this to - A Tour of Life.

Sometimes I get anxious about where I'm going in life. When I begin the mental trip, my Heavenly Abba reminds me...
Every morning I'd dress and head to the hotel dining room. There, I'd find a variety of delicious food to satisfy my hunger. I didn't have to hunt it down. Each meal was provided for me. I knew if I looked in the dining room, it would be available.
Now I was ready with new energy to board the bus.

Some days I knew exactly where we were going. Other days I had a vague idea and there were times when I'd never heard of the place. But our tour guide knew exactly where we were going. He'd been to each place before.
Some of the places we went to were a piece of cake to navigate. Other places presented a challenge with hills, rocks, stairs, weather. But I knew two things - our guide would be there to help and, my tour mates were there to help. We were in this together. We assisted each other. And our tour guide never took us to a place he knew we weren't ready for. He kept us safe.

This is how to navigate through life.
This is G~d's plan.

Day by day we need to be on the bus - energized and ready. We do this by reading and studying His Torah - His Word and instruction for us.
We enjoy the passing scenery - take in the view. Our family and friends are with us. We take our time day by day.
When we stop and get off the bus for a specific destination, we can be assured that our Tour Guide is right beside us with information, instruction and protection. Sometimes we're called to a specific task or challenge.
And if we pay attention, we'll hear when to get back on the bus. We can relax in the journey and enjoy the tour.