To Eat or Not to Eat

These are not health food packages. These are not foods you should eat if you want to avoid cancer.

Ever since I went to a naturopathic doctor about 5 years ago, I have been totally convinced that we are what we eat. Changing what I ate converted me from a moaning, groaning collection of achy joints and brain fog, to a functioning person again in a reasonably short amount of time. So when I went to see a naturopathic oncologist before I started my treatment I was prepared to listen carefully to what he said. He said I can't eat any single thing you see in this picture!

Interestingly, even harder than the chemo I think, has been trying to revamp my diet. Firstly, I've been eating pretty well for the last 5 years and I've been consoling myself equally as long that I'm eating better than most everyone around me. But now I need to take it to a new level and I feel like my life hangs in the balance with every meal. I really don't know if that's an exaggeration or not. Secondly, the chemo is going to end in a couple of months after which I can presumably get back to life as usual, but eating must continue on, presumably for the rest of my life.

Everyone knows I'm not a chef, nor a wannabe chef. My mandate all my life has been to spend as little time in the kitchen and/or thinking about food as possible, probably leading to the physical state I'm in now.  I mean, I used to never eat salad, not because I didn't like it but because it just took too long to eat and I was always hungry after.  "What a waste of time and chewing!" I would say. Well, look at me now, I'm the salad queen. I'm getting smarter though, I blend a lot of green stuff into disgusting smoothies and sip it instead of chew it.

Outside of my aversion to all things food-related, the thing that makes it really hard is feeling like a freak whenever eating is happening. Eating off the Low Glycemic Index is NOT NORMAL.  Not here in Canada anyway.  My family looks askance as I blend, praying I won't foist any of my kale their way. And it's just really no fun to eat out or eat at all; let's face it, eating is a HUGE part of our north american way.  I'm guessing I'll get used to it and find some good standbys, maybe even convert a few folks to the Green Side, lose my sweet tooth, find something that tastes like dairy for my coffee that isn't, learn how to consume 7-10 servings of veggies and not gag...