Healthy Lifestyle

Crunch the Numbers – Prevent Cancer

May 2, 2012 – 11:00 AM

By now it’s probably old news that we can do a lot to prevent the development of cancer in our breasts, our skin, our bones, and almost everywhere else in our bodies. It’s awesome to know we have so much power over our health, but sometimes it can be a little intimidating. Where do we begin? What do we stop doing, what do we start?  Do we just need a new breakfast plan, or do we need a whole new lifestyle? All the details can be pretty discouraging and might lead us away from making positive changes. But don’t worry, the American Cancer Society can help! They’ve developed some simple tools to help you get a handle on your health and some simple steps to take to improve your health. Let’s get started!

Body Mass Index: This number is commonly used to judge whether your weight is healthy – Find yours here. 

Calorie Counter: Want to maintain your healthy weight or lose some pounds to get to a healthier  number? Find out how many calories you need to consume or burn to maintain or lose weight here. 

Exercise Calculator: Want to get moving to help you keep your calories in check? Find out how many calories are burned by a lot of typical everyday activities and exercise routines here.

So how did you measure up? Are you in a good place, do you need to make some changes? Hopefully these tools from the American Cancer Society will help you get a sense of what kinds of alterations you can make to keep up your good habits or introduce some new ones. Remember, over 570,000 cancer deaths each year could have been prevented with a healthy diet, exercise, and by curbing obesity.

What are you going to do to keep your body cancer free? Leave a comment and let us know.

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy | Comments (0)

A Little Help from Your Friends…

April 10, 2012 – 4:52 PM

Spring is in the air. Warmer weather, more sunshine, new blooms and endless possibilities of places to go and people to see. But sometimes this season of fun in the sun can easily lead us astray from our workouts, our diets and our general attention paid to our health. So, we thought up some ways for you to enjoy the season with your friends and loved ones and sneak in some healthy habits at the same time!

Don’t be a Beach Bum: Seize the opportunity to go to the beach, but when you’re there don’t just lounge around. Get your friends to play beach volleyball or have races on land and in the water. Some time spent getting your heart rate up and strengthening your legs on the sand makes for a fun day and some under-cover workouts!

Split Up: Love enjoying a heaping ice cream cone or a frothy brew on your deck? Well we say ‘go for it!’…just maybe don’t go for as much of it. Split the dessert and the brews into smaller portions and take the time to savor the flavor instead of eating more than you really need to.

Be Competitive: Make your good choices work for you! Pick some friends to hold you accountable – track your healthy eating, your exercise, your stress relief – whatever you choose. The person who makes the most positive choices in one week or one month gets a reward – a bottle of wine, dinner or a movie compliments of your friends, or something else that really motivates you.

What are you going to do to keep your healthy lifestyle in check this Spring? Leave a comment and let us know.

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy | Comments (0)

Springing To Life

March 20, 2012 – 4:46 PM

This post was written by a good friend of The Pink Cart Team, Cathy. She wanted to share her experience of the benefits of running both socially and for her health. 

It’s finally spring (well actually it feels like summer) in our part of the world and that brings us outdoors to start getting more active and involved with our neighbors.  I started running with my friend Lori back in November.  She has talked me into doing a 10k with her in May and while I persevere in my training I mostly feel like I have a piano on my back while I’m running (or is it jogging?).  It’s the social aspect of running with my friend that keeps me going. I was surprised at how social and supportive other runners and the running community can be. I had always thought of it as a solitary sport.

Research and common sense tells us how critical exercise is in breast cancer survival rates.  Being a cancer survivor I know that eating right and exercise are important but more importantly, setting a goal to run or walk a race can motivate us to get up off the couch and ultimately provide a sense of accomplishment which empowers us to do more in our lives.  The research also tells us that being part of a social group is critical to health and long life.  If competing in a race isn’t for you, try volunteering with a local road race or triathlon with their built in social networks. I plan 

So find a running/biking/walking partner and get going this spring!to help with the Grand Rapids Triathlon in June. Consider helping out with a local Relay for Life or with a 5k that benefits a cause that is important to you.

By caitlint | Also posted in Breast Cancer Awareness, Healthy Body | Comments (0)

Lead an Anti-Cancer Life

February 23, 2012 – 4:03 PM

We know that there is a lot we can control when it comes to making anti-cancer lifestyle choices. We can be disciplined, go with the flow, or throw caution to the wind. There are benefits to all three approaches, but when you have some of all three, you’ve got a winning combination. You have to have the same approach to keeping your cancer risk low. Cancer has physical, genetic, and environmental causes – there is no silver bullet that can eliminate all your risk factors in one fell swoop.  But, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, by focusing on the three key elements of weight, activity and diet, you have a winning anti-cancer combination! Here are some easy ways to get started:

Activity - Be active in any way for 30 minutes or more every day; Find out if you’re active enough by taking this quiz.

Weight - Aim to be a healthy weight throughout your life; Find your target weight here.

Diet - Choose mostly plant based foods, limit red meat, and avoid processed meat; Find some anti-cancer foods here.

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy | Comments (0)

WONDERDRUG! Exercise and Cancer

February 23, 2012 – 2:17 PM

We are all about Cancer Prevention. But, sometimes, despite our best efforts, Cancer still rears its ugly head into our lives. So once you’ve got Cancer, it’s time to make some decisions about your treatment, your recovery, and how you’re going to keep up your exercise routine. Wait, WHAT? You’re fighting cancer, who cares about exercise? Well, it turns out, it could save your life. Exercise  should be one of your top priorities in your cancer treatment plan.

This may not seem like it makes sense. A lot of times we associate cancer treatment with really taxing experiences like chemotherapy and radiation and think that cancer patients should make a point of “taking it easy” but actually, they should do the opposite. We’re not talking about running a marathon while you’re hooked up to an IV, but regular physical activity could actually be the wonderdrug you’ve been searching for. Take a look at what Macmillan Cancer Support found in their Move More Report and then tell us what you think – is this news to you or have you been an active cancer fighter all along?

  • Cancer patients should spend 150 minutes a week doing light to moderate physical exercise. By doing that…
  • A breast cancer patient can decrease her risk of recurrence or of dying by 40%
  • A prostate cancer patient can decrease their risk of recurrence or of dying by 30%
  • You can reduce your risk of developing colon cancer by 50%
  • You can curtail typical cancer treatment side effects like fatigue, depression, osteoporosis and heart disease

 

This is a big shift in what we’ve thought about the best way to go about treating cancer. And a lot of our health professionals are still catching up on this information. These are some recommendations of how cancer patients can exercise safely. As always, be sure to ask your doctor about what physical activity could be most beneficial for you while you go through your cancer treatment.

  • Stretching can help relieve and repair muscles after surgery (be sure to clear stretches with your doctor)
  • Strength Training like weight-bearing exercises can help maintain bone density while undergoing chemo
  • Aerobic Exercises like Walking, Biking and Running get the heart rate up and help to keep off excess weight
  • Balance Exercises like walking a narrow path or heel raises can help strengthen your ability to balance which may be impaired by medications; it also is a proactive measure to help reduce your risk of falls that could lead to broken bones or other injuries that could add to your recovery

 

For those of you going through cancer treatment now, when are you going to take the first step in being more active?

 

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy, Breast Cancer Awareness, Healthy Body | Comments (0)

Pink Cart Goes Red For Women

February 3, 2012 – 11:35 AM

 

Friday February 3rd is National Go Red For Women Day. It’s The American Heart Association’s annual campaign to raise awareness and funds in their fight against heart disease, the #1 Killer of Women. The Go Red Movement is a passionate, emotional, social initiative designed to empower women to take charge of their heart health, according to AHA. Go Red also supports programs to educate women and to fund breakthrough research. Learn more about where the money goes by clicking here.

While The Pink Cart is focused on the fight against Breast Cancer, we recognize the need to bring an end to all preventable life threatening diseases that claim the lives of the people we love. We hope you take some time today to educate yourself on heart disease and what you can do to lower your risk factors and stay aware of your heart health. Go Red offers these resources to help you get started:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy, Healthy Body, Healthy Grandma, Healthy Mom | Comments (0)

World’s Fastest Workout

January 31, 2012 – 4:25 PM

We know that a key part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is making sure you find the time to be active every day. Usually between work and home, we end up walking a good amount each day, but it’s usually in short spurts and at slow speeds. This doesn’t do as much for us as it could. But over-using your snooze button instead of getting up an extra hour early for a cardio workout when you’re already running ragged is very easy to justify.

So, instead of trying to find time where you don’t have any, how about just starting your day with this, the World’s Fastest Workout. Our Pink Cart Friend, Lindsay, asked us to share this with you as an easy way to engage muscles throughout your body and get your heart pumping a little faster in just 4 minutes. Who doesn’t have 4 minutes? You can fit this in while you’re waiting for dinner to finish cooking, for the kids to get their teeth brushed, for the car to warm up, or right before your shower. Heck, do this once or twice every morning and you may even be able to pass up that cup of coffee!

Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. In case you’re not familiar with these exercises, we’ve linked them to how-to-videos and instructions from www.livestrong.com.

 

World’s Fastest Workout

0:00 Squat Thrust

0:20 Rest

0:30 Mountain Climbers

0:50 Rest

1:00 High Knees

1:20 Rest

1:30 Jumping Jacks

1:50 Rest

2:00 Squat Thrust

2:20 Rest

2:30 Mountain Climbers

2:50 Rest

3:00 High Knees

3:20 Rest

3:30  Jumping Jacks

3:50 Rest

4:00 Done!

By paulk | Also posted in Be Healthy, Breast Cancer Awareness, Healthy Body | Comments (0)

Be Healthy, Be Cancer Free!

January 27, 2012 – 1:01 PM

We do a lot of talking on our blog and Facebook about how to lower your risk factors for developing breast cancer. Recently the American Cancer Society released a report linking 100,000 new cancer diagnoses  every year in the U.S. to excess body fat. And quite frankly, it scared us.  We know we should “be healthy” and lead healthy lifestyles to lower our cancer risk, but how committed are we to following through on making the right choices for our bodies and our health?

Honestly, with work, kids, and a social life, our ability to eat well balanced meals on the go and make time for exercise is inconsistent at best – it depends on the day – and that’s not good enough. We, all of us, need to get serious. The war against cancer starts with us, and specifically with our attitudes about our health.

So today we’re launching The Pink Cart’s Be Healthy page. We’ll have research, breaking news and tips for being active, eating right, and doing your part to keep harmful carcinogens out of the environment. Whether you’re a fitness guru, fabulous cook, health-conscious Mom, the family matriarch, or a tree hugger, we’ve got a way for you to lead a healthier lifestyle and reduce your risk of developing Breast Cancer.

We’ll be giving you a lot of information, but we want to know what’s important to you, too. What do you want to hear about? What are your struggles in maintaining a healthy lifestyle? Write to us, leave a comment below, tell us what support you need. Ditch the excuses and get engaged, get educated, and get moving. Be Healthy and Be Cancer Free.

Share your thoughts with us, leave a comment below!

By caitlint | Also posted in Be Healthy, Healthy Body, Healthy Eating, Healthy Environment, Healthy Grandma, Healthy Mom | Comments (0)