Eating to live instead of living to eat

Since reading the book "AntiCancer: A new way of life" I have decided to start eating better and drinking less. In my previous post you probably saw that I was struggling with this because no matter what you do or don't do in this life there are no guarantees. I could continue as I have in the past and never get cancer again. Or I could do everything right and cancer may still return. One just never knows. However, if I begin this path of healthy eating/living and still get cancer then again I can say to myself, "I did everything I possibly could to prevent this from happening." That was my thing about doing chemo also. I didn't want to say, "If only I had done the chemo...., etc." There are certain things that I have absolutely no control over: I am a woman, I am over 40, I am post-menopausal, etc. But the things that I DO have control over will be taken in hand.
So eating better is not as easy as one might think. I have cut out all sugar, aspartame, splenda, etc except for the occassional dark choclate fix. I have stopped drinking alcohol with the exception of 1 glass of red wine a day and a glass unfortunately is only 5 ounces. Boo Hiss! So to psyche myself out I add seltzer water to it or even drink pomegranate juice or blueberry juice out of my wine glass! How crazy is that?! Not drinking has been very difficult for me. I was a 1 beer and 2 drinks (whiskey and diet sprite) gal every day and on the weekends - well God only knew how many drinks it would be! Depended on how much football was on! I hope it gets easier as I move on!
No diet sodas anymore. In fact, no sodas anymore! No white bread anymore! Try that one too! Pizza, crackers, pretzels.....all made from white flour. No cookies! I am going nuts! I have dicovered fruit smoothies and they are delicious but they don't stay with me that long. This is going to be very tough to try to be healthy and prevent cancer from coming back. Very difficult in this fast food world we live in!
Eating better is also more expensive. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and fish can get pricey. As you can see I believe I am a little resentful at having chosen this route. I hope I can get over that too.
Have also started walking at lunch several times a week. That should help also.
This is about living the best life that I can. This is about being happy and healthy. This is about having a good attitude so that it exudes to others. This is about sending out positive energy to the world. Sometimes that is easier said than done. But I will give it my best shot! Wish me luck!
Cheers to all - even if its only with juice in a wine glass!

A Huge Dilemma

When I was going through cancer treatments I chatted on the boards and got to "know" several people and what they were/are going through. One of the blogs that I read regularly, and still do, is http://howidealwithwhatiwasdealt.blogspot.com/ . Laurie is a wonderful writer and I have enjoyed reading her blogs and have much sympathy for her plight. She wrote recently about a book called "AntiCancer: A New Way of Life" so I decided to read it. I am about 3/4 of the way through it and thus, following is my dilemma.
One of the things we do as humans is to always want and look for more. We see this as the opportunity to fulfill ourselves; to make us seem worthy to others and to ourselves. It is in our very nature to take things for granted and NOT make the most of the days of our lives. When something like cancer strikes someone it is likely that they will re-evaluate their lives for what is most important. And when they do that they realize that enjoying this life is the MOST important thing to do. Enjoying one's life can be accomplished in many ways but enjoying it is at the forefront.
When I found out about the cancer and read the book, "A New Earth", I decided that enjoying my life would be the #1 thing from now on. I began a "Bucket List" after watching that movie and have learned to de-stress, forgive, ask for forgiveness, love more deeply, speak more kindly, etc.
This new book is about learning what foods to give up to make one less susceptible to the return of the cancer, exercising to help with that also, and not allowing stress the run your life. It is about the things to do to make one live longer.
Here's my dilemma for those of you that haven't already figured it out. I want to LIVE for a long time - cancer-free. However, I also want to enjoy every moment that I have on this earth. I want to eat good food, spend time with my family, travel, drink good drinks.......you get the picture. What does one do? Does one trick themselves into thinking that eating well, exercising and not drinking is the best way to enjoy their life? And let's say they do everything right and the cancer still returns - what then? Think on that one for a while and if you come up with an answer I'd love to hear it!