Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t hate doctors.  I like them.  I even almost married one… once upon a time.  To this day, some of my best friends are doctors, allopathic and otherwise.

As for my own family physician – good humored and humble, concerned and conscientious, knowledgeable and just plain NICE – I have nothing but respect for him, largely because I have always felt that, despite all my quirkiness and my preference for non-conventional approaches to health, he has always respected me.

This, I have come to learn, is not everyone’s experience.

Here are 3 ridiculous things some of my clients have been told by their doctors:

DUMB THING #1:  “Don’t take any antioxidant supplements during chemo.”

Seriously??? 

Yet I hear this ALL the time…

There are a number of reasons why this advice is not only dumb. It can also be dangerous.  Anyone (including doctors and pharmacists) with a basic...

There is, really, only one thing I hate about my job as a Cancer Coach.

Well, maybe “hate” is too strong a word.  Let’s say “really don’t like”.  Really, really, REALLY do not like.

Want to know what that one thing is? It is the almost inevitable conversation with my client that begins: “My doctors told me not to take any supplements.”

I hear this ALL the time…

Sigh.

Nutritional supplements in general, and antioxidant supplements in particular, are one of those hot topics over which allopathic medicine and natural medicine frequently butt heads.

Antioxidants, in case you’re wondering, are nutrients which can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to our body.  Examples of commonly known antioxidants are vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, and selenium.

And how exactly, you might also be wondering, is this oxidative damage generated?

Well, when our body cells use oxygen, they naturally produce by products called...

If you’re stumped by what to get the cancer patients on your gift-giving list this Christmas, well, you just might wish to consider the very same offerings brought to the Christ Child Himself.

Frankincense, myrrh, and gold may very well be just as appropriate a gift today as it was in the days of old.

FRANKINCENSE
Frankincense, (Boswellia), is a respected herb which has been used in Egypt, China and India for about 5,000 years. It is an ingredient used in incense and perfumes for thousands of years. For religious purposes it has been used in the ritual of anointment.

 
Frankincense contains various boswellic acids shown to cause apoptosis (cell death) of cancer cells, particularly brain tumors and cells affected by leukemia or colon cancer.

 
The cool thing about boswellia is its propensity to help calm and de-stress the mind, making it a soothing agent for all cancer cases. Come to think of it, it would make a soothing agent for ALL of us who are caught up...

Exactly 31 years ago today I quite spontaneously – if not inexplicably – mailed off a St. Patrick’s Day card to a man I had met only briefly once before. Unknowingly, that piece of shamrock-studded stationary would set in motion a chain of correspondence spanning over a year and lead, soon after, to the marriage of Marian… and Adam, my husband to this very day!

For this reason, I can’t help having warm, special feelings for St. Patrick – and St. Patrick’s Day.

What do you associate St. Patrick’s Day with? Green beer?

Actually, today got me thinking about all things green.

About recommitting to making “greener” (i.e. environmentally sound) choices when it comes to purchases. About choosing food and beverage products with minimal, recyclable packaging and contents that are life-sustaining.

About green food and their health-supporting roles.

• Deep green leafy type foods – lettuce, spinach, kale – rich in vitamin K...

Well, THAT was fun!

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that ten days ago I embarked on Colin’s 10 Day Fat Burn and Cleanse as a kick start to stepping up a notch my personal commitment to optimal health.

Of course, my new little red dress – and the way I wanted it to fit –  was the spark to my motivation. It bothered me that the sleek lines I had taken for granted for all my life seemed to be absent from the image reflected back to me by the mirror in that department store fitting room. (Thank you, Christmas butter tarts.)

Thus, Project Red Dress was born.

Just in case you, too, have a deep desire within you to take YOUR health to the next level by incorporating this cleanse into your plan, I’m sharing my (very positive) experience with you. . .

This low calorie, very nutrient-dense cleanse was actually a relatively easy one to carry out – with quick, very encouraging results.

Unlike with other cleanses I’ve done in...

Will I be able to pull it off the next time I put this on?

Is it just me, or have you also noticed that department store fitting rooms are not all that forgiving when it comes to even the slightest physical imperfections?

I want to say that the fault lies in those glaring florescent lights and tri-paneled, larger than life mirrors, but maybe it’s not their “fault”, per se. Perhaps, um, they are only doing their jobs: reflecting reality.

Anyway, there I was last Saturday, trying on potential mother-of-the-groom designer dresses at The Bay when I stumbled upon this cute little number from the Lori M Collection. Red. Hmm… I don’t usually wear red. And, given that I work at home much of the time where my “work uniform” alternates between yoga pants and grey sweats, truth be told, I don’t usually wear designer dresses either. But, there it was before me…and it was on sale…and, besides, it was...

I love Christmas!

I love everything about it, especially the way it draws me into “the sacrament of the present moment” with one giant, swirling sensory swoosh!

I love the bright beauty of the festive lights as they warm, wink, and whisper cheer into an otherwise cold and bleak Saskatchewan December night…

I love the sounds, smells, and tastes of Christmas — the carols I learned to sing even before I learned to speak, the scent of pine, and those mouth-watering, once-a-year cultural delectables shared with family and friends…

And I love the ritual of touching hearts through gift-giving and being witness to a general societal softening and coming together in a spirit of generosity, giving added attention to those who are in most need of our gifts…

I love all these things. But not everyone, I know, shares my sentiments. “Christmas” some say, is “too commercial”. “Too stressful”. “Too much hustle and...

SEX food? WHAT, I wanted to know, was “Sex Food”?

I was on the phone with Ryan (let’s call him Ryan), a client who five months earlier had been diagnosed with stage 3, non-small cell lung cancer. Interested in preserving the quality of his life, he had opted out of conventional chemotherapy and had sought out direction on how natural therapies might be used to help him heal.

Now, six weeks later, I was wondering how he was doing so I followed up on his progress with a phone call.

He was doing very well, I noted, as he proceeded into a litany of positive changes. “…AND I lost 25 pounds!” he announced proudly. “It’s all this ‘sex food’ you’ve gotten me eating now”, he added teasingly.

Um. . . Excuse me?

“You know,” he explained, “RABBIT food”.

I burst out laughing as I worked out the syllogism in my head: Rabbits feed on a diet rich in green leafy vegetables … and carrots...

Hmm. . . Perhaps beginning with a confession may not be the most impressive way to introduce myself to the online world and to kick off, this, my first ever blog entry.  On the other hand, you might as well know, first off, who I am, what I stand for. . . and what I simply can’t stand!!!

So, if the truth be told, yes,”My name is Marian.  I am an out-of-control shopping cart voyeur”! 

I can’t seem to help myself.  I don’t mean to look.  But I always do. . .

This shameful behavior began several years ago around the time of the completion of my Nutrition degree, and probably out of boredom as I waited for my turn at the check-out counter.  It started off with a casual glance and my telling myself, “Just ‘a little peak’ won’t do any harm”. 

Famous last words. 

Next thing I knew, I found my eyes wandering lustfully away...