Horrifying Predictions

The World Health Organization has predicted that the number of cancer cases worldwide is expected to rise by 70 percent over the next 20 years.  It will go from the current rate of 14 million new cases a year to 25 million a year.  This prediction is based on the increasing use of tobacco, alcohol, and highly processed foods in countries with growing middle classes.

This is a really scary report that I honestly don't doubt.  I have seen the rise in cancer in my lifetime and am always shocked by how many people it effects within my own 'Six Degrees of Separation'.  As a non-smoker, limited drinker, I used to think that I was immune to things like cancer.  Don't get me wrong, I know I have my vices that have lead me to obesity and could lead to heart disease and other major complications, but for some reason, I've always felt I've had some sort of control over that and if I try hard enough, I can be better.  But I've thought, "I'm young... I will fix this tomorrow."  I guess what I'm saying is that my problem has a very distinct road map for getting there and then getting better.  Cancer is a bit more erratic in who it chooses.  We've all seen the smoking and drinking road map to cancer for some time, but highly processed foods?  That's the new, more frightening road map that many weren't expecting.  Me being one of them.

When I went to Green Mountain, one of the biggest eye openers for me was what I learned about processed foods.  For a chronic dieter like me, I've often had a hard time getting results from simply cutting calories, because it wasn't sustainable to deprive myself for extended periods of time.  When on programs such as Weight Watchers, I often relied upon highly processed substitutes so I could have more food for lower 'points'.  I didn't think about the chemicals or preservatives I was ingesting.  Quantity was more important than quality.  Green Mountain taught me that real/natural is always better than fake or processed even if it has more calories because real food will help you to feel fuller longer and your body will get the nutrients it needs.  By living on a mostly processed food diet for so long, I was nutritionally starving myself of the nutrients my body needed so it was constantly asking for more food... causing me to overeat. 

In my continued research on the subject, I learned more about how harmful all of those chemicals can be on a body and this latest report from the World Health Organization simply confirms my suspicions.  Eating a diet of highly processed foods leads to cancer. 

I'm not going to lie.  Since November, I have ignored my own words of wisdom (as I have confessed prior to this blog) and I have really stopped eating natural/whole foods with the exception of the occasional salad.  Now that I have refocused my activity efforts in preparation for my 5K in April, I need to recommit myself to eating better as well.  This report has really struck a nerve in me and has encouraged me to remember what I have learned this year.  I think I may re-watch "Hungry for Change" today (for the 100th time) as it was a huge part of my eye-opening experience. 

It's hard to make a lot of changes at once and it can be discouraging if you take on too much change at once and fail.  So I am going to start by asking myself these two questions everyday:

1. Can I see nature in every meal? 
2. What have I done today to prepare for my 5K in April?

The hardest part for me in 'starting over' yet again is taking small steps.  I always want to make big changes and expect to see big results immediately.  I just need to remind myself that I may never see a huge result like, "Never getting cancer."  That is seriously a result that I won't see come to fruition until the day I die.  Crazy.