I Love My GP: Talking about the China Study

I love my GP.

She is about my age and we are both engaged in the same balancing act – aging parents, children, full time jobs that we love and not enough hours in the day. She is monitoring my blood pressure and inevitaHandshake with Doctorbly the conversation turns to weight loss, finding time for exercise, finding time to cook and what is healthy eating anyway?  I am sheepish, pleased with my loss of a few pounds but know I could do more.

Casually she mentions a similar conversation with an earlier patient when she asked him what the new diet craze is. I am pondering on the thought that a medical doctor is asking that question of a patient when she asks me if I have heard of the China Study. She is amazed that I know it; work for an organization that Colin Campbell advised and supported, and that I know about the evidence for a plant-based diet for cancer prevention.

We discuss the science but our conversation quickly turns to the practical – how to reduce red meat and increase other forms of protein in her family meals.  But she doesn’t know any recipes that use beans and other proteins. Quicker than you could say ABC, I wrote down our website address and told her to sign up for AICR Health-e-recipes.

As I leave the Doctor’s office, she is already on our website, has signed up for the recipes and is telling all her colleagues about our Foods that Fight Cancer. “I love this website – I’m going to tell everyone about you.”

In this technical world we sometimes forget the power of the face to face human connection:  a simple conversation can lead to a simple conversion.

You can read more about how AICR and the China Study connect here.


From ‘Knowing’ to ‘Doing’ for Weight Loss: #aicrchat

Tough Nutrition Choices“I know what to do, I just need to do it.”

I heard that a lot when I worked with clients and patients at universities. These people were educated, well read and often did know what to do. Knowledge is important, but it’s not enough if you want to help people make a change to be more physically active, eat vegetables or lose weight.

Guiding people from knowing to doing is not so straightforward. There are no magic formulas, not one thing works for everyone and people get disappointed if they don’t see pay-off relatively quickly.

So, what does it take to guide people from “I know” to “I do”?

That’s exactly what we’d like to chat about with you. AICR is hosting a tweetchat tonight at 8 pm ET for conversation about strategies and techniques we use to help clients, patients and friends move forward in healthful eating and physical activity behavior change.

Here are some of the questions we’ll pose:

Q1: The National Weight Control Registry( NWCR) found that for successful weight loss maintainers, daily breakfast & exercise were among the most common strategies. Work for you?

Q2: A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine says it’s a myth that “setting realistic goals is important for weight loss.” Do you agree? Do you focus on realistic?

Q3: Do you recommend that your patients/clients measure or portion out their food?

Q4: Does keeping food diaries (paper, app or online) help patients make changes and/or cut back portions.

Q5: How do you work with those who just don’t like being physically active? What do you suggest?

We’ll talk tools, technology, tracking, goals and more.

Join us on twitter tonight, using #aicrchat
Tuesday, March 19
8 pm ET


Walking for Cancer Prevention with TeamAICR

Physical activity is a major part of AICR’s message for cancer prevention: Being physically active reduces risk for colorectal, post-menopausal breast and endometrial cancer.

But we don’t just talk the talk. Every year our staff laces up their shoes and puts on a TeamAICR jersey for the St. Patrick’s Day 8k in downtown Washington, D.C.

We may not be the fastest group, or even the most coordinated, but when you put our staff in matching shirts and throw us in to a themed race we’re more than a little enthusiastic.

Whole Team 2013

Runners and walkers of all different levels met up early Sunday morning. We had a great turnout, including first-time racers, former cross-country champs and some very chilly cheerers who braved the cold to root us on.

DanHeather2013This diverse group has one thing in common — a passionate support for cancer prevention research and awareness. This year we raised nearly $1,000 for cancer research! Learn more about the runners and cheerers at our staff 8k page or leave a note of encouragement in the comments (some of us are a bit sore).

So if you’re ready for the challenge, or just want to look this stylish:

VictoryTeamAICR_Mom1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

visit the TeamAICR page for a list of marathons and fun runs. You can also email events@aicr.org with questions or for tips on holding you own event.

Happy running!