All in the Family

I'm visiting my brother right now. He is battling cancer in his leg and in the course of his journey has also had to change how he eats. So, the first night I was here we were discussing how he basically can't eat "anything I love".

Gee, it's a family affair right now. My mom has been working on losing weight, then gets cancer and keeps losing. She's doing as well as can be expected and has now reached the 160's in her weight loss. She's only about 20 pounds from goal I think. :)

I've been working on losing weight, slowly but surely coming to grips with the real changes that need to happen, and many of those changes are becoming cemented in my life.

Finally, my brother has non-cancer issues that were intensified with the chemotherapy treatments and is having to change how he eats. In the process he has lost 25 pounds so far.

Another fun aspect of us all working on our health is that we are sharing new changes in our food and eating habits.

My mom tells me about some new things she tries, or we rejoice in sharing a treat with our spouses. I bounce ideas off of her, or ask her opinion on whether something really works or not. We talk about how our spouses react to a new recipe or trying something like whole wheat pasta and, well, I think my dad and husband are both receiving some very good benefits from the changes my mom and I are making.

My brother is also receiving some benefits from these changes in my life. While on my trip I've been able to cook for my brother and his full-time working wife and make some healthier meals without feeling like I'm forcing something on them. He's had to make some serious changes to his diet, so they are totally open to whole wheat pasta and brown rice for example.

So far, I've cooked whole wheat pasta with shrimp and avocado last night and then I remade over a chicken and broccoli dish today and some red beans and rice to be a little healthier both with brown rice, and other healthier substitutions (I might post those later). He and his wife have loved the new dishes and I've enjoyed practicing my healthier cooking while I'm here.

It's been interesting to me to see how my parents, brother and my husband and I are all entering into a stage of life where we are working on being healthier - whether by choice or not. Though the cancer has not been the easiest thing on our family having us all working on getting healthier at the same time almost makes it a little easier knowing we are all working on all of it ... together.