Health Coaches are knowledgeable advisors who provide ongoing support and guidance as you determine the path you’ll take along your wellness journey. Bites of Hope volunteer Health Coaches listen carefully and help you to navigate the world of contradictory nutrition advice to determine what changes are necessary for you. They’ll help you determine a healthy lifestyle plan that will help you make the most of your cancer journey and set yourself up for the healthiest life possible.

During your health coaching program, you and your Health Coach will explore concerns specific to you and your body and discover the tools you need to make changes that will bless you and your body.

As a client of Bites of Hope, you will…

• set and accomplish wellness goals in a way that is empowering and exciting
• learn about healing foods (some of which may be new to you!) and how you can easily incorporate them into your diet
• understand how your tastes will change during treatment, and how to work with them
• increase your energy levels
• incorporate foods into your diet that will jumpstart your body’s immune system – and take out the foods that prevent healing
• improve your personal relationships
• discover the link between non-physical foods and cancer

Bites of Hope individual coaching programs are four months in length and are designed for newly diagnosed cancer patients. The program includes bi-monthly individual coaching sessions with a trained and certified Health Coach. Group programs are delivered via webinar or Skype, or sometimes in person (depending on geographic distribution of volunteers). They vary in length.

All programs include…

• teleclass, webinar or individual Skype sessions
• e-mail support between sessions
• recipes that are healthy and simple to prepare
• coaching and support to help you make the dietary and lifestyle changes you want
• simple but informative handouts that will increase your nutrition knowledge
• access to a monthly Ezine with the latest health tips and recipes
• our passionate commitment to your health and success

To decide if health coaching is right for you, we invite you to schedule a free, initial consultation with one of our dedicated Bites of Hope volunteer health coaches. During this session, we will discuss your health and lifestyle to determine how we can best support you in achieving your goals.

To get started, email clientservices@bitesofhope.org.

This book is great because it serves up a wide variety of recipes that use healthy ingredients, in tasty combinations, that will appeal to the entire cancer-fighting family, not just the cancer patient. We believe eating together helps aid in the healing process and this book enables that healing journey to begin.

Entering the giveaway is easy. You’ll get one entry for:

- “Like”ing Bites of Hope on Facebook and posting a comment on our Wall

- Following Bites of Hope on Twitter and mentioning @bitesofhope in a tweet

- Joining the Bites of Hope mailing list (fill out the “Join Our Mailing List” form at the bottom of our homepage)

- Mentioning Bites of Hope in a post on your blog (send us the link at bitesofhope@gmail.com)

The winner will be announced next Saturday, August 20 at noon EST.

Here’s some more info and reviews about the book (via Amazon.com):

Publishers Weekly:

“Cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation can be almost as hard on the body as the disease itself, and detailed nutrition advice is usually not on the program. This informative guide to fighting cancer from the inside out, from the senior chief at Marin County’s Commonweal Cancer Help Program, corrects that with a wealth of easy, immediate steps to speed up the healing process through diet. The duo offer advice on treatment prep as well as solutions to common side effects like dehydration, fatigue and nausea. Caregivers should scour the first third, which describes in detail the treatment process, and includes an alphabetical list of cancer-fighting ingredients like blueberries, chocolate, honey and salmon, a reference for the 150 recipes that follow. Recipes for soups, broths and simple, satisfying dishes like Chicken and Rice are welcome, but the text is most helpful for an array of quick, nutritious snacks, like nutrient-rich granola bars or a cooling Cantaloupe Granita with Mint (especially useful for cravings, which are also addressed). Katz’s experience with cancer patients and their long, often frustrating recovery lends authority to her wise, common-sense approach, suitable for cooks of all skill levels.”

“Rebecca Katz has produced an invaluable resource. Instead of telling patients to ‘just eat a balanced diet,’ we can now show them how to control disease and optimize health with delicious, nourishing food from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen. I recommend this book highly.” –Andrew Weil, MD, founder and program director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health and The Healthy Kitchen

“The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen is an incredibly rich and satisfying resource–it is a must for people living with and beyond cancer, and should be mandatory reading for all health care professionals. This great gift will have a profound impact on the health and well-being of all who partake!” –Donald Abrams, MD, chief of hematology and oncology at San Francisco General Hospital, integrative oncologist at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, and coauthor of Integrative Oncology

“The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen elegantly combines the science of healthy nutrition with the wisdom of the heart and soul. This beautiful book illuminates a clear path to nourish the body, and provides clear and inspiring guidance to make the process easy, simple, and joyful. I am delighted to recommend this wonderful resource for people living with cancer and their loved ones.” –Jeremy Geffen, MD, medical oncologist and author of The Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the Whole Person

Remember, entering is easy!

You’ll get one entry for:

- “Like”ing Bites of Hope on Facebook and posting a comment on our Wall

- Following Bites of Hope on Twitter and mentioning @bitesofhope in a tweet

- Joining the Bites of Hope mailing list (fill out the “Join Our Mailing List” form at the bottom of our homepage)

- Mentioning Bites of Hope in a post on your blog (send us the link at bitesofhope@gmail.com)

The winner will be announced next Saturday, August 20 at noon EST, so get those entries in!

Thank you, to our donor who wishes to remain anonymous, for granting us the ability to giveaway this life changing book!

What exactly does that mean?

It means that cinnamon helps keep cancer cells from multiplying, which is exactly what you want when you’re fighting the disease, or trying to prevent it. To get the maximum benefits possible, try to incorporate about a heaping teaspoon into your day.

Here are a few simple ways to use cinnamon:

- Add some to your morning oatmeal

- Chop an apple, add cinnamon and a small handful of walnuts

- Pick up a box of cinnamon tea (loose leaf or sachet)

Cinnamon is also a great choice for chemo patients who’ve lost their appetites. It has a sharp, distinctive taste that can help wake up those taste buds.

For more information about this powerful little SuperSpice, click here.

The healing powers of foods have been recorded from the beginning of time. From minor illnesses to major ones, like cancer, making smart choices about which foods to eat can either help the body heal or promote the spread of disease.

At Bites of Hope, we like to do everything we can to help individuals living with cancer understand the powerful link between good nutrition and healing. This knowledge is powerful and empowering, but we often find that some of our clients have a difficult time putting what we teach them into practice, due to the financial constraints of a typical cancer journey, where therapy costs often cost several thousands of dollars (even with insurance).

We want to help.

Beginning in September, we’ll be kicking off a “Gift Cards for Cancer” program, which will provide gift cards to health-oriented grocery store chains, along with shopping lists and recipes to cancer patients in need.

In order to help, we need YOUR help.

To make a donation, click the “donate” button to the right. Your $25 donation will buy a gift card for a deserving cancer patient, allowing him or her to purchase healing, wholesome foods to aid in their fight against what can often feel like an overpowering disease.

Donations will be awarded on a rolling basis. We’ll start a waiting list and add donor names as we receive them. As we receive donations, we’ll send the gift cards to the next name on the list.

To add your name, or the name of a cancer patient you’re close to, email us at giftcards@bitesofhope.org.

All recipes included in the book were created with optimum health in mind, but none of them skimp on taste. We kept individuals living with cancer in focus throughout every step of the cookbook creation process and therefore, all recipes are made from healthy ingredients, many are vegetarian, some are vegan and the baking recipes are gluten-ree.

We’ve “taste tested” every recipe in the book, and here are just a few of the comments we’ve received after tasting events:

“This is cancer food? Who knew it could taste so good?”

“I’ll eat this food anytime, whether I’m sick or not.”

“This is healthy? You’re kidding. No really. You’re kidding.” (to which we replied, no, we’re not kidding)

This special compilation includes contributions from:
- Rebecca Katz, author of The Cancer Fighting Kitchen and One Bite at a Time.
- Terry Walters, author of CLEAN FOOD and the upcoming CLEAN START
- Elana Amsterdam, author of the very popular elanaspantry.com, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and the upcoming Gluten-Free Cupcakes
- Karen Morgan, owner of Blackbird Bakery and author of Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free
- just to name a FEW of the MANY very talented folks who generously donated their expertise to our cookbook.

To order your copy of Bites of Health, click the link beneath the preview:

To start your own winter herb garden, you’ll need:

- Containers: herbs can be grown in anything – tin cans, terra cotta pots, plastic planters – whatever you have available that will give roots some room to grow.

- All-purpose soil less potting mix

Herbs are extremely easy to care for, as long as they have:

- Good light: make sure you keep your pots near a window

- Well-drained soil

- Appropriate water levels

- Fertilizer

Parsley: researchers have discovered that apigenine, one of the key phytonutrients in parsley, helps cut off the blood supply to cancer cells in tumors, thereby inhibiting the cells’ ability to grow. Parsley grows in clumps and needs a pot deep enough to accommodate it’s long taproot.

Rosemary: terpene, a powerful phytonutrient that can be found in rosemary, has been shown to help reduce the proliferation of cancer cells. The oils in rosemary are important to the plant’s growth, so for best results, don’t mist this one.

Mint: this tasty little herb contains monoterpenes, which help the body neutralize carcinogens, thereby helping prevent the formation of new cancers. If you have a shady spot, this little herb is for you.

Thyme: a member of the mint family, thyme includes extra doses of phytonutrients called terpenoids, which are recognized for their anti-cancer properties. Thyme likes a lot of sun.

Basil: emerging research is showing that several compounds in this wonderful little annual work together to prevent the progression of cancer cell growth. Make some room for this one – basil plants can grow up to 2 feet tall!

For more information about growing cancer-fighting herbs, visit our Wichita, Kansas-based friends at Johnson’s Garden Centers or our online friends at doityourself.com.

The teams at Johnson’s will be leading seminars covering the topic “how to plant a healthy herb garden.” Herbs are powerful cancer fighters and can be grown throughout the winter on a kitchen counter.

To learn more about the event, click here.

To learn more about LiveSTRONG Day 2010 (and find an event near you, if you don’t live in or near Wichita), click here.

To download information about growing your own cancer-fighting herb garden, click here.

If you’ve been newly diagnosed with cancer, the most important things you can do NOW, to help your body heal are:
- Substantially increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat every day.
- Cut out refined sugar. Switch to natural sweeteners, like 100% pure maple syrup. Sugar causes insulin spikes, which provokes the inflammatory response in your body and prevents your immune system from doing it’s job.
- Eliminate refined grains (processed white flour) and replace them with whole grains. Refined grains (used to make most processed foods on grocery store shelves) have no nutritional value and can clog up your system. Whole grains are more satisfying and help your body cleanse itself.
- Dramatically decrease red meat. Switch to organic, free range meat products. The toxins in red meat are well documented and prevent your body’s cells from activating against cancer cells.

While we’re ramping up, we’re always available to answer your individual questions. Email us at bitesofhope@gmail.com.

Not all fruits and vegetables carry the same chemical load. Most scientists/nutrition groups agree that the 12 on the “dirty dozen” list are the worst. Try to only eat organic varieties of the following:
- Peaches
- Apples
- Bell peppers
- Celery
- Cherries
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Imported grapes
- Carrots
- Pears