Pat Reeves, nutritional therapist

Visiting Pat was a motivating and valuable experience. She was all I could have hoped she'd be. I didn't know what to expect when I arranged to see her. All I really knew was that she had been successfully fighting cancer herself for thirty years and I had been looking for someone who fit that kind of description since I was diagnosed myself. It is difficult to find long term survivors to speak to in person. They seem to go to ground so to speak. And the complication is that whilst there are many people who know someone who has survived, there are so many different types and stages of cancer that your own survival means different things to each cancer patient. We all want to find someone who has had the same or worse than ourselves and has lived to tell the tale. That's where I look for hope. people who defy the oncologists dire scenario's. Pat ticked my boxes. Pat is dynamite wrapped in a petite body. What's more, she was incredibly generous with her time and advice. I count myself fortunate to have found her.

One of the areas that Pat understands is bone health, having fought cancer and osteoporosis herself. She suggested that I add exercise to my daily life, and not just any exercise, but resistance training ( with some kind of weight, even in the form of a can of beans. ) I was given a sheet with seven simple exercises that she herself started with and that should take no more than seven or eight minutes to do. I was instructed to do them two to three times a day. But the most valuable advice she gave was in how to view exercise, how to think of it in such a way that I would actually DO IT !! What was this great wisdom that Pat imparted ? Simplicity itself.

Think of exercise as you do food. You wouldn't think of eating on just Monday and Wednesday. Exercise as often as you eat.

That's it. Simple. I've not thought of it in this way before. I've always viewed it as tedious and time consuming, needing at least twenty minutes before I even start to get any benefit. So my plan is to do those exercises before breakfast and dinner. If I can also do them or something active around lunchtime so much the better. Associate exercises with food. Doesn't that make sense ? It sounds a little TOO easy ! We'll just have to see how I go on. I'll keep you posted. It's a bit like the concept of browsing as a way of eating ... little and often. I take vegetable juice and vitamin C this way( every three or four hours ), constantly replenishing my reserves. I just need to add these exercises to that routine. That is do-able! And with the days getting longer, I'll feel more enthusiastic about moving. I do seem to hibernate in the dark, cold, wet months. Roll on Spring and sunshine !!

It's just a pity that I came down with a bad cold as soon as I got home, and don't feel like doing much of anything. It's not quite as easy as it sounds !!! Still, I'm starting to pull out of it now, so as soon as I can breathe freely I'll be going for it

If you are interested, Pat's website can be found at http://www.foodalive.org/ She has a resource called ' Blessings For You ' which is really worth a read.