About

The purpose of my blog is to meet and educate fellow breast cancer survivors whilst at the same time connect with like minded health enthusiasts who are passionate about healthy eating and lifestyles.  My goal is to educate people and show them practical ways on how to live healthier, happier, worry free lives even after a breast cancer diagnosis.  You don't need to have had a chronic disease to get something out of this blog, anyone that needs some guidance and inspiration on weight loss, diet and lifestyle changes have come to the right place.  

I was diagnosed with an aggressive Stage 2 breast cancer in January 2012.  At the time I felt like I was at my optimal health.  I had just completed my first half marathon, for 6 months prior to my diagnosis I was slowly becoming more mindful about what I was putting in my mouth and I felt that for the first time since having my daughter in 2006 that I was back to my pre-pregnancy baby weight.  Then on Christmas day 2011 I felt a lump in my right breast and 4wks later the breast cancer bomb shell hit me.  How could that be...I was healthy wasn't I?  I had no other symptoms except for the lump which I felt by accident.  What could possibly have caused this and how am I going to stop it from ever coming back. 

One of the first things that I did was to start reading every book I could lay my hands on on breast cancer so that I felt like I had some control in a situation that I felt was out of my control.  I soon realised the importance of what I was putting in my mouth and that one way to take my health back into my own hands was to up my vegetable intake and to mainly follow a plant based whole food diet.

My next problem was that I didn't know how to cook most of the foods that were suggested to me that I should eat and some of these foods I had never heard of!  I also took a drive down to my local health food shop and felt like an alien walking in there not knowing where to start.  I had always felt that these kinds of grocery stores were only for hippies but after educating myself on the subject I soon realised that this couldn't be further from the truth.

Slowly but surely I began to educate myself on how to cook these 'super foods/ functional foods', the best places in town to get them from and I started to connect with the right people that I knew would be able to help me.  I went from seeing a kinesiologist one week to meeting up with an Integrated Medical Practitioner the next week in my desperate search for answers.  It is important to build up a support team around you to help and guide you on your path to a healthier happier life, it can be hard sometimes finding the right people to do that for you but once you have found them they are there for life.

I understand how scary it can be after a cancer diagnosis, you feel like your life and health are spiralling out of control and you are having to make big treatment decisions RIGHT NOW whilst you are still feeling terribly uneducated about cancer and all of these decisions need to be made yesterday! 
Everyone has their opinion on what may be best for you, but how are you supposed to know what is in fact best for you?  To make matters worse, after you have had all of your treatment, you are spat out the other side of the health system and told to get on with your life!  How could I possibly do that after a breast cancer diagnosis...I could die!!??  That is the exact reason this blog was 'born'.  It is my goal to help inspire and improve the lives of breast cancer survivors by educating them on the power of food and how that impacts your health as well as taking into consideration your lifestyle choices and the effect that has on your overall well being.

It is my vision that Balanced Wellness could one day be a one stop shop to educate yourself  on all things healthy and happy not only exclusively for breast cancer survivors but also for anyone wanting to make positive changes to their diet and lifestyles.
Every person's healing process is a journey of discovery to work out whats best for you, but I would like to be here to give you guidance on that journey.  Healing doesn't happen in the doctors/oncologist office, healing takes place at home in every day life and its my goal to be there for you to give you guidance and supply you with most of the information you need to make informed choices.

Whether or not you have had breast cancer before or perhaps you are looking to lose weight, stop your addictions to things like sugar, sleep better or stress less, I can give you some guidance on how to change these things in your life and get you well on your way to living a healthier, happier more fulfilled life free from the burdens that modern day living puts on you.

I will start to study at the Institute of Integrated Nutrition in New York  next year so that I can become a Certified Holistic Health Coach and help you even more in the future.  For a simple and easy explanation of what an Holistic Health Coach really is, click here.  I love the fact that my career will one day be reflective of the person that I have become which I am so excited about.  Come and join me on my journey to living healthier and happier lives, I can't wait to get started.

Warm regards,

Sam xxooxx