Who am I and why the particular interest in cancer and nutrition?

I am not a nutritional expert and I am not a health fanatic. I am someone with a real interest in nutrition, love food and try to see through all the complex & confusing information in order to make sensible choices regarding what myself and my family eat. I have very good reason for doing so.

There are currently more than 2 million people in the UK living with, or having had treatment for, cancer. I am one of them, being a long term survivor of childhood cancer. I have been surrounded by cancer for most of my life having been diagnosed at the age of 11 years with late stage Hodgkin's disease, and having worked as a children & adolescent cancer nurse for almost 30 years. Now aged 59 years, I still have to manage on a daily basis, the incapacitating chronic late effects and consequent challenges that being a childhood cancer survivor has brought.

Survivorship issues will bring new problems in the future with :-

• Year on Year increases in people surviving cancer long term. Macmillan projects that within the next 5 years, almost 40% of cancer sufferers will not die from the disease. It is estimated that by 2030, there could be 4 million cancer survivors in the UK alone.
• Increasing numbers of new cases of cancer, with every individual born after 1960 now having a 1 in 2 lifetime chance of developing cancer (CRUK).

In addition to my own personal health issues, at aged 49yrs, my husband underwent heart bypass surgery following a heart attack. This made me even more acutely aware of the importance of making sensible dietary choices.

As a result of my life experiences, I have, over many years, developed a great interest in nutrition, in particular, the nutritional connections to cancer (more info on our cancer page) & have always taken nutrition quite seriously (my husband calls it nagging!). However, after been named the fun police  on a number of occasions, I came to realise that it is equally important to enjoy our food, including the treats we love.

The result is the development of menusforlife which I have decided to share with others as I believe that both living & working with cancer for most of my life has given me a unique perspective to offer.

I hope you find my website & simple approach to daily meal planning useful. I hope it demonstrates that the best way to lose & maintain weight loss is not to go on & off  diets, but to make some key adjustments to your thinking, reshape some of your habits & make the right food choices most of the time. I also hope that you will use & enjoy my collection of recipes which aim to do just that.

Linda Scott Menusforlife