This Unmillennial Life

SHOW NOTES: Parenting Aging Parents Website Parenting Aging Parents Facebook Group no. 13 - The Caregiver Episode -- Dry Farm Wines (Penny bottle of wine at dryfarmwines.com/unmillennial) -- Sugar Detox Challenge -- Lumen ($30 off offer using code: regan30)

SHOW NOTES:  The Simply Serving website and link to donate Pinch of Yum Freezer Meals My Cancer Gift Giving Guide  Dry Farm Wines - "Penny Bottle" offer for This Unmillennial Life listeners SUBSCRIBE for email updates Fullscript Nutrition Protocols SIGN UP for the Sugar Detox Challenge

Joining me in today's episode is my friend and fellow registered dietitian, Sally of Real Mom Nutrition. Sally is sharing with us today all about her new meal planning system -- the "No Stress Dinner Planner." In the episode, we discuss the importance of inventorying your kitchen before going to the store, the freedom that comes with knowing it's "ok" to have repeater dinners, and why it's a great idea to brainstorm "detour dinners" before you start the week. LINKS: Sally's website pdf version of the No Stress Dinner Planner use the code TUML at checkout for a 25% discount on the pdf version print version of the No Stress Dinner Planner SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Sally on Instagram Like Sally's page on Facebook --- USE the code REGAN for a 10% discount on your Color Guru consult. --- SIGN UP HERE to join my SUGAR DETOX CHALLENGE --- If all the "feasting" of last year has you ready for a reset, maybe it's time for a FAST! CLICK HERE for A FREE GUIDE to therapeutic fasting for health and longevity. In it, you'll learn: ▪ how to increase longevity ▪ better your health ▪ maintain your weight ... all without having to live a day-in, day-out fasting lifestyle!  

Should you take collagen? Will it help your skin, joints and gut health? These are questions many women are asking as collagen supplements pop up on store shelves everywhere. But where there is hype, there isn't always data to support it.  Today's guest -- Marie Spano -- clears the air on what we do and don't know about collagen as a daily supplement, including what benefits are real, believed, or simply anecdotal. --- SUBSCRIBE HERE for new episode updates --- SHOP Regan's favorite collagen on her Amazon shop --- Get 10% off at COLORGURU using the code REGAN at checkout ---  

Today's episode kicks off part 2 of Season 5 and is the perfect follow-up to my previous two episodes - The Scalp Cooling (Cold Capping) Episodes: Part 1 & Part 2. In the show, I interview Nancy Marshall from The Rapunzel Project, whose mission is to create awareness of the existence and efficacy of scalp cooling therapy. Resources mentioned in the show: info@therapunzelproject.org  Hair To Stay and the Fleener Family Foundation Virginia/Washington DC/Maryland, North Carolina, or Southeast Michigan - state-specific organizations offering cold capping financial support 

Today's episode is a follow-up to last week's Part 1 episode about my experience using Scalp Cooling through Dignitana as a part of keeping my hair during chemotherapy. In this episode, I interview my friend Margaret about her experience (and success!) "cold capping" with a different system. In the show we discuss: Why it's important to understand the level of commitment cold capping requires Tips about hair care in between chemo, including washing the hair very little, washing in cold water, avoiding heating/curling/drying tools, and more Tips for "chemo day," including the need for an electric blanket The "discomfort level" of cold capping and how to make it manageable  ICYMI, in last week's show notes, I also shared a link to THIS POST with PICTURES of my chemo/scalp cooling hair experience. 

In case you missed it, I recently shared on my blog a full-length picture-based update on my experience with scalp cooling/cold capping. You can read more about it and see the pictures, here. In today's episode, the first in a series about my experience, I'm interviewing Melissa Bourestom, VP of Communications for Dignitana (the parent company of Dignicap). We're discussing the Ins/Outs of how/why scalp cooling (also known as cold capping) works to minimize hair loss during chemotherapy.  

This is one of those topics you never really want to have the experience to write with great authority, yet here I am. Today, I’m officially four months out from my last chemo treatment, more than 6 months out from my first surgery, and finished with radiation. I will forever be grateful for the many cards, flowers, gifts, care packages, meals, and more that have been shared with me throughout this experience. My hope for this post is that it be a blessing to you by helping you support someone in your life and in turn, that gift will be a blessing to them. There are a few ground rules I want to give you though before you jump into this list. First, my cancer experience is my cancer experience and these gift ideas are simply a result of my what I’ve lived through. (If you’re new here, I recommend listening to The {full length} Breast Cancer Diagnosis Episode to learn a little more about my cancer journey.) Second, when it comes to supporting someone “who’s taking chemo,” it’s important to know that chemo varies greatly, even among women being treated with breast cancer. There is a spectrum of toxicity, dosing, side effects, timing, etc., to all forms of chemotherapy. This is important to know as it influences the differences in what makes for an ideal gift from person to person.   One thing remains true about all of it, unfortunately. It sucks. Period. I’m sorry, but there’s really no other way to put it. I ain’t fun, but if the stats are correct, it’s saving millions of lives, mine included. And anything you can do to make someone’s life a little bit better while they’re going through it is a gift. Third, having said all that I say this — I can only give you insights into gifts that were either helpful or meaningful to me based on who I am and what my experience has been like. At the end of the day, some gifts you’ll simply know to give based on your relationship with a person. So don’t overthink it. A heartfelt prayer, a kind gesture, a card, a phone call, a text…. Having people checking in on you, encouraging you, letting you know how much you mean to them… they don’t sell that on Amazon. So don’t hesitate to make your gift simply that of care, prayer, and concern. Say it with me: “Gifts don’t always come with a price tag or in a package.” But for the times that you want to materially give something to someone diagnosed with breast cancer and/or going through chemo and/or radiation, here’s my advice: Give gifts that inspire, comfort, pamper or provide a solution to a problem. In this post on thisunmillenniallife.com is my list of gifts people gave to me that did just that (and a few ideas of my own).

As interest has grown in recent years in "cleaning up" the beauty industry, specialty brands have popped up all over the internet. But what about those times you want to just "run to the store" for a jar of moisturizer? Are there any cleaner beauty buys available at the drugstore? Fortunately, the answer is Yes! Unfortunately, they aren't easy to spot unless you know what you're looking for in advance. After many hours researching what those brands are, I've compiled a full-length episode that details not only what the best cleaner beauty buys at the drugstore are, but also WHY the quest for cleaner beauty products matters. From the concern about endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our environment to the reality that cosmetics do not undergo any safety testing as a part of their regulation by the FDA, this episode covers all you need to know about buying cleaner beauty products at your local drugstore. A note from Regan - a partial teaser of this episode originally aired in early 2021. I am now releasing the full episode in its entirety after putting my Wellness Exclusive group on hold. I'm also making available a FREE downloadable guide -- perfect for printing and taking with you to the store -- of all the products mentioned in this episode. SIGN UP HERE to get your copy.

To kick off Season 5 and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, today I'm releasing the full-length version of the Breast Cancer Diagnosis episode that was shared in April with members of my Wellness Exclusive group. After many months of treatment, surgery and time away, I've re-calibrated some of my workload and decided to put that group on hold, indefinitely. As a result, I wanted to make this particular episode about the early days of my diagnosis available to the larger listening audience AND provide some updates on where I am in my cancer treatment. Thank you for all the prayers and messages of support. Keep them coming! And please keep your podcast app at the ready for future episodes. I've got some good stuff in the works to share with you very soon.  ~Regan