Beating prostate cancer was the easy part for John Holt.
The hard part was changing his eating habits. His wife of 35 years, Fannie, 66, is from the South. And mealtimes at the Holt household consist of “down home southern food” from neck bones, oxtails, fried chicken and smothered pork chops.
That all changed since participating in Health is Wealth, a healthy eating and exercise program for both cancer survivors and their spouses. The Holts went from rarely eating vegetables to prepping meals with a side of zucchini, squash, green beans and kale. They even add spinach to smoothies and omelets for breakfast.
The difference was immediate. Both lost weight. Holt lost 15 pounds, while his wife lost 20. They’ve also lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol numbers.
“We both want to be around for quite a while longer,” said Holt, 62 who was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and is now cancer-free. “We both are overweight. We want to work on that and become healthier and get off some of these pills.”