Sometimes all it takes is a small gesture to warm the heart of a cancer patient. It doesn't take anything huge. It shouldn't cause any stress or discomfort. And it shouldn't require a whole lot of thought. It should be simple. Simply simple.

A whole lot of small gestures spread a whole lot of cheer my way when I was knee-deep in cancer treatment and needed a lift. Cozy socks kept my feet and my spirits toasty. A package of brownies sweetened my sour days. Flowers brightened my dining room and my state of mind. Books left on my doorstep delivered knowledge and wisdom and a bit of humor to my world.

The options for spreading sunshine are endless. The list of possibilities could go on and on. Here is just a start -- a small list of small gestures that can make a dreary day downright delightful.

Give a hug
Send a handwritten letter
Make a homemade card
Write a poem
Give a journal
Deliver a candle
Make a home-cooked meal
Arrange for food delivery
Babysit children
Play with children
Drive to appointments
Go wig or hat shopping
Visit during chemotherapy sessions
Give something comfy -- socks, pajamas, hat
Do grocery shopping
Accompany to lunch, dinner, movie
Take a walk
Attend church
Have a picnic
Go fishing
Make a donation to favorite charity
Walk, run, volunteer, raise funds in honor of your special someone

Be specific in your gesturing. Trade a comment like "let me know if I can do anything" for "I'm going to come over and wash and clean your car on Saturday." Vague offers are rarely successful -- cancer patients are not likely to recall every general offer they receive and then manage them all into a schedule. It's just too much to consider in the midst of turmoil. But an offer that comes to life right before them is easy. It's effortless. It is truly a gift. A simple, priceless gift.

Tomorrow -- Monday, September 25 -- is the day when every dollar you spend at Chili's restaurants will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. So treat yourself to a meal out tomorrow -- and treat the kids at St. Jude's to some hope for a healthy future.

Donate All Our Profits Day is Chili's way of creatively conquering childhood cancer. This fundraising effort will benefit the development of Chili's Care Center -- a St. Jude's building dedicated to groundbreaking research on brain tumors. The center is scheduled to open in Fall 2007.

Chili's doors will be open for lunch and dinner tomorrow. So abandon your plans for cooking today and let Chili's cater to your every wish -- while you sit back, relax, and quietly make a difference in the lives of sick children.

Right now -- at this very moment -- my two boys have turned our living room into a mess of blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. They put on their jammies and closed all the blinds and are pretending it's bedtime. But it's actually lunch time, so they have spread out paper plates and plastic silverware and bags of chips and boxes of crackers all over the floor -- on top of all their bedding. I delivered them their lunch platters and lemonade and there they sit, in the room next to me -- chattering away, stuffing their little mouths, full of life. And I am in awe -- of the simple joy that comes from a living room camp-out and picnic, of the beauty these children bring into my life. I am mostly in awe of the fact that no matter what cancer takes from me -- my hair, moments of health, my innocence -- it cannot ever take this very moment from me. And that makes today a happy day.

Where does the time go? Even though most of us have been experiencing the height of the summer season in the form of a nationwide scorcher of a heat wave, summer is almost over for school kids and teens leaving for college. Yes, in less than a month, it's back to school. There are advertisements everywhere you look for new school supplies and new school clothes. In preparation for the new school season, Duke Health has published Back to School Tips for Healthy Eating.

The experts say it is not about counting fat grams and calories but portion control and choices. According to pediatrician Dr. Terrill Bravender, "You don't have to be obsessive about it. If you generally eat healthy, there is room for some foods that aren't as healthy."

Dr. Bravender offers these basic common sense tips:

• Involve kids in lunchbox planning. If you let them make some choices about what goes into their lunchbox, they are more likely to eat it.
• Avoid the peanut butter and jelly rut. Nothing wrong with the traditional, but try new foods. Make it a food adventure.
• While everyone is still on summer break, encourage children to prepare their own lunch. Dr. Bravender suggests easy-to-make ideas like graham crackers with peanut butter and a glass of milk; fresh fruit with cheese cubes; a hard boiled egg with whole grain crackers; yogurt with a sliced banana; granola bars with milk; or tortilla chips and bean dip made without hydrogenated oils.
  

Ultimately, as the mother, what foods come in to the home are my choosing, so I try to make nutritious choices in food purchases. But I have found great success over the years by taking my kids to the grocery store with me, and allowing them to choose between several choices I offer. We also take a look at new foods, and talk about the food item. We read ingredients. Some we decide, by group vote, to bring home and try. During the growing seasons, they are with me when I stop at a roadside stand to buy local produce straight from the field, and each year we have an annual tradition of blueberry picking enough blueberries to last most of the year ahead. Food can be fun, and learning about good food a lifetime benefit in cancer prevention.

AOL Diet & Fitness is featuring Prevention's 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever, and it is by far one of the most creative and common sense approaches to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight -- and in hedging your bets with good nutrition against being diagnosed with diseases like cancer. The tips are from registered dietitians in private practice and respected in their field as heads of specialty practice groups for the American Dietetic Association.

Whether you are someone who can only make a small practical change -- or -- looking for ideas on how to get more veggie-goodness into your day -- or -- easy tricks to cut calories -- or -- healthy low-cal dinner ideas if you don't feel like cooking -- there is something for everyone in the list of 100 smartest diet tips ever.

Some of the creative tips include:

• Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate.
• Keep a food journal. The experts swear this really works wonders.
• Mix three different cans of beans and some diet Italian dressing. Eat this three-bean salad all week.
• Dance to music with your family in your home.
  

Some common sense tips include:

• Fat-free isn't always your best bet. The experts explain why.
• Skipping breakfast will leave you tired and craving naughty foods by midmorning. They give you a quick nutritious breakfast recipe.
• Make vegetables more attractive by avoiding mushy limp vegetables in the refrigerator crisper drawer with ready-to-go bags of frozen vegetables.
• Exercise. It curbs your appetite.
• Drink water frequently. They say it is not how much water you drink but how often. Dehydration slows your metabolism.
  

The last 15 tips are myth busters that take you from fiction to fact and the pitfalls to avoid when it comes to getting the most in diet health benefit. To find out more, go to 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever for the complete list.

The UK's Daily Mail has published an incredible news story featuring a surgical procedure that cuts out tumors so quickly that it allows women to undergo breast surgery to remove breast lumps during their lunch break.

According to an explanation of how this works, in a procedure that lasts at the longest 30 minutes -- using a machine called Soros -- a small incision is made (that heals quickly and leaves no scar); the lump is sliced up into tiny pieces and vacuumed out of the body; and the woman has time left over to presumably have lunch.

This high-tech procedure is currently in clinical trials at the Princess Grace Hospital in London, and is expected to be used in the surgical removal of both benign and malignant tumors up to three centimeters in size. For a detailed step-by-step description, read Breast cancer surgery in your lunch break.

The best cancer prevention begins early. As a parent, you can make cancer prevention choices for your children with the food you bring to the table. When they reach school age, it becomes more of a challenge in assuring that what they are eating is also good for them. Frankly, you appreciate like-minded individuals who care as much as you do about the long-term health of your children.

For the last two years, The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PCRM, has hosted the Golden Carrot Awards in recognition of creative school food service professionals who strive to serve school children healthy wholesome food. According to PCRM, they are looking for school food service professionals who serve vegetarian entrees, low-fat meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, and nondairy beverage items and that promote nutrition education.

In celebration of today -- National Cancer Survivors Day -- I attended a BBQ event at the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge. The Hope Lodge, here in Gainesville, Florida, houses out-of-town cancer patients and their families so they can live in town temporarily while undergoing treatment at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. So these patients were able to easily attend the festivities today -- which included a BBQ lunch, gift bags, a keynote speaker, and a tour of the Lodge. Survivors from the community attended too for an uplifting afternoon of camaraderie.

My time at the event was limited. My boys, ages five and three, were with me and while they were entertained for a while by cookies and a fish tank and the box of mints that came in my gift bag, I knew their energy was best spent in the outdoors where they are always peaceful and content. And so goes my story with cancer -- I don't have much time to focus on this disease because of these two little men who distract me and keep me on my toes and redirect me with not a moment's notice. It's a blessing really -- the distraction -- because I get to spend more time on the joyous moments of my life and not on the worrisome ones. I get to watch my boys pick up sticks and turn them into fishing poles and watch turtles swim in lakes and dig in the dirt in search of shells. The official survivor celebration today was great -- while it lasted -- and I feel honored to be a part of a community of cancer survivors that in the United Stated is 10 million strong. But I must say that the best celebration for me today was the chance to really watch my boys, to really play with them, and to feel truly thankful for these two little angels who allow me to happily survive.

Stumped for creative ways to get more daily servings of nutrition-rich cancer prevention fruits and vegetables into your diet? In a hurry? On the go? Just don't have time. Here are some suggestions in time-saving quick tips for eating healthy. 

• Try a fruit smoothie for breakfast.
• Top breakfast cereal with flax seed and fresh fruit.
• Roll your sandwich filling in a cabbage leaf instead of using bread.

When you bake those skinless boneless organic chicken breasts for dinner, bake a few extra. Slice the extra chicken breasts and refrigerate. For a quick lunch salad, add a small serving of sliced chicken pieces to a bowl of fresh organic baby spinach leaves and a handful of walnut halves, sprinkle with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. It takes me less than three minutes to make this salad.

The National Foundation for Cancer Research, NFCR, features a new cancer prevention recipe each month. This month is Tuna Salad with Olives, Oranges, and Bell Peppers. Salads are a quick and easy way of getting fresh health-supportive nutrients needed to help prevent cancers. This salad provides nine cancer prevention micronutrients; folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, zinc, and selenium. According to NFCR, up to 20 percent of the U.S. population is deficient in all of these nutrients. When choosing salad ingredients, purchase organic produce whenever possible. Visit here for the recipe.