Need assistance with my weight

maryroset1

Hey ladies. Its been a while hope you are all keeping positive. I need help with my weight. I finished treatment 3 years ago and been on arimidex for nearly two years. For the past year i seem to have lost my way and put on nearly 10kg.  I have aches and pains everywhere my knees my back have preexisting injuries and they have become unbearable due to all the weight i am carrying. I know what i need to do in relation to my diet but the motivation isnt there and the body is craving junk. Any ideas on how to get back on track?
Take care.

iserbrown

Hi!  Yes it is a so and so!  My thyroid is sluggish and hence the weight isn't coming off!  Your comment the body is craving junk!  Perhaps start to wean yourself off one piece of junk at a time.  Say, if you love soft drink, find an alternative as we know soft drink is laden with sugar.  If you're having fruit juices, cut down the serving size as they too are sugary!  Slowly weaning without putting the body through she is starving me let's gang up - as that is what it feels like, may help! 

Here's a link to an article by BCNA:  https://www.bcna.org.au/health-wellbeing/physical-wellbeing/healthy-eating/

iserbrown

This was in a previous post from ages ago and it relates to me and probably others!

maryroset1

Thanks. My weakness is snacks and gets me when i am at work primarily but also after dinner. I dont do soft drinks or juices so that isnt a problem. I agree i need to make small changes for the long haul. I dont want to deprive myself as life is too short but I need to figure something out that works for me. I am hoping that the arrival of spring will give me some motivation as i tend to hibernate over winter. Thanks for your suggestions.

rowdy

Hi I hear you my weight is terrible I was just starting to get back on track and my knee went. I have had a arthroscope and knee still not great. I have decided to go and see a dietican. It would be nice if there was a pill to take at night and wake up a few kilos lighter. Good luck 

June1952

Hey Rowdy
I am with you !  If you are in the colder climates that makes it even harder - I had a salad today and it was terrible as we had 4 degrees !  It is weather for comfort food !  Unfortunately the added weight does not help the knees either.  I went to a dietitian with hubby last week (he cannot put weight on) and she was soooooo thin herself.  I have to feed him several added meals each day as well as snacks and Sustagen - poor me puts on weight looking at it all !  (Stop laughing !).  I can easily refuse sweet things but the savouries are so hard ... getting there so far. 
Good luck  Summer  :-)

primek

Sometimes a pedometer can help us start to move more which sometimes motivates people to start eating better. I'm exactly the same with snacks. Currently I am just focussing on fitness and will start replacing my snacks with a planned nutritious snack. My problem is having the energy to do that. ..hence doing more exercise as it seems to help with the fatigue issues and quite quickly. 

Romla

Hi @maryroset1 am good at the theory but in this weather practice is not good - cabin fever brings out the munchies in me .Re food I learnt that I don't like bland food and I like variety - I scour supermarket shelves for something lower in calories that fits the bill. Here are some of my favourites " Goodies" rice crackers lot less calories than chips and tasty , cup a soup like Dutch curry and rice / cauliflower , Sirena tuna Italian style ( tuna in oil is good for the brain ) , chobani yogurt low fat if I'm craving ice cream , there's some Indian packet stuff vegetarian which is quite flavoursome. Basically I eat porridge for breakfast as keeps me going till lunch , find something like the aforementioned for lunch and eat what the family does for dinner avoiding the obvious . I don't think any food is bad unless full of fat/ sugar and figure I should be able to eat it as long as I hover around 1200 calories a day - 3 fruit in between of any kind I fancy - bought myself a punnet of strawberries to day.I drink a lot of tea - Yorkshire for preference - warming and fills up when the munchies descend. I think the worst thing about dieting is boredom . I eat whilst on a diet - pasta , potatoes , bread , dry biscuits but not cake , sweets , deep fried food etc  I try to eat what I enjoy within those limits - loathe iceberg lettuce but like mixed leaves salads , I try to avoid cheese and don't drink alcohol which is a bit of wasted calories.Go to your supermarket one day when you are not doing the big family shop and have a good look around to see if anything tickles your fancy and happens to be reasonably low calorie . I think diets need to be as close to everyday eating as possible and with enough variety so you don't feel like you are missing out too much. Finally - walking every day helps with how you feel and helps with losing weight but to be of value needs to be 30 minutes daily. PS My new addiction - pastelli - an Ancient Greek sesame/ nut square from my local fruit and veg - 2 of those and am full for lunch - yes I eat nuts , dried fruit - portion control goes without saying on everything.Last word Vegemite bagel crips in the biscuit aisle yum but portion control tough atm as quite addictive. 

Hopes_and_Dreams

I'm still carrying 4 kilos from post surgery August 16!  Doesn't sound a big deal but I am tall and have always been slim so I have a whole lot of clothes which are too tight!  These 4 kilos are sitting between my waist and hips and drive me crazy!   I'm sure Arimidex isn't helping.  I'm just about to start September where I have committed to walking 10,000 steps per day so hopefully this will help.  I've lost 2 kilos in the past few months by exercising but I drop two and put one back on!
In the past, I've had success losing a few kilos by eating vegetarian Monday - Friday for a month and adding fish on the weekends.  Like Summerhill, my downfall is savoury foods.  I've been know to eat a big packet of Red Rock Deli chips in a sitting!  I also find using a phone app helps me stay on track.  I've got a calorie/kilojoule counter which works out how much I am eating each day against my daily allowance.  It helps if I see exactly how many kilojoules a particular food item.  Then any exercise I do comes off the daily total.    I have a holiday in Japan at the end of September so I want to be a bit lighter by then  Jane xx

maryroset1

Thanks for all your suggestions ladies. I too can eat a big pack of red rock deli chips in one go. Chips and choc are my major weekness and i just have to stop buying them. I see my oncologist this week might see if she can refer me to a dietician.  I need motivation and hope that once the warmer weather arrives i can get some short walks in because i think short walks is all my knee can handle at the moment. In the meantime i will focus on what i eat and stay clear of the snacks and sweet aisle at the supermarket! !

Nadi

Hi @maryroset1 I have lost 32 kgs in the past 11 months without exercise. I put on 7 kgs with treatment and was a big girl to begin with. I love sweets and snacks. In then end my arthritis was just too bad and I had to do something. I tried the anti inflammatory diet. Just fresh fruit and veggies, meat; no bread, pasta or rice and nothing processed. It was sensible old fashioned meals, stir fries, omelettes (without cheese), chicken and vegetable soup, cooked salmon, baked dinners (without potatoes). I love chocolate so I switched to Lindt dark choc and had a square or 2 a day which helped controlled the cravings. For the first two months I weighed everything I ate and counted calories. I aimed for 1200 calories a day but ended up getting down to 1000 calories a day which some say is too low but I never felt hungry. After the first two months I was in the habit of eating smaller meals and eating better food so I haven't needed to count calories since, although if I do have something bad then I will cut down on something else that day. I have had to buy a whole new wardrobe which is great. Good luck with it.

Hey @Hopes_and_Dreams I will also be in Japan at the end of September! Hubby and I are having a very big holiday after the past 2 years of treatment.  I don't think I could have done this if I hadn't lost the weight. I hope you have a great time.

Hopes_and_Dreams

Good on you @Nadi!  What a great achievement with your weight loss  
Is this your first visit to Japan?  You will love it.  xx

maryroset1

Wow Nadi what a fantastic achievement. Besides fruit what did you snack on?

Unicornkisses

Hi @maryroset1 have you considered seeing a dietitian and an exercise physiologist.
You should be able to get a Chronis Disease management plan put in place by your GP, who can then give you a referral to each. You can have 5 visits every 12 months.
I had two to the dietitian and three to the exercise physiologist who has a program set up for me that I access through my iPad. 
Getting the motivation to put the information into practise can be the hurdle though, I struggle with it all the time.

Nadi

@maryroset1 I snacked on grapes, blueberries and fresh raspberries if they are cheap enough but also a plate of broccoli with lemon juice and pepper, mandarins, pineapple, asparagus, watermelon, tabouli (home made with grated cauliflower and no buck wheat), diced tomato and avocado, and home made baked sweet potato fries.  Sometimes I'll have popcorn, no butter.  I tend to stack on weight if I eat nuts so I avoid those. I don't eat breakfast, only coffee. If I am very hungry I will eat some kind of protein like scrambled eggs cooked in the microwave, or a slice of roast lamb even if it's at 10 in the morning rather than try and hold out for lunch. I cook my food the night before and always take my lunch to work. I didn't really like vegetables or fruit all that much before but taught myself how to eat them. Go non-processed and vegetarian for your snacks and you'll find you'll lose weight. I also started to drink a lot of herbal tea which keeps me full. If you tend to graze all day buy yourself a teapot get some nice tea from T2 and have a cup before you eat anything. I say a pot because it will help you drink more and it helps to replace one ritual (snacking) with another (tea steeping). Good luck.

Unicornkisses

@nadi, you are so right about the tea and T2 teas.
I used them as a treat too during chemo when I needed to drink lots and felt I needed a mood lift.
The ritual of making the tea and of sitting and savouring it is lovely.
And I will still make a cup of tea if I am feeling like snacking, it really helps to redirect my thoughts, and feels like a pampering.
And I was not a tea drinker before.
DJs have some beautiful teapots and they have a lovely brand that is not very expensive but very pretty, I can't think of the name, maybe Caroline something? There are cups and mugs to match.