Dieting
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I did optifast to rapidly drop weight after chemo in prep for surgery. It is a very restrictive plan but elimating choosing what to eat can help at times.
But...I gained weight back after surgery (not all if it) and felt this time I needed to really focus on nutrition as I was constantly tired.
I joined weight watchers online. I lost weight with weight watchers years ago and kept it off for years before health issues derailed me.
I have steadily lost weight. The new program is very easy and user friendly and it is designed to teach you how to eat your cake and drink wine and still lose weight.
Just online is around $34 per month.
I now create snack boxes to munch through the day when feeling peckish. Filled with yummy nutritious foods I feel so much healthier and have reconnected in enjoying cooking new food.
I'd attach a pic but the damn thing isnt working. If you are interested and connected to facebook...look up "fred me healthy" with Anna van Dyken. She creates delicious meals and snack box ideas. Honestly you never feel deprived. And if you fall iff...you just jump back on and carry on.
@Giovanna_BCNA ...any reason you can't attach pics. Is it related to why I couldn't log in?1 -
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Hey @Hendrix I lost 7 kgs before chemo because the onc warned me the dexamethasone would cause weight gan, so I started a diet right away after my diagnosis. I gained 9 kgs with chemo, and then once I started to feel good after chemo I began my diet again, lost 32 kgs since and have kept it off for over a year, apart from a trip OS late last year where I put on 5-6 kgs but then lost it again when I got back home. Pics before and after the 32 kg loss are below (although my hair is now straight).
I used the anti inflammatory diet to choose which foods to eat. I started by counting calories for a couple of weeks while I 'retrained' myself in eating right After that I didn't need to count calories as I stuck mostly to lean meat, vegetables LOTS of salmon and berries. I also limited sweets to two small squares of dark Lindt high cocoa choc a day, and reduced carbs (no pasta, rice, noodles or potatoes). Arthritis meant no exercise.
Lots of changes in the last 2.5 years, but as long as I am consistent with choosing the right things to eat I should keep the weight off. I still weigh myself twice a day to make sure I hold myself accountable for my food choices. If I want something, I have it, it just means I might have a small amount of smiths chips and not a whole packet and then I will cut back on something else that day. I would love to lose another 10 kgs, but at the moment I am ok with where I am.
Hope you find what works best for you.
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Wowie Zowie @Nadi - What determination. Well done! I too am trying to lose weight . I am working on diet and exercise. I am losing about 1/2 kg per week. Rice, potatos and pasta are my downfall - tried no/low carbs, but missed them from our main meal too much. And forgot to mention the glass of white wine. Best wishes from jennyss0
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Hi Nadi, thanks for sharing your story. Im mid way through chemo and have already gained 12 kgs. Terrified ill gain that much again by the end of treatment. Yes the Dex does put on weight but i think the chemo does too. I only exercise 1 to 2 days per week due to fatigue being really bad. Every week i go to chemo i get told to try and walk as much as i can but also to be kind to myself and that the extra weight will come off after treatment. Not sure what to think. Gotta say its getting me down. Was 64.5 kg when i met surgeon 3 weeks before single mastectomy, now 81 kgs with another 7 weeks of chemo to go. Every i meet has lost weight or cant eat. Ha im the opposite. Cant wait to have energy again !0
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@Josephine66 most people I know all gained weight through treatment, it's one of the worst side effects of it. I put 6kg on through chemo and I am nearly 3yrs post now and it hasn't come off. No amount of exercise which is limited anyway or diet changes it. I too was told it would go back to normal, but it didn't. One of the main contributors is that I was thrown into an early menopause as most women are through chemo, this also exacerbates the weight thing...add on top the AI I take and is very difficult. I am more active now Im back at work full time, so hoping that helps, but menopause weight is an uphill battle. So please know its so normal and there are those who are so wonderfully successful in shifting it. So try mixing things up with lots of things. Hugs xo
@nadi you look amazing!!!0 -
@josehine66 I put on 26kg during chemo. I initially gained 1 kg a month. ..then when on weekly I gained 1kg a week...despite help from a dietitian. It was the very high steroids I needed on taxol as I had an allergy to it which contributed. Pkus being someone who had always had to watch my weight I am suoer efficient at gaining. I went from exercisibg daily to managing a pool walk a couple days a week then resting. I was so distressed by my gaining the decision was to not know the weight when weigjing in at chemo. So 4 weeks after chemo over...I tackled my weight head on with help from a dietitian.
I'd add photos but still unable to presently.
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Hate to do this to people but my oncologist told me she would prefer it if I actually had fat around my internal organs so that CT scans would be easier to read. I told her "No, sorry. That won't happen."
I did however put on 10 kilos over 5 years when I was on Tamoxifen, but as soon as I stopped taking it I lost all of that weight.
When I was having I.V. chemo., I was so pleased to be out of the hospital I went to work for 2 hours.0 -
@SoldierCrab I’ve started the 8 week blood sugar diet...lots of bloody cooking1
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Hi @Hendrix the anti inflammatory diet was recommended to me by my GP. It's not a weight loss diet per se, but rather a list of foods to eat that have been proven to reduce inflammation in the body as well as a list of foods to avoid. A big challenge for me during and after chemo was managing osteo arthritis pain in my knees, hands and feet. I don't like to take medication as my poor elderly mother who has severe arthritis is addicted to strong pain killers that have been prescribed to her for 10 plus years that are no longer effective in managing her pain and I wanted to avoid all that. So I was set on reducing inflammation but if it meant I lost weight well then that was great too. Mind you, I am still on medication for arthritis, but I haven't had to increase the dosage for a while.
There are a lot of books on the anti inflammatory diet as well as a lot of sites available online if you google it. I got my food lists from Arthritis Foundation www.arthritis.org. The main components are fresh ingredients, daily fibre and protein, nil or very very little of processed foods or sugar (including alcohol), and no breads, pasta or rice. They recommend that people avoid nightshades until you know if they are an arthritis trigger for you (tomatoes, eggplants, etc).
This means reduced red meat, reduced dairy, lots of oily fish and chicken, colourful inflammation friendly veggies and fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, spinach, kale and broccoli, walnuts and pistachios, onion and garlic, and beans, which I admit I don't eat at all. It's important to not eat almonds if you are chemo or Tamoxifen or other drugs for oestrogen positive inhibitors.
Key staples for me that I have every day are eggs, chicken and salmon (steak once a week), sweet potato (which on some anti inflammatory lists is not recommended), home made kale chips, coconut flakes and berries. Berries are very important for me - they are like taking neurofen. Blueberries are best and frozen are just as nutritious as fresh (not to mention cheaper!). I also cheat and have 2 squares of lindt dark mint chocolate a day to curb my choc cravings.
Someone told me, or I read somewhere, that the anti inflammatory diet was similar to the Mediterranean diet and the Paleo diet - I don't know about that as I haven't tried either of those.
Best of luck with the blood sugar diet.
Nadine2
