Low carb/high fat

Hi Mez. Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry that you find yourself here but I hope you find it as warm & supportive as I have. We also have a lot of laughs!

I requested and saw a dietician early on in my diagnosis. I needed to lose a lot of weight to be a) healthier and b) to reduce the risk factors for my bilateral mastectomy & reconstruction. I had already lost five kilos and have now lost 25kgs. In my darkest days, tossing and turning at night, sometimes focussing on my weight loss helped me through. It certainly gave my brain a break from thinking about cancer!

I found working with a dietician to be excellent. You get five subsidised visits if you get a care plan from your GP. My dietician understood all the chemotherapy issues very well. Broadly, her advice was to eat to the normal recommendations, fruit, veg, wholegrains, nuts & legumes and lean meats. However during chemo she increased my protein intake by a lot to combat muscle loss. She advised to reduce the carbs as well. A small amount of healthy carbs were fine.

I don't know if you are having chemotherapy. My oncologist said the aim during chemo is to maintain your weight. However she was happy for me to lose as long as it waa done safely and steadily. As chemo wiped out my appetite for at least 10 days in each cycle it wasn't too hard!

I am not a doctor and would strongly advise you to discuss any diet plans with your oncologist and GP. If your cancer is ER+ it can be fed small amounts of estrogen from your body fat. I don't know if a high fat diet influences this. As with all things breast cancer, it's wise to check with your doctors before adding or removing anything to your diet and health regime.

Let us know how you get one. Big hug, K xox

I was told to try to keep my diet relatively healthy during chemo but that it was important to avoid sudden major weight changes.  After that, the dietitian'' advice has been to lower carbs and decrease calories by about 500 per day for gradual weight loss ( unfortunately, carbs have been high on the energy agenda during chemo).

Good advice from the others. If you're going through the public system for treatment, you should be able to access a dietician through your treating hospital for dietary advice

It was a struggle for me following any plan whilst under treatment. I lived on toasted cheese sandwiches for a while as that's all I could tolerate. Weirdly I'm now lactose intolerant.
I was advised to try to follow the food pyramid and avoid shop salads etc to reduce risks of contamination as well as soft cheeses and yoghurt due to bacteria whilst undergoing chemo. They also advised not to try to lose weight on chemo. That wasn't the issue...gaining weight was my struggle and I saw a dietitian and even following her plan continued gaining weight.
Once off chemo and after 6 weeks and with oncogist blessing I focussed on weight reduction which was low carb.

Hi When I was diagnosed my way of coping was to eat chocolate 
and in a year I have put on 20 Kilos then I had a epiphany and came to my senses.  I went to a Dietitian who specialise treating cancer patients her recommendation was to follow the 5 2 diet  on 2 days your calories is only 500 the other 5 days you eat “normally” but have 5 services of green leafy vegetables, drink green tea, 2 litres of water each day and lean protein I have lost 4.5 Kilos in 5 weeks
and I do an exercise class  twice a week with other cancer patients  and I walk most days.
Dr Michael Mosley has written a book on the 5 2 diet he was on SBS recently.
I must emphasise I am not recommending this diet to other people I am sharing my experience, I saw a dietitian and a exercise physiologist 
it is going to be a hard road to travel but in the end it will be worth it.
Each person has to follow their own journey with all the good and bad times, my belief is I will be a better person.
Stork

Hi @MezDiaz  - sorry to see you here - it is a road we've all travelled.  If you have any questions that may help you navigate the minefield - don't hesitate to ask here & someone will give honest answers.

How much do you weigh?  Are you trying to lose weight or just eat healthily?

When I was diagnosed in Jan this year, well meaning friends said I should eat this, not eat that, don't drink this - drink THIS ...... and I figured that changing my diet at that point in time was not going to change my situation at ALL ...... so said thanks & ignored it all!!  LOL

If you eat healthily - you should be OK.  If you want to lose a bit of weight - just cut down on the carbs - 1/2 a potato instead of 1 or 2, don't have too many sweet drinks, have protein with every meal (it is more 'satisfying' and you feel less hungry.)  Regular small meals are better than  3 whopper meals.

The 'high fat' I believe relates to grass fed meat fat .... it is more 'natural' than grain fed meat fat.  It also relates to nuts as well - like pistachio & cashews ..... 

If you are about to have surgery and treatment - you need to be well ..... so maybe don't do too many drastic changes just now

All the best for your treatment - we'll be thinking of you xx

Thank you so much everyone for your advice  <3 <3 <3