Dieting

Brilliant Kath! You look fabulous! Well done.

20kgs gone here (though I haven't weighed myself since the op two weeks ago... Tomorrow morning I'll do it). I'm about to launch into my effort to lose the next 10kg. Fingers crossed!

Finally I can post pics again.
So here is me end of chemo (herceptin  6 so about 6 weeks post chemo)...or close to it. The next 2 photos is a few weeks ago. About 25 kg difference. I still have a way to go but working on it. 

Hendrix
The 8 wk blood sugar is mediterranean style diet....

@Nadi wow you look awesome girl...

Thank you @Nadi xx

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.

Nadine

@Nadi what is the inflammation diet? 

@SoldierCrab I’ve started the 8 week blood sugar diet...lots of bloody cooking

@Nadi you look amazing

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. 

@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.