Help - unintentional weight loss

katcar0001

Help - unintentional weight loss

katcar0001

Feeling really unattractive these days due to too much weight loss off my already small frame. I am 5'9" and weigh a scary 129 (usual weight is 144). I have not weighed this little since college. I suppose 3 things contributed to it: a bout with h. pylori in Oct. with bad gastritis, stress of bc and change in diet (more plant-based). Otherwise, I feel good physically--emotionally is another story.

Any recommendations for gaining some weight back without eating crap? Or at least I'd like to stop losing! Thank you!

dlb823

katcar, the 3 factors you mentioned can obviously all contribute to weight loss, but my first question is, are you still losing weight?

I'm 5'4" and went from a normal weight of 117 to 107 during the 3 mos. prior to being re-dx'd w/mets last year, almost six years after my first dx. At the time, I also chalked it off to stress (our home had suffered a serious flood and we were displaced from it for several months with lots of drama surrounding reconstruction). But no matter which came first -- the stress or the illness -- the weight loss in my case was definitely a sign of something more serious going. So my first concern is, don't make assumptions about such a dramatic weight loss. Be absolutely certain something about your current health isn't being missed.

That said, if it turns out (as I hope it will) that it's all due to those previous bouts of illnesses, current stress, and eating more plant based, a couple of things I've done to regain almost all of my lost weight include... using a vegan protein supplement in a daily protein shake with almond milk and a frozen banana. I also enjoy the guilt-free luxury of adding a splash of 1/2 & 1/2 to my two cups of green tea with almond milk -- knowing I need those extra calories. You can also add a bit of olive oil to soups. And although I eat primarily plant based, I do have an occasional Greek yogurt and a bit of what I call healthy cheeses, such as feta and parmesan, for both the protein and the calories.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head... Deanna

katcar0001

Hi Deanna,

I appreciate your thoughtful suggestions and will start on those today. I have always been prone to weight loss during times of stress, so this is not a new thing, although I have dropped more than usual. But then, I have never had a serious illness in my life, so this is all new and scary.

I am so sorry about your mets, and I hope you are doing well. You seem to be from the comments I've seen you make on various threads. I had an ultrasound of my liver done right before my surgery in Dec., and it was perfect. Is a CT-scan better? I am already suffering from scanxiety--going in today to reconfirm benign lump in my right breast. I will take the liver ultrasound film with me today and see if someone can look at it.

It is awful that you had to deal with the flood on top of everything else. I also had a home break-in right before all this stuff.

Thank you, ~Kat

dlb823

Kat, I'm sure your medical team is on top of your situation, but I would just point out the weight loss to your oncologist. Let him/her determine if it's concerning or merits any further testing. In my case, my bloodwork was wacky enough (high CA27-29 and liver function tests) to suggest an un-dx'd problem, which led to a CTScan.

Good luck today! So sorry about the lump, but it's good you're on top of it, and it sounds like it's just a reconfirmation that it's benign. I'll be thinking about you -- sending you calming vibes! Hate the scanxiety!

And yes, I firmly believe stress is one of the precipitating factors for many of us. In fact, there's some very recent research backing that up. Will find it if you or anyone else is interested. Deanna

Moderators

Hi Kat!

In addition to the helpful advice you've already received here, you may be interested in checking out the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Eating to Maintain or Gain Weight After Treatment.

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

kcat2013

Hi Kat, I unintentionally lost weight in the year after chemo ended for me. I'm petite and can easily get underweight. Like it was mentioned up thread by someone else, I'd let your MO know about the weight loss, just to have their eye on it.

That said, I was able to curtail my weight loss by eating a lot of nut butters/nuts, avocado, cooking eggs in a bit of butter, cubes of cheese for a bedtime snack, and a nice glug or 2 of half and half in my coffee or oatmeal. Oh and dark chocolate, tons of it

Good luck! I still cycle through losing more weight and then having to eat intentionally to get my weight back up to a healthy one.

Kendra

katcar0001

Kendra, Your post made me hungry and head for the kitchen to whip me up some oatmeal! I already imbibed in a big slab of dark chocolate after dinner! ;-) My dad told me today that he thinks I don't eat enough. I think part of the problem is that I used to eat a lot of sugar/carbs and that's been out of my diet for several months, plus I cut out all dairy and red meat. I am looking forward to getting some nut butters, bananas, "Raw Meal" for smoothies and some kind of healthy snack stuff I can grab on the run. It's so nice to be in CA right now where this stuff is so readily available. I can walk to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods! What a treat! I make my own nut butters in Mexico, and that is a pain in the royal pittuty! Today was not good for eating as I was at the breast center for 3 hours. Off topic, but not much resolved there today--have to get a biopsy :-(. May just get the thing excised completely. Radiologist did not seem alarmed, but could not say with 100% certainty that it is benign. It acts like a breast mouse--praying it is. BHRT has been the biggest regret of my life. I am going on a mission to educate the women in my town. There are too many of us getting this disease, and I think we are being prescribed hormones without much consideration of the risks. I just heard of another possible woman last night who is getting a biopsy from my surgeon. I happen to know that she is a patient of the same doctor who prescribed my hormones. I guess that is the silver lining here--I want to help other women avoid this beast if at all possible.

kcat2013

Kat I'm sorry you are dealing with a biopsy! Is it a lump along your incision or somewhere else?

Are you just visiting CA for awhile? I live very near a Whole Foods also and enjoy walking there with my kids when the weather is nice. Problem is I normally have too many things on my shopping list and end up with too much to carry while walking Normally when we walk there it's just for fun and we get a few small things like fruit and chocolate (always chocolate...)

Kendra

katcar0001

Kendra, Thanks for your note. Just visiting and getting some second opinions. This is a lump on the other side. Has been there many years--probably a fibroadenoma--but they want it biopsied due to "my history" and I want it out. Navigating the medical system here has been strange for me. CPMC was great but UCSF, not so much. Couldn't get them to call me back so drove over there to make an appt. The RO dept was in the midst of moving! You'd think they'd have an answering service or something? Anyway, didn't like the vibe there too much so think I will go back over to CPMC and find a RO. I will get the biopsy in Mexico with my wonderful surgeon there. I have to get this squared away before doing rads. I hope you and your kids had some nice dark chocolate today. I am having mine ;-). I seems to me that the bay area has switched places with Mexico. We are having cold, raining weather down there, and here is it hot and gorgeous. Are you in no- or so-cal?

Momine

I had the same problem for the same reasons, including a fairly drastic change in diet. I used myfitnesspal to count my calories, carbs, proteins and fats. I found that I was getting too few calories (duh!) and too little protein. So, I made an effort to eat more fish, especially fatty fish like sardines and salmon. Then I added nut butters and avocado and started using more olive oil on my veggies and salads. I also make a sauce/dip to eat with fish or chicken from garlic, parsley (or cilantro or both), walnuts and olive oil.

kcat2013

Hi Kat, totally understand wanting to get the lump in the other breast out of there! What a pain trying to get an appt with that RO department!

I'm in NM. I saw your in signature that you had Mexico listed but you mentioned being in Cal so I was curious and asked

Kendra

katcar0001

Kendra - Oh, duh! I should not assume! It's funny though, because I am originally from NM--Albuquerque. I have family there and in Las Cruces. Where do you live?

Momine - It's so nice to know I am not alone. Thank you for the awesome tips. The sauce (pesto-y?) sounds yummy. Maybe I could use it to disguise the taste of the sardines! I try to eat them, but I am a reluctant sardine eater. I do love salmon.

kcat2013

How funny, I'm in Abq, but lived in Las Cruces before here!

Kendra

Momine

Eat salmon then, no reason to torture yourself. The green sauce jazzes up salmon just fine, but is also good with plain chicken or a pile of roasted veggies. If you eat it with fish, you can add some fresh lime or lemon as well.

katcar0001

I torture myself because I know they are full of calcium as well as omegas, so seems worth it :-). You sound like a good cook.

bobogirl

Momine is a great cook. Hi Momine!

Kat, you say you can stomach eggs. Could you do avocado? Avocado toast? Half avocado, mash it in to buttered whole-grain bread (or use olive oil; I use vegan butter). Add salt, red pepper flakes if you want. Lime zest is good too -- even better than a squeeze of lime.

Great breakfast or great afternoon snack (esp. if you are tired of hummus, like I am)... XXX

katcar0001

I can do some eggs! In fact, I love avocado with eggs. I am bummed that foodforbreastcancer says no avo--that they are estrogenic. I can't imagine having one a week or so would make a difference. I love them so much. I am going to start following you chefs on the other threads. I am a decent cook but fairly new to cooking mostly vegetarian, and I run out of ideas! Thank you so much for all your tasty suggestions.

Kendra--I miss Abq! But there are many similarities where I live in Mx.

bobogirl

What?! That cannot be the case with avocados. In fact, you know Kris Carr? The Crazy Sexy person? She's got avocado in lots of her recipes.

I am not saying foodforbreastcancer is wrong -- but I have been doing this for a long time, and I have never heard of people not being able to do avocado! It is so good for you in so many ways!

**silent scream of frustration**

katcar0001

I feel dumb--never heard of Kris Carr! Checking out her blog now. I guess living in Mexico I am off the grid a bit regarding some things. I get that silent scream. I was so dedicated to taking my curcumin every day until I found out it can interfere with Tamoxifen. I've had a few of those moments during this process and some not so silent! :-)

katcar0001

Just made a yummy, and I hope healthfully fattening smoothie: 1 scoop organic unflavored whey protein powder, 1/2 frozen banana, handful of blueberries, coconut water and a spoonful of coconut oil and splash of vanilla.

bobogirl

Hey kat! There is a thread here called something like 'low-glycemic, easy on the meat recipes.' Check out Momine's recipe for this baked eggplant dish. It is so delicious. It is loaded with olive oil! You could have it on crackers, over pasta, with brown rice; you could put it on whole grain bread. It is yummy.

Momine, can I come to your house for dinner?

bobogirl

I reply to myself. Kris Carr's blog is not that good -- she is just selling things now -- but she has two pretty great (for what they are) books: Crazy Sexy Cancer and then there is a pretty good recipe book (with juice recipes, that's mainly what I use it for) called Crazy Sexy Diet. I like both of those books -- she's a little wacky, but I like that.

XXX

katcar0001

The eggplant recipe sounds divine. If I can find any this week I'll make it. Not sure they are in season here. I woke up ravenous which is not good because I have surgery this morning--so no food :-(. I've been using the Crazy Sexy smoothie recipes--wonderful. Thanks again for that link.

bobogirl

In the bag for sx, kat!

dlb823

Good luck w/surgery, Kat! Sending you healing thoughts & prayers!

katcar0001

Thanks, my friends! Definitely "bagged" it. Saw the damn thing in a jar--yuck. Doc and radiologist think it is benign--probably a fibroadenoma. Praying so--results on Friday. Appreciate your support so much. How are you ladies today?

katcar0001

The lump was a benign solid tumor. While benign, it had all kinds of yuck that could have been a problem in the future, including ductal hyperplasia, calcifications, sclerosing adenosis, apocrine metaplasia and interstitial stromal fibrosis. Yikes, sounds like a recipe for trouble. I am soooo glad it's gone.

Thanks for your support! Have a good weekend everyone! XX

kcat2013

kat, yay for benign! And also for getting the yuck of potential problems out of your breast! When I had my mastectomies I chose to do a mastectomy on the non-cancer side even though no problems were shown on the imaging of that breast. Turns out there was all kinds of yuck as you put it in that side. My MO said all the stuff that was in it was benign but inching quite close to the malignant side of things. Good riddance! I'm happy that you got your lump out and don't have to worry about it anymore!

Kendra

katcar0001

Kendra, I may take the route that you did if anymore "yuck" shows up. Thanks for being my cheerleader! I appreciate it. Are you doing well?

katcar0001

Well, I am maintaining my weight but not gaining. I am exercising more, still eating ridiculously well. I miss my animal fats (can only get commercial, hormone-laden crap). I used to be able to get free-range beef and lamb here, but the store discontinued them. Going to have to find a local butcher I can trust who has locally grown meat. I do get free-range chicken but there's not much meat on their bones, and they are pricey. Maybe I should raise my own chickens, but I haven't the heart to have them butchered :-(. I wonder if there is any seafood that is safe to eat here and not Fuki-fish? Just sort of venting here as I am tired of my new diet.