WEIGHT FRUSTRATION RANT
As soon as I finished chemo in November '08, I began exercising and eating healthy. I began by walking and I have worked my way up from walking 1/2 mile daily to walking/jogging 6 miles daily. I also do weight training 3 days a week.
I lost 50 pounds the first 9 months and then - NOTHING!! I am so frustrated. I am working so hard and my weight is going nowhere!!! I continue to maintain a healthy diet, no processed food, very little sugar, blah, blah, blah. I am wondering if AI's have something to do with this.
I feel good and will continue working out just because I feel better when I do work out. I just wonder...WHAT THE HECK!!!
Comments
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Kay-- The closer you are to the weight you should be ( BMI ) the harder it is for weight loss. So if that is the case or you are within the recommended BMI this may be what is right for you. If this is not the case.......... have you asked your doctor if there could be a thyroid problem as that seems to not that uncommon.
Good luck,
Pat
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If you have lost 50 pounds, that is AWESOME!!! You may be at a plateau and might need to drop the calorie intake for a week or two, just to get your body back into the 'mood' to lose weight. But you should be very proud of both your weight loss and your exercise routine, you are doing all the right things! Good Luck! Ruth
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Thanks Ruth and Pat, I appreciate your replies. I am really proud of my weight loss, but I feel the need to continue going as I am still easily 40 pounds overweight and do not want my body producing any more estrogen than it has to. I may try dropping the calorie intake and see what happens.
Thanks again.
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Casey - Weight gain is a known side effect of AIs. Prior to dx, I lost 50 pounds. During chemo I gained 20 pounds back. Now that I'm on AIs I am unable to lose it, even though I'm doing what I did originally to lose the 50. Last October, my onc allowed me to take a one month "vacation" from Femara. I immediately dropped 8 pounds. When I went back on Femara, the weight loss stopped, and I've actually gained back 3 of those pounds. Don't beat yourself up - keep up a healthy lifestyle and sometimes that's the best we can do.
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i've noticed that Femara is pretty constipating (among other things).
adding prunes and prune juice helps keep my torso from 'filling up' which can be as much as 5 pounds. (this old gymnast is used to keeping tabs on stuff like that).
the downside is that the prunes and juice tend to add gas .... i try to kind of do prunes after dinner or upon arising if i stay home. I am sure there are other fiber rich foods that help in the regard... veggies and fruits.
sorry if this sounds weird
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Not weird at all Apple - it's exactly the sort of great info we can share with each other - stuff we never hear from the medical establishment. Thanks!
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I watched an episode of "Ruby" last week and she had reached a plateau, too. Her theropist suggested she pick 5 things to change in her routine. She cut out diet soda, took the stairs when she could. I don't remember the other things but she lost 10 lbs. the next week. She is over 300 lbs. so that kind of loss can be expected. For most of us, it is a pound here and there. Great job with the 50 lbs. Hope this idea helps.
Roseann
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Thanks for posting. Keep the exercising up. Try to change something to shake things up, confuse your metabolism. You are doing the cardio and the weights. Good for you. If you are ready, increase your weights or reps or consult a personal trainer. Even if you hire them for just a session or 2 they can suggest a few changes in your diet or workout. I wish I could help. It sounds like you have amazing will power. Please try, try, try, to not get too discouraged. Reaching a plateau is very very common and the meds probably are not helping.
I gained weight with chemo, lost it all and now I seem to be gradually gaining weight even with increased exercise!!! I am keeping a food journal now as I thought maybe I am eating more than I realize. Nope! Well, off for a walk! Never Give UP!
Happy Exercising All
Bev
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Roseann, one thing I love about this board is I am constantly learning about new things, and not just on the subject of BC. I had never heard of Ruby. I just Googled her and found lots of clips of the show, although unfortunately no full episodes so far. She's great, and that 5-things advice is great too. I have barely scratched the surface of what there is to read on BCorg, but I know I should be reading more on the weight and exercise threads. I am getting more and more depressed about my lack of will power. I am at least 40-50 lbs overweight and it is all on the estrogen-producing factory of a 100% apple body, the most dangerous kind of shape in terms of health. I wish I could say I had reached a plateau because at least it would mean I had done some climbing beforehand! Kay, you did exactly what I should have done post-chemo. You and others here are an inspiration and here's hoping your plateau will budge soon.
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Hi Cary,
I have been reading an interesting book, "Women Food And God" by Geneen Roth. Oprah mentioned her on one of her recent shows. From what I've read so far, she claims that we eat because we are afraid to experience our emotions. She give techniques to get in touch with what we are feeling when we reach for food. She calls our eating as an obsession which allows us to escape rather than experience life. Interesting. You can read more about it on Oprah.com. She also believes that diets don't work because we use them to punish ourselves. We believe we can't be trusted so we use outsite things to keep us from overeating. She claims that once we allow ourselves to face our feelings (many of them are from childhood) we will not need to escape to food. I'm still reading but so far it is an interesting concept. But for now, I'm still using a food log.
Roseann
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Just want to say hi. I too struggle with my weight-always have. About 3 yrs ago I lost 50 lbs and felt fabulous. I kept most of it off until my DH went to Iraq for a yr. He came home in Dec and I hit the exercise and healthy easting and felt pretty good. Then DX in January blew me away. I stuck to WW because I am a big fan and believe you can follow it and still live. For some reason I struggled for 6 weeks and exercised too but only lost about 4-6 lbs. I could not get anywhwere with BC at the back of my mind.
Surgery 2 weeks ago and not being able to fix my own food has taken its toll. I also get depressed and eat the wrong snacks. I am still recovering from DMX with immed. latdorsi recon with TE. Not a speedy process. SOOO- my question is how do you get motivated to do the right ting when you mind is still in BC mode? I can not do any exercise yet and my DH is not buying healthy food. He also only eats once a day so I hate bugging him to fix me little healthy meals several times a day. I am so frustrated because I want my thin body back before I start Tamoxifen. I kow that will mess with my weight and I need to get ahead of it soon. Any words of wisdom?
Hugs♥
Tracie
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Just want to say hi. I too struggle with my weight-always have. About 3 yrs ago I lost 50 lbs and felt fabulous. I kept most of it off until my DH went to Iraq for a yr. He came home in Dec and I hit the exercise and healthy easting and felt pretty good. Then DX in January blew me away. I stuck to WW because I am a big fan and believe you can follow it and still live. For some reason I struggled for 6 weeks and exercised too but only lost about 4-6 lbs. I could not get anywhwere with BC at the back of my mind.
Surgery 2 weeks ago and not being able to fix my own food has taken its toll. I also get depressed and eat the wrong snacks. I am still recovering from DMX with immed. latdorsi recon with TE. Not a speedy process. SOOO- my question is how do you get motivated to do the right ting when you mind is still in BC mode? I can not do any exercise yet and my DH is not buying healthy food. He also only eats once a day so I hate bugging him to fix me little healthy meals several times a day. I am so frustrated because I want my thin body back before I start Tamoxifen. I kow that will mess with my weight and I need to get ahead of it soon. Any words of wisdom?
Hugs♥
Tracie
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Tam - why not ask your husband to help you with meal planning and to fix you small meals. Many husbands are devastated when their wives are dx with b/c - they want to jump in and fix things and make it all better, but cancer isn't something they can make all better. So they get really frustrated and anxious, because they don't know what to do. My guess is that he might be relieved to have something concrete he can do to help you - he can make a project out of planning the meals and buying the necessary groceries. You know men and their projects - in a few days he'll probably have it all worked out on spreadsheets or something. It's something you need, and it may well be something that will ease his mind and his anxiety because he's doing something to help you.
As for weight -- stress, surgery, chemo, and tamox/AIs can all cause weight gain. I'm impressed that you managed to lose 6 pounds in the 6 weeks after dx! Be good to yourself - concentrate on eating healthy, and do whatever exercise you can, even if it's only walking slowly around the block - you should be able to at least do that 2 weeks after surgery. Weight is not something you have the control over now in the same way that you did prior to dx - do what you can, but don't beat yourself up if you don't get the same results now that you did before dx. If you can maintain your weight during active treatment, you'll be ahead of the game once you finally get off tamox and can resume your weight loss efforts.
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Natsfan- Thanks for the encouragement. Right after I posted my brother sent over 1/2 gallon of my fav ice cream. It gets complicated when people show their love and concern with fattening foods. My DH had a long talk and meals are going to get much healthier around here. I love veggies and fish and so do my young children so we made a deal to put the extra effort in to make it work.
You would think that weight would be the last thing on our minds through all this but we are women and like to feel good about how we look. I have no control over my breasts but I wolud like to keep my butt from exploding! LOL
Again thanks for your support and I vow to try walking the neighborhood tomorrow. Before surgery I was up to an hour on the treadmill (mixed running/speed walking) 4-5 days a week. I want to get back to that place and that body.
Best of luck to all of you on this rollercoaster ride!
Tracie
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Tam - love the exploding butt mental picture!!
Great you and your dh talked and you're now on the same page about family meals and groceries. And yes, I hear you about people giving you those fattening foods - food is love and people are doing their best to show you that love. And there's nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a spoonful of that ice cream now and then - just don't scarf the entire half gallon in one sitting!
Please feel free to join the "Let's Post Our Daily Exercise" thread - something about having to write down what you did each day seems to make all of us do a little more. Good luck with the walk today - I remember my first walk after surgery - I was shuffling along in my sweats, drains attached, in my bedroom slippers - I looked l like the local homeless person. I managed to stagger one house length down the sidewalk before I had to turn around. But I felt triumphant getting out! And I did two house lengths the next day, and the day after that I made it all the way down to the corner. I felt like I'd finished a marathon. You can do it too!
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Good, atleast you start to do exercise and workout.
When you first start dieting, you will almost lose more water weigh, therefore you may be losing more pounds initially.I recommend you what worked for me Hoodia diet pills. Yes, These are the safest way to lose weight.I have used them for me and they did a fabulous job...
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I keep falling off the wagon again and again. 5 1/2 weeks post-op and finally feeling like exercising. I joined a gym for the first time since having children- 8yrs! I used to love it when I was child-less. I took my first spin class and am going again tomorrow. Wish me luck and I do the same for you girls! ThinkI might join the thread where girls log in and list their exercise.
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