Pity party weight gain...need help.

Can I join in with all of you? I am so happy to have found this topic and to learn I am not the only one having a difficult time with weight gain.

I have been on Tamox since Nov 2014. It seems the weight gain SE kicked really kicked in about 3 months ago. I have gained about 10 lbs so far and all of my "fat clothes" are now really snug. I am so frustrated and feel like I have been working so hard with no results from any of my efforts.

I did the AVON 39 mile walk in April but started training for it in the beginning of Feb. For training, I was walking/running 35-40 miles a week and then started with a personal trainer twice a week in March. My calorie in take is less than 1200 per day and guess what? The f'ing scales keep going up and its not f'ing muscle weight, its flab around my mid section!

I met with a nutriontist this week and hopefully some of her advice will make a differnce. She did tell me one thing to stop doing is weighing myself. She told me to measure myself every two weeks. I guess now I will get to see the inches creep up. End of Rant.

Off topic here: has anyone had issues when it comes to "landscaping" around the bikini area? Everytime I shave in that area, I break out and it looks mean and angry. No way can I wear a regular bathing suit, I am going to have to wear the type bottoms that look like a tennis skirt. Anyone else have this strange SE?

 

Hi everyone! Checking in. I talked to my infusion nurses about the weight gain,and they said it just takes time for the body to heal and get normal. They did say the weight will come off, just slowly since we have been through so much. I hope so, I am working again full time, walking 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, LiveStrong twice a week, Yoga on Tuesday and I ride the bike 10 miles every Sunday. And doing the GM diet as well! I should have asked them to define slow. Frustrating for sure, I am just about worn out!

What are you Ladies doing to lose the pounds that I am not? I bought a new pair of jeans for work and bought them loose so I could say I just lost weight Sounds so much better than I can't get my chemo ass in my clothes, and I can't!!!

kittysister, I miss Pepsi, and carrot cake. But if I stay away from sugar I crave it less. Strange but chocolate doesn't appeal to me much any more since chemo. A good thing I guess! We just have to keep trying to make it go away. Take care, and good luck! Cheryl

How are you doing ladies?? I am back to work at my new job, and I have lost 6.2 pounds. Still a ways to go to get back in my size 6, but working on it. At least it is going in the right direction. But gravity and chemo are a bad combo! Eating more veggies.......Cheryl

Hi Raider Girl, I am exhausted after not working for 6 months. I like the schedule because of the time off, but the 3 12 hour days are very hard. So maybe once I get used to it, it may settle down. But I love the job, lots to learn and very fun. I am holding onto the weight loss, now 6.5 pounds. But very hard to lose, and very slow. But after all of the treatments we have been through I'll take any loss as long as I keep losing. We just have to hang in there.

"In my better days all this effort would have equaled twice that loss". In my better days, I wouldn't have all this chemo fat to lose. Damn those side-a-f*&ks! For me chemo fat sucks more than being bald........that I could hide with my wig.........Cheryl

DSW1976- lol! Uncle Fester! Yes that is me too! Bald head and poofey face and bod.

I have gained 15 lbs since starting chemo in Feb. i blame the steroids and decreased exercise due to port pain. I have 3 Taxol to go. Port will come out and then I can get back to real exercise. I hope! I am sooo flabby! Really gross!

I am so bad at following strict diets. I am trying to cut the carbs but why do they have to taste so good?!

Hang in there everyone!

Gatorgal, I have the same thing going on. During chemo and more after, I gained 25 pounds. I am fighting to lose it, a never ending chore it seems and depressing as well. I thought that once I felt better and increased my activity it would drop off just like always. Not so. I belong to LiveStrong at the Y and went back to work full time. I eat really well and dropped almost all sugar goodies and Pepsi. I complained to my Doctors and look at me like I am crazy. I just want to wear all my old clothes not be a super model. I lost 2.80 pounds for the week, and a huge effort. I keep getting told I will lose it, it just takes time. The one thing that I have in short supply! Good Luck, I don't have any magic bullet for this one. Cheryl

I wish this were a week ago and I'd invite that doctor who said "most women gain weight after menopause" to cycle those 208 miles in 2 days to Portland with me!!! This is not inevitable, but it does take work to stay fit and a reasonable weight. The big thing is deconditioning and I had this happen, not with chemo and radiation because I exercised, but when I switched from an active job to a desk job about 20 years ago. It went away when I started cycling.

Also why it's so important to do strength training and retain that muscle mass.

I am much more muscled and fitter from training for the Big Ride than I was a couple of months ago when my weight was starting to creep up. Not sure where I am right now, as you retain water from all the electrolyte drinks, and it takes a couple of days to drop.

Want to tell everyone to hang in there. Make sure you do strength training on top of any aerobic training. I have to tell my lazy abs who's boss and eventually they get the message. My whole body was revved up from all the training. (Not revved at the moment though, as still recovering from the 200+ miles.)

Oh....and make sure you eat enough protein. It takes several years to fully to recover from chemo and radiation. Our bodies need amino acids to rebuild.

I think E. Jean Carroll of Elle Magazine said it well. Don't live in deprivation, but lavish ourselves with healthy and delicious food. Just not huge quantities of it.

But let me get my hands on that doctor...... The summer is still young, and the 70+ mile Tour de Lavender is coming up in 3 weeks. And yes, I will eat the lavender ice cream at that wonderful rest stop overlooking lavender fields with mountains in the distance! - Claire

Hi Ladies, I know I am posting a picture of a cake, from the Queen of chemo fat rants! But I took this today to my infusion nurses when I had my port flushed. It had been one year since I heard those horrid words, the same thing you heard. But it's been a whole year, and so many things have changed. It does happen, we just have to make it happen. I'll post another cake next year for two years!

Hey Raidergirl.... it doesn't seem fair to go through all this cancer business AND have to worry about our weight, too! As soon as I started Tamoxifen I started researching everything I could get my hands on. Blogs from here and other cancer sites helped. Then, I went on line for more research. So far I have lost 19 pounds. Here is what I did.... I cut out "almost" all carbs - pasta, rice, potatoes, chips, cookies, alcohol- all the stuff I love. Yes, it was hard. I started to eat more veggies and fruit. I began making fruit smoothies in the morning with my blender and juicing green veggies in the afternoon with my juicer. Amazingly,there are books and apps with fantastic recipes for smoothies and juicing. In between, I eat lots of salads and add protein with almost every meal. I eat pistachios for snacks when I'm hungry in between. Be careful with juicing carrots and beets, though. They are loaded with carbs and can cause spikes in your triglyceride levels. It happened to me and I had to switch to mostly green veggies. An added benefit to smoothies and juicing was that I have more energy, it's cleared up my skin, lowered my appetite, taken, and taken away carb and coffee cravings! Unexpected benefits are great! Next, add exercise to all this and you will lose weight, too! Run, walk, ride a bike - do whatever you are comfortable doing! But be sure to add some weight resistance training to the mix. Remember the meds we take wants us to add pounds around the middle. So, lifting weights will help us gain muscle while losing the pounds. Most importantly, don't compare yourself to our non cancer friends. We are not the same. Yes, this is hard to do but if I did it so can you! Best wishes to all of us!