(ahem!) belly fat
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Can anyone tell me about when to expect the weight gain from the Arimidex? I am on it for almost 3 months now. Before I started it I asked at the oncologist's office about weight gain and she said oh no it doesn't cause weight gain...................... however after reading everyone's posts I see this does not seem to be the case! Would appreciate any info on this. Thanks.
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I never really had belly fat till this darn BC. But I am somewhat glad that I did gain some in the belly during chemo. It gave me enough to have reconstruction on my left side!! So...now, no belly..and a new breast! What a way to get rid of it!!
Hmmm...to answer your question about Arimidex. I have been on it for 6 months. While I have only increased my weight by about 1 or 2 lbs. I have noticed it is very difficult to lose weight on this drug. One of the side effects is weight gain, or inabitlity to lose. I started taking a supplement to burn fat..called Acai burn. It's from the Acai plant(fruit). It has helped me actually lose a little. But they are expensive, so I won't be using them anymore. Everyone has different reactions to meds..so you may never have an issue with weight gain from the arimidex.
As we all know..the only way to lose the fat (anywhere..not just belly) is thru a healthy diet (mostly whole foods) and exercise. I do excercise and eat healthy..but as we get older..it takes more of it, to get the weight to say GOODBYE!!
Good luck to everyone...it's a struggle we all face.
xoxo
Lisa
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Well, I am on day 3 of eating less and no snacking. We usually eat fairly healthy anyway so that's not so much the issue. Snacking is and has always been my downfall. I am determined to lose 10 pounds despite Arimidex. I don't care where it comes off at this point. I just want it off!! Will keep you posted when I weigh myself next week.
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Sharon - that may be a great idea!! Kinda sorta like Weight Watchers! Maybe us belly fat babes could band together and keep track of our weight.
I know getting off the couch and power walking is a great core strengthener and therefore a great belly fat blaster...I just have noooo motivation.
Maybe if I had to report to the belly fat police each week, I'd be more mindful of those calories and more motivated to get the flab moving!!
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Susan, likely another side of effect of Arimidex is it sucks the motivation out of us and turns it in to belly fat.
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I don't agree that all you need to lose weight is diet and exercise. Quite a number of meds can retain both water and body fat and make it impossible to lose weight. I lost 6 pounds by getting my breasts cut off.....
I haven't had alcohol for 3 months and my husband and I used to share a LARGE bottle of wine every, every, every night. That's a lot of calories I haven't had for 3 months, why doesn't it show? I eat fish at least twice a week, salad at least one meal a day and don't like breads, cookies, etc. So what the heck am I supposed to cut out?
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Hugs Barbe, I dunno, all I know is I AM eating too much and I must do something (other than stop Arimidex) Since menopause losing weight has become more difficult but I am determined. I know you can't dispute the side effects of the meds.......however, I also know my portions are too big and I've been snacking too much. I used to be 135 lbs and now I'm 150. I'm 5'7" and not an ounce of muscle. Spring is here so exercising outside will be easier. Sigh, we shall see what happens. I am not "dieting" so much as just eating less. And you are right, one of the side effects of Arimidex is fluid retention.
I mean this next statement to be funny Barbe. Maybe cut out the food and go back to the wine. I'd go for that.
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Sharon - Now we know the REST of the story!!
Barbe - When I went on Atkins a hundred years ago, it seemed that every med I took caused weight gain...so I dropped everything cold turkey!! Ah, yes, I clearly remember the day I decided to kill myself! Thank God, I had the presence of mind to call my doctor first!!
So, yeah, I guess the weight gain is the trade-off for some of our meds. In my case, I know I could certainly stop baking goodies and hustle my bustle out the door instead of munching cookies and vegging.
That being said, I just got home from my riding lesson, (of course I took a couple plates of chocolate chunk cookies with me for the staff
) but, I feel really motivated to strengthen my core to improve my riding. I'm hoping I remember that when I feel like baking again!0 -
Sharon - I'm 5'6'' (or I used to be) and weigh 154!!! Ten pounds every decade since I was in my twenties.
I never appreciated how not hard it was to shed the pounds back then conpared to now.Sniff, boo hoo.
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I'm sniffing and boo hooing right along with you Susan. And for the record. I used to be nearly 5'8". So maybe my weight has stayed the same, I just got shorter.
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Sharon - The incredible shrinking women!?!
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Ya, I guess so Susan. Thankyou menopause. My G.P. said it's not uncommon for women to lose almost an inch in the first year or two of menopause. ???
Edit to say, yes to the shrinking but the incredible part is open for debate.
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wine for dinner, wine for breakfast, grapes for a snack, yep, it's doable!
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Oh the belly fat.
If you all could see my bedroom right now, you'd crack up! I have been trying on my spring wardrobe and there are clothes strewn all over the bed! I weigh about 16 lbs more than last year this time
but the weird thing is, everything pretty much still fits except for my GUT!! I look 12 months pregnant in everything!! Not a very good incentive to go in there and hang everything back up, but I must.Sharon, good luck on the eating less/no snacking. I too am a snacker and cutting out snacks is really all it would take for me to lose this belly of mine, so why can't I get moving? Susan, if you find motivation, can you please box some up and send it to me? and you might as well throw in a few of those chocolate chunk cookies too!
Barbe, I really like your daily menu plan... Seriously, I have got to lose this weight. I have never dreaded putting on a swim suit in my life until now, and the thought just mortifies me! I have read and heard about "seasoned" women like us who have lost a lot of weight and many dress sizes and wonder, what was the real key to their success? Is it a really vigorous exercise program that gets it off, because obviously starving does not do it, and not healthy either.
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After 5 years of Arimidex, 2 on Tamoxifen, and now Aromosin I have lots of excuses for not just belly fat, but from my ears downward...is it just gravity? Or could some of those other Rx's and a glass of wine at bedtime have something to do with it? Nothing seems to take it off, not walking the dog daily, a treadmill, weights...guess I'll just love myself the way i am! 0
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I'm not on any chemo drugs, but I am taking Neurontin as well as other pain meds for my LE. I have been working with my LE therapist to try and figure out why I haven't been able to lose any weight. I decided to try wheat & gluten free meals for 1 week, and then add dairy free for 1 week. I wrote down everything I ate, and how it made me feel. She also asked me to write down what moments I had during the day that I found pleasurable. By doing this, in 4 weeks I lost 1 lb a week. A very sensible loss, particularly when previously I could not lose a pound in even 3 weeks! I also broke my meals into two; so I am eating 6 small meals a day. This is much better for me, and I notice that my energy level is much higher and on an even keel all day long. I have not had any cravings at all. I am definitely eating more natural foods, and totally staying away from anything "processed."
I also watched some short videos at my therapist's office on her computer that were put together by the National Lymphadema Center in Washington (sorry, I don't have the website but will try to get it next week if anyone is interested). The series is about 6 or 7 short videos of 7-11 minutes long for each. The doctor who developed the theory that the videos discuss is also who started the clinic in Washington with 2 others. The videos discuss the problems that we have with pain, sleep issues, weight loss, and others. He claims that all of us have food sensitivities, and that if we can discover what they are and remove them from our diet our "gut" will normalize and the adrenals will operate at optimal capacity and we can begin to lose weight (don't know if that is different if on chemo tx). When the gut is out of whack, our bodies react in different ways.
Since going as wheat/gluten/dairy free as possible (and yes, I have "fallen" off the wagon a few times) I am feeling so much better. My pain levels are dropping, I sleep better at night, and I have not had any stomach issues at all. When I did eat a cupcake one day, I did not feel good later in the day--I believe my blood sugar dropped quickly from the carbs!). I also do not eat processed sugar. I am only using pure maple syrup on my cereal in the am. I am indulging in chocolate--70% cacao--and will not give that up!
I just read an article in Women's Wellness Today by Dr. Susan Lark, about the battle women go through to lose weight. She talks about the "plastic fat" which we all must eliminate from our diet in order to be successful in any weight loss program. If you can't locate the article, please let me know, and I will be happy to type it into a post here, word for word. She is one of the formost authorities inthe fields of women's health care, family practice, and complementary and alternative medicine. A graduate of Northwestern University Medical School, she has served on the clinical faculty at Stanford University Medical School, and taught in their Dividsion of Family and Community Medicine. Her most reacent books are: Eat Papayas Naked and Hormone Revolution.
Her article makes so much sense, and particularly when I thought back on watching the videos. My therapist says that most nutritionists don't have the expertise of how to help patients who have received bc tx and/or developed Lymphedema after treatment; and put together an eating plan for these patients that takes into consideration any medications they may be taking.
This one excerpt from the article was my epiphany: ...that the problem was less the about the amount of calories Louise was consuming, and more that her food choices were contribution to a condition called "false fat." Unlike the more common body fat, which is a result of consuming too many calories and/or not burning those calories efficiently, false fat is due to the accumulations of excess fluids, which leads to bloating and swelling. This condition is due to inflammation, a process that occurs when tissue is damaged or injured.
No matter where the injury occurs, the physical manifestations are the xame--redness, pain, stiffness, and a reduced range of motion. Other consequences of inflammation are bloating and swelling, which lead to excess fluid retention in your tissues. For example, when injury occurs in the intestinal tract, the abdomen and midriff can swell. In this way, the brad, butter, and cheese that Louise was eating produced inflammation in her intestinal tract, thereby causing false fat.
Here's the info about publication: Women's Wellness Today (ISSN # 19339054) is published monthly by Healthy Directions, LLC, 7811 Montrose Rd., Pitomac, MD 20854 Annual subscription: $69.99
I will keep you posted on how I'm doing. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have. I know lindasa mentioned something about the adrenals, and that is certainly on the right track.
Here's to losing that weight sensibly--and my personal goal--KEEPING IT OFF!!
Pomegranate
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Pomegranate, you've kicked my brain into gear. There is a nutritionist at the Cancer Centre where I go. I'm going to call tomorrow about getting an appt.
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How about snacking and no eating?
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After 3 C-sections I had belly fat that was not going anywhere no matter what I did. Well, along came BC and I discovered the DIEP and found that there was finally a reason for having been carting that belly fat around for all those years! Now I don't have to lift the belly fat to see my pubes! I still have more above the scarline that I would like to see gone and am hoping some can be sucked out at my second stage surgery because my clothes aren't fitting right -- they slide right down if they are pulled up high and then drag on the ground, or if I have low cut stuff it fits but still slides down because the waist is cut to fit the hips and I have to keep hauling them up. Still -- would rather have the flat lower belly that I now have than what I had before. I worried I had too much belly fat to do the DIEP but I didn't.
Binnie4 - you can't really target belly fat with particular exercises. You can make your muscles firmer with situps but the only way to lose the fat is to diet and exercise and that will affect your whole body. Surgery maybe the only way when you have certain kinds of accumulation, like the apron that can form from having abdominal surgeries. Good luck!
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Pom - Thank you, thank you!! I know darn well that gluten and dairy give me nasty GI problems, but not all of the time.
As a child, I couldn't tolerate milk, nor could my own kiddos. Or my mom. But, the things that usually kicks my gut into overdrive are sugar and flour based. Of, course, they're the things I crave the most!!! That's why I was on Atkins for about 12 years. But, now, I don't have an interest in meat, per se.
Thank you for the great info.
I've got to go riding, but I'll be trolling the internet when I get back!!
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I was just reading your post, and wanted to let you know, I tried the Acai Berry Supliment, I ordered it on line, did not work at all for me, but the worst part is that they keep sending it to me and charging my Amex, I am in the process of reaching Amex to tell them to stop authorizing it, I have e-mailed them, tried to call to cancel, I have spent almost 400.00 so far and they keep sending it. Be careful...allie
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Re the Acai berry: Since this supposed "wonder berry" has been mentioned in several threads, I've been doing some reading about it. It's been touted as "Nature's perfect Fruit".
Well, it does seem to be an excellent source of anti-oxidants, but so do blueberries! And blueberries are both local and one heck of a lot cheaper! The anti-oxidant potential of food is determined by laboratory measurement. But what happens in a lab and what happens in a human body may well be two entirely different things. So far, the only measurements supporting this wonder berry have been done in the lab.
The marketers of this native Brazilian berry are making a fortune. I'd much rather support my local farmer's market or the frozen fruit section of my supermarket!
Here's to good eating!
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On the topic of belly fat...I need to share -
I just went riding for two hours and when I got home did a two mile walk and stretched for 15 min. And, then, had some tea and chocolate chunk (with walnuts) cookies!
Can you see where this is going?? The good news is, there's only a few cookies left!
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Okay Susan, I'm no rocket scientist.......however..........hahahahha, I think I see where the problem lies.
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Sharon - I'm looking into a lip stapling to help with the problem!!
Years ago, I lost 30 lbs. and one of my most helpful strategies was putting duct tape over my mouth whenever I was in the kitchen, making meals, lunches for the kids, etc. And, my kiddos loved it because it was hard to yell at them with my lips sealed together!!
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OMG Susan, are you serious? LMAO.
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Maire - I think bracelets and anklets to show off your lovely ankles and wrists are just what you need
Forget those horrible empire waists -- they make anyone look pregnant unless they are size 0!0 -
Okay girls.....
Went for my treatment Friday and was able to get it after they pumped 30 minutes of antibiotics in me for the crud I've been battling this past week. But here's the irony of the days visit!
I lost 9 pounds last week! HooHoo! The question is where? I do believe my hands and face and feet look bonier but I guarantee my belly is just the same!
Oh well.... just keep at it!
Deb
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