Diet and Nutrition - Together!
Starting this as a branch off of our going through hormonal therapy together thread. Everyone at all phases of treatment and those declining treatment and those at any and all phases of this journey are welcome! Let’s share our progress, recipes, workouts, nutrition discoveries, and updates.
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Thank you for starting this Pebbles!
I'm primarily trying to do a low acid diet. The tamoxifen is wreaking havoc on my stomach/GERD. Cutting out citrus and chocolate and switching to cold brew coffee were relatively easy for me but cutting out fried foods and trying to stick to small amounts at a time is much harder! I'm also drinking ginger drinks every day. They are ginger and honey and very soothing.
One thing I think I need to do is keep a diary of what I eat and how my stomach feels later, so I can try to figure out what my personal triggers are.
I would be glad to lose some weight too - I had gained a lot in the previous 3 years or so. But I'm a bit concerned because I've had instances of purging in the past and the last thing I want to do is to weaken my body with disordered eating/bulimia. So trying to prioritize mental/emotional health. I think that will help too since food and stress are very connected for me.
This last week or two has been tough because it's about a year anniversary from the death of my co-mother. This time last year my brother and I were keeping vigil at the hospice, stuffing ourselves with matzah and popcorn, and trying to cope. I miss her so much. Anniversaries are hard.
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Signing on and marking as a favorite! I’ve been recording all my food in My Fitness Pal for a couple weeks, and using MapMyWalk to track my exercise. The two apps play together really well, so my exercise points show up in MyFitnessPal with in minutes and then I can eat the points. I also signed up for Weight Watchers online for three months because they gave me a promotional price for that long and because of the recipes. I want to lose about 15 pounds, and in theory should be able to do it in that amount of time. Chocolate chip cookies were probably not the best way to celebrate yesterday’s discovery that I’d lost 3 pounds, but it’s a whole new day today and I’m back on the wagon.
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Oy. Was not planning on joining this group but you fine ladies have inspired me. Maybe. Heads up that I may or may not qualify/stick with it. If nothing else I'd appreciate the support. I'll try to keep this short but I went through the typical pick up a pound or two (or three?) a year as an adult. I never got on a scale--at medical exams I wouldn't look. But in quick succession I had a follow-up with my RO in the summer of 2016, and then an overall check-up, in which my GP said yes of course it's possible for post-menopausal ladies to lose weight. (I really did not think I could!) My RO and I had talked general health stuff, including the fact that she had started intermittent fasting, and for all kinds of reasons other than weight loss. I started doing that then and have stuck with it. I also made some changes re: alcohol intake, and while I had been going to the gym pretty regularly for several years, I upped that a bit. I ended up losing 35 pounds in about eight months. It was the first time I've felt pretty good about my body in a couple of decades. BUT I know I've gained some back. And I haven't gotten on a scale since the summer of 2017. Between cutting myself some slack, and then the dx last year, I just didn't want to be thinking about my weight. Well here I am, <almost> finished with tx, on an AI, thinking about how to improve things in terms of probability of cancer recurrence. I still haven't gotten on a scale (and hope you don't make me!). I think my goal is to continue to improve my diet. One of my 2019 resolutions was to cut back on sugar. And more veggies. Never been a big fan. Coincidentally, my family (or most of it anyway) is taking a post-tx celebratory trip at the end of May, so I'm trying to have an especially good next seven weeks.
Let's do this?
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I’m in!!
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Count me in 👍
Should you not be aware, I would like to share a study that is looking on the lifestyle choices to prevent recurrence
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I am here! I’ve been going to the gym regularly for the past 10 years and watching my diet. Didn’t help me one bit, though, so now I am 15lb heavier than three years ago. Of course, last year was a nightmare in terms of health, so this year I started a new chapter. I am doing intermittent fast: eating only between 11 am to 7 pm. A glass of wine on weekends only. Cut out all sugar. Eating mounds of veggies, no fried food. I do eat carbs with fruits, oatmeal a couple of times a week and my favorite goji berries, but no refined sugar or baked goods. I also exercise one hour every day. Everything was going great until I was diagnosed with radiation induced pneumonitis and put on steroids for 8 weeks. Out of 7lb i lost, 4 came back. In 2 weeks I am going on vacation to an all-inclusive resort, so I bet the other 3 will show up soon enough. I am hoping that after I will be done with steroids the weight will adjust itself.
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JaBoo--that was a *great* link. Thanks so much. I do much better having a short synopsis of what I should/should not be doing lifestyle-wise. (I guess the sorta good news is that I'm mostly following the recommendations. I try to get a little healthier each year, including 2019. Far from perfect but I can tell you my diet/exercise are *much* better than they were 10 years ago.)
(And Inna--at least you're brave enough to get on the scale. Enjoy yourself on vacation and don't think about this stuff until afterwards. :-) )
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Hello Everybody! Thanks to Pebbles and Salamandra for getting us going on this thread. I'm looking forward to the mutual support, encouragement and sharing of ideas. Being diagnosed with BC last summer at age 51 was a wake up call. Finding out that 150 minutes of exercise per week cuts the risk of BC recurrence by 40% has been a HUGE motivator for me. I've joined a gym (first time ever!) and have been pretty consistent with my exercise. I'm having a harder time with food- mostly in that I know what to do, but don't always do it. What's different for me this time is that I'm trying to live a healthier lifestyle and do all I can to prevent a cancer recurrence, rather than focus on a certain weight or clothing size. Yes, I'd love to drop a few pounds. It's not that I'm overweight- it's more that I'm overfat and undermuscled.
Salamandra, anniversaries can be hard. Be gentle with yourself and take things step by step. I can be an emotional eater too, mostly in a “I had a difficult day so I deserve a treat" kind of way. Boredom can be a trigger for me too. I was in a long and slow-moving line at the drug store last week, and was standing next to an Easter display of jellybeans. You can imagine what happened next....
JaBoo, thanks for that link. I've bookmarked it so I can refer to it again.
Ingerp, you've had breast cancer and want to have a healthier lifestyle. In my book, that means you qualify to be here. I am also am not a big veggie fan. I'm trying hard to fit more of them in. There was a meme going around on Facebook that said “Cook your kale in coconut oil. It makes it easier to scrape it into the trash." I can sooo relate to that.
InnaB, I'm impressed you've been able to cut out sugar. I have such a sweet tooth. (See my jellybean comment above ;-) ). I don't do well with cutting out a whole food category. I just want it more.
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Hurrah ladies! So nice to see so many familiar faces and some new ones on this thread! Let's do this!
My story - I've fluctuated on my weight too. I gained a lot of weight through work, then went on a health kick around 2012 and was super fit around 2014, then got married in 2015, then gained about 10 lbs a year in a happy marriage LOL. The good news is, I know my husband really loves me through "thick and thin". The bad news is that it could very well have contributed to the lump I discovered in 2018. It was an eye opener for me, so right away I focused on my health again - and since Aug. 2018 lost 30 lbs! But I still have 10-15 more lbs weight loss to go and the past month or two I've really stagnated on the weight loss. So I could absolutely use the help and encouragement to push through to my goal and then stay on it!
My focus wasn't to lose weight, it was to eat what would help prevent the breast cancer from coming back, and stop eating what was not good for breast cancer. I researched a lot of sites and tried to come up with the things that were common threads between the medical community and the holistic community. This site I found pretty helpful: https://foodforbreastcancer.com/. Based on all my research, I resolved to cut sugar, cut carbs, drink green tea instead of coffee, cut dairy and cut red meat. I'm finding alternatives to be able to enjoy delicious foods - the no sugar is the hardest, but I'm discovering recipes like Almond Butter Cookies sweetened with honey, which is actually good in helping reduce the recurrence of breast cancer!
PurpleCat - I'm also on MyFitnessPal! I have an Apple Watch to track my steps. I think 5 lbs a month is a very realistic goal.
Salamandra - MyFitnessPal has been useful for me and PurpleCat, it has nutrient and macro trackers too and has helped me uncover what works / doesn't work for me personally. Agree these types of anniversaries are hard. We lost our little Kit Kat around this time last year and I've been thinking about her non-stop.
Ingerp - so glad you've joined and already lost 35 lbs! Hope you stay with us on this!
RiRi11 - yay and welcome!
Jaboo - awesome study, thx for sharing! I will dive into it more tonight after work.
InnaB2018 - hello! Your plan sounds great, I need to up the exercise like you. Hopefully you can stay active and still healthy at the all-inclusive resort.
GreenHarbor - I need to up the exercise! Inspiring that you've joined a gym and been consistent.
Here Domino and Tucker are helping me work out, to help keep us motivated on getting the exercise portion in too:
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GH—what has worked pretty well for me diet-wise is small incremental steps. Nobody can cut out sugar. But at some point I decided to stop buying cookies and just eat a little chocolate every day. But then just a few weeks ago I started thinking, “well really that’s a lot of empty calories”, so I <mostly> don’t do that any more. I was a *very* consistent drinker for YEARS. I’d never try to stop completely but now I only drink when I’m out or entertaining. It’s been easier than I thought, partly because I usually know when my next time to have a glass or two of wine will be. It’s like “oh we’re going out a week from Saturday—I can drink then.”
Re: exercise, I sat on my fanny for 20 years. Really. And then one of my kids, fairly new out of college, tore his ACL and we decided to bring him home for the surgery and rehab. He wanted to do the PT at a place associated with a gym so he could work out and I decided to join too. That was October of 2013 and I’ve been going regularly since. And really the last couple of years I feel like I don’t have an excuse not to go. I still work full-time but mostly from home. Many days my only trip out of the house is to the gym. I can’t say I love it, and take a day off every week (which I really look forward to!), but I must say looking back I guess I’m kinda proud of myself.
And a note to sweet Inna—I firmly believe vacations are for doing exactly what you want to do. The last thing I do is think about exercise and I absolutely drink every night. I think part of sticking with a long-term plan is to allow yourself breaks and not feel one smidge of guilt about it.
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Ingerp, somehow exercise puts me in a good mood for the whole day. Kudos to you for sticking with it! I used to do a lot of Zumba, cycling and strength exercises. This had to stop four years ago when I injured my back and had to have a surgery on my spine. Now I primarily do yoga, Pilates and 60-70% cardio. I still dance to Zumba videos once in a while because I miss it horribly. Yoga used to bore me to death, but now I start my day with it and enjoy it immensely.
Somehow cutting the sugar doesn’t bother me this time around. I eat berries and some kind of fruit during the day and take my tea with goji berries. I add honey to my oatmeal. And I do have a piece of dark chocolate after my evening meal. That said, I am sure I’ll enjoy all kinds of forbidden food on my vacation! And port wine!
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I’m in. I’ll do what I can but have a few really bad days right after my treatments. 3 more to go
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Gonnabeat--if you add your dx/tx/. . . to your profile and make it public, we can all see. And really--during chemo is not the time to be worrying about calories or exercise. I lived on protein and ice cream and only made it to the gym once or twice a week. Plenty of time to start thinking about this stuff after you're finished.
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Gonnabeatthis, welcome! Do what you can on the days you feel better. Treatment and recovery do add complications to our healthy plans,don’t they! Sending gentle hugs....
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Hi everyone - just wanted to post a morning inspiration photo from Domino. Paws up, helping us with the yoga pose, or paws in the air like you don’t care - however you want to take it!
I’m down half a pound this morning. But I’d gained a couple lbs earlier in the week eating chili oil so I’m kind of trying to be cleaner now and get back to it. Having apple pear and fruit in the mornings, turkey and veggies and eggs for lunch, satisfied the evening sweets craving with dark chocolate and honey.
How’s everyone else doing?
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Gonnabeatthis, welcome to the club and sorry to see you here. Even a simple walk on your good days counts as exercise. Don’t stress about it now, and do what you feel like doing to make yourself feel better.
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Hooray on the half-pound, Pebbles! My latest tiny change is I've dropped the honey I usually put in my chai. And this one is just temporary until my vacation in May--adding half an hour of cardio every time I go to the gym. BTW--this weekend doesn't count for me. I'm heading to a cancer survivors fly fishing retreat. Never been fly fishing in my life but that's not supposed to matter, and they're still trying to figure out how we can watch the UVA game on Saturday, but I'm sure I'll be eating (and drinking??) way more than I normally would. Back to it on Monday.
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I am in. Really would like to get healthy food ideas too. I am trying to expand my cooking skills! Congratulations pebbles on the half a pound!
Ingerp- wow that retreat sounds like a great time. Hope you have a great time. We had talked about how BCO should start some retreats in another thread. We need to start a campaign!!
I was proud of my active day yesterday! I went to the gym and did a few extra minutes on the stair stepper. That thing kicks my ass. Then off to the state park to walk my pup. He was in heaven 😁. Headed to the gym again later. I restart tamoxifen on Monday so hopefully that doesn’t kill my energy.
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Dani--a fb friend is a 10-year survivor from St. Louis and she did a "Casting for Recovery" weekend back in her day. I've been a little leery--I'm kind of a private person, will be sharing a cabin with strangers, . . . but my DIL encouraged me to try it this year. If it's not for me, I won't go back but I think some women love it and are return customers. I'm sure most of it will be lovely--supposed to have gourmet food, and of course there is no charge (and I bet I at least provide some entertainment for the others as I attempt to fly fish). I figured good for me to get a little out of my comfort zone. And hooray for active days!! How long do you do the stair stepper? I am totally intimidated by that thing. Can't imagine doing it for more than like 30 seconds.
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My story: I was my heaviest when I was diagnosed last year. I hadn't stepped on a scale in years but couldn't avoid it during active treatment. I did not put any pressure on myself to lose weight, I just wanted to be strong during treatment and not beat myself up anymore than I already had.
Like I mentioned in the other thread, chemo kicked me into menopause at 42 yrs old. When my MO started me on tamoxifen she mentioned that weight gain is one of the side effects. Hearing that and knowing my metabolism has most likely slowed up (menopause) scared me straight.
Since Nov. I have been counting calories, try to stay away from sugar and go to spin class 3-5 x a week. I have lost 25lbs but have at least 50 more to go.I also have limited my wine intake to special occasions, not that I was ever a big drinker.
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RiRi that’s great!! Keep doing what you’re doing! (FWIW, I turn around when I step on a scale at a doctor’s office. ;-)
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PEBBLES...wanted to share my fur babies with you!
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OMG Riri11 they are the CUTEST! What are their names? And I'm so impressed you've lost 25 lbs even while on tamoxifen.
GonnaBeatThis - welcome! We are cheering you on to your final 3 treatments, you WILL beat this!
Ingerp - enjoy the well deserved retreat and thank you for always being so encouraging! I'm also off to a vacation in May - to Italy - which will be the first major trip my husband and I are taking since this whole ordeal began, so I'm looking forward to it.
InnaB - so nice to see you on this thread too! I'm still having trouble getting into gear on exercising, how do you do it?
Dani - I've been discovering new recipes too! Going to post more, I'm not sure how healthy the one below is but it's a healthier way to get our sweets cravings on so here it is...
To everyone - I wanted to do a FOODIE FRIDAY post! Of course with the time difference and the fact that a busy day at work meant I couldn't post until now, we might as well call this SWEET SATURDAY too. Because for all of us trying to cut sugar (and for me dairy) but still have our sweet tooth, I found a great and simple recipe for delicious Almond Butter Cookies!
First here is Domino ready for Foodie Friday...
And now for the recipe:
Mix the following together:
1 large egg
1 cup Almond Butter (Artisana Organics almond butter is a good one) - FYI almonds good to fight breast cancer: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269468.php
1/4 cup honey (honey is also a breast cancer fighter https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3385631/ and https://foodforbreastcancer.com/foods/honey)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix this, then make cookie dough balls around 1" thick, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
That's it! Once done, you will have these delicious and even breast-cancer fighting cookies... and did I say there was sugar in them? Nope! No sugar. No dairy. If you like, you can add some dark chocolate chips or berries to make it even more unique and breast cancer fighting.
Enjoy!
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those cookies look delicious!!
Their names are Chico (brown) and Nina (white)
Im surprised to see the scale go down too since my MO was sure to warn me about weight gain. 🤞🏼 It continues.
Honestly I really haven't had any SE from tamoxifen aside from hot flashes. Praying that continues as well
I have a wedding today and will not be counting calories 😬. Hopefully I burn off what I indulge in on the dance floor
Happy Saturday All!!
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Hi ladies, sorry I've been a bit slow to post on this thread - life has been busy. Before my BC battle it had been 3 years since I'd stepped on the scales... Since surgery I've put on 20 pounds and now it's time to get motivated and at least loose those 20 pounds and hopefully a little more. I started exercising aging last week and today was the annual cancer fun run. I'm super happy to report that I ran (maybe shuffle is a better word) the 5km - I was exhausted at the end but proud of my achievement. Ive also started counting my calories so fingers crossed the increased exercise and lower calorie intake will help fight of the weight gain side effect of tamoxifen. Looking forward to being on this positive journey with you all.
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TC73- Way to go on the 5k! that is awesme. I only run for my life
Sounds like you are off to a great start. Pebbles- I think I need to try my hand at those cookies, I am not a great baker but I think I will give them a try. they look delicious.
RiRi11- Oh those sweet fur babies! Love them.
Ingerp- I am not too impressive on the stepper. LOL I am only up to 8 minutes! I hope you had a great weekend. Share some action shots of your adventures if you want.
I did not make it to the gym this weekend since I worked my 3 shifts in a row (I work 12 hr shifts) I try to avoid that because fatigue still gets the best of me, but I made it and I did do my arm exercises with light weights! Keep up the strong work everyone!
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I'm in too. Had BMX surgery on Feb 1st and recently started Tamoxifen. I count carbs and try to stay below 20 g a day. No sugar or sweets of any kind. I'm trying to start running but will have to take it easy as i am mostly afraid of getting hurt. I recently had issues with the back and sciatic nerve. I am visiting the gyms in my area and hope to fall in love with one of them.
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The cancer survivor weekend was *wonderful* (no pics yet--one of the alumnae took a lot but we haven't gotten the link and I treated myself to keeping my phone off all weekend) but I had wine both nights, seemed to eat cookies the whole weekend, and probably got a little exercise (the fly fishing, yoga, nature hike), but will be get back on schedule today. Mondays are yoga and despite the Big Game, I might (but might not) go back to no drinking at home. GO HOOS!!!!!!
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hello everyone,
I am also trying to follow no sugar diets and no meat. I am able to cut down the meat completely but sugar has been quite difficult. I do not eat sugary stuffs but not able to avoid completely sugar in form of white flour like sometimes bread here n there or noodles. I am trying to exercise regularly. I completed by radiation three weeks back so far has been good.
I wanted to ask you ladies about dehydration problem. I do drink lots of water and try to keep myself hydrate but time n often i feel weak and nausea and vomitting due to which i have to go to ER to get the fluids. This has been three times in 2019 and my doctors are saying that its because of dehydration and may be my body might have caught some viral infection. Does any one of you guys has also been facing the same problem. I experienced this two times when i was travelling in flight. I am now scared to take a flight .
can anyone please share your experiences.
Thank you
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Hi Naesha,
That sounds really scary, and definitely worth getting to the bottom of (though I'm sure it will be a pain in the ass of doctors' appointments). 3 times in a year seems worth finding the right specialist for. Have you spoken with your primary care doctor? They may have an idea of which specialist to consult first.
I don't know much about nutrition/hydration but I do know that if your body isn't getting enough salt, it can be harder for it to process water correctly. I just say that because your diet sounds so healthy, and sometimes people actually do cut sodium too low.
But absolutely do follow up on this!! The ER docs are just guessing based on a very tiny sliver of information, and their big priority is to get you stable. This sounds like specialist stuff to me.
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