Pudge that won't budge? There's hope.

Gerri · 02-14-2009, 08:50 PM

Like so many of you I packed on the pounds during and after treatment – a whopping 25+ big ones! This was in addition to the extra weight I was already carrying pre dx. UGH! After treatment ended I started adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of eating a healthy diet but my weight kept slowly climbing. I was miserable! To top it off I am taking two medications that can cause weight gain so I felt I was doomed to keep the extra pounds. I remembered MJo mentioning that she had joined Weight Watchers and lost over 50 pounds. Even though I have tried WW many times (unsuccessfully), I decided to give it another try. I joined on August 30, 2008, and as of today I am down 38 pounds – well, 37.8 to be exact, but one more trip to the bathroom prior to weigh-in would have gotten me down those extra ounces

. This time it finally clicked. I committed myself 100% to the program and have not felt deprived at all.

I just wanted to share this with those of you who are battling to take off those extra pounds and to give you some encouragement. I’m not at my goal yet, but I am well on my way. I know I will be successful this time around!

ElaineM · 02-14-2009, 09:03 PM

Congratulations !! Way to go !!

Mary Anne in TX · 02-15-2009, 07:49 AM

Way to go, Gerri! I am totally impressed! ma

Midwest Alice · 02-15-2009, 08:03 AM

I too have put on 25-30 since dx and already had pounds to lose.I will do something soon and I am so glad to hear of your success. I haven't gone to WW in 15 years is it around $10 a week? My friend has lost 95 pounds on a healthy eating plan but pays $300 every 6 weeks.Do you cook or buy their meals?

Congrads on your success and keep us updated. I'll let you know if I join WW

Jean · 02-15-2009, 02:21 PM

Gerri,
Job well done, be proud - that is a great accomplishment.

Best Wishes,
Jean

tricia keegan · 02-15-2009, 03:47 PM

Wow, congratulations Gerri, thats fantastic. My friend had lost almost fifty pounds with ww before dx and is now starting again after her tx has piled some back on.
Good luck for continued success!

Gerri · 02-15-2009, 07:00 PM

Thanks everyone for the kudos, I really appreciate it. I have worked hard at this and I feel great.

Alice: WW has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Their newest plan is all about healthy eating. I don't eat any of their frozen meals. Most of my diet is fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats (mostly chicken and fish) and whole wheat grains and bread. It's easy to follow and tracking your food is the key to success. I started out paying weekly ($14) because I wanted to make sure it was going to work for me. I got immediate results and after about a month I joined their Monthly Pass plan and pay just under $40 a month. With that you get their E-Tools which is great for tracking.

Wishing you the best,

hutchibk · 02-16-2009, 12:16 AM

Great news, Gerri - and what kind of exercise are you doing in addition? I have added about 11 lbs since November, and before that I needed to lose about 9, so I am on the wrong side of 20 lbs right now. I am familiar with WW, my best friend is a member and teaches me about the points - which I am learning how to do... but I need to add in the exercise, too.

Gerri · 02-16-2009, 09:00 AM

Oy, exercise is my downfall. I hate to admit that I am all talk and no action. I have hip and knee pain from Femara and know that exercise can only help, but I still have not made it part of my daily plan. I really need to do something because my legs and arms lack muscle tone. I plan to start out slowly by walking during my lunch break at work. I work in a big building and can walk laps around the inside. If anyone knows any good arm exercises to get rid of "the wave" please share.

Great to hear from you Brenda. Hope you are doing well.

Barbara2 · 02-16-2009, 08:53 PM

I wonder if the internet version of WW has been successful. Has anyone given it a try?

Congrats to you, Gerri! You may be the inspiration I need to try it again after having been successful with that diet about 20+ years ago.

karen z · 02-16-2009, 08:55 PM

Thanks for the encouragement Gerri- and congratulations!!! Keep doing what you are doing! You have inspired many of us with your post.
karen

Sherryg683 · 02-16-2009, 10:20 PM

Congrats, that is so awesome. I found it awfully hard to lose the weight that I had put on with chemo. I gained about 13 pounds right off the bat. I had so many problems after chemo with shingles and pains that I didn't feel like exercising at all. I had always been very active with tennis and working out at the gym. As soon as I started feeling better I started doing a lot of cardio at the gym, I love the olyptical machine (sp?) for that, so I went out and bought one for my house, it's handy to have it on hand when I want a good quick workout and not leave my house. Weights seemed to hurt my arm and aggravate the nerve pain I have had. I am now back into playing tennis at least 4 days a week and am glad to say I'm back to my pre cancer weight. When I really want to get serious about my weight I go buy a lot of the Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisines and eat those...I do allow myself one day a week to eat whatever I want. After that, it's just about watching what you eat and eating smaller portions...sherryg683

karen z · 02-17-2009, 09:04 AM

Perhaps an exercise/nutrition category for postings would be helpful.

swimangel72 · 02-17-2009, 09:37 AM

Congratulations Gerrie - way to go girl! I'm a lifetime member of WW.......and always kept the weight off even after 3 c-sections, but after menopause it became extremely difficult. I don't blame any of my drugs for my weight - I actually am the same weight as I was prior to my BC dx.........I do blame my own self-pity though. Food is comfort to me - and I don't exercise the way I used (other than swimming a 2 or 3 times a week which isn't enough) - walking and aerobics hurt my stomach muscles too much still after the free-tram. I promised myself to start a Yoga class, but then I find myself too tired after work. So I MUST return to my WW meetings - last year I dropped 15 pounds and was totally getting back on track when I got hit by BC. It lightens my heart to hear about your success Gerri - thanks for sharing!

Believe51 · 02-17-2009, 09:52 AM

Thanks Gerri for the hope and inspiration that I need as I struggle to stay healthy. It was easy for me to gain these extra pounds being just a caregiver.....late appointments, cannot eat (Ed) until the test is over, no time to make dinner, etc. It has been trying but no pain, no gain (no pun)!!

I am proud of your accomplishments, for I know how hard it is to pick up the pieces. Keep up the wonderful work and try to reward yourself daily with little treats you enjoy which are not food related. You certainly deserve it!! Kudos Sweetheart!>>Believe51

AlaskaAngel · 02-17-2009, 11:27 AM

Gerri,

I'm delighted with both everyone's posts and your success. Weight loss for the overweight helps in so many ways. I also want to say that the exercise itself is still important in avoiding recurrence.

I am 7 years out from chemo, rads, and some tamoxifen and am NED, and I've had plenty of time to work at this, but have not been as spectacularly successful. In 7 years I have lost 15 of the 25 pounds I had gained. I read your comment, "After treatment ended I started adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of eating a healthy diet but my weight kept slowly climbing." That is what it has been like for me.

Last fall 2 others from this site joined me in keeping a 2-week record of everything we ate and what exercise we did. We each were free to decide what diet to follow and what exercise to do. I want to share what I learned from that, because it was so surprising to me.

In addition, I contacted my cancer center and with the cooperation of the nutritionist there, I provided my 2-week diary to him and had a personal visit with him after the 2 weeks were up.

In that 2 weeks I stayed strictly on a healthy diet of roughly 1,000 calories a day. I also exercised every single day for 30 minutes by jumping rope. At the end I hadn't lost any weight. It was very discouraging.

The conference with the nutritionist was tough on BOTH of us. I feel sorry for the guy. Basically the advice was that I was not eating enough calories for my system to burn what little I was eating, and in my particular situation he advised me to start eating breakfast to get the burning going early in the day, to eat more carbs than I'd been eating, and to eat most of my calories for breakfast and lunch, and less at dinner time. But the kicker for me was that because of the additional 300 calories I would be eating, he said it likely would be necessary for me to exercise a full hour every day 7 days a week, instead of the 30 minutes a day of jumping rope. As much as I don't want to spend that much of my time doing exercise, I would guess he is probably right. I've made the recommended dietary changes but haven't added more exercise, and I have not lost any weight, and have gained a bit during the winter with less exercise.

As I posted in an earlier thread about dieting and menopause, the recommendation for a person who is truly menopausal and had no weight problem prior to doing treatment is to permanently reduce caloric intake by between 200 and 500 calories a day (depending on how big you are). That is a LOT of calories to permanently wipe out of your daily diet. Especially when medical providers don't explain any of this to us.

I think the diets "work" better for those who are younger and may not be entirely menopausal even if they aren't having periods, but I don't really know. I say this because I am very puzzled that your diet worked as well as it did without much exercise.

Anyway, thanks for posting about this topic, because it not only may encourage others to continue to work at it but because every little bit we do apparently does actually help in avoiding recurrence.

AlaskaAngel

Believe51 · 02-17-2009, 11:44 AM

AlaskaAngel, thank you for your post; very inspirational.>>Believe51

Gerri · 02-17-2009, 12:41 PM

Thanks to all of you for your input. It's great that we can come here and cheer each other on.

AlaskaAngel: Thanks so much for your insight. I agree that getting rid of excess weight is something we should all be striving to do to stay healthy. I'm as surprised as anyone by my success this time around. I do work hard at this and believe that exercise can only improve my results. Now with less weight on my joints I think I can give walking a try again. I'm sorry to hear that your noble efforts have not been rewarded. I hope I can share a few things with you.

As most everyone knows, Weight Watchers is based on a point system that factors in calories, fat and fiber content. Many people think that a point, is a point, is a point - I don't. I believe that it really matters what my points consist of, which is why I have cut many things from my diet: white rice and pasta, white bread, processed foods, sugar, etc. I always eat breakfast (always have), I stopped drinking coffee with creamer (albeit non-fat) and substituted it with green tea - I love it! I am now watching my salt intake as I notice that too much makes me retain water. I get most of my carbs from fruit and whole wheat products and make sure I eat a decent amount of protein each day - these are what WW considers "filling foods". I try not to eat empty calories, but everything that goes into my mouth is put on my food diary and gets counted - every little bite really does make a difference. It takes a little work to keep track of everything, but I think it has made all the difference in the world with my weight loss. I am setting small goals for myself and that helps me to stay focused. Also, attending the weekly meetings helps too. Just the fact that I am accountable to weigh in weekly keeps me on track.

If I have inspired some of you to give weight loss another try I am thrilled. That is what this board is all about: To support, to inspire and to get through the bumps along the way together.

My love to all.