Saw the BC dietitian

[caya]

I saw the dietitian yesterday who specializes in BC and other cancer patients. No magic pill to take to take off the avoirdupois, I'm afraid.

Basically she told me that since I am over 50, and in menopause (brought on by chemopause) - the weight just does not fall off like it would in the good old days (younger, and before BC). For me, because I have fibromyalgia and the joint pain from Femara, there are days I can barely move, let alone exercise. But she says that I really have to try to get in 30 - 45 minutes of basic movement (even a brisk walk) 3 - 4 times/week to help speed up my crappy metabolism. (Nothing new here, and I know it - don't we all?)

We went over my diet, which has been basically no carb, no fruit - which is fine if I can stay on it, but I can't. There are days when I am nausesous from some of my meds, and then I feel like only eating toast and crackers. So we decided that I should add 2-3 servings/day of low sugar fruit, listed as below:

FRUIT Grams of sugar (g)

1 cup raspberries 5.5 g
1/8 cantaloupe 5.5 g
2 apricots 6.5 g
1 plum (or 2 -3 prunes) 6.5 g
1/2 cup blueberries 7 g
1 cup blackberries 7 g
1 kiwi 8 g
10 grapes 8 g
1 peach 8 g
1 cup strawberries 8 g
1/2 grapefruit 8.5 g
10 cherries 9 g
1 tangerine 9 g
1 cup watermelon 10 g

Apples,pears, oranges are okay too, but in more moderation as they are higher in fruit sugar. The highest in fruit sugar she told me are the tropical fruits - papaya,mango and pineapple.

Also she suggested I eat up to 3 servings/day of whole grain carbs, listed below are "one serving" portions:

1/2 cup brown rice or whole grain pasta
-whole grain, no sugar cereal - spends on the type, the box has the serving size, but the usual is 2/3 cup
3 cups of low fat popcorn (no butter or oils added)
1 small whole grain pita
1 small baked potato
1 slice of whole grain bread (like weightwatchers or Hollywood - watch the size of the slice etc.)
I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones we talked about.

She also liked the fact that I eat low-fat cheese, vs. no fat cheeses . She says we need some fat in our diets (we all know about olive oil) and in moderation it's good for us.

And of course the usual stuff about eating lean proteins like chicken, fish, some red meat is okay. Filling up on good veggies, homemade veggie soup (watch the sodium) - stuff I already do.

I am hopeful that by adding the fruits and grains to my diet on a daily basis will help me stay on course, and not cheat. She also said I could eat a couple of squares of dark chocolate a few times/week - it's good for you!!!

Also drinking lots of water, no fruit juices, no pop, adding skim milkto my cereal - herbal teas (decaf). I did not ask her about alcohol because I don't drink it that much, and if I do, it's only the odd glass of red wine, no hard stuff, no beer.

So that's it in a nutshell folks, I hope this helps ...

all the best
caya

[Christine]

Caya,

It can be done.. I put on a ton of weight brought on by dexidron. I joined a local walking group that walked 3 times a week along the local lagoon.

It took a few months but I was able to return to my original weight.

Hugs
Christine

[AlaskaAngel]

Hi Caya and Christine,

I have been exploring this issue too. Like so many aspects of breast cancer, there is no one situation or one single way for everyone to deal with stubborn weight gain. I do think there are changes in the provision of medical care that would be more productive -- including providing genuine informed consent about the reasons for possible weight gain prior to treatment, rather than leaving us all to wonder what we aren't doing right.

Regardless, diet and exercise are important. I posted about this in the nutrition section where there has been an ongoing thread about this, and here is my most recent post there:

link: http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...096#post225096

[caya]

Thanks for this information AlaskaAngel. I read the thread on the Diet and Nutrition section.

It is very disheartening - before B.C. I was in great shape - I had been going to Curves 4 - 5 x/week, I was eating well, and was under the upper limit BMI of 24.9. It is ridiculous that even if we are starving (or near to it), the weight still does not budge.

I'll do my best, that's all we can do.

I'm glad to see I'm not that only one that is struggling, another reason we are here for "support".

all the best
caya