Weight gain

hi

I'm not overweight according to the guidelines but I could do with losing a few pounds and nothing really seems to work, other than not eating and realistically it wouldn't kill me to skip a few meals. 

A mate has lost about a stone recently because he had something like acid reflux, it wasn't that but it was like heartburn when you're pregnant, they tell  you not to eat certain foods and not to eat after 8pm

Well he's raving about it now, he has a dog and he cycles, he goes running and goes to the gym but this embargo on late night snacking has made a huge difference. 

He said he wasn't that conscious of what he was eating but now he's stopped it was something like 500 - 600 calories in snacks, crisps and biscuits were his main issue.  If you're aiming for 2000 per day but then top it up with 600 more in snacks that's quite a lot. 

My brother is type 1 diabetic and we often discuss GI diets and such like but there was a piece on the news, which actually wasn't news because we'd talked about it before, sticking to a reduced calorie diet, even for a few weeks can 'cure' or reverse type 2 diabetes, mostly because if you're overweight ... this amount does vary person to person because some are susceptible and some people just aren't ... the burden on the digestive system causes it to struggle and lifting that burden by losing a bit of weight allows it to function properly again. 

Following that logic you might only need to restrict calories for a few weeks to shift a bit of hard to burn fat, once the extra has gone you can adopt a more realistic plan. 

1000 calories per day seems unrealistic but then people do fast for 24 hours.

You may want to discuss this with your team or the nutritionist here but if you fasted for 24 hours, then did 24 hours to 48 hours on 1000 calories (good calories not chips and donuts) then increase to 1500 calories for a week and see where you are then?

Monday  - fast      minus 2000
Tuesday - 1000   minus 1000
Wednesday -1000 minus 1000
Thursday - 1500  minus 500
Friday - 1500       minus 500
Saturday -1500   minus 500
Sunday - 1500   minus 500
Monday - 1500 
Tuesday - 1500

burning 1 pound of fat is about 3500 calories, in the  week outlined you'd saved 7000 calories,  and you should have lost 2lbs.

I suppose the trick is to have a box with your food for the day laid out so you know what you're eating, I still cook at home and pick whilst I'm cooking, which is fatal for any calorie control. 

http://www.eatingwell.com/article/57461/what-does-a-1500-calorie-day-look-like/

that's a bit American, I'll see if I can find an English one

Coupled with some brisk walking to keep the cardio up, 6000 steps is said to maintain a current weight, so if you want to lose it you have to do more. I tried 10k steps but it takes me ages and I don't have that much spare time, 8000 is do-able for me. 

Then to shift the tummy you have to do this thing like a plank, my son showed me, you lean down on the sofa, like you're going to do a push up,  and then bring your knee up to your chest, x 5, then swap legs. 

sounds easy doesn't it  

It does work, I'm just to lazy to keep it up. 

how did you lose 4 stone ?

Carolyn

x

Hi

I lost 3 stone last year prior to my diagnosis via slimming world, have put most of this back on now  but talking to my slimming world consultant they do have. Load of advice ( I know they do specific booklets fro diabetes etc so not sure if she’s referring to a booklet or just general) but I’m going back next week to see what she has to say...finger crossed. I’m thinking I might survive on the ready meals in the weeks I’m feeling pants after chemo and then batch cook and freeze.... 

will let let you know how I get on! 

Thanks Carolyn and Claire for replying with some really good ideas for me to try. I too lost over 4 stone with slimming world last year as was told by doctor I would be diabetic if I didn't lose. Please let me know if your sw leader has any suggestions for weight loss.  Am back to cooking all our meals from scratch and gym walking and swimming but no weight loss. Know it can be hard with underactive thyroid but I did manage it before. Keep on thinking anastrazole is to blame. Thanks again for your replies xx

hi

it might be to do with the anastrazole, I just googled it and 'weight gain' was the top of the list, I followed the link to a reputable site

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22588672

Certainly the debate is out there for the steroids they give you during chemo. 

I was given slightly conflicting information by the breast care nurses, some said "you will put on weight", some said "don't bother to diet whilst on chemo, you need to keep your strength up" and "eat whatever you can keep down"  

another said "weight gain isn't inevitable if you don't give in to the carb cravings"

I had been pigging out on pain-aux-raisins ...  I try and  limit myself to one per week now  

I was looking up Slimming World stuff on the Iceland website, it looks reasonably nutritious, I guess it depends how many you're feeding?

Carolyn

xx

Thanks Carolyn for your reply. Feel a bit more hopeful if anastrazole is to blame for weight gain. I found sw to be great but wasn't very keen on their ready meals so prefer to cook from scratch. Loads of sites give you free recipes which are easy to do and most generally feed 4. Only 2 of us so i either freeze 2 meals or warm them up for next day.  Will continue to battle with calories and have the odd treat, Best wishes xx

I lost five and a half stone at slimming world before cancer.  Put 3 back on.  But will try again soon.  Didn't  use any of the SW ready meals - my sin tried ine and said they were disgusting!  So cooked from scratch and i think it was a healthy well balanced diet.  But too many cakes and scones when tastebuds would only tolerate sweet stuff, eating to hell healing and generally comfort eating have taken their toll.  When i have finished treatment I will go back and try and lose at least some of what I have put on.

Hi and

have you had a look at pinch of nom? They do very similar to slimming world but all cooked form scratch.. ive adapted some of these if they weren’t 100% to my taste..  although I’m having a bad day today, the home cooking has in general made me feel a bit better! 

Will be be back to SW next week so will let you know any other ideas from that...

Hi

I think slow and steady wins the race.  It sounds like you are doing all the right things.  Exercise and eating well, with meals cooked from scratch.  I had chemo which really wrecked my gut so I eat a very high fibre diet with lots of fruit and veg and things that are good for my gut bugs.  I also did the MacMillan move more, and aim to walk at least half an hour every day.  Have lost 1kg so far!  (that's a desperate exclamation mark).  So I'm exactly like you.  I've got about 10kg to lose that I put on after chemo (lost weight on chemo then made up for it).  I look OK and feel very well so should maybe accept this is my post-menopausal shape.  I'm on tamoxifen but it's also notorious for weight gain.  That being said, I have remained the same, or lost slightly, for months so I am fairly happy with that.  Only worry had been that you keep getting told to maintain a healthy weight, as fat feeds oestrogen positive cancers.  Had a year-on-from-surgery appt with my oncologist today and mentioned it to him.  He agreed that I was OK, not overweight in an unhealthy way, and doing the right things (good diet, exercise). 

All the best,

Linda xx