Weight gain after chemo; working hard to lose it and more..
 

Hey guys!

I have been browsing this forum for the past couple weeks but finally decided to join. I am 23 years old, and have never been the skinniest person in the world, but my weight varied between 150-170 throughout my teenage years up to age 20 when I was diagnosed with Leukemia.
Throughout most of my chemo I could not bear to eat, i had severe nausea. For a few months I rarely ate and dropped a ton of weight. However, as soon as I started back eating anything at all, I packed on weight FAST. I could eat a cup of dry cheerios and some watermelon in a day but still be gaining noticeable weight. My metabolism had tanked that much.

Recently: a couple years and a few failed diet attempts later, I maxed out at 216.5lbs. Earlier in my life it was so easy to lose weight, almost effortless for me, but now I am having to exercise all the time and cut back to about 1200 calories a day to move the scale at all. Over the last 3 months i have gotten down to 197.5lbs, but weight has been coming off SLOW recently.
I am seeing a bariatric dr this Thursday for some guidance, so hopefully she can make sure i'm on the right track!

I currently am just trying to eat healthier with higher protein since my body seems to respond well to that. My husband and I are eating a TON more fruits and veggies. I usually have an egg white english muffin for b-fast, protein shake for lunch, and a healthy dinner. If I get hungry in the afternoon I eat an apple, tangerine, something like that.
For working out I am trying to do a lot of cardio. I have a few Jillian Michaels vids and I just got a treadmill recently. On off days I will do yoga; I also walk my Golden Retriever.


Sorry for the long post, but that is me!! Didn't know if there were any other ex cancer people on here?

-Candace

welcome to 3fc! I think you have an AMAZING story. I think you are doing great so far. Ive been doing this for 3 months as well and at times the weight loss is slow, but you just have to push through it. The body will get stubborn and make you go through some plateaus to see if you are bluffing. Just hang in there!

I see you from NC. What part? Im from Va and I live less than 5 min away from the NC line lol

Welcome Candace, Glad to have you join us. My advice is to look for a Support group, Chat, or Challange to join; small groups make it easier to get connected. Most sub-forums have groups covering almost every need, find one that inspires or motivates you and just post to join.

Welcome - I've managed to loose 60 lbs after chemo on low carb. I'm on anti-cancer drugs that pull all hormones out of the body so my metabolism is dead.

You can do this. Plan your work and work your plan!

Just curious, since I know nothing about this--
Does the metabolism bounce back, or do these chemo drugs zap it forever, or is this just a negative after effect that gets better as time passes?

Congrats to you for bouncing back after an illness. Post and let us know how you are doing from time to time.

I finished chemo in December '07. Weight loss occurred from July - Feb '08. Complete halt since. Who knows if it will ever bounce back.

Welcome and good luck!

:queen: Dhani :queen:

MzJuicy - I live in Raleigh, but my family has a lake house at Lake Gaston, so we are up near VA all the time; especially during the summer.


And I am not sure about the zapped metabolism thing; chemo has affected me in a lot of strange ways. I had a rare type of leukemia and had some strange treatments.. two of my intravenous chemo sessions were actually arsenic. My oncologist is in foreign waters with my weight issues now, so i'm hoping the bariatric doctor can help me out tomorrow!