I kicked cancer's butt and now I'm starting over.

LastChance512

Hey everyone!

The last half of 2015 was nothing short of a whirlwind. In September I turned 30 (which was something I have had conflicted feelings about) and spent it in the southern Caribbean, something I have had planned since I was about 13.

About a month after my incredible vacation, I was fired from my job without any reason given (gotta love "At Will" states) and it devastated me. I have never been fired from anything before, much less even written up and it started a horrible string of panic attacks. Well, 2 days after being fired, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Another blow.

I immediately set an appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to have the cancer removed the following month. We were very confident we had caught all the cancer and I was fine. We were wrong.

2 weeks ago, I underwent a hysterectomy and while the pathology came back confirming it was the right decision, it still blows my mind that I will never be able to have my own children naturally.

I had some complications from the surgery which put my back in the hospital for 3 days this past week but I am doing 1000 time better (YAY!).

I promise there is a point to all of this. I can't lift anything over 10lbs for the next 6 - 8 weeks but I want to start becoming active again and start losing weight. I am coming to y'all for suggestions and tips because I am at a total loss.

Thanks for reading, I haven't talked about all of this with a lot of people yet and find this somewhat therapeutic.

peachyfuzzle

First off, congrats on all of your recent life successes up to this point.

Secondly, you're in luck because weight loss isn't about being able to lift, or even really be active. Sure, those most definitely help, but what really matters is your calorie consumption. If you eat more calories than you burn each day, you'll gain weight. If you eat less calories than you burn each day, you'll lose weight. So, in the end, weight loss is all about food. That should be great news for now since you can't get around all that much just yet.

Go here:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Input your details, and you'll get a BMR as well as a TDEE. BMR is the amount of calories your body burns just by being alive. TDEE is your BMR + whatever you burn by your daily activity. You shouldn't really eat below your BMR because you're taking energy away from what your body needs to sustain itself, but eating below your TDEE is how you lose weight.

3500 cals is roughly equal to 1lb of fat, so being at a 500 cal deficit according to your TDEE daily is equal to about 1lb weight lost per week.

I'd generally say that you'd want higher protein foods because they're low calorie as well as filling, but you should experiment to see what works best for you.

Once you're cleared to exercise, you can add those calories to your overall TDEE, and actually eat more while keeping the same deficit. Exercise is for health/fitness. Calorie consumption is for weightloss.

I would also highly recommend investing in a food scale so that you can weigh all of your solid foods. You'd be amazed at how inaccurate food labels are when estimating cups-to-weight conversions.

So, weigh all solid food, measure all liquid food, log it, stay under your calorie goal, and lose weight. It seems like a lot at first, but it becomes second nature really fast.

MeganDominique

First off- im so glad you beat cancers butt!!! I have a lot of friends around me who have cervical cancer and I can tell you the recovery isn't always easy.
I was also told at 22 I would never be able to carry my own children, but for different reasons. it is a blow, but there are so many alternatives out there, you will one day have them if you want!

Id suggest light things for now= walking/walking at inclines/jogging. maybe some relaxing yoga to stretch your recovering body( youtube has some really great videos you can follow at home). zumba maybe or even water aerobics if you can find a class around you") no matter what, best of luck. you are important and you are going to be successful.

Ilovebaileys

Hi Lastchance51,
Thanks for sharing your story. I do hope you are making good progress on your recovery from surgery. I had a hysterectomy last year, but just to warn you, I gained 10 kilos in about 8 months! I was very unwell before the surgery and consequently very unfit, so exercise post op just wasn't on the agenda. However, my advice is walk, walk, walk. Gently at first, then try to go a little further each time, listening to your body always. Please avoid anything that puts any pressure on your pelvic floor (certain yoga positions and Pilates apparently, as well as jogging and sit ups etc). My surgeon says it takes about a year for your body to heal if you were in good health to begin with, so you are still early days in your recovery. However, as Peachyfuzzle says, it is important not to eat more calories than you are able to burn, and right now, you are no doubt burning less calories than you were before surgery. So try to log your intake and stay withing your allowance or just under if possible.
Unfortunately I didn't know about this site or logging food until recently, otherwise I would have known not to stuff my face with all delicious chocolates that my visitors brought me...I would have shared them with my family
Google Michelle Kenway, she has some great safe exercise tips for women post Hysterectomy. Meanwhile, put your safe recovery first before worrying about loosing weight, when you are stronger you will be able to do so much more. All the best.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Sheesh, what a terrible time you've had, but I love your attitude!

Feel free to friend me if you like - I'm also a cancer survivor (thyroid)

wordyroo

I would start by making healthy food choices and giving your body the best nutrients/building blocks you can so it can heal. I don't think that a deficit is recommended when recovering from major surgery. I'd probably wait until you're cleared for exercise to eat under your maintenance calories. You could still calculate your TDEE and track calories/eat at that level until you feel like your body is ready for some minor stress and then drop your calories into a deficit at that point.

Best of luck to you! Cancer is a nasty beast. It's affected too many people I love. Good job kicking it's butt!

dubird

Good job kicking cancer's butt! Just make sure you don't miss any follow-up appointments. I had one friend that had spots appear elsewhere, a fact he wouldn't have known without the follow-ups. It meant more treatments, but at least it was caught while they could still do something about it!

As for losing weight, others are right, it's not about lifting or exercise. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, so start working on developing good accurate logging skills so you can start to lower the amounts of things you eat. Work on adjusting your eating habits now, and when you can exercise, add that in a little at a time. Exercise is good for a lot of things and can contribute to weight loss, but you can't out-exercise bad eating habits. ^_^

imonmyway7

Short words for you but I'm true I what I say

You are truly and inspiration to all people !