Starting back

dsmallback

I came back after about five years, not being on it this I am a surviving cancer patient still in treatment. I want to get this excess weight off of me where I feel even better and I just like some advice from any other cancer people or anybody that could help me Right now

WalkingMyAssOff

Hi, I'm also a cancer survivor. Treatment and being inactive put alot of weight on me and left me exhausted so I know how hard it can be to 'get back to normal'. Don't try and do too much too soon and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just make good choices for your body daily and take it from there. I love walking and do that daily. I remember not being able to walk around the block when I first finished chemo but now I can walk for miles with my dog. Do something you enjoy that's not too high impact on your body. Strength training is good as well, chemo is hard on your joints and your bones and strength/resistance activities can benefit you alot. Eat well, lots of whole foods and don't be afraid to indulge yourself every now and then. Having said all that, please don't put yourself under too much pressure if you're still in treatment. The main thing is getting through it and then you can address the aftermath once youre done. Feel free to add me as a friend if you want. Take care of yourself and remember that this too shall pass ✨️

AnnPT77

Hi, and welcome! I'm a long term cancer survivor (stage III breast cancer back in 2000) who lost weight with MFP in 2015-16.

Have you discussed your weight loss plans with your treatment team? If not, I'd encourage that for two reasons: My team didn't want me doing aggressive weight loss attempts during treatment. (That will vary with circumstances.) Also, it turned out that my cancer center had a registered dietitian (RD) I could consult, and she was very helpful to me. (If your cancer center doesn't have one, perhaps your oncologist could refer you to an RD who has the necessary specialized knowledge.)

I had some bumps in the road post-treatment (example: diagnosed as severely hypothyroid), but as soon as I could manage I started being more physically active. I'd pretty much been a sedentary lump before cancer. I began with manageable, mildly challenging new activity (in my case, a couple of yoga classes weekly), then gradually increased from there as I got fitter and was able to do more without excessive stress/risk. That worked great for me. Now, years later, I'm more active and fit than average for my demographic. It's a great boon for quality of life, as is reaching a healthy weight, IME.

In general, I'd recommend that "gradually increase exercise" route to anyone, cancer survivor or otherwise: A manageable challenge to current fitness level will create fitness progress, then the increased fitness enables doing more (and more will be needed, if the goal is to increase fitness further: It's the challenge that causes fitness to improve). Miserably intense, punitive exercise is never necessary (for weight loss or to improve fitness), and it can be counterproductive in various ways besides, such as increasing injury risk or causing fatigue that reduces calorie burn.

You can make huge progress, with patience and persistence. As WalkingMyAssOff says, don't put excessive pressure on yourself to try for super-fast weight loss or extreme exercise. Chemo in itself is a major physical stress. It's not helpful to stack other (more discreationary or optional) major stresses on top of that. Moderate changes add up to amazing progress in surprisingly reasonable time periods.

Wishing you great success!