Immediately after starting chemo, I began to feel very ill. I began to eat my favourite sugar filled foods to maintain interest in food. Soon I was unable to eat these things because my taste for them diminished. In 5 days, I was not interested in food at all. I drank a lot of water because I was very dry. It dawned on me that, because I was mostly bedridden, that I would soon become very weak. Therefore, I had a friend get me some meal replacements. She came back with Ensure.
No solid food for weeks. I was only able to ingest Ensure during the first month of chemotherapy. So, for the first month, I was basically on an Ensure diet, trying out and spitting out all solid food. Despite the anti-nausia pills, I was unable to keep down anything solid. Finally at the end of the first month, I was able to eat a handful of vegetables and one piece of protein. Mostly, this was at lunch when I would have a green salad with not dressing and one small piece of chicken or a hard-boiled egg. It felt good to have these solid items because I was worried that I was not getting proper nutrition at a time when I needed it more than ever.
Weight loss. At the end of the first month I had lost 20 pounds. This was not significant considering how little I had been eating. I was happy to lose slowly and to know that Ensure was keeping me alert and satisfied. From that time until the end of the fourth treatment/month, I lost 50 pounds in total. By the end of those four months, I had turned my diet into an Ensure breakfast, red/green/orange veggies and 1 piece of protein (hard-boiled egg or chicken finger) for lunch, and Ensure for supper.
Now that chemo is over for now and radiation has started, I have continued to lose weight by being slightly more active and adhering to the same diet. I've now lost 65 pounds. Some people that have known me for a long time don't recognize me at first. I'm still in the overweight BMI category for now but in 15 pounds I will break that barrier. It makes me feel good to do that. I have wanted to lose this weight for a long time, well before the cancer, and knowing that I am close to being out of the overweight category is wonderful. In the midst of a disease that is so depressing, weight loss has been something positive. My blood pressure has gone from dangerous to normal, I can cross my legs for the first time in years, and I have a waist.
No solid food for weeks. I was only able to ingest Ensure during the first month of chemotherapy. So, for the first month, I was basically on an Ensure diet, trying out and spitting out all solid food. Despite the anti-nausia pills, I was unable to keep down anything solid. Finally at the end of the first month, I was able to eat a handful of vegetables and one piece of protein. Mostly, this was at lunch when I would have a green salad with not dressing and one small piece of chicken or a hard-boiled egg. It felt good to have these solid items because I was worried that I was not getting proper nutrition at a time when I needed it more than ever.
Weight loss. At the end of the first month I had lost 20 pounds. This was not significant considering how little I had been eating. I was happy to lose slowly and to know that Ensure was keeping me alert and satisfied. From that time until the end of the fourth treatment/month, I lost 50 pounds in total. By the end of those four months, I had turned my diet into an Ensure breakfast, red/green/orange veggies and 1 piece of protein (hard-boiled egg or chicken finger) for lunch, and Ensure for supper.
Now that chemo is over for now and radiation has started, I have continued to lose weight by being slightly more active and adhering to the same diet. I've now lost 65 pounds. Some people that have known me for a long time don't recognize me at first. I'm still in the overweight BMI category for now but in 15 pounds I will break that barrier. It makes me feel good to do that. I have wanted to lose this weight for a long time, well before the cancer, and knowing that I am close to being out of the overweight category is wonderful. In the midst of a disease that is so depressing, weight loss has been something positive. My blood pressure has gone from dangerous to normal, I can cross my legs for the first time in years, and I have a waist.
