So sorry to hear about your cancer. My stepmother was found to have a very tiny lump at a routine mammogram and has since been through a lumpectomy and chemo because it was such an aggressive cancer. I don’t know what her medication is at the moment (just completed her chemo) but I do know that she is still doing 5:2 (started before diagnosis purely for health reasons – she’s very slim) and is a doctor so has read extensively around the subject. I’ll be seeing her on Tuesday so if there is anything valuable to relate I will come back to you.

x

This is great news, Poet! What a fantastic Christmas present to yourself!

Did you follow the 5:2 way of life? Can you give us a bit more information about how you did the diet?

Congratulations and Merry Christmas!
Stef.

Hi,

I’ve been on Tamoxifen for almost 2 years having been treated for BC in Jan 2012. I was a little overweight at the time, but two ops later, infections, rads and tamoxifen my weight increased to 88kg. I’ve started the 2/5 diet but the weight loss was so slow. I’ve upped my exercise as much as I can manage at the moment. I really want to lose this weight especially as I’m planning on doing a trek in June to raise money for BC Campaign. Any tips would be most welcome!

Hi Poet, I was interested to hear your story and well done for sticking to the eating plan. I was on tamoxifen and then Armidex for 5 years and put on some weight during this time. I was also told that the weight gain was due to the medication and that it would be easier to lose after I had stopped the Arimidex. In my experience this is not the case! As your body is still in post menopausal state nothing changes when the meds stop. I have found it hard to lose weigh but have been able to maintain a reasonably steady, it not ideal, weight through lots of exercise and a reasonably healthy diet. I am just about to start the 5:2 in the hope that I will shed those stubborn pounds so it was good to hear your success.

Good luck and good health to you all.

Llama

hello fellow BC survivors, I am new to 5/2…. one week in with a 3 lb. loss. Yipee!
I am 5’6” and weight had snuck up to 184, now 181, and want to get back into a pre-menopausal 150 which just gets me out of the ‘overweight’ category. I like to walk the dog, bike, kayak, and cross country ski in winter.
Thank you poet for starting this thread. I too have been wondering why oh why it is now such a struggle to drop weight. It crept up some with menopause a few years ago and especially with inactivity this past winter as I did chemo first last fall [after the surgeon delicately said it was a large tumour in a smaller breast] and now on Letrozole — a different aromatase inhibitor –to shrink it further pre surgery. At first I thought only side effects were of the hot flash variety [Menopause 2] but the weight has crept up steadily these past 3 months, and despite making an effort it has not budged til now. It seems I have more cravings for carbs too….
Hmph I can’t see why better attention to diet [this is not extreme] would be problematic, esp if the calorie choices are of the healthier type. cheers to all

Hi,

5:2 didn’t work for me; just tooo hungry on the 2s and then ate like a pig on the 5s. 14:10 works though. It’s very natural for me not to eat until 10am. I find I don’t get hungry until I start eating. Also, I only eat three times a day, which means I get to eat bigger meals than if I had morning and afternoon tea, and that also means my insulin gets a chance to taper off before the next meal. I don’t get very hungry in between. My husband asked me this morning how I’m losing weight without being grumpy and I think those two things are key, along with eating lots of protein, and not much carbs.

My weight loss isn’t spectacular, I’ve gone from 58.6 to 55.6 in a bit under 3 months (Christmas didn’t help). You can read about my “journey” at
https://girlvstamoxifen.wordpress.com/