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trying to lose weight when on hormone treatment

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User
Posted 22 Oct 2020 at 23:23

Hi

My Husband has had Prostate Cancer for 5 years.  Not curable but responding to treatment.  He is on hormone therapy along with originally Chemo.  He had a haematoma on his liver last year due to being on blood thinners and the cyst on his liver filling up.  He would love to lose weight.  He does not overeat,  Is a veggie and I cook for him and can control his calories.  Trouble is that he is not putting on weight he is not losing either.  Any help would be appeciated. 

 

Thank you

 

Carol

 

 

User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 21:51

Counting calories is one thing but exercise with it is what makes the difference. Sadly normal walking pace whilst good for you for other reasons does not burn many calories. One needs to do something that for most people will get them into a light sweat, then the calories burn faster. Appreciate that not everyone can do this and one must consider other health issues but a brisk walk for a shorter distance is better than a long slow walk . 

Think like a car, 55 mph is generally a speed that conserves fuel, go at 70 and mpg drops, so try to go at 70, not 100 as that’s not sustainable for most but 70 is , maybe build up to it, slow walk with 100m of faster walking every 300m?

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 08:20

Hi Carol,

                Long and short of it he needs to exercise! I have run and been going to the gym all through my HT, Chemo and RT and my weight has stayed the same as pre 'D'day. If he's not up for long walks etc then get him to the gym, a personal trainer could give him a personalised program, he might like spinning (static cycling) where there's no impact to the knees and it burns a lot of calories etc. He needs to want to lose weight, maybe set small goals or give him incentives? There needs to be a calorie deficit. I know this isn't what a lot of men in later years feeling down with PCa want to hear but there's no magic pill to lose weight just needs effort and will power.

 

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User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 08:20

Hi Carol,

                Long and short of it he needs to exercise! I have run and been going to the gym all through my HT, Chemo and RT and my weight has stayed the same as pre 'D'day. If he's not up for long walks etc then get him to the gym, a personal trainer could give him a personalised program, he might like spinning (static cycling) where there's no impact to the knees and it burns a lot of calories etc. He needs to want to lose weight, maybe set small goals or give him incentives? There needs to be a calorie deficit. I know this isn't what a lot of men in later years feeling down with PCa want to hear but there's no magic pill to lose weight just needs effort and will power.

 

User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 09:19

Hi Carol, it's a real struggle keeping the weight down on HT.

I've put on a stone and a half with 2 years on HT and I'm trying hard to not increase that.

Must be something in the HT that makes you ravenous all the time, when I get peckish I try and eat fruit rather than biscuits etc

I walk most days weather permitting but even in August when I did the PCUK Charity walk I was burning 3000 calories a day and still put 2 pounds on over the week.

Edited by member 23 Oct 2020 at 09:21  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 15:18

We both had medical screenings in January and were told our cholesterol was well over normal although our weight was only a bit above normal.  I think it was Christmas after effects really.

We looked at our diet and decided to buy no more chocolate, biscuit or cakes.  Also we cut out foods with high fat content, especially saturated fat.    Helped by the lockdown we walked a lot and couldn't go for a coffee and pastry.

We both lost a stone in 4 months.  It seemed like hardly trying at the time.  We were still eating 3 meals a day and desserts.   We started to eat more as you can't keep losing weight but it didn't seem to stop us losing weight.   Now we can go in coffee shops and have bought a few cakes and have stabilised. Just recently I've added an extra nights alcohol which seems to have tilted the balance, that's a Tier 3 effect I think.

We don't eat much meat, hardly any all.

I've always done some jogging and some weights.  I think what you eat makes more difference than what you do.   Both exercise and maintaining food regime is hard work.  As soon as you lapse you've lost it so it needs to be what you enjoy.   You might think it better not to try to hard as you need to enjoy yourself.

Regards Peter

User
Posted 23 Oct 2020 at 21:51

Counting calories is one thing but exercise with it is what makes the difference. Sadly normal walking pace whilst good for you for other reasons does not burn many calories. One needs to do something that for most people will get them into a light sweat, then the calories burn faster. Appreciate that not everyone can do this and one must consider other health issues but a brisk walk for a shorter distance is better than a long slow walk . 

Think like a car, 55 mph is generally a speed that conserves fuel, go at 70 and mpg drops, so try to go at 70, not 100 as that’s not sustainable for most but 70 is , maybe build up to it, slow walk with 100m of faster walking every 300m?

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User
Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 21:42

Thank you for your reply. He does 2 miles with me in the morning at a reasonable pace. He cannot do much more than that. I am an experienced cook and we don't eat junk. I have to low fodmap so all of our consumption is counted.  I make low fat, low cal soups and all of his meals are calorie counted and home cooked.  He had blood clots after the 4th round of Chemo which knocked him for 6.  His large muscles wasted from the steroids.  He could not put a shoe on himself.  I got him physio which helped and from there he had a medical referral to the local leisure centre. I went with him to begin with until he gained confidence and then dropped him off three times a week.  Cue the pandemic and the centre was closed and still is.  After the haematoma on his liver last year it has been a long way back.  He is 76. Psa 2300ish when we started out.  Now rising but at two.  He is a veggie.  Eats a lot of quorn.  Salad and  quorn slices for lunch and tonight veggie bolognese home made. He is also mostly gluten free as I have to be.  I would willingly gain a few pounds for him to lose a couple.  He has lost seven over the last couple of months but it is slow. 

I suppose we are two steps forward and half a step back.  He is now on the verge of diabetes.  We check as I have a line in my family.  It can be a side effect of the hormone therapy.  Do you think that weight training at home would  help?  We used to do it and he did at the gym.  My understanding is that it burns calories. We have weights at home and I would gladly join in.  Any suggestions appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

Carol

User
Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 21:45

Hi  Thank you for your reply.  I have trouble walking as slow as my Husband. I walk really fast.  I will try to get him to pick up his speed.  We generally do two miles in the morning.  He cannot manage much after that.  Should we try to do one at a faster pace?

 

Thank you

 

Carol

User
Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 22:05

Hi Thank you for your reply.  He has had a hard time of it.  I have to follow a low fodmap diet so we are very concious of diet.  We tried veggie low carb and he lost a few pounds.  He has lost 7.  He did less than 800 a day and lost nothing so we have changed to mostly quorn and low calorie plus a few calorie controlled carbs to make it up to 1000.  I am wary of him eating too much fruit as if you don't burn off the sugar in the fruit it converts to fat so I limit his fruit intake.  We take food state vitamins to ensure we have the right nutrients.  I empathise with you after doing so much exercise and gaining weight.  

I have to low fodmap.  So I pretty much low carb and that is a good way to kick start in the short term if you eat meat.

Good luck, I hope you manage some weight loss.

 

Carol

 

 
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