An Update: My Cancer & Diet

[Guest guest]

I haven't been around lately, so those of you who are new to the

support group may be unfamiliar with my 'story' (we all have our

stories, don't we!).

Diagnosed last November with a very rare form of Non-Hodgkin's

Lymphoma (metastatic cancer), I underwent a strenuous 12-week

chemotherapy course this past spring, finally ending in mid-June.

The wonderful ~ and powerful ~ drugs the doctors were able to supply

me with, allowed me to live a fairly normal life during treatment,

and I 'rewarded' myself by eating and eating and eating (nauseau was

rarely an issue for me, and when it was the medicine the doctor

provided stifled it quickly).

The result? I ended up gaining 14 pounds over several months

(somewhat rare for those undergoing chemo!). I was definitely

eating 'healthy':lots of veggies, fruits, protein (some lean, but

also quite a few fatty meats such as spare ribs!). That wasn't so

bad, but, on top of all that food I was also consuming 500-100 kcal

per day of junk food, my self-administered " reward " for being such

a 'good' cancer patient. :-)))

Sternly chastened by both my oncologist and wife (!!) in May, I went

through a brief, three day period of mourning. I knew that I had not

been eating optimally, that my junk food was an

emotional " addiction, " and that it was not healthy in the long run.

In reflection now, I think there was a process of denial-hope

occuring: I felt that I would never have to pay the price for eating

several hundred highly sweetened, high fat calories per day on a

regular, on-going basis. I KNEW this was not wise; I'd been

a 'nutrition addict' for 25 years, reading several monthly journals,

and was well aware of Walford's books, having read the first editions

in the 80's. To counter-balance my consistently large food intake

(which existed prior to the appearance of the cancer...hell, I'd been

eating like this for 25 years!), I exercised strenuously to keep my

weight fairly even, although over the past ten years (age 40 to 50)

about 15 pounds were added, slowly. Since about 50% of my 7-day/week

workouts were devoted to heavy-duty weight lifting, a story developed

(in my mind) that the weight gain was essentially " muscle weight "

(some of which it was).

A mindset developed, insidiously, that exercising this way would

protect me from the major issues of Western society (high blood

pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer). The amazing thing

about it was that I KNEW better...I KNEW that even though I might

burn off all those sugar calories via exercise, the stuff was still

entering the system and doing damage to it prior to its being burned

off. But there was that denial-hope thingy ( " Not me! It won't happen

to me " ).

This is not to say that my eating habits caused the cancer. The

particular cancer I had was not directly related to diet, although

since cancer is defined as an " obligate glucose metabolizer, " surely

my high sugar/med-high diet was a participating element and helped

to 'fed' the cancer cells.

So...in early May of this year, after being 'double-teamed' by my

oncologist and wife (hahaha!!!) I went through this three-day period

of mourning. The Wife and I threw out ALL the junk food in the

house, 7-8 pints of Ben & Jerrys (no, not the lo-fat stuff!

Hahaha!!!), bags of chips, boxes of cookies and cakes, candies...it

all went into the dumpster.

Interestingly, I didn't experience any sugar cravings or

physiological issues with the cessation of the high sugar/fat

intake. It was all psychological. Instead of snaking on the above-

mentioned 'bad foods,' I substituted the sweetest apples, pears,

plums, etc. that I could find, cut them up and munched on them.

(Chomp, chomp, chomp) Surprising, it only took 3-4 days for the

transition to sink in, hit home. After that time, certainly within a

week, I was hooked into this way of eating (primarily veggies,

fruits, one daily serving of unrefined cereal grains - breakfast, and

lean protein, mainly fish, primarily salmon).

I joined this list late in May of this year and posted quite a bit of

the above (for those of you who were here then, I apologize for the

redundant details). From May through August I engaged in a serious

application of ON. I was not in the least concerned with CR at that

point. My aim was to eat healthy, learn to adapt fairly strictly to

what Dr. Roy recommends in BT120YD, and see what happens.

What happened was that I lost about 1 lb of weight per week ~

effortlessly. I was eating as much as I wanted; never went hungry,

but was following, unaware, the message in Barbara Rolls'

book, " Volumetrics. " Lots of filling, fiberous foods, consumed in

mother nature's wrapper. I quickly found fresh fruit to be

wonderfully sweet and didn't miss the candies, cakes, ice cream, etc.

In late August I stopped reading/posting to this list, drawn instead

to some spiritual lists dealing with meditation issues that I found

more compelling (and still do). So I've been kind of out of touch

which the group since about September.

Now for the update. First, in late August I had my yearly full

physical, including bloodwork: 12 pounds lighter (193 lb to 181 lb)

than in May, my total cholesterol went from 239 to 173;

triglycerides, from 152 to 105; HDL from 41 to 45, LDL from 146 to

110 and the LDL/HDL ratio, from a dangerous 6.2 to a pretty safe 2.6.

Recognize that this was done via a change in food choices ONLY. I

had not done any CR. Exercise didn't play a role since I had, in

fact, decided to reduce my strenuous works, cutting down by at least

30-40% both the intensity and length of my cardio and weight training

sessions. I still worked out 6-7 days per week, but I was no

longer " driven " to workworkwork to burn off the excess calories. The

change in type of food intake seemed to be sufficient for 'weight

management.'

In mid-September I began the CR part of the diet. I have been very

gentle in this aspect. I began by cutting down my portions by about

10%...given the volume of food one can eat when following a diet such

as Dr. Walford's, that was not a big 'cut' in my food intake. As

before, it was basically effortless. I did not notice any cravings

nor a sense of deprivation. And the weight began to slip off,

easily!

In October, I cut another approximate 10%. This took a bit more

planning and required a bit more effort and discipline. I was able

to manage it pretty easily by breaking my breakfast and lunch up into

four meals instead of two. Instead of consuming my 500+ calories

cereal concoction at 8 am, I learned to eat half at 8 and around 10

am, when I began to feel hungry again, I had the remaining half.

Same with lunch.

Thus I " migrated, " pretty easily, to 5-6 smaller meals per day over a

period of 1-2 weeks. When I used to eat the entire 500+ cal

breakfast at 8 am, I would still have a 200+ cal 'snack' at 10

am...obviously this snack was cut from the diet since I had the

remaining breakfast cereal to eat at 10 am...ditto for lunch...so I

was cutting about 400+ cal from my previous intake and not noticing

much of a sense of deprivation.

Another shift occurred around my dinner. 4-5 x per week I would have

a dinner of steamed veggies/whole-wheat pasta (along with either

salmon or a soy burger): I've been reducing the amout of pasta in the

dish, little by little, so that it is now only 1/2 a serving (instead

of a whole serving), and, in its place, adding more and more veggies

(what amounts to about 5-6 servings in that one meal). This probably

accounts for a mild decrease in the total dinner calories, and I feel

that the quality of the entire meal is enhanced by the greater

emphasis on vegetables.

I did add a 'reward' snack to my diet. Before bed I usually allow

myself one serving - never any more! - of a high-quality dark (or

dark, bittersweet) chocolate (such as Perugina or Lindt). Instead of

chomping down on it, as I had in my " former life, " I learned to break

the single-serving up into 8-10 smaller pieces. I suck on those

pieces, one at a time. Whereas I would have previously chewed

through that one serving in 3-4 minutes, the " sucking " technique

allows the single serving to last 10-15 minutes. What a pleasure!

I've been eating that way now, for all of October, November and

December. My weight is now 160 (down from 193 in early May). NONE

of my clothes fit me! Hahaha!!! My waist has gone from a 38 to a 32

and even though I am still weight lifting three times per week (two

days upperbody, one day lower), I have begun to have that 'bony' look

(e.g., I've noticed that my watch is loose on my wrist and my wedding

band is loose on the fourth finger). Subjectively, I feel fine;

really, really good, plenty of energy.

There has been, recently, only one physiological downside. I don't

know how much the winter weather contributes, but I have become MUCH

more sensitive to the cold, primarily in my hands and feet (my trunk

doesn't seem to be affected). Yes, it is winter here in New Jersey,

and, so far, an average one in terms of temperatures, so the chilly

hands and feet may be due more to the loss of body fat than the

seasonal changes.

Where do I go from here? My aim is to get down to 150 lb. That is

the lightest I have ever been as an adult, achieved about 25 years

ago when I was training/running 60 miles per week, doing marathons.

I still indulge once weekly in two or three slices of pizza (garlic,

onion, and sausage, but very lite cheese since I am not too fond of

cheese to begin with!), and I don't eschew the occasional sweet (and

fatty!) treat. But these treats happen OUTSIDE the house, where I

would be too embarrassed to ask for a second helping! Hahaha!!! The

food in the house remains the same: the only 'naughty' foods are a

bag of Fritos (sometimes I add a handful to a salad or a steamed

veggies dish) and my dark/bittersweet chocolate.

An interesting thing is that throughout this holiday season, I've not

had any difficulty maintaining my weight. I find that when I attend

parties/holiday dinners, I am compelled, by the diet I've been eating

the past seven months, to eat (a) less fatty foods and (

consistently small portions. Anything else leaves me feeling

bloated, stuffed, and miserable! So it seems like it is a self-

sustaining system I've gotten myself into, one that I would heartily

recommend to anyone interested in losing weight, gaining health, and

doing so relatively effortless.

Cheers~

andy