Getting stronger one bite at a time—
Whether you’re in the middle of treatments or starting the recovery from them, regaining your muscle strength is a challenge for your body. The chemo reduces muscle mass and tissue which contributes to that feeling of fatigue but also creates the challenge of rebuilding your body once again when the chemo cycles are finished.
My first goal was to give myself all the rest I needed, but also focus on the food and calories that would give me the most value, the biggest bang for nutrients, and help me to build up muscle tissue again. The climb back up from these treatments is labor intensive, but if you feed your “cellular engine” what it needs, you stand a chance of getting back to normal a little more easily.
My targets were:
Increase protein grams daily (shakes, meats, eggs, cheeses, yogurt, nuts)
eat more vegetables (anything red, green, leafy), healthy fats (avocado, olive, coconut oils), and fruits (apples, bananas, berries)
consider fish oil or eat more fish weekly (salmon, tuna, sardines—Omega 3’s and Vitamin D)
emphasis is on moving more but take it slow and be progressive, not agressive. Track your progress to see how you’re doing
walk in short intervals— get up and move every 20-30 minutes even if it’s only to walk for 5 minutes. Keep moving as this helps to keep joints flexible, circulation and breathing improve, and it can help fight the numbness from neuropathy. Take the stairs in your house slowly, stand on one foot and circle the other foot around, then reverse. Chair yoga?
try simple balancing exercises—they help with small muscles, and keep you steady as you rebuild your strength
Keeping track of what you ate each day and how much you moved helps to get a perspective on your progress or what is needed.
A Food Strategy:
If you feel really weak and have a hard time eating or keeping food down, break eating into small meals or snacks, and don’t try eating all at once. I found making good choices in what I ate and having mini-meals got the food to go down better. And if there’s something you love that is really disagreeing with you right now, leave it for another day! Nothing worse than finding your favorite food nauseates you and then when you feel better you want no part of it.
Try these easy to eat and digest foods:
Oatmeal—contains carbs, protein, antioxidants, soluble fiber. Mix in raisins, nuts, maple syrup for flavor
Avocado—good fats, good fiber—put on a sandwich, mash it on toast, eat it plain.
Almonds and pistachios —magnesium, copper and antioxidants—Kind bars are a brand that have all good ingredients and are lower in sugar than other bars
Eggs—pure protein, folic acid—great source of easy protein, scramble it with some cheese and ham
Bone broth—good for hydration, builds up electrolytes, protein source, tasty drink when things are feeling a bit “sideways”
Smoothies made at home—use soy or dairy milk and a good protein mix, then add things like berries, bananas, ground flax seeds, spinach, peanut butter, or almond butter for a boost [my favorite protein mix is Orgain. Easy to digest, good flavors, high protein. https://orgain.com/]
Fish—salmon, albacore tuna, sardines are all good protein sources, Omega 3’s, vitamin D
Apples and applesauce—always easy to eat no matter how you feel, can also keep you regular.
Lentil dishes—made with broth and veggies, lentils are a power house of nutrients
