7 healthy ways to gain weight after cancer treatment
When it comes to cancer survival, being underweight is actually more dangerous than being overweight.
But the goal when you are underweight during cancer treatment is not just to gain weight; it is to put on healthy weight.
If you are undergoing or out of cancer treatment but have lost tremendous weight, learning how to put on a healthy weight can aid in more daily energy, feeling better, and improving your 5, 10, or 15-year survival.
Again, the point is not just to gain weight during or after cancer treatment, but rather to put on healthy weight gain.
The suggestion often is to consume large amounts of junk food, ice cream, etc. during cancer treatment to assist in gaining weight.
However, healthy weight gain after cancer treatment requires:
Putting on more muscle in your body than fat.
You need to add more muscle.
Building muscle is what helps control your blood pressure, reduce blood sugar, and build your metabolism.
2. Limiting fat gain.
Some fat gain is good, but too much is not.
Having too much fat and not enough muscle is what increases fatigue, risk of a second cancer, and reduces chances of 5-year survival.
address the issue
If you are having treatment side effects, this section is very important to read first.
There is a VERY important caveat to consider when putting on weight, nd that is for you to address what is causing you to not eat.
Going through cancer treatment is NOT easy, due to the side effects it can cause.
So, it is important to address the side effects causing you to stop eating, such as:
mouth sores
nausea
taste changes
diarrhea
constipation
All the side effects above can affect how you eat and how much you consume.
So, to best help reduce the side effects that are impeding you from eating, read How to Stop Feeling Sick During Chemo or Radiation.
*** Disclaimer: Meet with an oncology-certified dietician for more specific help.***
Eat high calorie snacks frequently
The purpose of eating enough calories is not to get fat, but to give your body enough energy so that you can:
build muscle
gain weight
exercise more
feel better
be more alert
have a stronger immune system
and feel less sick
The trick, is to
1) start by adding in high-calorie nutritious foods.
2) adding small amounts of calories more often throughout the day
Eating nutritious foods that are high in calories will not only help your body gain weight after cancer treatment, but it will also fortify your body with the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants it needs to fight cancer.
In general, focus on adding these foods in more frequently in smaller 3-4 snack-sized meals.
This might sound like a lot, but the goal is to eat even when you are not hungry.
Nutritious foods high in calories you can snack on are those that are healthy fats, such as:
Avocados are high in healthy fats, vitamins, and fiber, which help reduce risk of heart disease. You can have them with salad, by itself with oil and salt, or as a side.
One avocado can give you 250-365 calories and 17 g of fiber.
Nuts are great for lowering cholesterol and can be a great source of vitamins. Try to have them salted or roasted. Eating healthy fats with salt tricks your brain into wanting more.
Just one small handful of nuts can have 170 calories. So 2-3 a day can add up quickly.
Dates or dried fruits can provide you with rich antioxidants to help reduce fatigue and are quick and easy snack on.
Dates are nutritious, full of fiber, and high in antioxidants. Just two dates provide about 130 calories.
You can easily split this up by taking a bag full of peanuts with you and eating them throughout the day or splitting this up into a 1, 2, 3 method
Avocado in the morning
Handfulls of peanuts throughout the day
of your favorite dried fruits with every meal
supplement your meals and drinks
Adding healthy fats and proteins to your meals or drinks can trick you into eating more calories in smaller amounts of food.
In addition, it’s easier to drink a whole shake throughout a day than it is to finish a whole plate.
So, by adding calories to your drink, this will help you stay on track with your weight gain goals.
Adding shakes to your day will help boost your calories and protein.
Examples of foods you can add to your shakes would be:
Nut butter: Only 2 tablespoons of peanut butter are 190 calories.
you can also add it to your apples, crackers, and bananas
Seeds: Flax seeds, chia seeds, and hemp can all be added to smoothies to add some flavor and calories.
seeds are another great handy snack, but they can also be added to your smoothies for more energy. Add seeds to your salad, smoothies, or snacks for more calories daily.
Olive oil: is a healthy addition that adds on calories, gives flavor, and helps you gain weight. Make sure to not add too much of it, but rather, add it as a supplement to your food.
1 tablespoon of olive oil can add ~120 calories, so by adding this to your salads, toast, or avocados, you will help add on some extra weight.
Dairy: milk and cheese carry a lot of calories per smaller quantities and can help add calcium to your diet.
you can add cheese to salads and milk to smoothies. If you can’t do dairy, try plant-based alternatives to help add some density to your shakes.
Keep in mind: the goal is to have healthy calories, so adding on sodas and ice cream is not the same.
While they will both add weight to your body after cancer treatment, sodas and ice cream can damage your body by causing more inflammation along the way, while healthy fats help remove and reduce inflammation.
Inflammation in the body is the #1 origin of all cancers and disease.
eat enough protein
Getting enough protein is important, especially before bed.
Adding a bit of protein before bed helps you restore muscle while you sleep and has been shown, in some cases, to help you fall into a deeper, more restful sleep as well.
When you sleep, your body is restoring cells and is in building mode.
A restful sleep with enough protein gives your body what it needs to faithfully restore itself.
Think of this as adding enough wood to a fire furnace before going to bed so the fire doesn’t run out.
Some examples of great protein sources are:
Chicken
Salmon
Tuna
Eggs
Greek yogurt
Ground Turkey
Protein Powder or Shake (This doesn’t have to be a powder; it could be an Ensure, Orgain, Boost, or Kate Farm shake.)
It doesn’t matter which one. Just have what you enjoy.
The benefit of the powder is that you can add it to your drinks, oatmeal, or greek yogurt.
The con is that you have to prepare the shake. So the shakes sold in the store, on the other hand, are more readily available but may be more expensive.
To calculate the required amount of protein to gain muscle at a PERFECT pace, you must take your body weight in pounds multiplied by 1 when paired with exercise.
So, if you weigh 130 lb x 1g of protein = 130g of protein to be consumed per day.
THAT BEING SAID, it can be hard to reach that much throughout the day.
Therefore, try to shoot for 1/2 your body weight first.
Once you consistently reach 1/2 your body weight in grams of protein, then try to reach 3/4 of your body weight in grams of protein (i.e. your weight in lbs x 0.75g = your protein need daily).
This seems complicated, but it's pretty simple.
Take a look at the food label on what you are eating and look for protein.
The goal is to eat foods with about 15-20 grams of protein or choose foods that have more than 10% of the calories is protein.
For example, a can of tuna is about 100 calories, but it has 22-24 grams of protein.
So, over 20% of the calories are protein.
Whereas, in the example above, peanut butter is 190 calories with only 7 grams of protein.
This would not be the best for you, as it is only a 4% ratio of protein to calories.
exercise to build muscle
Up to this point the best way to increase your weight has been to increase your calories by adding on nutritious food high in calories and eating enough protein
BUT,
This will only help you maintain muscle at best, and without exercise, consuming extra calories only adds that extra energy into fat and not muscle.
Therefore, exercise is the most important step into adding it all together.
Building muscle is extremely important at any age, but it becomes crucial when you are over the age of 60 and if you are a cancer survivor.
While obesity is a great predictor of cancer, how much muscle you have is directly related to your 5,10,15-year survival—regardless of your cancer type.
Muscle mass is highly related to the survival of all cancers and is an extremely important part of your muscular and cellular health.
Muscle helps control your blood sugar, improve your blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes—not to mention lowering fall risk, as well.
Building muscle at any age is hard, but it gets a bit harder as you age
however, it is still very possible.
The good news is that you don’t need to have muscles like an Olympic lifter to be healthier and have better cancer survival.
BUT you do need to build muscle in general.
With exercise and enough daily calories and protein, you will give your body the foundation to build muscle.
However, you cannot build muscle without strength training and adequate sleep.
The key is to follow 3 main principles that are guaranteed to work at any age—assuming you stay consistent and give yourself enough time to see results (at least 12 weeks)
EXERCISE to build muscle is using machines at the gym, BUT doing body weight exercises is a great starting point.
The two best at-home exercises to START with are the wall push-up and the sit-to-stand.
Once you can do 4 sets of 15 reps easily 3-4x per week, you can then progress to make the exercises harder.
These two exercises may sound easy, but they will work the majority of your upper body (shoulders, neck, chest, arms, and a little bit of core) and lower body (thighs, butt, core, lower back, and hips) with just two movements.
Start with one set of 8-15 repetitions and slowly work your way up to 4 sets by the end of the 12 weeks.
Quality rest & recovery
REST and RECOVERY is extremely important to improve your muscle mass.
Give yourself 24-48 hours of rest between exercises, and if your muscles are still sore, let them rest.
You might find yourself only working out 2x per week consistently, and that's ok; it's still a great starting point.
You can keep your body moving on rest days by completing 20-to-30-minute brisk walks.
Focus on a brisk pace and have this as a foundation for your routine.
Walking daily will help improve blood flow to the muscles and help with recovery.
Sleep is also an important part of letting your muscles rebuild. The more restful sleep, the better.
What to eliminate & avoid
Lastly, eliminate and avoid activities that destroy the muscle-building process, such as smoking and alcohol.
YES, smoking and alcohol stop your body from building muscle and add to the toxins that your body is trying to fight.
Unfortunately, no amount of it is good for your body, and every amount you put in is harmful.
The good news is that any work you do to help reduce is it is also extremely beneficial for your body.
Just the simple act of reducing smoking and alcohol is TREMENDOUS for building your body weight back up again.
However, if you can’t stop with these behaviors on your own, please get help.
There is no shame in getting help, regardless of your age or religion.
Doing the right thing for your body and seeking help for something you can’t shake off is not bad—it’s a very good thing.
Addiction is a tough cookie to beat, but getting help, HELPS!
in conclusion
It is easy to consume more calories than our body needs, hence why 80% of Americans are overweight or obese,
But trying to gain weight in a healthy way is actually much harder than to lose weight, as you are fighting against your body’s lack of hunger.
A few ways to help your body eat more is by having food handy and visible, eating salty foods with healthy fats, drinking your calories, and moving more.
Exercise and movement can help many get hungry and thus help you consume more calories.
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