When our bodies lose weight during treatment, it's not generally adipose tissue (fat, stored "energy") instead its lean muscle mass.
The body kicks into a hyper-metabolic state during treatment, as we well know, and is burning calories at an incredible rate trying to heal itself from the treatments, maintain "normal" body functions, as well as trying to fight off the cancer. Due to the poor digestion/absorption environment caused by hormones, the body has no choice but to start cannibalizing itself, with lean muscle tissue being the fastest/best burning fuel. This is one of the reasons that cancer patients look so "flappy," with lose skin, no muscle tone, and high body fat percentage.
This loss of lean muscle mass is also a huge cause of weakness and fatigue after cancer. With the bodies constrained testosterone and high cortisol levels post treatment, recovery is generally slow which is why we feel so "blah," along with most certainly thyroid issues and lingering effects of pain medications. The key to getting back up to speed? Nutrition and Exercise, Baby!
You will hear me say often that nutrition is half the battle to fitness and health, I sincerely believe that. We have to understand that "what" we eat is as important as how much we eat and when we eat. A calorie isn't just a calorie, top level athletes and trainers have known this for "years". Everything we eat matters if we want to run at the "best" our bodies can. It's crucial to know the proper breakdown of macro-nutrients in our diets to promote the best hormone response as carbs affect cortisol levels in the body, fats help testosterone levels and cell repair, proteins provide the building blocks to all of our lean muscle mass. It's a balancing act using food to control the most important hormones in your body.
Knowing when to eat and what to eat and how much to keep your metabolism functioning, boost immune function, control hormone response, build or maintain lean muscle mass is paramount. You "are" what you eat! Nutrition isn't just "energy," it's what we're made of and who we are, and is the key to healing and rebuilding.
