I gained a lot of weight following treatment and found it very difficult to lose. In my situation (as with many sisters) chemo triggered loss of mensus, and then, as it wasn’t true menopause, I was put on ovarian suppression. Now I’m flying solo, having hit that post meno wall with a bang.
So. No doubt, the ride is a rough one with respect to the hormones. All those things, including weight gain and new patterns in weight distribution that one might experience over a natural and lengthy course to post menopausal status is condensed, and definitely hard to wrap one’s head around, much less deftly gather the tools to use to combat with any amount of grace- which spells shocking weight gain.

I struggled for several years, and like mentioned above, lingering lethargy from treatment plus pain associated with my aromatase inhibitor didn’t help motivate me.
I will say ending the ovarian suppression helped immensely, as did finding a pain management regimine that made it possible to slog myself on a stair-stepper thingy I had been using as a clothes horse in the corner of my room. And by slog, I mean SLOG. I did no less than three sometimes four times per week 20-30 min per day and for the first two weeks absolutely nothing budged. And this felt like a LOT. I was sweating and dead. Something happened after that, though. I knocked it off with my depressed munching, persisted in my slogging, and the scale budged. I was cautiously motivated.
Along the way, I increased my time only in those moments I felt inspired to do so (its a gift, those moments, and when they are not there, it’s no failure, girls), and began to eat a higher percentage protein diet. I was more thoughtful about what carbs I ate.
I lost 30 pounds very slowly, and probably the most strange observation along the way was that the thickness around the middle was the most stubborn to budge, the last to go. My joints, although the pain has been managed fairly well, are happy to have less weight on them. And it is true, in my experience, that exercise itself has made me far less creaky.
It ain’t easy. It is a completely different ball game, dealing with post treatment weight gain. It’s worth giving yourself two weeks of consistent easy plan (insofar as a duration and exertion level that you know you can meet) then check if you see any results. Even feeling accomplished may be what you ‘see’ and that can be motivating. Even feeling less stiff when you wake may be motivating. You might even see the scale tip in your favor.

Lastly, it’s not silly. There are a lot of losses on this journey, and much is wrapped up in how we define ourselves externally. They are no less significant, as we grieve their loss, too.

((Hug))

ME TOO!. It is a constant battle. I do try to work out a couple times a week but it is easier and more gentle due to the aches and pains. More yoga but try to get weights in. I am not doing Keto but definately low carb and it has helped A LOT.

Up your calcium & magnesium with arimidex

Oh my gosh you sound exactly like me!!! I’m so overwhelmed by it

I have been taking Arimidex since November 2018. I was doing the Keto diet and a bit of exercise before Arimidex and lost some weight. Now I am finding I cannot lose any weight. I gained five lbs and finally lost 3 lousy lbs. I cannot lose anything.
I was wondering the same thing. If we take this stuff for years after, will we never lose weight or in some cases, gain for the years we have to take this medication?

I don't have the aches and pains that many experience with Arimidex. It just seems hard to lose weight.