Nutrition (Nana b or anyone else) help!

AnneCan said:

This is a tough one!
There are many schools of thought on this one. I try to eat healthily, but on my chemo day + the next day or two after, I eat whatever appeals to me; my appetite is affected by the chemo + I try to get whatever food + fluids in that I can. I can understand her not wanting to cook; I feel like that myself many nights (like tonight). I wondering if part of the appeal of Cracker Barrel is just getting out; if so maybe she could try other restaurants/items off the menu etc. Sandwiches can be very healthy, depending what is in them. If she likes sandwiches, encourage her to have a variety of them + have lots of "filling" materials on hand. One of the things with foo, in my opinion, is the person themself has to be motivated to change. It is one of the few controls we cancer survivors have left + sometimes we just want to make sure we are making the choices. Encouragement is good, but I think we have to feel that we are ultimately making the choices.

Jaylo969 said:

Truthfully
I believe I would back off of Mom. I don't mean you shouldn't encourage her to have a nutricious diet but really, unless you have gone through cancer,surgery,chemo and perhaps radiation then I don't think you really could know the taste changes, emotional changes, and every other change that occurs.The fact that she wants to eat is to me a good sign!

Being from the South I can tell you that bacon, eggs and grits are considered perfect food ....but seriously, her doctors are probably watching her weight gain and she might be more responsive if/when they tell her to lay off the Cracker Barrel trips...but don't be surprised if they don't. They see people come in who have lost tons of weight due to their illness and those are the ones they really worry about, as they should. Like my Mom who is down to 90 lbs. Oh how I wish I could get her into the car and take her to Cracker Barrel!

I too gained some weight while on chemo. I have since lost all of it and then some.

Just my opinion...and probably not a popular one.

-Pat

Nana b said:

It's not easy while you are on chemo
It's very hard to find something to eat when you are on chemo....nothing seems to taste good. Once you find something, then you tend to stick with it. I think quantity is more of the question you are asking, I can easily go to cracker barrel and have a plate with all their veggies and splurge on their corn bread. So it's a matter of choices. I made pork chops yesterday, and my favorite green side dish, and heaped up on the side dish and took two bites of my husbands pork chop....for lunch I had a WHOLE cantaloupe and some granola (that is so good, I had to tear the bag away from me)!

When I was on chemo I would eat corn tortilla quesidillas with provolone cheese and a dash of hot sauce. I even liked corn tortillas with butter and a bit of lemon juice. My sister would bring me a home made potato burrito in a flour tortilla on the weekends. I had lost over 20 lbs and she didn't want me to lose anymore. I was so hungry but couldn't eat, everything tasted bland.

I made my husband grits and eggs the other day, and that in it self is not bad, to reach an agreement on how much bacon he could have, I just took a bacon strip and crushed it over his eggs (that was my agreement). He later told me that was actually perfect. His toast must have jelly, so I skip the butter and he doesn't even know it.

Sandwiches, well I make some mean sandwiches! Healthy as heck and I can eat them all the time. The bread is the big no, no, but I stick to whole grain, lean turkey, all kinds of cheese (mild, no Cheddar or American). I use a spicy mustard, and use avocados, tomatoes, think sliced cucumber, sprouts occasionally if I am out, but don't really care for them, lettuce, spinach, little yellow peppers, tuna,

Salads, with a variety of lettuce, spinach, cranberries, almonds, walnuts, pecans, feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, blue cheese, carrots, broccoli, tomato, sunflower seeds, berries, bell peppers, and turkey--even is processed meat is a no, no....I keep it on hand. But I like to grill chicken and keep it in the fridge or freezer. I am known to buy cooked chicken at costco and dicing it up and putting it in the freezer to make semi fresh food. I cook up wheat pasta and put in in the freezer in little bags and add these to my salads. It adds some substances to the salad without going crazy! I also keep kidney and garbanzo beans in the pantry for salads. Shitake burgers are good and I just tried and garden burger it was really good.

Most of the ingredients I have in my pantry always, and keep the cheeses in the fridge, I buy them at Costo and they last a long time. The berries I buy at costco because they last a week, so I just go once a week. I got to Trader Joe's to get my green tea, supreme greens, and reds. Maybe some organic fruit if they have it. You know it doesn't take much money to make these meals. Once your fridge is filled with the good stuff, it's easy.
Breakfast good cereal with lots of berries or banana and almonds and flax seed. Oatmeal in the winter. I just found some whole wheat pan cake mix at Trader Joes, and pumpkin mix, I make these with berries and eat it with a side of homemade syrup (that I made from from our peaches and apricots).

Fish, mix some Dijon mustard with a bit of olive oil and lemon and rub all over fish, bake for about 20 minutes, yummy! Eat with a cooked yam or sweet potato.

Let me know if I can help. I know she doesn't want to cook.

Nana b said:

Great!
Good, open communication..... I am sure if someone put the food right in front of her she wold eat it....a little suggestion to her may help!

Good luck, take care and wish I had that soup, chicken and fish in your freezer!!!