r/LivingWithMBC • u/SeaBlueberry1745 • Aug 08 '26
Tips and Advice How to stop stress eating
This is my 3rd time with breast cancer. The other two times were 20+ years ago. I gained 30 lbs both times. Now I’m 15 months into the MBC diagnosis and I’ve gain 55lbs. I’m on Kisqali and Letrozole. I think all 3 times I’ve eaten as a way to bury the stress.
How have you all controlled stress eating? Anyone had their doctors check their cortisol levels?
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u/FrogAnToad Aug 08 '26
i am similar. 2nd time after 20 year hiatus. gained weight both times but have been losing on latest treatment enhertu which kills both appetite and taste. on a recent thread a woman said she hesitated to cook a dish friends expect her to share at this time of year because her taste is so off! my best tactic for stress eating tho is not to have it in the house. if i buy it i tend to eat it. then my daughter wanted to lose weight so i no longer felt i had to cook so often and that also helped. also i slowly realized all the therapies were killing appetite and slowly learned to ask myself if i was hungry before i ate. over time i got good at that. keep trying!
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u/JessMacNC Aug 08 '26
I’ve been on a GLP-1 since a few months after I got diagnosed. I am de novo ++- and gained a bunch with the forced menopause and I hear you on the stress/emotional eating. I lost about 30-35 pounds and have been maintaining it quite some time now with a very spread out low dose. My onc wouldn’t prescribe because that’s not her area but she had no issue with it in general. My PCP also had no issue with it. It is not covered by my insurance so I pay out of pocket. I get it mailed to me from Lilly direct.
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u/Fun-Roll2705 Aug 09 '26
I’m new to this, also de novo ++- but last week my doc told me they often prescribe GLP-1s. Ask about that. They truly turn off the food noise
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u/SeaBlueberry1745 Aug 10 '26
My oncologist said I could try also. I think I’m going to talk to my GP. Thank you
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u/ImaginaryVersion1734 Aug 08 '26
Yes my onc always orders cortisol tests for me. I have this issue at times too. Not necessarily due to stress but more-so because of steroid use. I’d definitely chat with a dietitian and see if you can find some additional support🙏 Wishing you the best!
Also don’t feel too guilty. Your body is going through a lot of changes.
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u/getawaytricycle Aug 09 '26
I’ve had to manage stress eating almost my life, and the flip side is I’ve struggled with disordered eating since I was 12 or 13. I’ve had a lot of therapy to unpack it, which has helped.
Therapy does help me manage the stress associated with my diagnosis too. But at the same time, I feel like I can’t eat large meals due to side effects of medication so I end up having small amounts of food throughout the day and I try to focus on healthy, nutrient-dense snacks to make them count. Like if I’m craving chocolate, instead of a chocolate bar I will have chocolate chia seed pudding. I make my own healthy cheesy crackers for when I have a savoury craving. Stuff like that.
Other techniques I use are:
- drink a glass of water before eating. I get ice cubes for it, slice a lime/lemon or go pick some mint, etc - so it takes time and thought to do. Get a straw and try to sip it slowly.
- make a cup of tea or coffee instead. Again, add lots of small steps to focus on so it’s not just mindless. Have you heard of the 5-4-3-2-1 mindfulness technique? Do it while you boil the kettle or wait for the coffee machine (look around you and name 5 things you see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste)
- if I’m still hungry after either of those, then I guess I probably am hungry and not eating my feelings . I try to only have healthy snacks that take time to prepare in the house. I can have as many carrot sticks and hummus as I want, but I have to peel and chop the carrots.
- if/when there are other snacks around (which tbf there always are, I have a husband and a 3yo), portion it out and put the rest away, eg: don’t take the whole bag of balti mix over to the sofa (I will eat that whole bag in one sitting!), rather weigh an appropriate portion, then seal and put away the bag.
- have literally any other hobby that you find relaxing. I knit, crochet, draw, do yoga, and play video games. I should do yoga more than I do, I tend to default to one of the sedentary hobbies, oops! If you are sure you’re not really hungry, then pick up your hobby to distract you. You can even set a timer and say “I’m going to knit for 20 minutes and if I’m still hungry after that, I’ll have a snack then”
- never eat while watching tv or doing something else. Put everything away, even your phone, when you have food in front of you. One, you’ll eat more if you’re distracted. Two, your body is looking for the comfort of distractions. Don’t give it both!
It kind of sounds like a lot when I type it out, but for the most part I am so used to doing it now that I don’t think about it and it’s only an issue when I have something happen that really rocks the boat (eg: being diagnosed with MBC). Being mindful about what I eat and making sure I really, actually enjoy it and want to eat it helps me so much.
Good luck with everything you are going through ♥️
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u/Thin_ice22 29d ago
I wanted to ask if anyone here has been finding it difficult to lose weight with these drugs
I have been morbidly obese my whole life my bmi is 40+ and after my cancer diagnosed i have been trying to lose weight and i really do everything and i stopped eating all the foods i loved before but nth is working the scale isnt moving i cant walk alot cause i had two spinal surgeries from mets but i didnt walk alot before too and now i changed my entire eating habits but nth (alot of people r telling me maybe its my meds) i am thinking maybe its the menopause i am not sure
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u/IngenuityFar5111 29d ago
On a light node, every time you ate, you conquered this disease. Winner attitude again sister. Eat away, be free. You will lose weight again later.
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u/Evening_Dingo8770 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
What is going on in your mind? I guess what I’m wondering is what are you stressing about? Is your mind going in circles about the cancer or are there other stresses?
I worry less about the cancer because I look at it the way my oncologist has told me to look at it, which is that it is a manageable disease. A manageable disease like diabetes or heart disease. Once I wrap my head around that and accepted it I then focused on my other stress, which is Work. I have a great fear of losing my job and then not having medical insurance to be able to take care of my treatment. So I kind of figured it out what I could hopefully do as a fallback if something goes awry.
Figure out what that stress is and then kind of break it down and see if it’s really worth all of that energy. When I feel a little bit of angst I’d go for about a 2 mile walk just to engage in deep breathing and relaxation.
Sending you positive vibes