I Know. I'm Fat.

Well, not fat. I'm plump, Rubenesque, juicy. Okay, overweight. I'm overweight; obese according to the medical world.  And when you're obese in the Her2+ breast cancer world, the news ain't so positive, pun intended.

According to OncLive, December 2011, "A large study of HER2+ breast cancer patients shows that obese patients with this type of breast cancer had worse outcomes than normal weight or overweight patients."

That's a cause for concern.

So why am I obese?  I'm middle aged (read lowered metabolism); I take one drug that lowers my metabolism further; and I eat too much for this lowered metabolism.

Another factor in my obesity. I live alone and I hate cooking for myself. I mainly hate cooking for one because  in order to make cooking worthwhile, you need to make more food, resulting in leftovers.  And I hate leftovers. Well, I don't hate leftovers.  I dislike them.  And dislike leads to my not eating said leftovers. And then that leads to me throwing away said neglected leftovers.

The result of not cooking is that I eat things like cereal for dinner, or a sandwich, or on rare occasions, chips and dip.  My mother would not be proud. Actually, she'd be worried.  And now that I have HER2+ breast cancer, so am I.  This erratic eating pattern helps keep me obese. But let's also be clear. There's no problem with me getting exercise. I am not sedentary. I typically walk 3 miles per day. The issue isn't moving, it's portions and quality of food.

With this worry in mind, I started thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool to have someone cook healthy meals for me that I can just heat up?"  I'd experienced this to an extent with  ready-made meals from  Let's Dish, given to me by my lovely AA Sponsor. The challenge with Let's Dish meals for me though is that the meals are portioned for 3 to 6, which then puts me into the leftover zone again. My trash can runneth over. Not even great tasting leftovers can make me like leftovers apparently.

I need non-leftover creating meals. I need tasty meals. I need nutritious, pre-portioned meals. After researching reviews of ready-to-go meal companies, enter diettogo.  diettogo apparently offers individualized meals on a weekly basis, with each meal costing roughly $10.  Exit the leftover zone.

The goal of all this research and thinking is that by eating ready-made, tasty, portion-controlled meals, I will hopefully eat more happily and healthily.  The end goal?  Drop from obese to just overweight.  Any advantage I can get in this cancer battle, I'll take. And dropping from obese to overweight will hopefully reduce my risk of having "worse outcomes" in the HER2+ breast cancer world. 

Portion control shouldn't be this hard, but apparently it is for me. I have followed meal plans before, lost weight, only to go back to my previous eating patterns and gain all the weight back and more.  I need help.

Helping dogs lose weight is easy. I just cut back a little on the portion I drop into their bowl, and voila, the pound or so just drops off that dog's frame. So like my dogs, I need someone to drop a measured portion into my bowl, which I will then eat with verve and gusto, although unlike my dog Sidney, I won't gulp my food.. 

The not fat gang.

If I have to act like a dog when it comes to eating in my fight against cancer, I'm cool with that. As long as it gets me to a healthier, better shot at living, place.  I might even buy myself a fancy, crystal studded collar or a new dog bed to go with this latest effort.  Or I might start acting like I'm Oprah, and treat the lovely individuals at diettogo as my personal chefs, having at least one chef travel with me in all my journeys to fame. 

A dog. A celebrity.  I'm happy to be either in this case. As long as this experiment in ready-made, portion-controlled meals dropped into my bowl ends in a healthier advantage in this cancer fight.

Can you say Woof!?