Diet, exercise and physical health
Talk to us
You may be worried about the impact living with cancer and cancer treatment may have on your diet and physical health. This can include:
- weight gain
- weight loss
- changes to your body and how you feel about how you look
- hair loss
- tiredness and energy levels
- or general concerns about your physical health.
You can talk to a Cancer Information Nurse Specialist about any of these concerns. They can help by talking to you about your diagnosis and treatment and give you information about the effects living with cancer and treatment may have on you.
You can contact a Cancer Information Nurse Specialists by:
- Calling the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00.
- Chatting online with a specialist using our webchat.
- Emailing the Macmillan Support Line.
- Asking a nurse any questions you may have on our Online Community.
We can also help if you:
- Would prefer to speak to us in another language
- Are calling from outside the UK
- Are deaf or hard of hearing
Visit the Macmillan Support Line page for more information.
Connect with others in our Online Community
If you would like to chat online with people going through a similar experience, you can join our Online Community.
Health professionals, trained volunteers and Macmillan staff in the Online Community can give you advice and tips to help you.
You can also:
Services you may find helpful
If you would like to have support with your physical or emotional health and well-being, there are many different in-person and online services which can help you.
Boots Macmillan Beauty Advisors
You may want to talk to a Boots Macmillan Beauty Advisor about managing some of the changes to your appearance. They have been trained to support people living with cancer. They offer free, face-to-face advice about caring for your skin, hair and nails.
Boots Macmillan information pharmacists
If you have a Boots pharmacist nearby that you are able to access, you may not need to wait until your next hospital appointment to speak with a cancer specialist.
There are over 2,200 Boots Macmillan information pharmacists in Boots stores around the UK. They are pharmacists who have been specially trained to:
- understand the different types of cancer and treatment
- answer your questions about medication
- listen to your concerns and provide emotional support
- guide you to other sources of information and support
- connect you to Macmillan services in your local area.
Macmillan Well-being Coaching
The Macmillan Well-being Coaching service is available to anyone who is living with cancer now or who has done so in the past.
The service gives you a coach who can help you with negative thoughts you may have towards changes in your appearance or other impacts cancer has had on your life.
SafeFit - well-being service
SafeFit is a free remote trial for anyone in the UK worried about or diagnosed with cancer. You will be put in contact with a cancer exercise specialist who will help you during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
They offer advice, support and resources to maintain and improve physical and emotional well-being.
This includes information about preparing for and going through cancer treatment.
SafeFit is designed to:
- provide you with exercise advice that you can do safely at home based on your needs
- help you find different and new ways to keep active and eat healthily
- improve your overall well-being.
Apps and online services
The free mobile apps listed below are not provided by Macmillan, but they may help you to find other types of support while you are living with cancer.
You may find these apps useful for tracking any symptoms you may have or side effects of treatment. This can help you with telling your healthcare team.
Vine Health App. You can download it from:
Untire App. You can download it from:
Careology App. You can download it from the App Store.