The ENHANCE Study: Exercise and Nutrition in Head And Neck CancEr Survivors

During radiation, participants will attend in-person supervised resistance training sessions once a week for 7 weeks, followed by 2 ZOOM video conference supervised resistance training sessions every week for 5 weeks, after radiation. Sessions will last approximately 30 minutes. During radiation, participants will be provided 15 meals each week for 7 weeks, 105 meals total. Participants will be asked to participate in 1 weekly dietary coaching session (in-person during radiation and video conference following radiation), create weekly SMART goals, follow an alternative Mediterranean diet pattern, and log all meals, snacks, and supplements consumed for the 12-week intervention.

During chemoradiotherapy, participants will be provided 15 meals each week for 7 weeks (105 meals total) that will accommodate common NIS concerns (ex. dysphagia and difficulty chewing) following an aMED dietary pattern (5 breakfast, 5 lunch, and 5 dinner), will be taught proper portion size, and will be asked to record percentages of each meal consumed in a provided food journal, in addition to any outside meals, snacks, or nutritional supplements. They will be provided with dietary coaching weekly to discuss NIS, aMED diet compliance, and set weekly SMART goals (approximately 30 min). Following completion of chemoradiotherapy (5 weeks), participants will be provided dietary coaching weekly (in-person or via videoconference), discuss NIS, aMED diet compliance at home, and set weekly SMART goals (30 min). Trainers will monitor participants' Fitbit active minutes in real time throughout the intervention period and provide aerobic exercise encouragement accordingly.