Thaialina
New Member
Welcome everybody!
I am writing this thread partly to write myself better and to share my story with others who are like me. I don't claim to have all the answers, but hope that I can help somebody by sharing my experiences.
Since I can remember I seem to have always been on a diet because of my weight. There isn't one significant event that turned me to food, but the events that put me off my food have been rare and far between! I've always enjoyed my food and didn't like to waste any. I never used to have a sweet tooth, but eat large amounts of the right things and a few naughty bits in between. Regardless of what I eat I always end up gaining weight, which is why I'm suggesting that I'm allergic to food! Lol.
I have joined slimming classes over and over again over the years. Don't get me wrong, I have lost weight, but not as much as I needed to lose. After a while my weight loss would stagnate and I would lose motivation and then binge until the next fad diet came along.
Four years ago I started Slimming World for the second time. It was back in Wales, where I come from, and the class was friendly and I fit in great. Over two years, by following the plan and increasing my exercise, I finally lost a significant amount of weight in two years of sticking to the diet: 8 stones and 10 pounds to be exact. I was over the moon! I had never experienced being anywhere close to a size ten in my life and being under it made me feel like for the first time I could act like myself because people could see me as who I really was, instead of hiding under layers of fat. Unfortunately, I wanted to lose more and found it increasingly hard to stick to the diet as I was going through quite a few changes in my life. I kept stopping and starting the plan and, eventually, even when I stuck to the diet it wasn't working! This is why I have decided that I'm immune to diets! Lol.
My weight has fluctuated all my life and I know that yo-yo dieting does me no good. It frustrates me that despite my efforts, I still end up becoming bigger than I was when I started a diet when things go wrong.
It may surprise you that growing up in Wales I wasn't brought up on a "farm" diet of full-cream milk and home baked pies! I lived a fairly "normal" life where food wasn't a big issue for friends and family, so it baffles me why it has gained such an importance for in my life!
Moving to Manchester last year, having quit my job and embarking on a Masters at university, I thought it would be a fresh start, which might have influenced my weight and turned me into a trendy,a fit Mancunian lass! No such luck! I continued to pile on the pounds because of the busy lifestyle and, now, I'm almost back to my heaviest weight.
Before Christmas I looked into plastic surgery to see what it could offer me, but was disappointed to find out that they couldn't lipo all my excess fat! I came across the idea of weight loss surgery, but thought it was too drastic. I decided that I had lost the weight once and could do it again. Christmas came and went, but I still got bigger.
I have always felt like I have been in the "don't quite fit in" category because of my weight. I am morbidly obese at 17 stones and 5 foot 2, but I'm not quite as bad as the "Half Ton Dad" and friends on TV. My weight doesn't affect my health, but makes me different as I shop in different shops and am probably looked at in a differnt way by some people. This, obviously affects my self conscience- I want people to see me for me, not just as a fat person!
In April I decided that enough was enough and that my only hope of losing weight and, most importantly, keeping it off was through surgery. I spoke to a lovely surgeon called Marcus Landauer on the phone, as a result of looking at his highly accredited website. Marcus recommended that I have a gastric bypass as it would reduce my food intake permanently and stop me absorbing all the calories. I knew that going private was my only option as the NHS seem to only consider people who have health issues, whereas I'm healthy and want to lose weight to stay that way! Marcus referred me to Professor Basil Ammori at Spire hospital in Manchester. I had a consultation with him on May 2nd and he laughed his head off at me when I turned up with pages of questions from my very extensive research. He patiently answered every question and assured me that my odds were good as I was young, healthy, female and my BMI is only 43. My biggest worry was dying on the operating table! After an hour and a quarter of answering questions, I was partly convinced that I was better off going for the operation! I did, however, wart Marcus, who had said he would put money on me living through the operation, that if I died I would come back and haunt him!!
Since then I have met lots of lovely people on this website, who have answered every question under the sun and are a great support - thank you all!!
Today I went for my pre-operative tests. It was a doddle. They took my blood pressure (which is fine) and took some blood and urine to test. I have also paid in advance for my operation today. I feel quite naughty spending so much money on myself, but I'm hoping that it will be worth every penny.
I am now counting the days until the operation on May 31st. There doesn't seem to be a lot left to prepare. I have bought mouthwash, minty spray, airfreshener and tissues for after the op. I really will miss glugging down drink, so I'm hoping minty spray will make up for it!
Emotionally it seems to be a rollercoaster. I have the operation booked 2 days after my last exam at university. I thought the exams would stop me worrying about the operation, but the operation is distracting me from my revision! I also got engaged on friday, which I am really happy about. It's lovely to feel loved even at my size! If he loves me now I can't imagine how much he will love me when i have lost my weight and stop being so self-conscious and upset about my weight! I went to church on Sunday, hoping for some divine intervention. I'm planning to keep going because it feels right. My family and fiancee are all worried about the operation and I really do hate putting them through the whole stress, especially when my fiancee's ill himself at the moment, but I ahve explained to them that the risks are low and this is my choice. I have started writing letters to them in case, for whatever reason, I don't make it. I don't want to tempt fate, but as always like to be prepared!
After today I will have ten full days until the day of my operation. I intend to keep you all updated on the journey (in between exams and anaesthetic! Lol!) and hope that you share your experinces too.
Sorry for rambling on for what now seems like forever! I hope I've not sent you all to sleep!!
Here's to a slimmer tomorrow!!
I am writing this thread partly to write myself better and to share my story with others who are like me. I don't claim to have all the answers, but hope that I can help somebody by sharing my experiences.
Since I can remember I seem to have always been on a diet because of my weight. There isn't one significant event that turned me to food, but the events that put me off my food have been rare and far between! I've always enjoyed my food and didn't like to waste any. I never used to have a sweet tooth, but eat large amounts of the right things and a few naughty bits in between. Regardless of what I eat I always end up gaining weight, which is why I'm suggesting that I'm allergic to food! Lol.
I have joined slimming classes over and over again over the years. Don't get me wrong, I have lost weight, but not as much as I needed to lose. After a while my weight loss would stagnate and I would lose motivation and then binge until the next fad diet came along.
Four years ago I started Slimming World for the second time. It was back in Wales, where I come from, and the class was friendly and I fit in great. Over two years, by following the plan and increasing my exercise, I finally lost a significant amount of weight in two years of sticking to the diet: 8 stones and 10 pounds to be exact. I was over the moon! I had never experienced being anywhere close to a size ten in my life and being under it made me feel like for the first time I could act like myself because people could see me as who I really was, instead of hiding under layers of fat. Unfortunately, I wanted to lose more and found it increasingly hard to stick to the diet as I was going through quite a few changes in my life. I kept stopping and starting the plan and, eventually, even when I stuck to the diet it wasn't working! This is why I have decided that I'm immune to diets! Lol.
My weight has fluctuated all my life and I know that yo-yo dieting does me no good. It frustrates me that despite my efforts, I still end up becoming bigger than I was when I started a diet when things go wrong.
It may surprise you that growing up in Wales I wasn't brought up on a "farm" diet of full-cream milk and home baked pies! I lived a fairly "normal" life where food wasn't a big issue for friends and family, so it baffles me why it has gained such an importance for in my life!
Moving to Manchester last year, having quit my job and embarking on a Masters at university, I thought it would be a fresh start, which might have influenced my weight and turned me into a trendy,a fit Mancunian lass! No such luck! I continued to pile on the pounds because of the busy lifestyle and, now, I'm almost back to my heaviest weight.
Before Christmas I looked into plastic surgery to see what it could offer me, but was disappointed to find out that they couldn't lipo all my excess fat! I came across the idea of weight loss surgery, but thought it was too drastic. I decided that I had lost the weight once and could do it again. Christmas came and went, but I still got bigger.
I have always felt like I have been in the "don't quite fit in" category because of my weight. I am morbidly obese at 17 stones and 5 foot 2, but I'm not quite as bad as the "Half Ton Dad" and friends on TV. My weight doesn't affect my health, but makes me different as I shop in different shops and am probably looked at in a differnt way by some people. This, obviously affects my self conscience- I want people to see me for me, not just as a fat person!
In April I decided that enough was enough and that my only hope of losing weight and, most importantly, keeping it off was through surgery. I spoke to a lovely surgeon called Marcus Landauer on the phone, as a result of looking at his highly accredited website. Marcus recommended that I have a gastric bypass as it would reduce my food intake permanently and stop me absorbing all the calories. I knew that going private was my only option as the NHS seem to only consider people who have health issues, whereas I'm healthy and want to lose weight to stay that way! Marcus referred me to Professor Basil Ammori at Spire hospital in Manchester. I had a consultation with him on May 2nd and he laughed his head off at me when I turned up with pages of questions from my very extensive research. He patiently answered every question and assured me that my odds were good as I was young, healthy, female and my BMI is only 43. My biggest worry was dying on the operating table! After an hour and a quarter of answering questions, I was partly convinced that I was better off going for the operation! I did, however, wart Marcus, who had said he would put money on me living through the operation, that if I died I would come back and haunt him!!
Since then I have met lots of lovely people on this website, who have answered every question under the sun and are a great support - thank you all!!
Today I went for my pre-operative tests. It was a doddle. They took my blood pressure (which is fine) and took some blood and urine to test. I have also paid in advance for my operation today. I feel quite naughty spending so much money on myself, but I'm hoping that it will be worth every penny.
I am now counting the days until the operation on May 31st. There doesn't seem to be a lot left to prepare. I have bought mouthwash, minty spray, airfreshener and tissues for after the op. I really will miss glugging down drink, so I'm hoping minty spray will make up for it!
Emotionally it seems to be a rollercoaster. I have the operation booked 2 days after my last exam at university. I thought the exams would stop me worrying about the operation, but the operation is distracting me from my revision! I also got engaged on friday, which I am really happy about. It's lovely to feel loved even at my size! If he loves me now I can't imagine how much he will love me when i have lost my weight and stop being so self-conscious and upset about my weight! I went to church on Sunday, hoping for some divine intervention. I'm planning to keep going because it feels right. My family and fiancee are all worried about the operation and I really do hate putting them through the whole stress, especially when my fiancee's ill himself at the moment, but I ahve explained to them that the risks are low and this is my choice. I have started writing letters to them in case, for whatever reason, I don't make it. I don't want to tempt fate, but as always like to be prepared!
After today I will have ten full days until the day of my operation. I intend to keep you all updated on the journey (in between exams and anaesthetic! Lol!) and hope that you share your experinces too.
Sorry for rambling on for what now seems like forever! I hope I've not sent you all to sleep!!
Here's to a slimmer tomorrow!!
) xxxx
