6th June 2020
Back last year I was in the position where I had to lose weight if I
was to get the treatment I needed to stop being in pain. At that time
I thought it was going to be just a knee replacement, but it has
since been discovered that first I will have to have a hip
replacement, and then one or possibly both knees replaced.
It is hard when you are in so much pain to summon up the motivation.
I tried to adjust what I was eating, but it was slow going.
Between January and October 2019, when I finally received my
dietician's appointment, I had dropped from 20 stone, 4 pounds to
about 18 stone 13 pounds (I lost my record card :-)) and by January
this year I had got down to 18 stone 5 pounds. By the time I finally
got my appointment with the orthopedic specialist at the end of
February I was at 18 stone.
It was great when I saw my dietician. She seemed to understand me and
listen, which was very important to me. Losing weight is more than
just watching what you eat. There can be, as I have said in the past,
so many other factors that can contribute to overeating. Lifestyle,
emotions and life experiences can all affect the way we eat.
You hear people say it's just will power, but it is so much more.
What I have found is that I have to be very honest with myself. In
the beginning I was convinced that I couldn't do it. I wasn't like
some who are in denial that they are extremely obese – I knew I
was. My problem was that I was in denial about the amount I ate. I
know what is “healthy”. I trained as a chef when I left school,
and later, as a mature student, I trained in beauty therapy, which
involved a qualification in nurtrition. So I had a very good idea of
what I should be eating. I knew all about hidden fats and sugars
etc., but I was eating too many of the things that were high in
these. Being immobile and, as I have said, in a lot of pain, you tend
to eat what is easy to eat.
The dietician listening to me, along with the discussions we have
had, helped me immensely, and my motivation began to increase. My
orthopedic specialist also listened and gave me hope that at long
last something was going to be done to help me.
He did say I would have to lose more weight before he would operate on me, but he wouldn't give up on me as long as I did this.
We came to an agreement that was a compromise between us. I had to
lose 2 and a half stone before I was to see him again, six months
later, in August. That worked out at about a pound and a half a week.
I know I can do that.
So I started to think seriously about what I needed to do and build
on what I had already achieved. I saw the dietician on the 12th
March and was 17 stone and 11 pounds, so I knew I was still going in
the right direction. I was going every four weeks for a catch up
discussion and to get weighed. I didn't have scales in the house
because I had had an obsession before of weighing myself two or three
times a day, each and everyday. It was just getting silly so I got
rid of them about five years ago now.
So my next appointment was scheduled for 9th April. I had
got this sorted. I knew I was answerable to someone. I had a goal of
seeing the specialist in August and I was going to do it.
And then March 23rd came around and the lockdown began.
Everything changed. I was not sure what was going to happen and how I
was going to adjust.
But adjust I did, and I'll tell you more about that next time.
Until then,
Jackie
xx
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