Hi and a word of advice

Donnajj73

New member


Dear All

I am from the UK and I have joined this forum having already lost in excess of 75lbs since last July. Don't get me wrong I still have weight to lose, infact probably another 50lb but I wanted to let you all know my story.

In 1997 I lost 60lb in 5 months but over time put it all on and more. Yes another yo-yo dieter I'm afraid. I decided last year that I would diet again and did it for me and no one else. I have always believed that to be successful in weightloss you have to do it for your own reasons and not because your husband / friends / doctor says so.

I decided to cut out all chocolate, sweets and crisps along with following a healthy diet of around 1500 calories a day. I say around this as I was never obsessive about it and if I wanted to go out I would without feeling guilty. I do strongly believe in the 80/20 approach where if you are good 80% of the time you can enjoy yourself to the full the other 20%.

Once I had got the sweet cravings out of my system I immediately felt better and infact had to cut out sugar in my tea as I found it tasted horrible. It really is amazing how your body changes and adapts to a new lifestyle.

With regards to the actually weightloss and weighing myself I wasn't obsessive about this either. Infact I didn't / wouldn't weigh myself for the first 4 months (yes 4 months!). I knew I was losing weight as my clothes were getting looser so didn't feel the need to worry about the scales. When I lost the weight before I used to weigh myself every week and when some weeks I hadn't lost weight or infact put on weight I used to feel deflated so I decided this time to take a different approach. Of course everyone is different but this is what works best for me. Even now I'll only weigh myself once every 3 or 4 weeks as I still know that I am going the right way because of my clothes.

The one thing that I would change about how I have lost the weight is the speed at which I have done so. I would have tried and lost it far more slowly as in December last year I was admitted to hospital while on holiday in France with Gallstone induced Pancreatitis. By losing the weight as quickly as I did I had given myself Gallstones which explains the heart attack like pains I had experienced for two months previously and didn't do anything about them. Since getting back from France I have spent a further 8 days in hospital with Cholecystitis (inflammed gallbladder) caused by yet another stone this time blocking my common bile duct and have undergone surgery to widen the duct to hopefully prevent another blockage prior to having my gallbladder removed. I am on the waiting list and cannot wait to get rid of my gallbladder as it has caused me nothing but pain since my first attack. I am not telling you my story to scare any of you, just to warn you of the perils of losing weight too quickly and the possible complications that can arise.

I have to say that despite the health issues that I have at present I don't regret losing the weight (only the speed in which I did so) and will continue to plod on eating sensibly and for the first time ever I have started to go out cycling (something I couldn't have done a year ago!). It is all worth while and having gone from a size 24/26 to a size 16/18 I am living proof that you can lose weight of your own accord, you just really have to want to do it. All I can say is thank goodness for Ebay as the amount I would have had to have spent on clothes doesn't bear thinking about.

I want to wish you all well in your own individual journeys and I hope you have enjoyed reading mine.

Take care

Donna
 
HI Donna,
Thanks for sharing your story, I was diagnosed with having one gallstone just before starting this diet, when I ate heavy fatty meals I use to get real bad gallbladder attacks, Ever since I have cut out a lot of fat and carbs fromn my diet, I have not experienced any pain but I am now worried that my gallstone may get bigger or turn into more since this diet I am on is a rapid weight loss diet. My doctor seems to think that if I am not experiencing pain then it should not come out .I have made an appointment with my doctor in June to review the situation.
I would appreciate your thoughts please
Hayley
 


Hello Hayley

Thanks for your reply.

Gallstones are funny things and some people have them without them causing any problems for years and years others like me aren't so lucky.

By changing your diet you have stopped your gallbladder attacks which if they were anything like mine you would be very happy to not have them anymore.

As I said in my previous email I don't want to scare anyone I was just telling my story. You may find that your fast weight loss diet doesn't cause you any gallbladder issues at all, let's face it all our bodies are all different and react differently to different things. I guess a lot of it is luck of the draw isn't it!

I wish you all the luck in the world with your weight loss and please let me know how you are getting on if you would like to.

Best wishes Donna
 
Welcome Donna! :D Thanks for sharing your story... and I should have thought about Ebay! That's a great idea :)
 
Welcome to the boards Donna. That tea thing is a good example of how you can force new tastes. I stopped taking sugar with tea when I was a kid - and as you say, later it tastes horrid with sugar. I now drink a lot of green tea without milk, and its becoming my new taste again.
 
Hi Donna!
You made your path and you learned what's good and bad and that's the most important point of any path... learning. So you got here, one more step and I want to wish you the best luck, keep things going at your own rhythm, you are not trying to win a prize for the faster runner, you are doing something very special to your body, and your body is the only one you have, so take it with a lot of love and dont make him suffer... I hope your health gets perfect soon. Welcome and enjoy!
 
hi donna, over the last couple of months if i have eaten certain types of fatty foods the evening before, the next morning i get terrible dull pains in my upper abdo area, which make me sick, tired,and unable to get comfortable in any position. lasts a couple of hours. happened twice so far. first time was a w/end and i phoned the emergency dr. they dismissed it as a tummy bug. but it happened again the other week. said to my o/h it was worse than childbirth. i am going to see my gp sooner rather than later. i have a feeling it is gallstones - low fat diet, initially quick weightloss, an "attack"(of something) whenever i eat certain foods. makes me scared to eat any treats occasionally.
im going to try ebay for clothes. i just threw away loads of clothes that are hanging off me.my current clothing situation is at crisis point. slim
 
I'm a day late, but welcome!!

Also, congrats on your success so far...and I'm sorry you had to endure the pain you did for loosing the weight so fast, yikes!!

I've cut out sugar and fried foods from my diet too...and I love how I dont have the crazy cravings I once did...its like my body finally gave up and said "okay, fineeee we'll do it YOUR way" ha!

"See" you around :)
 
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