It is eighteen months since I wrote my last blog and what an amazing eighteen months it has been. My story has been published in The Guardian, The People magazine and Chat It’s Fate, I have continued to lose weight and most important of all I now have three grandchildren – my Grandson was born in May 2007 and my second Granddaughter in December 2007.
When I started my journey in January 2006 I was very determined to succeed but I never believed I would have achieved so much. As I have mentioned before at my heaviest I weighed 20st 12lbs (292 lbs) and on the morning of my operation I weighed 19st 12 lbs (278 lbs). My current weight is 12st 3lbs (171 lbs) and I have maintained this for around a year.
I am trying hard to reduce my weight further as I would like to lose around a stone and have been stepping up my exercise to achieve this. As I have other health issues I have to engage in exercise when I am having a good day and not in pain. I don’t get involved in any fancy exercising I just walk. My youngest Son lives very close to Regents Park and I take my youngest Granddaughter Amelie for a walk in the park. On Saturday I walked for two and a half hours and again discovered the delights of this London park. I could have walked further but she was getting fed up being in the pram!
I honestly believe that a major key to protecting my weight loss for this length of time is that I have re-educated my thinking. I now feel comfortable to throw food away and not finish everything on my plate. This did not happen overnight and took time to achieve, although right from the outset I never saved the remainder of my meal for later, which some banders have told me they do. I now find I put out much less food on my 7th plate than I did at the beginning.
Quite a few Healthier Weight prospective banders have called me and asked me what a typical day’s meals would be for me:-
Breakfast: low fat yogurt with a piece of fruit or an individual portion of porridge with a little fruit compote stirred in (definitely my favourite). At weekends I used to have a fry up now I have a boiled egg!
Lunch I have a couple of ryvita with low fat hummous or a bowl of soup or a HW shake.
Dinner is normally fish or chicken with veggies or salad.
I still go out for dinner and I find most restaurants are only to happy to accommodate a small eater. I normally choose a starter portion of say chicken wings or smoked salmon and add a side salad. I also find tappas is great. I do have a glass of wine and an occasional shared dessert but I don’t do this all the time.
I also find the HW support groups are great and try to attend as often as I can. I love meeting fellow banders or prospective banders, exchanging tips and following each others progress. I also enjoy the informative topics.
Some people have told me that they no longer go out to eat or enjoy themselves as they did prior to having a band. I do not believe the band should curtail your life, it certainly hasn’t for me I am living life to the full with my new very best friend.
Jan Ellis
May 2008
