Years of Struggling With His Relationship With Food
Before gastric sleeve surgery, Robbie has been on both ends of experiencing the extremes of negative relationships with food.
In his younger years, as a teenager Robbie was underweight. It took years for him to be able to start eating the right amount of food and gain weight to become healthy. However, like with all addictions, it wasn’t as easy as just being able to eat the right amount and stop. Robbie went to the other extreme and continued to put on weight until he became overweight.
Moving Out, Lockdown and Hitting An All Time Low
Robbie continued to gain weight in his adult years. But, he explained to us that it got out of handing when we moved out, was living on his own and lockdown hit.
All of a sudden there was nobody around, no distraction nothing to stop him from turning to food and overeating. At his heaviest, he was 30 stone.
Not only was this harmful to his physical health but also his mental health. He was in a dark space for so long he didn’t believe it would have been possible to get out of the mindset he was in. He was trapped not only by the lockdown, but by his mind and body.
Family Support and Finding a Longterm Solution
Being 30 stone and depressed, there was no way that this could continue. He needed to escape it all but he knew that his problems with food were deep. A simple “eat less move more” mindset that we all know is already incorrect, was not something Robbie could use.
He needed to make a change that would allow him to have control over his body for the longterm. He didn’t want to go back to the underweight unhappy Robbie he was as a teenager but he knew that his current situation was no better.
A healthy balance and lifestyle was the only solution, and to achieve this medical intervention was needed.
Weight loss surgery was the solution.
The Gastric Sleeve and Seeing A Future
Rishi Singhal was Robbies consultant, he knows what it is like for patients like Robbie. He suggested the gastric sleeve would be the best procedure, after understanding all of Robbies problems.
The gastric sleeve is a simple yet extremely effective form of weight loss surgery. It reduces the stomach by around 80% and removes the hunger hormone ghrelin. This helps stop patients from eating too much and reduces appetite.
At the end of March in 2021 Robbie had gastric sleeve surgery. Since then he has lost 16 stone and continues to lose weight, in a healthy and monitored way. Ensuring he doesn’t lose too much and return to being underweight.
The surgery has helped Robbie in so many ways, for the first time in a long time he sees a future of himself living a happy and healthy life.
He enjoys life now, and is in a good place when it comes to his relationship with food. It still isn’t easy and the surgery isn’t a magic fix, it’s a tool that he has to work with. But as he said to us “even if tomorrow i stopped losing weight an stayed how I am right now, I would take that, I’m very happy”.