A Weighty Issue

I was in the petrol station a few months ago about to pay when the male cashier spotted the fuel tanker coming down the road about to fill the pumps and muttered ‘tanker time’. He then quickly stated ‘sorry I don’t mean you…no really, I didn’t mean you’.

When I was even slimmer than I am now I was having a go on my cousin’s space hopper in the back garden. Both of my cousins burst out laughing and one said, ‘sorry, I was just thinking you look like a space hopper sat on top of a space hopper’, then the other one laughed, ‘Oh my God, I was just thinking the same thing’.

Luckily I have a good sense of humour but when I’ve got to the stage where someone mentions a tanker and thinks it could be taken to mean me, or where I’ve apparently started to resemble a space hopper, it’s probably time to take drastic action.

After years of struggling with my weight (struggling as in losing a stone then putting two of three on), yoyo dieting on numerous diets and generally seeing my weight go up and up I’ve decided to have a gastric band to help me control my eating habits. I hadn’t realised until researching the band that you still have to follow a diet and that if you choose to eat chocolate or other foods that will ‘slip’ through the band easily, you won’t loose any weight, but after researching it all and having a full consultation I’ve decided it’s the right choice for me. It’s certainly not a quick fix and I will still have to work hard to lose the weight, but the band will help me not to feel so hungry and will help me limit my portions, something which I massively struggle with as I’m a real binge eater and am obsessive about food; food is very much my heroin.

My family have been super supportive in helping me afford the op and at the moment I’m on my pre-op diet of Slim Fast, Muller yoghurt and low calorie drinks ready for my op on Wednesday. This liquid diet will continue for a few weeks after my operation to kick start my weight loss and allow my band to settle in before my first ‘fill’, where they inject saline into my band to make it tighten and restrict the amount I can eat. Everyone keeps asking if I’m nervous but I can honestly say I’m not. I’m really excited and massively looking forward to loosing weight for my birthday (28th Jan). Some people think I’m mad having the op before the ‘biggest eating festival known to man…it’s CHRISTMAS!’ as I keep being told, but by January I could easily be a stone heavier and I don’t want to feel quite so overweight for my birthday.

As my weight’s gone up and up I can no longer really wear the vintage clothes I love as even if I find them in my size they just don’t sit properly. I’m a short (or petite) 5’2 and am approx. a 14 and a half stone pear shape at the moment and am hoping to get down to around 10 or 10 and a half stone eventually. According to medical weights and BMIs I should be about 8 to 9 stone, but I’ve never been thin and I don’t think it would suit me. I’m aiming for the slim but round look as my bum and hips will always be big and I’m happy with that, as long as I’ve got a tiny waist to go with them (which naturally I’m meant to have).

I've bought this dress and once I've lost some weight I'm hoping to look more 'Holly Willoughby' in it than Mrs Bridges

I’m only in hospital overnight and have wifi and a flat screen TV in my room, so as long as I’m not too zonked by the anaesthetic I’m sure I’ll be straight back on Blogger reading all my favourite blogs. In the meantime I’m off to have a nutritious and delicious Slim Fast and try to convince myself that it really is delicious. They started nice, but after two days of them…hmmm.