Not giving up on losing weight

[Vintage Girl]

Hi Ellie

Well done on your fab losses! Can't help you on the loose skin I'm afraid, I've never got to that stage - but a friend who did, said she did notice shrink slowly (over a few years), and I think she was taking collagen tablets to help the skin's elasticity. I have googled about ops for loose skin, and it does sound a bit scary - but best to talk to a specialist about it?

You've done so well on SW - any tips?

Hey Susie, how are you?

Have never heard of Collagen tablets to help with skin elasticity. I will need to go to the Dr's and ask, I usually do my best to avoid the Doctor at all costs as too fearful of the lose weight lecture so only end up going about once a decade if no other choice haha. Still I guess I may be able to avoid the lose weight lecture this time so this could be a good time to make an appointment

As I have said before I do tend to track my calories and watch my portions rather than follow the SW unlimited free foods thing to the letter. I think the reason I have managed to lose weight consistently this time is that I haven't had a single day off plan in over 14 months. For me this seems to be the key, I have to be 100% focused as I know from experience that there is no such thing as a little slip up for me, when I fall off the wagon I do it in style and stay off the wagon so long it has time to travel the world and back before I get back on it!! I also tend to have between 5-10 syns rather than go for the full 15.

This is what works for me but I have to say it is flaming boring! I really wish I was the kind of person that could eat 'naughty' things in moderation as I think that is the key to maintaining weight loss and I know that in the long term I'm not retraining my eating habits by being so strict. Am trying to think ahead about developing some strategies to reintroducing small amounts of things like chocolate, crisps etc at the moment.

 

[ladyfelsham]

I'm good but doing my usual - lose a bit, put it back on - thing. I read your diary from the beginning for inspiration - which it absolutely is!

You should be so proud of yourself for so many things in your journey but especially for staying on plan every day! I think I deserve a medal if I stay focused for more than a few days ...

What portion sizes do you have for pasta, etc - and I'd love to hear a typical menu as/when you have the time.

 

[Vintage Girl]

I'm good but doing my usual - lose a bit, put it back on - thing. I read your diary from the beginning for inspiration - which it absolutely is!

You should be so proud of yourself for so many things in your journey but especially for staying on plan every day! I think I deserve a medal if I stay focused for more than a few days ...

What portion sizes do you have for pasta, etc - and I'd love to hear a typical menu as/when you have the time.

Thanks Susie, I actually think it has become easier the longer I have stayed on plan. I think it helps that I don't have the starting back on the diet feeling every few weeks which used to really depress me lol

In terms of portion sizes of things like pasta and rice etc I have reduced them down as I have grown lighter. When I started this diet I was having 110g dry weight of pasta / rice (no idea why I chose that amount I just know it seemed a hell of a lot smaller than the 250g approx I was eating pre-diet ). Then approximately every 6-8 weeks I reduced the amount by 5g which was a small enough reduction that I didn't really notice the difference. I am now down to 70g portions and am happy to stick at that as this is the recommended serving size on the packet so I guess it is considered a 'normal' serving size.

In terms of my typical menus I am vegetarian so probably a bit different to you but a few examples are:

Breakfasts at the weekend are usually a cooked breakfast with 2 low fat quorn sausages, mushroom and spinach omelette, beans and grilled tomatoes and in the week I have either branflakes or baked oats with FF greek style natural yogurt, mixed berries and a chopped apple

Lunches things like marmite on Hex B wholemeal toast, ryvitas or similar crispbreads with low fat cheese spread, portion of SW crustless quiche and salad, homemade veg soups etc followed by 2-3 pieces of fruit

Dinner things like chillis or bolognese or lasagna, cottage pie, pasta bakes, curries, stir fries etc made with quorn and vegetables (I eat a hell of a lot of speed foods, probably nearer half the plate is speed rather than a third). I don't drink tea and coffee so tend to use my Hex A for cheese rather than milk so I tend to put either grated parmesan, reduced fat cheddar or reduced fat mozzarella on the top of most things for extra flavor.

I don't really eat snacks between meals. The only thing I do have is sugar free sweets which I probably tend to have about half a dozen of over the course of the day and count the syns.

Hope this gives you some ideas xx

 

[Vintage Girl]

Hello again,

Have lost a few more pounds since I was last here and just crept in under the 13st mark so into a new stone bracket. My target is 11 1/2 stone but I have been thinking about changing this to 12st or even 12 1/2 st. The reason for this is I have been to the Dr's recently and although they have said that it won't be possible to have my excess skin removed on NHS so it will be staying where it is, they did estimate they I probably have about 2st in excess skin. Therefore if I still aim for 11 1/2 st at a height of 5ft 10 I am thinking I would technically be pretty close to underweight if you take off what the excess skin weighs. For me that would be pretty unsustainable and the few bits of my body where there isn't loads of skin have already gone pretty bony. It's a hard one as because of the excess skin, my dress size is probably never going to be less than a 14 -16 especially on the bottom half so I feel like I will never actually look slim no matter what I do. I know I shouldn't moan as I have come so far and its my fault that I got so big that I have been left with so much loose skin I am just finding it a bit frustrating.

Has anyone else been in this position or have any advice about possibly changing my target?

Thanks

Ellie xx

 

[buffy3256]

Hi Ellie, congrats on all you have achieved!

I am surprised NHS might no offer some help. So much excess skin can cause issues - infections etc.

I am not near target yet, but I have looked into skin removal. NHS guidelines are dependent on post codes, but nowhere will do anything more than tummy tucks.

Privately there are options - tummy tucks, boob job, and upper arm skin removal comes out around £12-£20k in total. Depending on your circumstances there may be more than 1 operation needed, hence the differences in costs. Many surgeons do offer financing, some of which is interest free.

I haven't got as far as narrowing down surgeons, but have found London/SE is more expensive than elsewhere. Also some NHS hospitals do have private procedures, which doesn't necessarily make it cheaper, but may mean you feel more confident in having found a good surgeon.

Abroad is also cheaper, but from what I have read there is mixed success.

The advice is always to research, but actually I have found this quite difficult. There needs to be a Trip Advisor site, but for plastic surgery!

Good luck - and do share if you decide to go ahead with any surgery

 

[Vintage Girl]

Thanks for the response Buffy. I see you are well on your way too, keep up the good work

Yes I was a bit frustrated with the GP's attitude, she checked for signs of infection found none and was quite dismissive when I tried to explain how my weight/size have always affected my confidence and because of the way my body looks with the loose skin things haven't improved much.

Unfortunately I work in the public sector and have been under the threat of redundancy for years with all the cuts so its not a good time for me to get finance on anything so the private route isn't going to happen anytime soon unless I win the lottery lol.

I like the idea of a trip advisor style site for plastic surgery, maybe we should try and set one up, we could end up millionaires and pay for our surgeries that way haha