Weight Loss Wednesday - New Member!

Hi Lovlies,

I have been doing Weight Loss Wednesday for a while now, as you know I follow weight watchers but I was thinking the other day that I wanted to make this post more versitile and something that will reach out to people following all sorts of weight loss plans!

With this in mind I want to introduce the newest member of Weight Loss Wednesday......Sophie, here is her story......

Hi, My name is Sophie I'm 31 next month, been married to Simon for over 12 years and we have 3 children. I work part time as a Pensions Complaint Handler. To say I have always been massively overweight wouldn't be an exaggeration, when I started secondary school at 11 I was already a size 22-24 and just got bigger, I was a size 28 at 16 when I left school! My memories of school from an early age until I left involve regular weigh ins with the school nurse and visits to the Children's Hospital including a two week stay after my GCSE's to see if I could shift some weight under close supervision. It was a last ditch attempt and I lost a couple of pounds!

My mum passed away when I was 18 from weight related illness, I had been her main carer through out my teens. I had my first child 9 months later and slowly gained more weight, at my largest I was a size 32. I did at times try to take control and tried various diets including Weigh Watchers and tablets from the Doctors the most I ever lost was 16lbs, I would lose will power and slip into old habits.

When my youngest started nursery in 2008 I joined the gym and built up my cardio and swimming. I know I didn't have the eating side of things right so didn't lose a great amount. In Oct/Nov 2011 I had a really bad chest infection which went on for 10 weeks and led to me being referred to the hospital. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnoea and a lung condition. Around the same time I was diagnosed with inter-cranial hypertension (pressure on the brain). All these conditions could be improved or reversed all together with weight loss. It was then I spoke to my GP about surgery and she was happy to refer me to the Bariatric team as with the above conditions I now qualify for surgery. I first saw them in Feb 2012 and have seen various members of the team who have helped me lose over 4 stone. The key for me is not thinking of it as a diet but this is it for life. I have got my portions under control and if I want some cake or chocolate I can - just in moderation. I still go to the gym 4-5 times a week and should have my op in the next couple of months. 

One other thing that is a big motivator is I'd like to get to a healthy weight as my husband is in end stage kidney failure and has been on dialysis/the transplant waiting list for 3 yrs - his consultant agreed to test me as a possible donor if I can get to a healthy weight! He had an untreated infection as a child so his kidneys stopped growing - was amazing they lasted as long as they did!

I don't have a goal as such just to be happy and healthy, I want to see my children grow up and meet my grandchildren....I'll keep you posted!!!

I'm really looking forward to following Sophies story and I hope her story / journey will inspire and also give an insight to weight loss surgery. When I asked Sophie if she would be part of WLW she said she found it hard to find real life stories about having the band fitted and the ones she did find where based in the US so hopefully this will help people in a similar position.

If you have any questions feel free to comment below.

Also if you are following a weight loss plan and would like to be a member of WLW please get in touch for more info.

Grace xoxo