BigMoFos Week 14

[WigWamBam]

New week, new thread, hopefully less "stayed the same"s this week

And huzzah for you too lemonaid, for getting straight back on the wagon and not beating yourself up about it.

well done flutterbee and to all who lost or stayed the same, a small victory in its own right IMO!
we've had a wierd night, dh went to drs as he has had a couple of patches of alopecia develop over the last 8 months I guess. We had both put it down to stress but she wants to blood test him for all kinds of things-kidneys/ liver/ thyroid, cholesterol etc, his blood pressure was also a bit high and she told him he seriously needs to lose weight (he is 6 4 and about 21stone) as he is at serious risk of diabetes, as it runs down both sides of his family.
we are wondering whether to go to her as a couple and ask her for help with dieting. the thing is, i guess its the same for all of us, we know what we should be eating and what exercise we should be doing but its our heads that let us down, i remember hearing someone talking on tv about overeating and saying "alcaholics can give up alcahol, as can drug addicts, but overeaters still have to face their addiction everyday & how many alcaholics could stay dry if they had to drink"
i'm sorry to rant, but it pisses me off, people being seriously overweight costs the NHS millions yet there is so little help out there, we are expected to do it all by will power.
sorry to rant, i'm off to comfort eat until i have bought my scales and been to the drs myself

Some areas do have a programme to help people lose weight which includes gym classes. I've got a feeling that Hub knows about it - when he wanders along, he can tell you what he knows.

Just thought all you London MoFo's might like to see this thread about Hub2dee's Birthday picnic

I live too far away, but thought that some of you London people might be interested.

But it's [crosses self] north of the river...

I had a very weird day yesterday. I didn't think about food (I am extremely stressed. You know how you blank out and binge (I'm sure someone one here does ) well I thought I must have done that but actually I hardly ate at all yesterday Very odd. This has only ever happened to me once before in my 30 something life!

Justamum, sorry to hear about your dh. One of the reasons I'm being serious about losing weight now is that my blood pressure keeps being too high. If you look at it one way, it's a bit depressing to find you have medical reasons for having to lose weight; but if you look at it another way, it's quite positive, because it's soooo motivating - so much more so, I find, than a vague desire to look thinner. Also you can stop anyone mucking up your attempts to avoid greasy/sugary food, by saying what your health reason is; and I'm afraid I rather noisily demand support from time to time by reminding dh that I might die if he doesn't help me. Drama queen? Moi? Never.

Winnie - know what you mean about blanking out and bingeing - been there. Glad it didn't happen to you yesterday, though. But don't forget to eat completely - or you'll end up thinking 'I haven't eaten anything much, so I'm allowed to eat this huge bar of chocolate' (or whatever). At least, that's what I would be tempted to do .

me too JackieNo

Some opinions and experiences please girls!

I've just been to see my gp (about an ear infection) and asked her whether the surgery were able to offer any support for weight loss. She immediately said there was support available, either through regular weighing with the nurse or doctor, counselling/chatting with the nurse, or prescription medication.

Given that I'm already having counselling what does anyone think of the medication route as an aid to weight loss. Is it a cop out?

I don't think it is a cop-out, littlefish. Don't have any direct experience of the medication, but a (male) friend was on Xenical for a while, and it wasn't a case of 'here are the pills, now go away and lose weight', but lots of close monitoring, including showing a commitment to losing weight by losing a certain amount on his own (can't remember how much) before he was allowed to start on the tablets. Not sure if that's how it works everywhere, but might be worth doing a search on here and even starting a thread asking for people's experiences. As you say, you're already doing the counselling, which has to be a good thing. (Sorry - not sure that's very helpful, but it's all I know)

Thanks for your comments JackieNo - they were very helpful. I'm interested in the idea that your friend was given a target weight loss to achieve on his own before being given medicataion.

How does this medication work?

Does anyone know if you are able to take this sort of medication while trying to conceive.

I think it's something to do with not absorbing fats, which also means that if you do eat something with a lot of fat, you get diarrhoea (or however you spell it). But not very sure - could be wrong! Don't know about when TTC - I'd guess probably not, as maybe if you did get pregnant, not enough of the right sort of nutrients might get through to the baby. Again, no actual knowledget - just wittering really . Sorry.

Ooh look - there's a website (I think there are other similar drugs, but don't know their names).

And some more info here

Thank you so much JackieNo. I'll have a good look later.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

i've taken some herbal things that stoppped you absoring fat, it wan't very pleasant - bad stomach cramps iykwim, the reductil sounds more promising, i couldn't take them though as i am bf my dd.
littlefish are you ttc now or trying to lose weight prior to ttc? i bet you wouldn't be allowed to take them if ttc, but again, what do i know!

Hi Guys, well today has been great for me I had two fillings this morning one on each side of my mouth so was unable to eat anything under Dentists orders all day. OK I had some soup and muller lights.

Also I have joined WW online as their isn't a meet near to me, if anyone else is actively using it then I have the same name on their as I do on here.

Hi Littlefish, I don't think taking the drugs is a cop out as such, I think you need to do what works for you. I've thought several times about asking for them myslef but I just don;t think its the answer for me and I gather that the side effects can be pretty unpleasant. Why don't you ask her if you can try all of her offers and pick that one which suits you best after a month. I think with the drugs they expect you to lose about 7lbs on your own first.

The reasons I don;t think drugs are the answer for me are:

A - I have a LOT of weight to lose and I could not lose it all in the length of time they aould allow you to stay on the drugs (I think 1 year) so I need to learn how to diet effectively and for the long term.

B - I know I CAN lose weight using diet and exercise and I will feel better about myself doing it without drugs. It will help me to learn that I can control my food well enough to be fit and healthy and will, I beleive, help with some of the isseus I have around food. It will give me the upperhand so to speak. I do worry that I will come off the drugs and feel that I am not capable of keeping the weight off on my own without a support.

Why not try thte weighing in/counselling whilst you're losing the inital 7lbs and see what you think. I think even if you've had counselling it is worth a go with someone different - they all have different takes on things. Don't think chatting with a nurse will help - I suspect most of us know more about nutrition and what we SHOULD be doing than the average nurse!

Good luck

i think suejonez has some very good points littlefish. the drugs may help the physical side but for many of us overeating is as much a psychological thing; although this would be partially addressed by the counselling you would receive as part of the treatment. it would be interesting to know what kind of support they would offer once you came off the medication, imo there is a need to see support as a long term requirement even after the weight is lost in the manner of recovering alcaholics etc.

many good points here for you littlefish.
just wanted to say had my booking appointment today and had lovely midwife who didn't tell me off about my weight and was very helpful with ideas and told me not to be too hard on myself. SUCH a relief, feel so much better even though now have to wait til a week on Tue for scan (grr)

had a very very odd week with food. we were on a yuth camp with some kids from our church so it was obviously all campy food. Thing is i just binged on it all. I have feared having a blow out since i started this back in MAy and have been successful, until now. Hoping it was a one off... it was a lot of comfort eating, cos as much as i was enjoying it i was missing dd and normal life, and also while we were there a very sad event occured... a 15 year old boy from another church (there were 600+ teenagers there) suddenly died of a suspected asthma attack and it just hit me as a mother......

we had cooked breakfasts every day, loads of bread, loads of crisps and other crap but to be honest there wasn't the option of healthy eating argh!

anyway, i haven't weighed myself. I'll save that treat

about to go back and read the end of last weeks thread.

just signed up for xmas meet up (argh). please please let's try for a table of us lot!!!

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and opinions. I've got a lot to think about. I think I will go back and have another chat with her in more depth about the other forms of support she can offer. I totally agree with you SJ that I need to know that I can lead a healthy life without the need for drugs. My counselling is going well and I think I should just give it a bit more time.

I'm just suddenly terribly broody and know that losing weight will help in ttc, particularly if we have to have IVF.

hello alittlebitshy - welcome home. Got your text then promptly lost my phone so haven't been able to reply.

So sad about the boy on your camp - every mothers worst nightmare.

I had a massive blow out yesterday at our company away day but looking around so did everyone else. The difference for me is ... can I get back on the straight and narrow now. (Of course you can, I hear you all cry)