Ali

• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
•  

The week before my operation I was terrified, since I can remember I didn't just love food, I was obsessed with it, and this operation meant that I was never going to be able to enjoy food again, so I thought.

I am 21 yrs and an elite athlete, I have been apart of the NSW Institute of Sport for equestrian for a number of years. I have represented NSW 8 times as a young rider, been apart of the national Mitsubishi Young rider Squad (9 are selected) and represented Australia twice. My fist goals in life were to ride at the Olympics. That is still my goal and dream today, only I am so much closer to achieving this dream then what I was at 7yrs. But my goals, dream, everything that I had strived and sacrificed for was going to be canned because I was battling with weight problems, and I was told 'drastically loose weight or forget about riding!'. I had tried so many diets for a number of years, but I could not even loose 1KG,but kept putting it on, so in my last hope to save everything, I booked in for a gastric band. Now all I think is 'why didn't I do this earlier and what was I so scared of?'.

I would not say that I was the best patient or stuck to the rules (I do like to drink beer and eat chocolate), the only thing I struggled with was the fluids and puree diet. But if that is all you have to worry about, then your laughing.

From the moment I woke up after surgery I had a huge smile on my face, and I remember the nurse talking to me, asking me why I was so happy, when most are groggy and grumpy? I said "this is it, I've done it, I am never going to be this fat again, I have so much to look forward to, so many clothes I have saved that I grew out of that I am going to wear again, so many new clothes I would love to wear, from now on, my life is going to be so much better!" I think the nurse thought I might have had some grazy reaction to the anaesthetic, but looking back, I was 110% right! My life is so much better now.

As a child growing up, I was always subject to bully, I seeked counselling when I was 10yrs, but that didn't help, I had a case of really low self esteem, and there was nothing anyone could do to help me. I first felt conscious about my weight when I was 11yrs. I had recently been diagnosed with Ostial Chondritis Dissecans in my knees, and was told to quit all sporting activities (although the doc knew that horse riding was excluded in my books from that), So I had gone from a very active child to nothing, the beginning of my weight probs!. It was clear to me that I was always going to be fat, unliked and there was nothing I could do about it. I was heading into depression in my own kind of way.

I know to a lot of people reading this, people who are thinking of having the opp or people who already have been through the opp may say "your max weight was only 92kg! That's my goal weight to reach in a year!" I heard a few people say that. I guess you could say I was a special case. A background of family history with diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, it was only going to be a matter of time before I ended up in the same boat. I acted quickly reducing the risk of Surgery and reducing the risk of deteriorating my health. So if you are thinking about getting the band, YES this is what you want to do and do it NOW!!

Through out the last year, I have still not dieted, but rather tried to stick to a healthy, balanced diet, and exercised everyday (its my job to being a farmer and horse trainer). I now think of the surgery as the easy way for weight loss, because you have so much support behind you from the amazing people at IWC, their positive attitudes make you want to strive harder and succeed your goal weights. For a number of months I was ashamed and embarrassed about the surgery, fearing that people would judge me and criticize me, but the more people I told the better I felt and everyone would have such an encouraging response to your success, they would tell me how brave and committed I was, to change my lifestyle for the worst (as they saw it), just to loose weight, how it would be seen to some as heroic!  I am now so proud to announce that I went through with the operation and never gave up, I just hope that someone reading this will get the inspiration and the courage to do the same, I guarentee you will not regret it.

Now back to the food and how I felt through the process of loosing weight. I started with out noticing anything after the first band fill, I thought you beauty!! I'll be able to eat everything still, ha ha ha, I was wrong! After my second band fill, I found I could not eat beef (unless it was our own beef that we raise on our farm) most Chicken, carrots, bread prawns and quite a few other things. Now remember this was in the first couple of months. But as I started thinking to my self, this is crazy, there must be something I am doing wrong, I tried to do things differently, like when cooking chicken, using thighs and keeping the meat moist and vegetables, I would cook them so they were really soft. But the key to eating now comes down to really small mouthfuls, and chewing heaps. I can now eat what ever I want, but I have to be sensible, the things I now that are difficult, I am happy with just having a taste, and I can honestly say that I DO NOT MISS FOOD. I have also found that with my eating habits changing, so are my taste buds, I could never eat Spinach, milk, eggs, fish (especially smoked) and oysters, I hated the taste and thought of them, now these foods are apart of my everyday diet, along with chocolate and ice cream it just comes down to moderation, and be happy for just a taste. I used to crave junk food, fried food BAD food and lots of it, I now crave healthy food and have so much more enjoyment cooking (now that I have new tastes there's so much food to experiment with) and I appreciate the sensations different foods have to offer.

And my confidence and self esteem is in really good shape, I feel so proud of myself and feel that there are no limitations in life. My riding, and the track to winning gold at the Olympic is on track, I have no more boulders in the way. I now weigh 64kg and I'm a size 10-12 (used to be 16 and that was tight). I would recommend this operation to anyone, it will be the best thing you can do for yourself. If you are scared or going through a tough time with the weight loss, just smile and tell yourself that there is much better things coming your way, just give yourself time, and lap up the rewards, and know that you will never be overweight again. These thoughts really helped me.  The band has changed my life in so many good ways, I never thought were possible, I don't look back at what I used to be, I look forward at what I am going to be.

My success could be yours, its not that hard, infact the hardest part is booking yourself in for the operation, once you come out the path is paved. My parents sent me in as a 'gunnie pig', they both have now had the operation done, and are losing the weight, there only regret is that they didn't go in when I had mine done. You'll be surprised at how easy you do adjust to new habits, as I once read, this operation really works on your brain then anything else, it feels like my brain has been operated on then anything else.  I want to say a big thankyou to everyone who helped me. I owe you my life, as that is what you gave me back.