Can I come on board too? It's about week 6 for me, five weeks since starting Reductil (Meridia in the US). I can't just rely on diet pills, they won't work if I don't diet and try to exercise. So I'm dieting drastically. It's not sustainable, but it's all I can do. I have six months to lose what I can, after that the pills apparently stop working.
They're supposed to curb my appetite (they don't) and also stop my metabolism from going into "she's starving, we'd better conserve energy" mode. I think THAT might be working. I'm also trying to exercise, which isn't easy with a body with muscles that simply stop working far too soon.
This week - I saw the neurologist on Monday. He tried to lecture me on how to diet and got a lot wrong. I'm afraid I got a bit cranky with him. He also looked at me and said, "Your thyroid is enlarged. That can't be helping your weight loss." He's ordered blood tests, he'll ring me when he gets the results.
On Tuesday (yesterday) I saw the GP. She checked my files and noticed I've not had my thyroid checked for probably years. So it COULD be out of whack. Just what I need - first my bladder is in trouble, then my liver, then pancreas, now thyroid?
About the bladder - I saw the urologist last week. He said if I get one more infection I go to hospital to be catheterised. They will pour antibiotics in one end and constantly rinse out the bladder over three days, at the other. Choice. Plus, even on a light diet, I always gain weight in hospital.
Over the last few days I was noticing how fast I was losing weight - I was 97 Kg when I first started, then over the next few weeks I seem to have been dropping a kilo a week. Suddenly I seemed to be losing half a kilo a day, bringing me down to 89.5 Kg on Sunday. I checked and re-zeroed the scales and it still said 89.5, so I was happy. When I wore my jeans they kept falling off my hips so I had to borrow a belt from mother in law.
I cut husband's hair on Sunday night, so he had to move the scales. On Tuesday morning I weighed myself, re-zeroing the scales as you should whenever they've been moved. The scales said 93 Kg. WHAT? I weighed myself again. 91 Kg.
husband weighed himself. He then cleverly got a large plastic bottle and filled it with 2 litres of water. He weighed himself again, holding the water.
I tried that trick as well, and found that 2 Kg of water apparently weighed half a kilo.
At the GP, I weighed in on her scales. Fully clothes, after having had breakfast, I weighed 91 Kg.
So it seems the apparently miraculous half a kilo a day was a figment of my bathroom scales' fabrication. I will probably have to use a tape measure from here.
What I'm using for willpower - the gastroenterologist who put me on these pills gave me a scare. I've got to lose weight to help my liver and to ward off diabetes. He said the pills were a perhaps better alternative (for now) to gastric bypass.
So knowing that is what he has in mind if this doesn't work, I decided to eat as if I've already had bypass surgery, but to drink water as if I haven't.
Goal weight - I can dream, I guess. Any loss is a bonus, for me. If I can lose more, I'd love it. But I don't expect to go below 70 Kg. But then, at 70 Kg, I can look good in a bikini. I'd look even better at 65 Kg, but anything lower is pre-adult weight, for me. And at 65 Kg I was always an average-to-slim adult, in my 20s. After four kids, I think 70 Kg will be the lower limit of feasibility.
Hey, for now here's hoping I can get below 90 Kg!
I'd better get my boots on and go for my walk now, before bedtime.
Here's to packing more of us into more concentrated packages!
Marg