Guest post by Annette Densham, Gold Coast.
Two years ago, I weighed 139 kilos. I was 51 and knew if I didn’t take action, I would be dead before 60. I felt like a blob and was constantly sick.
When I saw the photos of myself, I was mortified. How did I get so big? I would hide at the back of group photos, so no one could see how big I was. I thought wearing pretty kaftans would disguise my girth, but I was kidding myself. I would get ignored at shops, and people’s eyes would slide over me. I felt invisible despite my size.
After being diagnosed with a thyroid condition when I had my first child in 2002, the weight kept piling on. Being in my 30s made it easier to use diet and exercise to trim down but when my second son arrived in 2004, my thyroid packed it in and moved to the Maldives without me.
Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimotos and the weight stacked on.
Needless to say, I was miserable. I hated how I looked, and I hated walking into a room and being the biggest person there. I would forget how big my butt was and sit in chairs with arms, only to get stuck and look like an unco turtle. I would have to ask for a seat belt extender on the plane. And buying nice clothes that were not kaftans was hard.
I was miserable, but really good at putting on a happy face.
After seeing three endocrinologists, who all told me there was nothing I could do except eat healthy and exercise, which I was already doing, I found a local female GP who specialised in women’s health. When she suggested weight loss surgery to me, I was horrified. I didn’t have problems with food, or emotional eating. My thyroid had packed it in and that wasn’t something I could control. She told me there was a body of research showing that weight loss surgery not only kickstarted your metabolism but also rebooted the thyroid. So, I had nothing to lose except weight and regain my health.
So after spending six months researching the surgery, and talking to people who had it, I booked myself in July 2021.
It was certainly not easy. And anyone who says weight loss surgery is the easy way out has no idea of the challenges that come with recovering from surgery (try eating liquids and mushy food for six weeks and see how much you crave the crunch of lettuce) and totally changing how you eat, how much you eat and how often you have to eat. Even though pre-surgery, I ate well and moved as much as physically possible, post-surgery my nutrition is so much better, as I ensure that I eat a well-balanced meal regularly.
Luckily, I do not have lots of loose skin – taking collagen and lots of protein helped. And I now love cauliflower – I am sure my Mum is turning in her grave gobsmacked after all the mealtimes I refused to eat it. I am no longer a grey-area drinker. And, I make sure I eat regularly, something I didn’t do when I was bigger.
I have gone from a size 20/22 to a size 8/10. I now weigh 62kgs, a loss of 77kgs – a whole person or 15.5 of my cute fluffy dog. Life is so much better now – no more chairs sticking to my butt, my thyroid is operating in the black after 20 years of it not functioning, my heart rate has dropped, I am no longer pre-diabetic, and I can go for long walks without having to stop because my back and legs couldn’t cope with the load they had to carry.
I often catch myself when I walk past a mirror, surprised by the slender woman I now am. People do not recognise me until I speak, and are blown away by my transformation. My marriage has improved, and the whole house is much happier now than I am not dragging around the shadow of a miserable, middle-aged woman. I have rediscovered a love for fashion and love experimenting with funky looks.
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