9 days post-op..

I finally had my surgery! 

So, on the 19th December, I had a belt lipectomy and brachioplasty to start my journey in removing my excess skin. 

It seems a lifetime ago that I was 119kg, morbidly obese, and somewhat unhappy. 

If you feel good about yourself being plus-sized then that’s great for you, but I never did. 

How could I? I was bullied, I was often breathless, and I didn’t even want to do anything.

My life has completely changed.

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My belly button isn’t a sad face anymore, and my abdomen doesn’t resemble a ballsack! 

They took three kilograms of skin away from me.

Since then, I’ve been happy. No post-op blues, no severe pain, no inability to move – swollen, a little stiff perhaps, but happy. 

I am heavily bruised, especially around the groin. But I cannot wait for the swelling to subside and my body to reveal its true form! 

People say it’s a tough decision, having surgery, and I suppose it is – but the outcome is so much better than you could ever possibly imagine. 

If you’re in the same boat I was… do what’s best for you. There’s no time limit. 

All the best to everyone, whether happy or unhappy, small or large, healthy or not, it’s Christmas. So enjoy. 

Henrietta x 

Is this even real?

Every so often I bump into some one who I haven’t seen in ages and they mention my weight loss. It’s nice. It makes me feel like I’ve achieved something.  

  
I can’t help asking myself if this is real. Have I really done this? 

I’m half expecting to wake up from a dream I’ve had since I was 5 years old.  But here I am, weighing 74kg at a height of 173cm – making me a healthy weight. 

The other day I even managed to fit into a pair of jeans I bought about a year ago because they were the only size in stock. (Ridiculous, I know – but I wanted them and they gave me a goal.)  My point is: I’ve done it and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.. And I think that comes down to my frame of mind. 

I’ve had such difficulty losing weight in the past – so what made it easier this time? 

Shortly after I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic I was watching an episode of Jeremy Kyle, in which a mother worried for the health of her son. He was 30 years old (10 years older than myself), weighed 30 stone (again, more than me at the time by 12 stone) and he was being urged to lose weight as he was…

At risk of developing diabetes.

At risk? 

AT RISK?!! 

I was sitting there feeling highly offended at the fact that he was at risk of developing type 2 diabetes yet I already had. 

Well I can’t lie – that hurt a little bit.

Sometimes I wonder.. If I hadn’t had watched that episode of Jeremy Kyle would I have changed? Honestly, I don’t think so. I would have shrugged off my diagnosis and continued consuming everything in my path. 

So thank you to the Jeremy Kyle show for somehow making my dream a reality.    Fat-free frozen yogurt to celebrate, anyone? 

Henrietta x 

Chips just got interesting..

So it was my partner’s 21st birthday the other day and he wanted a tefal actifry. Don’t ask why – we’re like an old couple really, we like kitchen appliances. 

So today I used it. I got him the tefal actifry express XL because he is hell bent on having something that’s ‘future proof’ and it was on offer for Black Friday. (It’s normally £250 but I got it for £160).

I highly recommend it, but a cheaper model perhaps. The actifry mini makes two portions and is frequently on offer at £99.99. 

  
So it’s chip time, and I cut up 150g peeled Maris piper potatoes into chip sized chunks. 

  
Oh they do look good.

  
So I put them into the actifry like so… And I only put one portion worth in there but the capacity is 1.5kg if anyone’s interested on this particular model! 

  
So it’s famous that 1kg of crispy chips only needs 1 spoon of oil – as I was only making one portion I used a minimal amount of oil. 

  
For a single portion of chips in the express actifry I set it for 20 minutes to create crispy, beautiful chips. 

  

 
So they started looking quite nice and crispy. 

  
And can I just say how impressed I was with this machine! It’s amazing. These chips are genuinely crispy and seriously 100 times better than any chips I’ve ever had from a deep fat fryer before.

  
Hey fish and chips – looking good. 

Henrietta x 

Celebratory meals

The other day was an anniversary for myself and my other half, and as such we went out for dinner. 

Oh lord, not these struggles again. For some of you who may have read my earlier post, ‘the horror of eating out’, you might understand the levels of anxiety I was then feeling. 

But why should I feel like that when I’m celebrating something?  Surely you can still indulge in a celebratory meal that is healthy? 

Well, you can. Just do it. My secret is to find the menu online of wherever you’re planning on eating and choose your dish in advance after looking up the nutritional information of the dish. You can find the nutritional information for a restaurant’s dishes online easily. So now I didn’t have to feel guilty indulging in anything. I had a steak and rocket salad, with a side of baby potatoes because I will never live carb-free.

I even had a cheeky sharer starter with my other half. 

(And that was smothered in cheese!)

It just goes to show you don’t have to struggle with the menu there and then, with a bit of preparation you can feel good about what you’re eating.

Henrietta x