I am the Chubster.
After having a browse on the ol' tinternet (as you do) I thought I might look up my BMI out of interest...especially as I got weighed at the hospital on Monday - bang up to date measurements, and all that.
It appears I currently have a BMI of 26.17 which means I am classed as overweight. Not that I needed the NHS website to point this out...
To get right in the middle of what is considered a healthy BMI [in this instance, around 22] it seems I would need to lose 10kgs. And I'd like to - believe me! That's a weight I always seemed to be, around 8.5 stone...just before I got really poorly. Then I went down to around 7 stone. Awful awful awful. I was a Skinny Malinky. But now I'm around 10.5 stone and, quite frankly, don't want to be.
Diet-wise, it's been pretty stable. The Crohn's medicine and accompanying side effects, not so stable. And this is evident in my ever-changing body shape...
Ideally, I would like to be a good size 10. I currently average a size 12, sometimes a 14 (if anything, to give my arm-arse* some room ha). It's not that I'm grossly unhappy at this size. It's just hard to feel like 'me', as I was always so active and weight was never something I had to worry about. And even if my weight did fluctuate, I was so body confident (but not in an arrogant way, no no!) just content.
You know when you read about drastic dieters and their photo which shocked them into losing weight? Well ladies and gentlemen, I am going to show you mine *cringes*
I cried. I wondered how I could look like that when initially, I couldn't keep any weight on?!
Me at a healthy weight
[post-diagnosis and a few months after my first operation]
Arrival of the Chubster, NYE 2011. Formerly known as Harriet.
Since the Chubster made its first appearance, I have tried to shift some pounds. But it's very difficult when eating is such a tricky little thing.
I did lose a whopping 6 kgs when I first came out of hospital this year. But it's crept back on, along with the bloat... which makes me wonder, if they could cut out my bloat like I was made of Play Doh, would I miraculously be around 9 stone?!
I've even started Googling to see if I am the only person in the world who can't lose weight with Crohn's. FYI, I'm not. I just find it quite interesting, as I was always warned off dieting because you can lose weight so quickly with Crohn's [although I seem to have missed this particular symptom for quite some time now...] But it seems there is almost a subculture of Cronhnies who - try as they might - can't seem to shift the weight and don't know why.
I read somewhere that it could be down to malabsortion so the metabolism slows right down. BRILLIANT.
I have trouble knowing what to eat with my Crohn's anyway, and it's something I often discuss with my consultants. What is typically deemed good for you in a healthy person, is not so healthy for my insides; brown rice, seeds, vegetables. I need a relatively low fibre diet, which is fine! Except it doesn't help when I can't control my weight gain as it is!
I would also happily go to the gym and get super-active again. Except I'm always so bloody tired or in post-op recovery, that I just don't have the energy to do it.
It's a never ending cycle guys! And one that I'm keen to break.
So, I have made it my mission to take back control of my ridiculous body and try my damn hardest to slim down to a size 10. I'm not fussed how much I weigh and whether my BMI is ok. I just want to feel comfortable in my clothes; and not comfortable like 'oooh jogging bottoms fit me well' haha. Comfortable like 'hey guys, I look and feel great!'
To begin, I am going to start a food diary for two reasons: detect trigger foods for the bloat and to make me aware of what I'm eating.
I think I'm going to post a few food diary entries on here - even ones where I know I've not had the best day - as it will be an incentive to keep going with it.
Wish me luck amigos!
From the Midi-Chubster
...formerly the Chubster...
formerly known as Harriet
X
*arm-arse is the bit by your armpit where you have excess skin, thus creating a skin fold which looks like a bum.