How one woman battled to reduce her size and save her life, by Omonike Odi
In January 2013, Liz Taylor was at her heaviest, tipping the scales at 155 kg on a 5' 8" frame and with a Body Mass Index (BMI) that put her in the danger zone. She was pre-diabetic and hypertensive and her feet had swollen from a size 7 to a size 10. She constantly experienced body aches, migraines and fatigue and occasionally suffered bouts of depression over her weight.
But by June of the same year, Liz had lost a significant amount of weight and was in a healthier, happier place.
Things came to a head when Liz had a premonition that she wouldn’t live long if she didn’t do something drastic to reduce her size. She considered surgery and finally settled for a Sleeve Gastrectomy, a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 25% of its original size, giving it the appearance of a sleeve or tube-like structure.
But surgery was just the beginning. Liz also had to make difficult changes to her lifestyle as she had been warned by the doctors that surgery alone would not guarantee weight loss, but the right combination of consistent exercise and a disciplined diet will give her the results she wanted.
Liz learnt to use kettle bells and enrolled for swimming lessons, learning to swim several laps in six weeks. The scales soon started to agree with Liz’s new mindset.
She altered her diet; removing bread completely, swapping sweet drinks for tea and experimenting with healthy recipes. She soon developed her own nutritional dishes full of healthy Nigerian foods.
She was definitely far from the days when she couldn’t find her size in clothes stores, days when the automated voice in the anti-intrusion security doors of banks announced “One person at a time please” when she stepped in, days when people gave her telling looks, and days when her inner voice screamed “Fat and ugly!” when she looked in the mirror.
Eager to share her progress with others who have also struggled with losing weight, she started a blog called www.dropit4life.blogspot.com where she shares diet plans, recipes for the average Nigerian foodie, exercise and dressing tips.
To those women and men still struggling, she says “it is possible.”
These days Liz is able to affirm her strength, and when the inner voice of condemnation rears its ugly head, she returns in equal measure with affirmative thoughts like; "everyday in every way, I am getting better and better by the grace of God."
Losing weight is no easy feat and for Liz it has taken everything she’s got to accomplish this life-changing goal. She knows from experience that it is one thing to lose weight and another to keep it off, but she is positive that with deliberate lifestyle changes it can be done.
More pictures below:
Liz Taylor before her Surgery
Liz Taylor after her Surgery
No comments:
Post a Comment