Clinics and Chairs my views

[Caroline Wilson]

I know there is a lot of disagreement about peoples weight, and wanted to throw something else into the melting pot.

I have always been overweight and however much I have tried to loose it, it hasn't stayed off for very long. Part of it is I have never had much support. I know my weight is my problem, but it is bloody difficult to loose weight alone. I know there are groups like Weight Watchers and Slimming World, and they do a very good job for some people.

There is a lot of help for smokers, it is always being advertised, but not much for slimmers. Food is something altogether different. We have to eat but we don'yt have to smoke.

My doctor has started a slimming group, which is brilliant, but it is in the middle of the day and I work full time. When I told my manager about i i was told I couldn't have the whole day for something that was going to last for a couple of hours because I'd be expected to go into work in the morning (an hour and a half0 and go back to work afterwards. By the time I'd done that it would make it a long day and I wouldn't get much work done.

Sometimes I feel I am between a rock and a hard place and it would be really nice to have some support when I need it most.

I know there are a lot of people who'd disagree with the way I feel and I'm not out for an argument. All I am asking is people don't judge me for my size.

 

[am64]

agree totally i once joined wieght watchers and although they taught me to calorie count they didnt help the pyscological side at all....as you say..people are overwieght for many differnt reasons... and i do get fed up of being made to feel bad because im a little round the reason i weigh so much is not cos of my belly size its cos of the naturally large T**S that runs in my family...what do i do about them? have a reduction??!!😱 ps look at the wonderful fuller females that adorn our galleries!

 

[Steff]

well said caroline ! im pleased your point of view matches mine

 

[Vanessa]

well said caroline ! im pleased your point of view matches mine

As a very experienced dieter of the yo-yo variety I've lost hundreds of pounds over the years and gained them back again. Like many I've tried the lot - weight watchers, slimming world, Atkins, very low calorie meal replacement - without ongoing success. Losing weight is ok, keeping that weight off is the challenge - one that concerns me now I have lost over 4 stone and am in the healthy range

Managed to give up smoking with relative ease though over 20 years ago. Diagnosis of diabetes has helped me get more focus on my nutrition and portion sizes but being prescribed drugs like gliclazide that contribute to weight gain does not help many Type 2s.

 

[RachelT]

Caroline, i've been thinking of the same thing myself...It's funny (perculiar, not haha) that people have to pay money to get slimming and weight loss advice or support (well, as in join the gym or hire a trainer or join a slimming club or whatever) but help for smokers, alchoholics and drug abusers is better advertised and supported by the NHS (i'm not saying this is a bad thing, help for smokers and addicts of all kinds should be freely availible). I got one hour with a dietitian, that was it. I have to pay use the gym (if there is a freebie service, i'd have to go looking for it..). Money's in short supply in the NHS i know (and boy do i know...more staff please!!!). In an ideal world, there should be NHS funded trainers and people who could help you and support you with weight loss, for less than 50 pounds an hour...Yeah, and we'd all get test strips too....
I also think the food retail industry is stacked against me, but i might just be paranoid ..
I've read some your posts before, and i'm sure you're trying hard to improve your general health, which is the important bit, not what size you are. I know it sucks though, sometimes i get very cross with myself coz i haven't lost any weight. I'm stopping there coz i'm about to go off on one...
Interesting post though...good one.
Rachel

 

[katie]

Rachel, as a person with Diabetes you should be able to see a Dietitian for free as much as you need to. Is there a Diabetes Dietitian at your clinic?

 

[Adrienne]

Rachel, as a person with Diabetes you should be able to see a Dietitian for free as much as you need to. Is there a Diabetes Dietitian at your clinic?

Ha ha that my friend is normally easier said that done. I hope that Rachel can but lots of people find it is a no. We do not have a dietician where I live for kids in the two hospitals which are two big main hospitals. The adults do but the kids don't. They had a one once who showed my friends paper plates with some food drawn on it and instead of guessing carbs, they had to guess what the food was. They guessed mash but it was rice. How useless was that !

Caroline and Rachel I agree wholeheartedly with your messages.

I went to doctor for help with weight thinking it would be available for me the same way it is for people with anorexia and smokers and I was told I could join their weight loss sessions when they started up again. Lovely I thought. I waited about 4 months (that wasn't very helpful) only to have a phone call by some jobsworth who said that the course was every Wednesday from 2 pm until 4 pm. I said that between 3 pm and 3.30 pm was school pick up and as a single mum of a child with diabete it had to be me. She said 'well you can't come then' and that was the extent of the help I got ! Brilliant.

 

[HelenP]

the course was every Wednesday from 2 pm until 4 pm. I said that between 3 pm and 3.30 pm was school pick up

Makes you wonder who organises these things - my local swimming baths does a 'women only' session, really helpful, except it runs right through the school pick up time, so is useless to any woman with children at school. Who thought THAT one out?

xx

 

[RachelT]

Clinic????

My clinic pretty much left me to my own devices once i got a GP...Pity coz the clinic is waaay more convenient for work and the staff are lovely. I was down to see a hospital based dietitian when i was first diagnosed, but that never materialised. About 6 months later i got refered to a woman for an hour in a surgery on the far side of town via my GP practice nurse (who's also lovely but very busy). That mostly consisted of eat less fat, eat more veg, get out more and did feature the paper plates. My favourite advice was in how you can get exercise by walking to work and taking the stairs as opposed to the lift. As i don't drive and at the time the lift in my block of flats wasn't working anyway, that was kind of pointless information...

Ummm, 3 to 3.30? Is there anybody in the real world who finds that at all convienient? I don't have kids or any other commitments, but i'm still at work. If you could afford to not work and have somebody else look after your kids, surely you could afford your own swimming pool or at least a personal trainer?

Helen, have i ever mentioned you have the best sig?

Rachel

 

[katie]

Ha ha that my friend is normally easier said that done. !

I said "should". I never said it wouldn't involve moving house first 😉

We have 2 or 3 at Bournemouth hospital. They seem pretty good, but I doubt they give decent advice to struggling type 2s (or 1s for that matter) ie. Maybe have a bit less carb with each meal 😉*

*I meant that as in getting better control, not about weight loss!

 

[katie]

Oh and regarding the orginal post. I completely agree with you Caroline. They should definitely provide more support for people with weight issues and they should give out more free gym membership in my opinion.

I know I keep banging on about them, but I can't stress enough how good some exercise DVDs are if you dont have much time or are self-conscious etc. The main thing it does require though is some self-motivation - that's the most difficult part!

 

[am64]

whats a good one katie? cant afford the wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

 

[katie]

whats a good one katie? cant afford the wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Oh me neither, Wish I could.

Well anyone would think I own the rights of these dvds but at the moment i'm LOVING these ones:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss...words=10+minute+solutions+dvd&sprefix=10+minu

Ive got the Yoga, Pilates, Target Toning and 'Fat blasting Latin dance mix' ones. For larger people I would advise against the Yoga and Pilates ones for now as they involve carrying your whole body weight and bending all over the place 😉 The target toning and dance one would be more suitable. Just looking at the list I would say the kick boxing one would also be suitable and any of the other dance workouts/aerobics.

For those who are further into their weightloss or who arent very overweight, yoga and pilates are reeaally good for losing that bit extra and toning up.

Not that i'm an expert 😉

Oh and they are affordable too

 

[AlisonM]

My local pool does a water aerobics class twice a week. I used to do this every week in London, until I ran too short on cash. It's ace for people like me who have 'weight issues'. Doing normal aerobics, you risk injury such as stress fractures or pulled muscles, but with your body supported in the water it's amazing how flexible you can be. Same goes for swimming. I'm going to start again just as soon as the doc gives me the all clear on the flu thing.

 

[HelenP]

My favourite advice was in how you can get exercise by walking to work and taking the stairs as opposed to the lift. As i don't drive and at the time the lift in my block of flats wasn't working anyway, that was kind of pointless information...

Lol. My favourite piece of advice was to park a couple of roads away from the supermarket and walk from there. Fine if you're just buying a loaf of bread, but I take it this woman had never shopped for a family of five, and then struggled with 10 carrier bags or more to a car parked a couple of streets away..........

Helen, have i ever mentioned you have the best sig?

Thanks. I saw it on a board at my son's school and copied it down onto my phone. I keep thinking I'll change my sig for something a bit more witty, but I like that one too much!!

xx

 

[HelenP]

My local pool does a water aerobics class twice a week. I used to do this every week in London, until I ran too short on cash. It's ace for people like me who have 'weight issues'. Doing normal aerobics, you risk injury such as stress fractures or pulled muscles, but with your body supported in the water it's amazing how flexible you can be.

I'd love to do that, but I'm just WAYYYYY to embarrassed to go public in a swimsuit 😱 Maybe in about 4 stones' time.................................... 😎

xx

 

[rossi_mac]

Evening all, you're all right it is wrong how some people/afflictions get help and others get stranded, didn't I hear that they were even giving out free heroine in parts of galsgee to see how it affects the crime rate, in the name of science!! Also about geting into shape, someone recently pointed out that round is a shape!😛 But seriously I hope you all find a way to get to where you want to be health wise. I've never needed to exercise for weight issues but have at times been and felt more unfit than mates who where seriously large geezers! And they get called all sorts, where the sense/fairness in that?!?!??
Oh regarding a dietician I've seen one twice and also wrongly identified a picture of a meal stuck onto a paper plate, I thought it was an omlette but it was a pastie!!!

 

[AlisonM]

I'd love to do that, but I'm just WAYYYYY to embarrassed to go public in a swimsuit 😱 Maybe in about 4 stones' time.................................... 😎

xx

The class I joined was all ladies who were on the curvy side. I did feel nervous at first (I'm huge), but even the instructor was, umm, Rubenesque.

 

[Adrienne]

My local pool does a water aerobics class twice a week. I used to do this every week in London, until I ran too short on cash. It's ace for people like me who have 'weight issues'. Doing normal aerobics, you risk injury such as stress fractures or pulled muscles, but with your body supported in the water it's amazing how flexible you can be. Same goes for swimming. I'm going to start again just as soon as the doc gives me the all clear on the flu thing.

I love water. My problem with swimming or doing aquarobics is that I need to be able to get to my daughter at school asap. I can't go in the evenings as a single parent and I have tried to do the swimming during the day and giving my mobile to a lifeguard and then watching him leave it in his chair while he disappears........... this is a hard one for me.

I need to start walking but I hate walking.

 

[am64]

i hate chlorine!! and it triggers my sons asthma ...but love swimming in the sea and lakes...unfortunately not very close to either!