I debated whether to write about this or not, because while
it’s for the achievement of a milestone…I haven’t actually gotten there.
Yet.
When I had my first flare up, back to yesteryear (2014) I
lost a lot of weight – almost 10 kilos. The loss pushed me into the ‘underweight’
category.
I intended to put the weight back on after I got healthy
again. Months later, it was time. I could eat and keep it down, I wasn’t
running to the bathroom every ten seconds, and I could go out and live my life.
But the weight didn’t go back on – not for lack of trying.
I thought because I wasn’t being ill, that the food I ate
would pile on the kilos. Things weren’t that simple. I even remember thinking
the prednisone would make me puffy (water retention) and I would gain weight
(water) that way. But that didn’t happen either. So dangerously underweight I
stayed.
Fast forward a few years, and while I did gain a couple of
kilos, it wasn’t enough to push me out of the underweight category. I was also
nowhere near how much I weighed before I became ill.
It got to the stage where my GI referred me to a Dietician,
who suggested I upped the amount of meals and bulked up my supply of fruit
smoothies. It was an excellent suggested, but I wasn’t committed and only added
a couple more kilos to the total.
By this stage though I only had around 4 kilos to go. But
after months of sitting on the 45-46 kilo range, I was worried that I would
never achieve the ultimate; 50 kilos.
Eventually, I lost focus on my weight. I figured (and was
told by my GI) as long as I wasn’t losing any weight, then it was ok. Not
ideal, but what can you do?
I was eating. I was also feeling pretty well, so I assumed
everything was being digested ok. It was also a matter of putting on the right
weight. It would do me no good to eat foods that (while would help me gain
weight quicker) would cause me to go into another flare up due to its high salt,
or sugar etc., and resultantly be worse off than before.
Eating high-fibre (chia seeds) and healthy fruits and
vegetables would gain the correct weight. And hopefully I’d stay healthy!
But it was tough, and eventually I thought I’d never reach
my goal, so I stopped weighing myself.
Today, I had a GI appointment in which they weigh you. It’s
been over 3 months since I last weighed in at 46 kilos.
Today’s scales showed a weight of 49.9 kilos! I’ve basically
made it! I know I haven’t fully reached my goal, but I wanted to share it with
people anyway. I’m very happy that I’m almost there! It’s taken literal years
to put that weight the flare-up took, but step by step, it’s been put back on.
And more importantly – I’m in a healthy weight range. Which
is really all I can ask for :)
