Mum finds way to lose 10-stone after being put on 5-year waiting list

A mum-of-two who battled nightly binges of Domino's pizza and tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream has "transformed" her life by losing nearly 10 stone. Katie Chadwick, 37, was recently diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has struggled with binge eating since her early 20s. "I believe my undiagnosed and uncontrolled ADHD contributed towards the binge eating," she said. "I was looking for an endorphin hit constantly, and binge eating gave that to me.

I ate my feelings." Katie, who runs a cleaning business and is also a caregiver, would indulge in large takeaway dinners up to four times a week, her go-tos being Domino's pizza, kebabs, fish and chips, Indian and Chinese. She said: "I would have a huge dinner in the evening such as a large pizza, followed by a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's or Haagen-Dazs along with packets of crisps.

"Ben & Jerry's and crisps were a big thing for me." Katie began piling on the pounds after the birth of her daughter at the age of 20 and "struggled to get out of bed" due to constant aches and pains. "My weight affected me being a mum 100 per cent. We never did family holidays or days out," she said.

Her turning point came after being referred to the NHS [1] Why Weight service post-COVID, where she learnt she was eligible for weight loss surgery with a BMI of 44.

But after being put on a five-year waiting list for weight loss surgery on the NHS, Katie began researching alternatives and came across Weight Loss Riga [2] in Latvia. "I decided to look into going abroad to have the surgery," Katie said. "I looked into two or three other clinics, but Weight Loss Riga came up as the best option during my research." After undergoing thorough health checks Katie was deemed fit for a gastric bypass. "It went amazingly well and I recovered extremely quickly with the help of the surgery's amazing aftercare support," Katie said.

"After just two and a half weeks I was living a normal life and doing the school run again, I felt completely transformed." Following the surgery, Katie has dropped more than nine stone - from 19 stone to 9.5 stone - and gone down from a dress size 22 to a size six. She said: "I now have a much healthier relationship with food.

I still occasionally have the urge to binge eat, but it makes me very poorly.

"Now I enjoy all the same foods as before, but in much smaller portions." Revealing a typical day of eating post-surgery, she said: "I will have one crumpet or a slice of toast first thing, followed by half a protein shake as a snack mid-morning. "If I am not working, lunch is usually beans on toast or half a bacon sandwich. I always try to make sure there's a bit of protein."

She added: "My dinners haven't changed in what I eat. I will enjoy spaghetti bolognese, pizza and jacket potatoes and cheese - just much less of it." While she sometimes misses overindulging in delicious foods, especially at Christmas time, Katie said she is happy to be binge-free and feels like a "completely different person mentally".

She said: "Before I was snappy, moody, very sad and would start arguments with my husband. Now I feel happy in myself and in turn my children are happier and my marriage has improved massively."

Dr Igors Troickis, a leading bariatric surgeon at Weight Loss Riga [3], said: "After gastric bypass surgery, patients eat less due to their smaller stomachs, aiding in sustained fullness with reduced food intake.

The procedure also resets the metabolism, breaking the cycle of weight loss and regain which is common with many struggling with diets."

References

^ NHS (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^ Weight Loss Riga (weightlossriga.co.uk)
^ Weight Loss Riga (weightlossriga.co.uk)