Saying that yo-yo dieter Alison Batchelor has had struggle losing weight is an understatement. The 62-year-old has lost and regained a total of 980 pounds in the last 45 years.
The Cornwall resident tried everything to lose weight including having her jaw wired shot. She began gaining weight when she was hospitalized for rheumatic fever at age 10. At age 17, she started her first diet where she only ate grapefruit at every meal.
Batchelor continued to try dozens of fad diets throughout the years but would also pile the weight back on whenever a holiday or special occasion occurred.
One day about 18 months ago, she decided enough was enough and opted to get gastric band surgery.
The surgery didn’t come cheap, so Batchelor sold her brand new car to pay for it. “People say to me I was brave,” she said. “But truly I have reached a point where I was mentally exhausted with dieting. I wanted to be fit, I wanted to stop dressing to disguise my body.”
During the surgery, surgeons shortened Batchelor’s small intestine and stapled off most of her stomach to create a smaller pouch. Her stomach is the size of a walnut, so she is unable to eat as much.
Batchelor now weights 136 pounds and could not be happier.
“For me the surgery has been the most wonderful thing,” she said. “I don’t have to think about joining diets, I just eat what I want and every morning I get up and pull on a size 10 or 12 jeans.”
“It’s incredible. I think it has changed my life. It has given me so much more confidence. I don’t have to hide under these baggy clothes anymore, I can wear what I want,” Batchelor added.
Gastric band surgery is considered for someone with a BMI of at least 40. However, it is approved for people with a BMI of 30 to 34 if they have at least one obesity related condition. Some people lose weight for up to three years after gastric band surgery.
[Image via Shuttershock ]
