Earlier in the year, I was offered the chance to place a bet on losing weight from William Hill bookmakers.
I would aim to lose 2lbs a week for 52 weeks, so 104lbs in total which is a shade under 7 and a half stone.
It would be a sensible, calorie controlled diet with sensible exercise and nothing more - slow and steady wins the race and all that.
One of the pre-conditions of this wager is that i obtain a letter from a "medical professional" (GP in other words) that states that I am suitable for a diet and that losing 7 and a half stone in a year won't cause me any medical issues and can be done without resorting to surgery.
Now bear in mind that William Hill get *hundreds* of these bets every year. They've also had an actual practising GP do the bet (and she won as well), so it's not like it's anything unusual.
Every single medical professional I've asked this year has turned me down flat. Every one.
And what makes it even more frustrating is that, recently, I was told that I was a suitable candidate for bariatric surgery and that it would be a good idea if I went through with it and I just couldn't believe it.
The NHS are seemingly quite willing to spend £8-£10k on an operation, and all of the risks that might entail, and yet *nobody* is willing to write me a simple letter that will achieve the same results for free.
Now the obvious, and most frequent, question is "Why don't you do it for your health?". In a perfect world, this would clearly be the way to go but I have, unfortunately, always struggled with motivation to diet. If I could wake up tomorrow and just flip that switch then I would, but, sadly, it doesn't work like that for me.
This bet *will* work though. For me, as I am, it's the *perfect* motivation. So why is nobody interested in helping ?
Why is the NHS trying to force me to do it *their* way ?
Written by
StevenToast
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Hi there - not sure if this is the right place nor are we the right people to address your rant to... we’re just people trying to lose weight. Personally, I love the NHS, and I’m sure you’ll find someone to help you. Good luck... 🙂
Welcome to our friendly and supportive forum StevenToast,
I am sorry that you can't get the necessary letter from the GP and have no idea what to suggest on that front. I can see how it would motivate you. Do you know the Doctor who took part in the challenge, would it be possible to approach her?
I think many of us have little understanding as to why the NHS are happy to offer Bariatric Surgery, before supporting and helping their patients to loose weight. We have members here who have also been offered it but, with our help and support and their own very hard work, have managed to loose the weight.
We certainly have many members who have lost 7 stone and more, here are a couple of links to 2 of their success stories -
It can take years of effort to 'flick that switch' - dieting is definitely not the answer - it gives us the idea that we are going to be deprived and also that there will be an end date. It doesn't need to be like that - starting out with the intention of starting a new sustainable healthy life style and changing some old habits can really make a difference.
Knowing that you shouldn't be eating low fat diet foods, but eating healthy fats, like full fat yoghurt, butter, cheese, oily fish, fatty meat, avocado, nuts cooking with olive oil and coconut oil and certainly cutting back on the white carbs, is a revelation for many. Eating the good fats keeps you full and you don't need much. Cutting back or cutting out the white carbs will stop you feeling hungry. Knowing the correct amount of calories to eat by using the NHS BMI calculator will be very useful and I can guarantee, make you happy to see that you are allowed to eat a lot of food, just the right food.
We are a supportive lot here, we are also here 24 hours a day, admittedly over night, you may not find many of us, but we do have members in all time zones. We cost nothing but your time and there are plenty of people here with an awful lot of knowledge and know how. Why not give us a try?
You could join in with the Wobble Warriors weigh in today and make some weight loss buddies, who I can guarantee will be very supportive and happy to have you with them - healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...
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Thanks for the responses, and sorry if this isn't the right place for such a rant.
Contacting the GP who won the bet isn't really an option - she practises in Sheffield and I live in Essex, and she's not about to provide a letter for someone who isn't a patient of hers.
But if anyone is interested, google "Dr Libby Collins" and you'll see what i'm on about.
Hi StevenToast. I have 8st to lose to get back to my former self. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to sort out my head to get there. I use to be very, very sporty which was the reason why my weight was previously manageable. However due to circumstances, I couldn’t do that anymore and goodness me those lbs soon piled up. I wallowed in self pity for about a decade and then decided to follow the nhs 12 week plan, and also tackle my emotional eating. I am losing slowly, have almost lost 1.5 sts and my important achievement is that I have found that switch. I socialise, eat and drink things that I wouldn’t normally do on a daily basis but I no longer tell myself I am a failure and blow the whole thing out of the water. I don’t try to recover any calorie overspends and just get back onto tracking my daily calories. I also don’t give myself any unrealistic challenges because I know I will get demotivated if the goal is not met. I am in a good place and I hope I don’t lose that switch. 😆. I would suggest you give it a try and look up the links provided by our admin. Best of luck 👍
The 12 week plan offers guidelines for a healthier lifestyle, over a 12 week period. At the end of that time, you should have established a new routine for exercise and eating and be equipped to continue with a new and sustainable lifestyle.
If you follow the link below, you'll find a link for it and the NHS BMI calculator, where you can get a personal calorie range, to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
To make navigating the forum easier, we've put all the information you'll need in a newbie pack and here's the link
Hi katliz78. Moreless has kindly provided the details. I can recommend this as it changes ‘diet’ mindset which is difficult to maintain to a sustainable healthy lifestyle mindset. Good luck 😉
Like you I have a fair lot to loose and diet plans like sw and ww just are not working for me at the moment hopefully this will help change my track! X
I basically agree with what all the other posters have said, that when a person is ready and willing to do it for themselves they can change their habits and a new way of life can be embarked on. Joining in with this forum, setting goals and taking part in the various fitness and health challenges and enjoying the camaraderie and support of the forum members, (some of whom are incredibly experienced and have great success stories themselves) can really help
I can see how the WH bet could be an incentive and if it really appeals to you I would think you could get a private GP to do you a letter for a reasonably small fee.
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