A woman who was told she could go blind if she did not lose weight said the horrifying diagnosis motivated her to lose five stone.
Gill Worsley, from Wigan, said being told she could lose her vision late last year was the turning point in her health battle. She said a weight management service, run by her local council, has helped her better understand her relationship with food and how it linked to her childhood trauma.
She told the Manchester Evening News : "The first year I was up and down with it, but I then got diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH). I was told I had to lose weight or I may lose my eyesight. This definitely made me sit up and listen more."
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“At the weight management program, you have both group and individual support, from dietitians, doctors, physiologists and occupational therapists. There are many different courses/groups to join which gives you a better understanding of why you have issues with food.
"The staff were amazing, and so understanding and made you realise you were not the only person who had these feelings or patterns of secret eating, binge eating, then feeling bad and hateful about yourself, which in turn makes you turn back to food for comfort. I was given the support and encouragement to go and see a private counsellor who helped me with a lot of past trauma.
"This made me realise I was hiding behind my weight and using it was almost a security blanket.”
This help she received is one of 11 programme pathways run through Wigan Council’s ‘Lose Weight Feel Great’ Be Well strategy. Lose Weight Feel Great is a free weight loss service to help you lose weight and keep it off.
From team sports to one-to-one support, Wigan Council says it aims to help residents find the right way to lose weight and feel great. Using this programme, Ms Worsley now believes she has the knowledge and skills to lose weight and keep it off in the long-term.
She continued: “I have a totally different mindset and attitude towards food now. I use a free online food diary called my fitness pal which keeps me accountable to what I am eating and I joined an online gym called Team RH and they have given me the tools I need to carry on with my weight goal.
“It took three years all together with my weight going up and down a lot at the start, but I feel like a different person. Don't get me wrong we all have bad weeks or even months, especially around holiday time, but I know I can get straight back on it now.
“Some of the people on the programme were going down the weight loss surgery route but I wanted to be able to do this and learn for myself so I can help and guide my daughter with healthy food habits. I am sure this program isn't for everyone but it changed my life.
“If I had not joined Specialist Weight Management Service I truly believe I would still be on that rollercoaster, feeling depressed, upset with myself, in denial about my past experience, covering up my emotions and in a downward spiral of unhappiness.”
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