Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Gallbladder trouble and friendly goals

Last year we were eating really healthy for a while - no coffee, no sugar, lots of greens etc. Until one night children asked me to bake and I did. I also got a bit excited about those yummy pies and ate a few too many. Night comes and I was having really bad stomach pain on right side, under the ribs. I thought it must have been a really bad indigestion and would go soon. It got worse, like someone was stabbing me through my body, could hardly get out of the bed or walk. Still I didn't think it was worth while going to the emergency. Waited till morning when it was a tiny bit better and they thought it must've had gallbladder stone. Kept me in for a few hours, x-ray, painkillers and sent back home. So the pain stopped eventually and could go on with my life.

For the past 4-5 days I've been starting to experience mild pain in same spot, right side of stomach, from belly button level up to under the ribs. Doctor wasn't really sure what it was and sent me back home to see if it gets worse or goes away by itself. Well, I was a bit surprised to have such an outcome so decided to do some googling when got home.

My main question was that why do I get "gallbladder" like pain when I am actually eating more healthy, less fatty, no spicy food and my weight loss has been very slow (0.5 kg per week) so why?

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases website says that 
  • Obesity. People who are obese, especially women, have increased risk of developing gallstones. Obesity increases the amount of cholesterol in bile, which can cause stone formation.
  • Rapid weight loss. As the body breaks down fat during prolonged fasting and rapid weight loss, the liver secretes extra cholesterol into bile. Rapid weight loss can also prevent the gallbladder from emptying properly. Low-calorie diets and bariatric surgery—surgery that limits the amount of food a person can eat or digest—lead to rapid weight loss and increased risk of gallstones.
So I am guessing that even though I am not losing weight rapidly but having had gallbladder problems previously maybe makes me more prone to flare ups. I also found quite a lot of home remedy suggestions to reduce the pain. I chose the one which sounded safe enough - drinking warm water with a tbl apple cider vinegar in it first thing in the morning. Maybe it is working as my stomach pain has been reduced a bit. I really want to keep going with my weight loss, I would have done it slowly anyway. I even set some friendly goals until our NZ trip, let's see if I can achieve those:

2016

08/08 Weight: About 85kg
Starting with food diary and exercise 30 mins/day, not counting calories and not snacking a lot 

31/08 Goal: 84.5kg ACHIEVED - 84kg  Lost 4 cm in total
Calorie counting + exercise at least 30 mins/day
MyFittnessPal has calculated 1540kcal per day for me, that seemed reasonable enough

NOT ACHIEVED GOALS
30/09 GOAL: 82kg
31/10 GOAL: 80kg
26/11 GOAL: 78kg
2 weeks trip = focus on maintaining, not realistic to lose weight while not able to cook all the time