An Australian media personality who battled with her weight her whole life has found success by trying intermittent fasting, which has resulted in her losing 13 kilos.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Shelly Horton, 45, who originally had gastric band surgery, which simply didn’t work for her.
‘The recovery from the gastric lap banding was rough. I was on a liquid diet for a week and then blended food for a while after that. What I wasn’t prepared for was the vomiting. I vomited a lot,’ Shelly told Nine Honey.
Shelly Horton, 45, (pictured left, before and right, after) has battled with her weight her whole life but has found success in the SuperFastDiet which has resulted in her losing 13 kilos
Despite all this Shelly thought that the surgery would all be worth it in the end but unfortunately she wasn’t getting results as she only lost two kilos in the first month.
‘Two f–king kilos. More tears. More self-loathing. I tried softer foods but I just kept vomiting,’ she said.
‘Sashimi. Vomit. Boiled egg. Vomit. Once I was getting a pedicure and decided to have a fresh watermelon juice.
‘Something about the froth in the juice triggered more vomiting. It came with no warning so I actually vomited on myself – a big pink stain on my shirt, to the horror of my manicurist.’
‘The trouble was I was hungry ALL the time. It was fine that my stomach was now the size of a mandarin, but the rest of my stomach ached to be full,’ Shelly said (pictured before and after intermittent fasting diet)
Instead of thinking that the procedure simply didn’t work for her Shelly originally assumed that she was doing something wrong.
She started obsessively exercising, going to the gym for an hour twice a day and her shape was changing but the scales weren’t.
Following this she went on a 12-week program of 1200 calories a day and exercised twice a day five days a week.
Although she was going to this extreme, in three months her body only lost 2.5 kilos.
Instead of thinking that the procedure simply didn’t work for her Shelly originally assumed that she was doing something wrong
After six months Shelly only lost 4.5 kilos and she said she eventually ‘cracked it’.
She asked her surgeon to take all of the liquid out of the band so it was completely loosened.
Once the band was no longer restricting Shelly’s stomach she found she was able to eat without vomiting.
‘So, after six months of this and a grand total of 4.5 kilos lost, I cracked it and asked the surgeon to take all of the liquid out of the band,’ Shelly shared
Shelly kept up her exercise routine and soon enough weight was starting to come off but she was so mad about that lap band not actually helping, she didn’t want it to take any credit for her hard work.
Shelly then had another operation to have it removed and although she was relieved to have that ‘dumb piece of plastic’ out of her, she still felt shame at what she deemed was a failure.
Shelly then soon found out that gastric lap banding doesn’t work for a lot of people.
Last year Shelly’s weight went back up to 90 kilos and after having insulin resistance for a decade it tipped over the edge and she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
Once the band was no longer restricting Shelly’s stomach she found she was able to eat without vomiting
Last year Shelly’s weight went back up to 90 kilos and after having insulin resistance for a decade it tipped over the edge and she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes
Now Shelly was ready to try again and her psychologist, Dr Tim Sharp, told her about a program he was advising on called SuperFastDiet, which is based on intermittent fasting.
‘I’ve lost 13 kilos so far and I’ve had another round of blood tests and I’ve been insulin reisstant for about 25 years and then I had the recent diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes,’ Shelly told The Today Show.
‘I no longer have insulin resistance, I no longer have Type 2 diabetes and the amazing thing is I’ve lost 15 centimetres off my waist, which you may think just makes you look skinny but that’s the dangerous fat, the visceral fat that’s around your organs.’
Now Shelly was ready to try again and her psychologist, Dr Tim Sharp, told her about a program he was advising on called Super Fast Diet
Shelly explained that upon finding out her results, her doctor did a ‘happy dance’.
‘I actually feel really proud of myself, and I was very nervous coming out and telling everyone about this because there’s so much scrutiny but I actually wanted to say that I feel happy and healthy,’ she told the Channel Nine hosts.
‘I’m not at goal weight yet so imagine how happy I’m going to be when I get there.’
For someone who has been overweight, then obese, for more than 10 years, this is life changing.