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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Katie Weston

'I shed 8 stone after weight loss surgery in Turkey - but now I can't stop binge eating'

A woman who shed eight stone after weight loss surgery says she has now developed another eating problem post-op.

Tisjana Woodward, 27, decided to have a £3,500 gastric sleeve procedure in Turkey after struggling with her portion sizes, which negatively impacted upon her mental health.

She also has polycystic ovaries, which makes it hard for her to lose weight.

Her surgery was a success and she went from weighing 22 stone to 14 stone.

But Tisjana, from Stratford, East London, then found her previous food problem had been replaced by binge eating.

Her weight now fluctuates and she finds herself skipping dinners and main meals for small snacks like crisps and cheese.

Tisjana before and after her surgery (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)

Tisjana has described her problem as a "transfer addiction" and, while she doesn't regret the surgery, says there are struggles that people need to be aware of.

She said: "Surgery is good, but it doesn't cure everything. Transfer addictions are a massive thing. People don't know about that and binging habits.

"Before you have gastric sleeve you can eat and eat and eat. But when you've got one you can't eat or you'll be sick.

"So people turn to other addictions to try and replace it - like spending habits, smoking, or other food habits like snack binging."

Tisjana says her situation was badly affecting her mental health, so she headed out to Turkey to have surgery in April last year.

She went from weighing 22 stone to 14 stone (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)
The 27-year-old after her gastric sleeve procedure in Turkey (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)

She had 85 percent of her stomach removed and went on to lose 8.8st (123.2lbs) through eating much smaller portions.

Tisjana, who rents out properties, said: "Before, my eating habits and portion sizes got really bad.

"I was pretty fed up with myself. I wasn't happy. I'd just had enough."

After surgery, Tisjana was given a six-week diet plan, but instead tried to overeat which made her ill.

She said: "I tried to force myself to eat and I was violently ill. I didn't see a change for six months, I was losing weight by the scale but visually I couldn't see anything.

"It took a long time to be able to see it."

Tisjana headed out to Turkey to have surgery in April last year (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)

Tisjana eventually lost eight stone, although that weight loss has since stopped too.

She developed her binge eating habit at the start of this year, and Tisjana says it's affected her happiness.

She said: "It's a massive achievement losing all that weight but I'm just not happy with myself at the moment.

"A gastric sleeve is not a quick fix - I'm happier than I was before surgery but not 100% happy."

In an attempt to stop her new habit, Tisjana keeps a food journal and shared her experience on TikTok - where she realised she wasn't alone.

Tisjana said: "I think the first thing you have to do is admit it to yourself. How I go about it is keeping a food journal - I try and document what I eat.

Tisjana says her situation was badly affecting her mental health (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)
Tisjana after the procedure (Tisjana Woodward / SWNS)

"You still have to diet like a normal person, you can't eat whatever you want.

"There are things I don't do like going in certain aisles in supermarkets, I make it my mission to get my dinner but refrain from going down snack aisles.

"TikTok has been amazing.

2I'm a very open person and as soon as I put up a video about my binging habit after surgery, I realised there are so many people going through it - I get messages every day.

"If I'm busy I won't binge, if I'm not busy I will binge all day, that's my issue.

"Nobody tells you what could happen, nobody tells you about transfer addictions, you're never told by the surgeon, which I think is crazy."

"I don't regret having the gastric sleeve. There are struggles and they're part of the journey, but they need to be spoken about."

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