Once A Sideline Mum &
Now An Active Mum,
Paula Cured Plantar Fasciitis with Surgical Weight Loss
Paula Joseph underwent weight loss surgery and successfully lost a total of 47kg. In this episode, she talks about why she finally decided to have this transformative surgery and how it has impacted her life for the better. Luckily for Paula, she didn’t have any major health issues, except for Plantar Fasciitis which hasn’t flared up since she has lost the excess weight.
Now, Paula lives her life with hope for longevity as she enjoys spending more time getting active with her kids. For Paula, it was more about prevention rather than finding the cure. She is close to her goal weight of being under 100kg and now has the desire to achieve more great moments in life, like participating in the Gold Coast Marathon.
Show Notes:
1:35 – For me, it started in 2003 when I was working with kids on cruise ships, and part of my job was to take them to have their meals when it became apparent that we were only served things like hamburgers and pizza’s for five years. Over the course of this time, I had put on a fair amount of weight which I tried to lose by trying a number of diet fads and shakes upon coming back to shore every 8 months. Once returning to Australia for good, I fell pregnant and gained a lot of weight, which was incredibly difficult to lose.
3:48 – It was hard to lose that weight as I was already in a bad cycle to start off with, and the limited healthy options made it even harder. This is something that we tried to fight for on the cruise ships, as even our staff meals were things like cheese lasagna.
5:49 – In some ways, but it wasn’t until I went over to America and noticed how bad childhood obesity really is over there compared to Australia. I have an 8 and a 10-year-old, that I’m always mindful of what they eat
6:35 – Yes and no. I do a lot more meal prepping now, rather than just sort of eating things on the fly. Now that I have more energy, my family and I eat more home-cooked meals compared to having take-away.
7:23 – The biggest for me was suffering from plantar fasciitis, especially because I work a physical job that requires me to be on my feet for long periods of time. Luckily I hadn’t been diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure, but I knew I was going down that path. When I was on my pre-op diet, I had lost 13kg and around the 10kg mark, I could already feel a difference with the pain subsiding.
9:47 – Due to the pain from plantar fasciitis, I wasn’t able to help my kids as much, and relied on them to be more self-sufficient. Now that I’m living pain-free, I’m able to help them out more. The pain was also an excuse for me not to be more physical and to exercise which also added to the weight gain.
11:10 – I’ve always had a high threshold of pain but since losing the weight I haven’t experienced an episode yet. Winters were always the hardest and I’ve just survived my first winter.
11:40 – For the first time, I’m no longer that sideline mom! Now I’m more active with my kids, like rollerskating, kicking a ball with them at the park, even going on waterslides with them. I never knew I had some of the muscles that I do until now.
13:27 – I was fortunate that my husband and parents were very supportive throughout the whole process. One of our close friends had weight loss surgery himself, and seeing the changes in him and having his support was also an inspiration to have the surgery myself.
15:23 – I’m definitely more productive. And with the kind of work I do, it has helped massively as I manage stock which requires me to get low to the ground, so that has become much easier.
15:49 – In the past 12 months post weight loss surgery, I’ve lost 47kg which is more weight than I expected to lose. One of the biggest surprises for me was the change in my clothing sizes.
16:46 – They are very well aware, especially when it comes to me being more active with them. My 10 year old always mention’s when I’m doing the things I was unable to do before that I wouldn’t have been doing that a year ago.
18:16 – When you’re that person who is bigger in size, it is something that is always on your mind. I was always that person in the back of photographs and used the excuse of being the tallest when in reality it was about being the biggest and wanting to hide that. It was when a photo was taken of me at Christmas with the kids that I had no idea about that really opened my eyes to how big I actually was and that I needed to do something about it.
19:27 – I was actually quite excited because I was more focused on the changes that were about to happen and how the weight loss would benefit my future, so luckily for me, I didn’t have any nerves.
19:41 – Since I’m alone with the kids quite a bit, I’m unable to find the time to get to the gym, but I would really like the participate in the Gold Coast Marathon and do the 5.7km, it would be great to get the kids involved too.
20:54 – For me, it’s about growing old and being around for my kids, and to be happy and healthy together. When I was questioned about why I would access my super for the surgery, it was a simple response, why not use it now then not be able to use it all.
