Weight Loss

Your new beginning starts now...

For most of my life, I have been consumed with food, always looking for the new diet that would help me lose weight with no hunger or deprivation. I was desperate to find the easiest way to lose my unwanted kilos, never finding anything that suited me and so my ongoing battle with the bulge continued well into my late 30’s. I knew I had a problem, a problem that had plagued me all my life.

"What was the moment that changed everything for me? When I look back I know it was the photo taken of me at the beach in my swimming costume".

I was hitting the scales at 220lbs and getting fatter every day. I felt unwell, unhappy and embarrassed about my size, but when I saw that photo, it was like a slap across the face, a reality check. That day back in January 1992, I knew I had to make some very big changes to my life if I was to have any quality of life in the future. That was the day that I gave up on dieting and instead became a healthy person. I knew that if I thought and acted like a healthy person there is no way that I could weigh 220lbs. That photo changed my life and helped me to lose 77 lbs in 20 months.

If you are feeling fed up and want to be healthier then here are some tips to get you started:-

1. Forget all the past diets, failed attempts and bad memories. Begin now with a new attitude and a new belief in yourself
2. Never give up, no matter how hard it may seem, if you keep on going you will eventually get where you want to be
3. You must change the habits that have caused you to be overweight in the first place. Look at how much you are eating because I guarantee that you are eating more than you should be. Portion control is one of the most important parts of moving from an overweight person to a slim person
4. When you go to eat something ask yourself “will this nourish my body or hinder my body?”. Don’t weigh yourself down with rubbish food. It will only slow you down, make you unhealthy and slow down your weight loss
5. This is a lifestyle changed not a diet. This is who you are now, a healthy person, no turning back. Look to the future and know that if I can do it so can you.
   

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Annette's Health and Wellbeing tip - Being a Healthy Person (818 KB)

Annette's Health and Wellbeing tip - Weight Loss (728 KB)

What is your story?

As a society, we are more overweight than ever before in history. I remember well, how it felt to weigh 220lbs and it is not much fun. Having to carry around all that weight means getting out of a chair, sleeping and movement in general can all be a challenge. One of the things I have noticed whenever I talk to someone who is overweight is that we all have a story, a story that explains why we are overweight. For example when we had just moved to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia back some 18 years ago and I was talking to a new friend who was also overweight. We were doing the 'poor me' thing and sharing our ‘story’ on why we were overweight. When I explained that it was due to my last baby Jenna weighing 9lbs and that I had never really got over that, she then asked me how old Jenna was and I laughingly said she was 7 years old. Had I said she was 7 weeks or 7 months old then, yes, it was a good reason but this kid had been at school 2 years. I had a good laugh at this and realised that I either had to get a better excuse or maybe I needed to really look at what really was the true story.

"In reality my story was that I was not taking responsibility for myself, eating way too much and was not at all active".

I was eating with little regards to the consequences and it showed, I was morbidly obese and was very unwell. So now I ask you what is your ‘story’, why are you overweight? I now want to ask you then whose fault is it? And what has stopped you from losing weight? These questions need to be answered and you then may be able to know what excuses you are telling yourself. This could be why you self sabotage your weight loss efforts. Now try and scrabble your thoughts and make up a new ‘story’. It could go like this…..

"I am in control of my destiny and I will do all I can to be the best I can be"

...or you could say my story is that I am a healthy person and will do what a healthy person does by eating, thinking and acting the way a healthy person does. Finally I would like you to now write down how your life will change when you lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle. This is what you need to focus on and this way you will be able to look to the future in a positive way, no more excuses, no more stories just a positive attitude.

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Annette's Health and Wellbeing tip - Affirmation (869 KB)

Tips to weight loss success

1. To have good health and wellbeing you must have an eating regime that has variety and balance, which includes all the food groups. Eating in moderate amounts is really important, as most overweight people have lost the concept of normal sizing. Also include exercise into your day. These tips are what I believe are the keys to weight loss success -
2. Make your kitchen a healthy zone and throw out all junk food. What food should you have in the house that will keep you on track and committed to losing weight? Be your own best friend in all ways, so love, honor and protect yourself so that you can achieve the outcome you desire.
3. Learn how to cook your favourite recipes low fat and learn how to enjoy your food guilt free. It is important to make time to do this as you will get bored and give up if you don’t. My recipe book has loads of ideas that will help you feel satisfied and happy to continue for how ever long it takes for you to reach your goal weight.
4. Making changes like I have just suggested will help you to also keep your weight off long term. Maintaining can be quite a challenge, especially if you haven’t taught yourself how to eat moderate amounts.If you haven’t learnt how to make healthy choices you may regain your weight, which is what happens to most people who go on restrictive, crazy starvation diets.
5. To become a healthy person is easy as long as you have the right attitude. All need have to do is mirror what healthy people do, copy them in every way and before you know it you will be one too.
6. Have a balanced diet where you eat quality proteins, choose the good carbohydrates to eat, make sure you have fiber in your diet and don't go lower than 25g of fat in your day.
7. Get active. The best way is to start going for 30-45 minute walks 4-5 times a week or swim, dance, jog, aerobic workouts, whatever it is that you will enjoy doing. Just as long as you get off the couch and get your heart rate pumping. This in turn will help you lose weight, tone your body and create a fit and healthy you.
8. Above all believe in yourself and don't let anything stop you. If you never give up you will eventually get where you want to go.

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Thinking about dieting? Here are some tips...

Most overweight people are prone to overeating and lack of physical activity. Here are some suggestions if you are thinking about going on a healthy program:

1. Make changes gradually. Don't expect to become a healthy person overnight, if you change your habits too dramatically then you may find it too hard to stick to the routine. Make changes gradually and permanently. For example if you hate no fat milk then start with one that is in between the full fat and the no fat milk. You will be amazed how after a while you may find that no fat milk is fine. Remember you have to start somewhere, so start now.
2. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruit and vegetables. Experiment and try lots of different ways to cook using these food groups. It is recommended that yo have between 2-4 serves of fruit and 3-5 serves of vegetables a day, 2 dairy choices and moderate amounts of carbohydrates and proteins.
3. Moderation is the key to weight loss success so the recommended size of meat you should have for a main meal is around 3-4ozs or similar in size to the palm of your hand. A serve of fruit should be a medium piece of fruit (5oz) and in general keep your portion size reasonable. The perfect plate of food, as I see it, should be a quarter carbohydrates, quarter protein and the other half of the plate filled with vegetables or salad.
4. Know your weaknesses. To become healthier you first need to know what you are doing wrong in the first place. A great way to see where you are going wrong is to write down everything you eat for a few days, see how much of each food group you are having. Is there one that you are eating too much of?
5. And finally remember dieting doesn't work. I mean think about it -the first 3 letters in the word 'diet' is 'die'. Dieting consists of hunger, deprivation and weight gain. Instead come into my world and choose food that will benefit your body not just your taste buds.

By getting your mind, body and soul in top condition you can achieve a long and healthy life. Its up to you in the end, just remember we have only one chance at it, we can't trade our bodies in for a better model later in life so look after the one you have now and reap the rewards now and in the future - I know you can do it.

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Annette's Health and Wellbeing tip - Forget Dieting (749 KB)

Fad Dieting

I am amazed at the array of diets that are promoting quick and easy weight loss. There is always someone sprouting crazy promises to desperate people who are looking for a quick and simple solution to lose weight. It seems so easy to put the weight on so why is it so hard to lose it? Cutting down on the amount of food you eat and being more active are the best ways to get started but if you are looking for an easier way to shed unwanted pounds then be warned - doing fad diets can make you fat. I talk to so many people who are desperate to find the magic answer to lose weight and if you think a pill or a shake is going to do it for you then you’re sadly mistaken. Here are some tips -

• The soup and shakes diets are popular, and to be honest for a couple of weeks at the beginning they are not such a bad thing, but long term forget it. Very few, if anyone, can keep it off doing it this way so what’s the point? To lose weight and maintain the loss means you must make a lifestyle change. Not just a quick fix.
• Diets that cut out food groups means you will be deficient in nutrients and miss out on vitamins, minerals and fiber. This means you may develop bowel problems, feel weak, tired and lethargic and have headaches.
• Eliminating carbohydrates is another big fad right now and this really concerns me. Carbs are what nurture our brain and I don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get with mine. Simple carbs that have sugar need to be eaten in limited amounts but the complex carbs are the healthy choice. Never cut these out completely as they give you energy, they are whole wheat breads, oats, rye, rice, fruit and vegetables. I ask you how long can you go on a diet that makes you feel guilty over eating a grain of rice? Eventually it will get too much for you and you will revert back to your old ways and watch the weight return.

Learning how to lose weight the healthy way means you can maintain your ideal weight long term, just as I have done for the last 16 years. Crazy diets are just that – crazy. Fad diets are just that – fads that come and go. I suggest that you follow my 28 day weight loss plan in my book Symply Too Good To Be True as you will find it not only healthy but above all satisfying and it is even suitable for people with Diabetes - happy slimming.

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Two Roads You Can Take

I have done many presentations, to thousands of people, on how to lose weight and be a healthy person and one of the most important messages you need to heed is - If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

• Too many times I hear people say how they find it too hard to lose weight or that they just can’t stay on diets for very long. I understand better than anyone how challenging it is but if you don’t do anything to shed those unwanted pounds, ask yourself what will happen? Giving up will only cause more weight gain and health concerns. Imagine just for a moment that you could see a picture of yourself at your ideal weight. How would you look? I bet you would be smiling from ear to ear and feeling very proud and happy. Let’s imagine right now that you are going to take the right road to success. As with a street map, you will need to get yourself a map of what you want to achieve so you know where you are going, how are you going to achieve this and how long will it take. I also think it is a good idea when making goals to set a time frame on the goal but be realistic. Sometimes when we take our eye off the target we get side tracked or hit a bump in the road, but it will only be a problem if you stop and don’t continue on the journey. Think about it - what must you do to turn what you desire so much into a reality?
• Get a diary or journal and write everything down that you eat and how much you eat for at least 2 weeks.
• Clean out your pantry and fridge so that when you are feeling hungry you won’t be tempted.
• Have lots of healthy snacks and make recipes from my cookbook so that you have tasty food you enjoy. For example, if you are getting chocolate cravings, then make one of the chocolate recipes such as the Chocolate Slice or my Chocolate Mousse Pie.
• Focus on the positives. Forget about what are you missing out on i.e. pizza and a beer on Friday nights. Instead think about how good you are going to look and feel if you make my Pizza Strudel and salad and have a light beer instead. You won’t feel like you are missing out, guaranteed.
• Don’t give up. No matter how bad your day or week has been, get back on track as soon as possible and keep going. If you never give up you will eventually get where you need to be.

Exercise

I remember when I weighed 220lbs the only form of exercise I did was to walk into the kitchen. My workouts consisted of lifting food out of the fridge and into my mouth. We all know how important exercise is, ignoring it like I used to isn't going to help if you want to lose some weight and have a better quality of life. If your daily routine consists of stuffing massive amounts of fatty foods down your throat and doing little if any exercise then be warned, under-active bodies can begin to show the signs that all is not well. Here are a few signs to watch out for - shortness of breath, no stamina, high blood pressure and pains in the chest. All these are warning signs to be heeded. Don't wait for a health scare before doing something about it. One of the reasons I lost 70lbs and have stayed at my goal weight for 16 years is because I became an active person. When you are active your metabolism accelerates, which means you become a fat-burning machine. Long after you have completed your work out your metabolism will continue to work for hours afterwards. Here are some tips to get you started –

Start slowly with a 5-10 minute walk and gradually build it up to 30-40 minutes at least 4-5 times a week.

Wear comfortable clothes and a hat that gives you room to move and protect you from the hot sun. Wear good quality joggers that have arch support and are leather.

Do some stretches before taking off, this way avoiding needless damage to the ligaments and muscles.

Vary your exercises so boredom doesn't set in. There are lots of ways apart from walking. Really any activity that gets your heart pumping is great.

Look at other ways to help tone muscles, the more muscle tone you have the more the body will burn fat. Lift weights or walk up stairs (instead of lifts or escalators), exercise bike or walk, step or treadmill machines.

People who exercise will lose more weight and keep it off longer than someone who does no exercise. Remember you are the one that holds the key to your future health, so step up and do the right thing and enjoy living your life with energy, so grab your runners and get moving.

30-40 minutes of exercise 5-6 times a week is recommended for weight loss and for maintaining weight 3 times a week. I know you can do it so step up and slim down.

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Annette's Health and Wellbeing tip - Be Active (864 KB)