SLIMMERS’ SECRETS

The month of November 2002 was probably the worst time in my life. My weight had ballooned

after the birth of my daughter, Denise, in May 2001. At 94kg and 163cm tall, I was the biggest I’d ever been.

I’d only just recovered from postnatal depression when doctors found a cancerous cyst on one of my ovaries.

I had surgery to remove it, but later I was told I had a less than 2 per cent chance of conceiving again. Then, doctors found cancerous cells on my cervix.

“Why me?” I wept to my husband, Theo, 32.

“We’ll get through this,” he replied.

He was right, and in 2007 we tried IVF. By some miracle, our baby boy, PJ, was born in March 2008.

My whole life my weight had yo-yoed and my health had suffered as a result, so I decided to educate myself on health. I did a personal training course and in 2010 started a business, Terrific Fitness.

While researching nutrition, I learned fat helps the body absorb the nutrients from food and makes you feel full so you won’t eat as much. So in June last year, I binned all “diet” products. Processed foods and sugar were out, too.

I now keep the fridge fuller than the pantry and my family eats as much natural fat as we like. For breakfast I have scrambled eggs made with organic cream every day. We eat loads of fatty protein with plenty of fruit and vegies and have homemade ice-cream for dessert.

I came across Christine Cronau’s book, The Fat Revolution, about the diet industry’s vilification of fat, and it verified my own discoveries. I contacted her and she included my story in her next book.

Since embracing fat, Theo’s cholesterol levels have dropped and he’s lost 15kg. I now weigh just 53kg and am cancer-free.

It sounds weird, but my secret to staying slim is to eat fat!Terri Batsakis, 39, Mill Park, Vic.

When I had my two kids, Courtney in 1994 and Michael in 1996, I put on weight like a lot of

mums do — but I had no willpower either.By the time I turned 30, I was 163cm

tall and weighed 104kg. I’ll just have one slice of carrot cake,

I’d think, but before I knew it, the whole cake was gone. I’d eat six doughnuts while walking around the shopping centre and still have lunch afterwards.

When I broke up with the father of my children, my confidence hit rock bottom. In June 1997, I went to buy a skirt for a wedding. I loved fashion but the only clothes that would fit me were in the “big is beautiful” section.

“I shouldn’t be wearing this,” I said to my mum, Dina, 60. “It’s for old people.”

I struggled to do up a size-22 skirt. “I’ll get you the next size,” Mum offered. I was mortified and cried for a week.

Then I started thinking about what to do. I began by reducing my portion sizes

and joining a gym in Earlwood, NSW.

I didn’t lose the weight in one hit. I’d lose some weight, then have a break. That gave my body time to adjust and stabilise.

Over two years, I lost 39kg and reached my goal weight of 65kg. “Hello Sportsgirl and goodbye ‘big is beautiful’,” I said as I celebrated by buying a new wardrobe.

My gym offered to send me on a fitness instructors’ course and I agreed. By 2004 I had quit my job as an accountant and begun personal training full-time.

When people lose a lot of weight they often don’t know what to do next. Many regain the kilos. The trick is to set lots of little goals to keep slim.

After losing weight, my first goal was to become a fitness instructor. Next, I aimed to learn about food and exercise to change my body shape.

I met my partner, Joe, 43, in 2007. He’d also lost weight by setting achievable goals.

I still weigh 65kg and I aim to keep it that way. Luana Bortoli, 44, Roselands, NSW.

FAT EQUALS THIN

PERFECT FIT

BEFORE 94kg

NOW 53kg

NOW 65kg

BEFORE 104kg

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SLIMMERS’ SECRETS Three everyday women reveal

how they ditched their diets and still lost weight

My mum and sisters were always slim.

“It’s not fair,” I’d moan to my mum, Moya, 38.

“You need to learn moderation,” she urged.

But in 1977, at age 14, I had no concept of that. Instead I tried every crazy diet going, but they never worked.

When I left home at 18, I began fasting between binges. My

yo-yoing weight made me miserable.I tried therapy, then joined Overeaters

Anonymous in my 30s, but that just made things worse. Food had a power over me the same way drink has over an alcoholic.

By my 40th birthday in 2003 I was carrying 90kg on my 165cm frame. I’d look at women who had never suffered weight issues, including my mum and sisters, and wonder how they did it.

Then in 2006, while working as a nurse in Sydney, I was flicking through a list of adult education courses when I saw one run by Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis, the author of The Don’t Go Hungry Diet. Her one-day workshop changed my life.

“When we cut kilojoules and lose weight, our body thinks a famine is happening,” Dr Sainsbury-Salis said. “This makes us lethargic, slows down our metabolism and makes us ravenously hungry, so we binge.”

She advised eating normal, nutritious foods, but only when hungry, and to stop eating when comfortably full.

This was a revelation to me. I stopped listening to diet gurus, counting kilojoules and buying “diet” food and listened to my body instead. By 2008, I weighed 60kg.

“Now I know how you do it,” I told Mum. “I’ve been telling you about moderation

for years,” Mum said.I started exercising for pleasure, too,

and ran barefoot on the beach.That same year, I met my partner, John,

61, who had a healthy relationship with food and exercise.

Today I trust myself and my body. It’s very liberating.Paula Campbell, 49, Mildura, Vic.

1Eat slowly. “Research has shown that the faster people eat, the more likely they are

to be big,” says Dr Rick Kausman, author of If Not Dieting, Then What? Eating quickly makes it’s easy to consume more than needed.

2 Instead of labelling foods “good” or “bad”, call them “everyday” or

“sometimes” food. “We

need to encourage people to eat normally,” Dr Kausman says. “Take the moral judgement out of it. It’s normal to have a piece of cake, but understand that it’s a ‘sometimes’ food.”

3Make a fist: that’s the size of an empty stomach. “If you eat more than you need,

your stomach stretches and once it’s used to being stretched, it expects it to happen every day,” says Dr Libby Weaver, author of Accidentally Overweight. Reduce your portion size and stop when you feel full.

4You might not need as much food as your partner. If a male partner’s bigger than

you, he’ll also have a higher metabolism. “I eat my

dinner off a smaller plate than my husband, Joe,” Luana says.

5 “Within five minutes of eating fats or proteins, our brain receives a signal

telling it our hunger has been satisfied,” Dr Weaver says. But when we eat carbs, these same signals take 20 minutes to reach the brain. Include fats and proteins in every meal as this will mean you’re likely to be satisfied by eating less.

6Try not to stress about dieting — or anything else in your life, if you can help it.

Stress causes you to produce a hormone called cortisol which can slow down your metabolism and make you feel hungry.

7Many of us are emotional eaters. Learn to recognise your triggers and do

something else instead of eating. “I used to crave cake in the afternoons when I felt tired. Now I have a rest instead,” Luana says.

8 Instead of meeting friends for coffee, meet up for a walk or a fun game of tennis.

9Keep an accurate food diary. It can often be useful to keep track of exactly

what you’re eating.

10 Get a dog. Luana says walking her dog is a great way of

getting regular exercise, and they both enjoy it.

10 tips to TRIM

DOWN

BANNING THE BINGE

NOW 60kg

BEFORE 90kg

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