Ged and Therese joined forces to lose weight
Doing the Total Wellbeing Diet program together was the final clincher that made Ged and Therese successful in finally losing weight after years of weight gain.
They both attribute some of the weight gain to what Ged calls a disastrous sweet tooth but there was never one single thing that was the cause. It was a combination of several issues that will be familiar to most Australians, like being busy at work and eating too much of the wrong foods.
In the end, both Ged and Therese were advised by their doctor to lose weight or risk diabetes and blood pressure problems.
"After I turned 40, my weight seemed to go up by 1 or 2 kilos every year until at the age of 52 I realised I was rather overweight. I joined a gym a couple of years ago and thought doing more exercise would solve my weight problem and I lost a couple of kilos but I couldn’t seem to lose more," says Therese.
It was a similar story for Ged, who says he put the weight on steadily over 30 years.
"As I got older (and bigger) it became who I was – when I looked in the mirror I saw me, not an overweight version of me, just me," he says.
"Weight gain is a vicious circle – the more weight you carry the less you seem to care about it."
The diet that worked
Ged tried a number of diets at the behest of the people around him. Before his success with the Total Wellbeing Diet, he found that most diets had 2 things in common:
- You would certainly lose weight if you followed the programs
- For various reasons, they were impossible to stick to.
That's where the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet was such a good match for Ged and Therese - it wasn't a complete change in their daily routines. In fact, they had already been cooking the meals from the Total Wellbeing Diet books but, as Ged says, they never embraced the program in a holistic way.
"I like the indulgences, so that honesty is a fundamental aspect of the program. I don’t want to give up life – I just want to be healthy enough to live it," Ged says.
"I love the menu plans," Therese adds. "After years and years of thinking about what to cook the family for dinner, it’s great to be given a menu plan for the week and also alternatives if I want to swap meals."
Big changes
The money back offer was an extra motivation for them both. By completing the program, they were able to receive a full refund on their initial fee.
Ged now walks without pain, and he thinks that alone is enough to consider the Total Wellbeing Diet a success. But since completing the program, they have both experienced complete changes in their wellbeing. Common for both is that they're now shopping clothes from the regular aisles and not struggling to find clothes that fit.
"I’m enjoying wearing clothes from my wardrobe which I haven’t been able to wear for several years," Therese says.
"My goal at the start was to fit back into a Derby Day dress which I bought 5 years ago – I can now wear it again!"
Succeeded together
"For whatever reason, this seems to be the perfect diet for me", Ged says. "Doing the program with my wife, Therese, has been a big part of my success. We encourage each other and support each other and forgive each other for being human."
"Yes, I agree with Ged – doing the program together has been a big part of our success," says Therese. "Early on we decided that we would select the same dinner each day but breakfast, lunch and snacks was up to the individual. This has worked extremely well."
Ged and Therese's 5 tips for losing weight
- Change like this is never easy. You have to really want it. This program will give you the tools – but you have to be brave enough to use them.
- Have an item of clothing which you want to fit into again – keep trying it on every few weeks until it fits!
- Use your indulgences – sometimes I have craved chocolate so it's great to be able to satisfy that craving.
- Walk at lunch time or on your way to/from work – take the kids/pet/imaginary friend for a walk – make any excuse you like, but do it. Find something active that you enjoy – then it is less of a chore. You will quickly start to look forward to it.
- Promise yourself that for the first 12 weeks, at least, you will be selfish and make yourself the priority. Don’t use excuses to slacken off.
