Ivette fell in love with the food

When Ivette Miglis took a complimentary health check, she never expected it to say she was overweight.

“I knew I was a little chunky but not overweight. Admittedly, I did choose to wear ‘tents’ in the end to put it all behind me,” Ivette says.

Looking back, the IT consultant believes her work (hours each day in front of a computer), too many indulgences (Allen’s Party Lollies) and too many glasses of wine were the main culprits to the weight gain.

From fad diets to the Total Wellbeing Diet

“I got sucked into Dukan as everyone was raving about it. I was determined to give it a go as I thought selecting what to prepare for the week was hard enough,” Ivette says.

After four weeks of not seeing any results, however, Ivette thought the lack of variety, combined with her slower metabolism, was not worth the effort in sticking to the diet.

“The variety was minimal and food preparation was fiddly. It was also hard to do when I didn’t have time to prepare a ‘meaty meal’,” she says.

Then, after seeing a Total Wellbeing Diet success story air on A Current Affair, Ivette decided she had nothing to lose.

“There I was, sitting on the couch, feeling sorry for myself and in front of my eyes, there were people losing weight in what appeared to be a healthy and sensible way," she says. 

I was sceptical at first, thinking that it was just another diet fad but then I concluded that the CSIRO are credible in their research, and getting your money back if you were successful was a great incentive.”

Falling in love with food

Unlike any other diet, Ivette found the food on the Total Wellbeing Diet both satisfying and delicious.

“The meals were very tasty and the Italian meatloaf is a staple go-to for the house,” she says. “My favourite breakfast is the banana-date smoothie and I have never eaten so much salmon since I started this diet. I love salmon and have it at least three times a week as compared to twice a quarter previously.”

While Ivette still aims to lose more weight, she has lost 10 kg* and gone from a size 12-14 to a slim size 10 and is getting used to her new body shape. “I was always wearing bulky or flowing items to hide my curves, but now I don’t mind my curves and I'm slightly more confident in wearing fitted tops,” she says.

*In 5 months. Individual results may vary. 

Other benefits Ivette is experiencing since losing weight is increased energy, feeling healthier and enjoying her food every day.

“I didn’t know whether or not I would be disciplined, whether or not I would be eating straw and starving myself of great tasting food, but no way at all did I feel deprived of any food whatsoever," Ivette says. 

"If anything, it’s opened up my taste buds for healthier food options and different foods that I had never really eaten before and different cooking methods as well,” Ivette says.

Ivette's top weight loss tips

1. Get support from a friend. My greatest resource was my friend Eliza who was also following the program. As she had tried various diets before, she was a good source for inspiration and the benefits of staying on this program at times when I felt like giving up. She stood by me and reassured me that what I was going through was normal, to persevere and keep focused. It worked and I strongly contribute her support to my success.

2. Make smarter food habits. I tend to focus on my food intake and I do shop for my groceries on the outer edges of the store. From this, I also tend to be more organised. Sundays are all about cooking for the week ahead so I can reheat when I get home so I don’t nibble whilst waiting for dinner to be prepared.

3. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are some weeks where you might struggle with the diet and you just have to get on with it the following week. You have to learn to appreciate that effective weight loss takes time. There’s no quick fix. 

*Individual results may vary