Jennifer is excited about clothes shopping again

Jennifer is a young-at-heart 64-year old with a passion for fashion, a love for cooking and spending time with her grandkids. However, in recent years her weight has made life difficult.

Her greatest fear was the chronic diseases that people can develop from obesity as they grow older. She had started to feel aches in her back and joints and knew this was not a road she wanted to go down.

"I have a back injury and it was extremely painful. I also had a lot of pain in my joints," she says.

"I was not able to lift my baby grandson or walk very far with my other grandsons. My hubby is a bike rider and I was very slow riding with him.

Jennifer explains her weight gain was from too much eating, not eating the right food and not exercising enough. Over time, it added up and she found herself very overweight. 

Lost 23 kg

With the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, Jennifer lost 23 kg* and transformed how she feels from day to day.

*In 12 months. Individual results may vary. 

"I just get up in the morning and I've got so much more energy and it lasts all day and I can still cook a really nice meal at the end of the day and then go for a walk after dinner."

It's not just the aches that are gone. Jennifer recently had a blood test done and when the results came back her GP was surprised.

"My cholesterol was really good, my blood sugar levels were really good and my triglycerides were really great," she says.

"My blood pressure was also really good, and the doctor was quite impressed. I told her that I'd been on the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. She asked me to explain it to her and I told her what it was like and she was really impressed". 

Loves the food

Jennifer used to work in a restaurant and is a bit of a foodie. She loves to cook for herself and others so it was with a bit of trepidation that she joined another weight loss diet – she’d tried several before she succeeded with the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet.

However Jennifer soon found that eating healthy doesn't have to mean sacrificing on taste.

"I really love the recipes on the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. My family really love them every time they come to visit," Jennifer says.

"I'll try out a new recipe on them so they've really enjoyed it. I've inspired my sister, her daughter and my daughter to do the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet as well."

Through our diet, Jennifer learned you don't have to eat lots to feel full. Satiety is more about the combination of quality, fresh ingredients than it is about large amounts of food.

"I've learned to eat mindfully which slows down your eating and makes you really think about what you eat and it makes you enjoy what you eat," she says. 

Back into fashion

Finally, Jennifer is excited about shopping for clothes again. At her heaviest, she dreaded it because it meant browsing the big size section, but today she wears what she wants.

"I can just go out and pick out some nice jeans or you know a nice skirt or top and shoes and it just makes me feel younger. I also feel a lot healthier and that also sort of shows as well. I think you know if you feel a lot better within yourself then you know you can see it on the outside as well," she says.

"The nicest compliment that I've gotten is that recently I've been told I'm petite - and actually someone else said that I was skinny. So I've never been told that before!"