Walking the road to success

Brenda was petite for the majority of her life. Even bouncing back to her pre-baby weight within 6-8 weeks post-pregnancy. The real problem only began once Brenda entered her 50's.

As Brenda's career progressed so did the pressure, and with the added reality of a slowed metabolism teamed with a lack of exercise, her weight and cholesterol began to climb.

"I found exercising a chore. I live in a hilly area and walking anywhere involves climbing hills. I would be out of breath very easily. I have a family history of high cholesterol, and my doctor was at the point of putting me on medication."

Fated moment

It was around this time that Brenda attended her father's 80th birthday celebration and a particular photograph taken on the day, caught her attention.  

"My first thought was that it was pretty unflattering. Then I realised that I actually looked that way. All the time."

Brenda began researching into various weight loss diets and treatments and the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet came "out on top" for her. 
 
"I needed something that would fit into our daily routines. I love the menu plans - they made it simple for me to shop a plan. I also found the weekly tutorials really good for things like exploring ways to over come cravings and using mindfulness."

Lowering cholesterol the natural way

Brenda went on to lose a total of 17 kg*. A fantastic 9 kg on Program 1 and a further 8 kg on Program 2.  This was a great achievement for Brenda's overall health. Not only was she able to lower her cholesterol levels without any medical intervention, she was able to avoid any nasty side effects that may have come with them. In addition, she dropped an impressive three dress sizes, which lead to a shopping spree and a whole new wardrobe. 

"I shop for clothes that I actually love. I am now a size 10 and had a ball throwing out my old clothes and shopping for an entirely new wardrobe from the skin out. Best of all my cholesterol is normal and my GP is pretty happy with me."

*In 6 months. Individual results may vary.

Walking to success

It can be overwhelming when it comes to thinking about exercising to achieve your weight loss goals. However, Brenda did it the best way possible. She started off with a small goal and built on it once she felt she was ready to progress. 
 
Brenda started off with a 3 km walk at lunch time 2-3 days per week. Now, she walk 8-9 km 5 days per week and sticks to it. This low intensity consistent exercise has helped accelerate her weight loss and opened up doors she wouldn't have even dreamt of opening. 

"On our recent holiday to Europe, we walked everywhere and did an 11 km hike across the caldera cliff path on Santorini. I couldn't have imagined doing that before the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet."

Brenda's top tips

• Set a start date and stick to it
• Use all the online tools to help you through the early days
• Remember why you started the program
• Re-visit your goals often
• Share your journey with others
• Make yourself a priority - actually make time in your diary if necessary
• Walk, even if it's only for 20 minutes
• Be organised. Plan your meals, shop for the ingredients and do as much prep as possible
• Multi-task - for example I used to come home and prepare dinner and at the same time, prepare my lunch and breakfast for the next day
• Look on this program as a learning experience - most of the meals are simple and involve minimal prep and cooking
• You can do it!