Katiep’s taking the last steps to her weight loss goal with Body for Life

December 24 2007

Katiep

City & country:  Sydney, Australia
Age:  43
Weight before diet: 80kg
Weight now: 62.4kg
Target weight: 59kg

Body for Life has been helping Katiep rethink her way of eating and monitor the type and amount of food she eats. This, along with strength training, is helping her achieve her goal to be slimmer and healthier for life. The journey hasn’t been trouble-free, though. Being overweight doesn’t affect just the body, it affects the mind too, and Katiep shares how it influenced her perception of herself despite her success.

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
I have always been overweight since I reached puberty. I dieted all through my teenage years and finally threw away the scales for good in my early twenties. My weight stabilized at pleasantly plump for the next 15 years. When I reached my late thirties, I needed to buy bigger and bigger clothes. By the time I reached 40 I was an AUS size 16 and had begun to gain weight around my stomach for the first time in my life. I felt middle-aged and frumpy and decided I didn’t want to be fat and forty! On the 1 January 2005 I started watching what I ate and began weight training using Jorge Cruise’s 8 minutes in the morning workout program

-What type of weight loss program are you following?
After trying every weight loss plan from Weight Watchers to Atkins, I am currently following a combination of Body for Life and Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. Basically I have 5 small meals a day, cycle calories, try to have equal protein and carbs with moderate fat and have 1 free day a week. I strength train 6 days a week and run 3 days a week.

-Why did you choose this weight loss program?
As I have been dieting for nearly 3 years now, I have discovered I need to count calories and watch my intake of processed carbs. I have also trained my body to survive on lower calories so I actually need to re-feed once a week.

-How long have you been on your weight loss program?
Almost three years watching what I eat and working out. I am on week 8 of my first Body for Life Challenge.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to help you lose weight and stay fit?
I enjoy strength training because it has changed the shape of my body. I used to be a pear shape carrying all my weight in my hips and thighs. I now have a body that is much more in proportion and my shoulders are now wider than my hips.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
I still feel like a fat person although it is getting better. I am consumed with worry that I will wake up one morning back at a size 16 (I am a size 8). I still have some of my fat clothes in case I need them again! It sounds silly when I think about it. Your mind takes a long time to catch up to your body.

-How do you keep yourself motivated?
I have positive affirmations and a picture of the body I want all over my house – on the treadmill, on the bathroom mirror, on my bedside lamp and at the top of my blog. I am training myself to “be” a thin person, without having to think about it. I am a kind person, I don’t have to motivate myself to be kind so I am hoping that when I become a thin, fit person in my head, I won’t have to search for motivation every day.

I also love being able to eat whatever I want once a week. It means I only have to stay on plan for 6 days – I can resist my junk food cravings because I know it will only be a few days before I satisfy them. Strangely, the things you think you are missing don’t really taste as good as you remember them.

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
Take photos once a week in your underwear, swimwear or tight fitting workout gear. The scales may not move or even show a gain, but the camera usually tells a different story. It also gives you a true picture of what you really look like which is probably much more accurate than what you see in the mirror.

AND lift weights – it will revolutionize your body and your life.

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
I have become a physically active person for the first time in my life. I am in the habit of working out so it is pretty much a part of life. I know that if I maintain/build my muscle I look and feel so much better physically and emotionally. I don’t ever want to go back to being tired all the time.

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helps or inspires you to lose weight?
My blog is www.thin-enough.blogspot.com.