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Before and After

The first 6mths of a life changing journey – that I hope will last for ever!! by an elderly Australian.

This week will be 6 months since I started on this amazing journey.

I had been very slowly losing weight, dropping from a top weight of 170kg (374lb) to 135kg over several years before this – not making any special effort and certainly not doing any exercise!!

The mere idea of exercise was enough to give me palpitations – no way would I exercise – I HATED it!! I was too heavy to exercise and the last couple of years – how could I be expected to exercise when I could hardly walk due to osteo arthritis in both knees and hips which meant I needed a scooter to get about.

The result of this was that although I had lost weight – I hadn’t lost more than maybe an inch off my extremely ample dimensions, certainly not enough to need new clothes.

… as important as a good eating program is exercise. So following a suggestion from a member of the “I Hate Exercise Group” (to whom I will be forever grateful) I have found a form of exercise that I enjoy!! Yes, really enjoy and can actually do without causing pain to my legs!! I now use the “ Jody Stolove’s Chair Dancing” DVDs – I started on the very gentle “Sit down and Tone Up “ and now I have graduated to doing the Chair Cha Cha which is great fun trying to coordinate the arm and leg movements but also very good aerobic exercise as well as muscle toning!!

The results of this in only 5 months, are – a steady 500g loss most weeks giving 15kg loss over the 5mths, with a 10” loss off my hips, 5” off the tops of my arms, 8” off the tops of my thighs and a 4 size reduction in dress sizes!! Also my stamina has improved greatly, to the point where I was able, for the first time in several years, to go to a local shopping center and wander around, trying on new clothes this week. As well as the improvement in my stamina I can move more freely, walk further, all be it slowly, and sleep the night without being woken by pain in my legs.

It’s a wonderful feeling to be proud of my achievement so far, even though I still have difficulty actually mentally processing such huge changes!!

How has my life changed? My attitude has changed – from being sure I would die fat to knowing I can do something about it, knowing the way forward is not by starvation and deprivation, which only sets up cravings and makes one unhappy in the long, or often not so long, term. Knowing that a good eating pattern with nothing left out, but carefully adhering to portion control, is part of the way forward towards a healthy body and that, with the help of exercise, weight loss will follow. Also, and this is a huge change for me, knowing that the way forward lies in exercise, and that I WANT to exercise because I enjoy it, it makes me feel good and it helps those inches depart!!

I have a long, long way to go on my journey, and a great many things to learn and do during that journey, including learning more chair dances.

But also – I am looking forward to the rest of this journey, at least 2yrs before I get near my goal, even though I realize that isn’t the end, rather a new beginning.

Ann Heywood

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