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When losing is winning

By Stephen Hagan - posted Wednesday, 30 January 2008


Can you imagine my angst when the realisation set in that I now needed to factor in an additional five kilos that I thought I didn’t have - in order to achieve my goal weight of 88 kilos.

At precisely a month after I commenced my healthy living program I weighed in at an impressive 99.7 kilos - a total loss of 10 kilos since December 4 as read on the new scale.

I have a further 11.7 kilos to go in the next eight weeks to achieve my goal weight and then the hardest part begins where I’m aiming to maintain that size for the rest of my life.

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I figure I will possibly add an extra 10 years on to my life should I reach my goal and maintain it. And to me that will be all worth the sacrifices that I’m going through at present to gain those extra years of quality time down the track to spend with my family including expected grandchildren.

To be a little more specific about my program: I began by following a 12-week plan from the No.1 best selling book The CSIRO total wellbeing diet by Dr Manny Noakes and Dr Peter Clifton as well as religiously sticking to half-hour sessions of exercise in the morning and evening.

While I no longer consistently follow the three meals and additional snacks offered by the diet plan - principally because it cost too much and is too tedious to prepare - I have gained immeasurably from the meals eaten to date and have now incorporated similar recipes tips to meals I believe would be well received by the family.

I now cook with a teaspoon of olive oil instead of half a cup and apply only light skim milk on my Hi-Bran cereals instead of full cream milk. I don’t drink any alcohol, coffee or tea. I now substitute sugar with honey, multi-grained with white bread and when I need a sweet fix I bite into a mango, orange, pear or apple. And if the hunger pains creep in between meals I eat multi-grain crisp bread with a little margarine and Vegemite.

In addition I run at varying speeds on my treadmill, cycle at various speeds on my gym bike and do sit-ups, push-up, skipping and a serious of weights in my half-hour program every morning before breakfast and before the main evening meal. However you don’t need fancy home gym equipment to work out as long as you have a good pair of running shoes and a preparedness to put in the hard work exercising indoors, around your neighbourhood or at your local park

I contribute the success of my program to my wife Rhonda who assists in meal preparations although she chose to go to a women’s only gym instead of using our home gym. My children, Stephen Jr and Jayde, also assist me in keeping focused by joining me in the afternoon sessions.

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Where once I would have been banished to the guest room if I asked Rhonda her weight - I now record her weight along with mine every Monday morning and enjoy celebrating our progress together.

So the next time you hear those tempting words from family or friends of “just a little bit more - or try this new dish” remember Bill Cosby’s famous saying: “I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody".

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About the Author

Stephen Hagan is Editor of the National Indigenous Times, award winning author, film maker and 2006 NAIDOC Person of the Year.

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