Interview with Michelle from Primal Journey

You have made an amazing accomplishment with your weight loss since 2008 as well as maintaining it.   What are some key lessons you’ve learned from your weight loss journey?

My biggest lesson was to not get cocky! When I first lost it all I thought I was bulletproof, I learnt pretty quickly that maintaining weight loss truly is the hardest part.  When you lose weight you have such a focus that nothing can get in the way because you have such a great momentum, however once you reach your goal it’s really easy to relax and think you can eat more than you really can.

The other thing key lesson is visualisation, it sounds so cliche but seriously I visualised every day that I would lose the weight because I didn’t feel like my authentic self living in such an overweight body, so daily I would visualise myself in a healthy body and I believe there’s so much power in that.

The other lesson I learnt was patience, you cannot rush permanent weight loss, it really does take time.  While my weight came off consistently most weeks there were definitely times that I felt like I wasn’t going to win the race, you hear time and time again that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon and that couldn’t be more true!

How has your approach to food changed from the start of your weight loss journey to today?

One of my favourite posts you shared was about learning to enjoy food in “moderation” when you thought you couldn’t.  Can you share with us some of the things that have helped you to do this?

To be honest I still struggle with this sometimes, I’m slowly learning moderation and sometimes I think balance is harder than abstinence.  I do think that our personalities dictate so much of this, some of us are all or nothing and others love balance.  I have always been an all or nothing personality and I really struggle with balance.  One of the ways I have overcome some of that all or nothing thinking is to remind myself I don’t want to feel like I’m on a “diet” forever so allowing myself some treats here and there is what makes this change of eating feel like a lifestyle.

Don’t get me wrong I do have to watch myself still as sometimes it’s just a slippery slope and one cookie just leads to 3 or 4 cookies and most of that is dependant on whether I’m being too restrictive in my diet.  There’s a huge difference between being restrictive and being mindful.  I try and be more mindful, if I am going to eat something that is considered a treat I have to remind myself that it is just that, a treat and something to be had every now and then.  If I treat myself too much then I feel like I lose my balance and it becomes a free for all.  It really is quite a delicate balance and it’s not easy, as I said I still struggle with this!

Fasting and ketogenic diets are pretty “hot” right now.  While of course they can help with weight loss and some people enjoy this lifestyle, they can take their toll mentally, and physically for some people.  What are some of the side effects you’ve had?

They sure are and they definitely have there place! But I caution people to do the research and if something doesn’t feel right then to stop immediately.  While they are amazing for weight loss, yes I have had fast weight loss from fasting and following a ketogenic diet it has really done a number on my adrenals.

Initially I had all the energy in the world, I thought I could literally do anything, it was go go go in the energy department and the weight just fell off…little did I know I was just running on adrenalin the entire time and I eventually burnt my adrenals and not my cortisol is all out of whack! I cannot even function if I go too low carb otherwise my sleep is all over the show, my PCOS is worse, and my gut health is terrible! It was a hard lesson to learn and I’m only just starting to come out the other side, I make sure I have adequate carbs, sleep as much as possible plus walking and yoga helps! Slow weight loss truly is the best and the most sustainable.

Since changing your eating style recently, what are some of the changes you’ve seen in your health/wellbeing?

Mostly its been a change in my relationship with myself, realising I am enough just the way I am today and not waiting to look “ prefect” because perfect doesn’t even exist!  I am slowly learning not to define myself by my body, a number on the scale or the size of my clothes, it’s HARD!!! I’ve been that girl who lost 42kgs and I let that define me for a really long time.  Underneath all of that is so much more, and my future is not going to be dictated by how I look. 

Carbs… What is the difference between your approach during weight loss and your approach now?

OMG did you just swear! No but really the Carbs subject is just so hotly debated, it always has been and it’s really just going through the same demonisation as fat did back in the 80’s.  Females tend to have the biggest reaction to dropping their carbs too low, while it worked for me initially to get the weight off I became so carb sensitive after wards and it has taken me a really long time to be able to eat carbs like fruit and starchy carbs without having blood sugar irregularities.  So long as I eat my carbs as part of a balanced meal I have no issue with blood sugar.  I make sure I eat about 75-125gms of carbs a day which is a far cry from when I was doing Ketogenic of about 20-50gms a day!  I feel far more balanced these days.

 

What would a typical day eating look like for you now?

These days I eat very much what I would frame balanced Paleo and I really try to get veggies in with every meal if I can to up the micronutrients.

Breakfast is pretty much always eggs with enough fat to satiate me and then some sauerkraut to help my gut flora and perhaps some leftover potato or sweet potato if I have some in the fridge, otherwise I might have a piece of fruit afterwards.

Lunch is generally a big ass salad like Kale, cucumber, peppers, tomato, avocado, chicken or tuna, kumara and mixed together with homemade aioli.

Dinner is when I have the majority of my carbs because I sleep so much better if I do.  So it’s generally Pork, beef, lamb or chicken, sometimes fish and then I make sure I either have potato, sweet potato and then half of my plate I pile with green vegetables.

I don’t tend to snack but if I do it’s usually on nuts or some coconut butter.

Quick fire favourites…

way to keep fit: Daily Walking
breakfast: Eggs!
dinner: Pork Belly
treat food: Ice Cream
way to wind down: Body Balance or soak in my spa
blogs:The Holistic Nutritionist 
xhelensarahx
Hello Tillie

Anything else you’d like to share?

I understand the desperation of weight loss, and how us women are so incredibly hard on ourselves about it! It wouldn’t be a multi billion dollar industry if it was easy! Lasting weight loss is hard, anyone can lose it but keeping it off is the real struggle.  It’s been 5 years since I lost my weight and only now am I coming to realise how hard it really is.The mental struggle is the hardest part and I love this from paragraph from the book Sexy by Nature by Stefani Ruper “Celebrating the unique beauty within you does not mean that you cannot set goals.  It does not mean that you give up on weight loss, fitness, clear skin or any of the other external markers of health and sex appeal…. It means only that you embrace your body as it has been designed”.

Thanks so much Michelle!  Be sure to check out her blog Primal Journey, she’s on Facebook too.