The story up until now
Shauna Reid, a Scotland-dwelling Australian lass, began her lard-busting adventure in Canberra in January 2001, weighing almost 160 kilos. Six years later, she'd lost exactly half her body weight. She has blogged her ups and downs since day one, and just written a book called the Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl. In this two-part interview, we catch up to uncover more of her secrets…
Q. After losing 80 kg, what lessons did you learn about food?
A – Shauna Reid. For the first nine months, I didn't eat chocolate because I thought I couldn't succeed without cutting that out. Now I've taught myself to survive on small portions. If I starved myself, I went crazy bingeing on it later. Now I just buy a small block. It's about retraining your taste buds and learning to live with less. I learnt that I don't have to deprive myself, it's just about using smaller portions.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about finding love in Scotland?
A. Yeah, I met Gareth at a pub quiz over here, and I was a size 20 at the time. It took me a little while to realise that he liked me, because my self esteem was still a bit poor. I didn't think that kind of thing would happen to me until I was a lot smaller. And then I readjusted my perspective. I realised that you don't have to wait until you're skinny for life to start happening to you. So we got together, and when we were married a year and a bit later – I was in a size 16 wedding dress.
Q. Has losing weight changed the person you are?
A. Fundamentally I've always been the same kind of person – easy going, light-hearted. But now that I've lost weight, I'm a lot more adventurous. I'm not hesitant anymore. Because when I was so large, my thoughts were dominated by my fat. So I wasn't living in the moment. I'd go to a restaurant and worry whether I'd fit in the seats, rather than enjoy being with my friends. I was preoccupied with the logistics of being fat, but now I'm there and I'm more into life. I don't have to worry about my body anymore, it's just part of the furniture. So I want to try new things, new sports and go travelling.
Q. Would you say your confidence is now at 100 per cent?
A. I think so, and the thing that surprised me is how early on my confidence increased. It was as early as when I started doing body pump classes at size 24. It was just treating my body right, feeding it good food and moving it. It makes you think, "Wow, my body's a really great thing." I had spent so many years abusing it, and the moment I started treating it better, my confidence increased. There are also cosmetic changes that increase your confidence. Just the fact that you don't have to wear some ugly, sequined number from the plus-size section at Target – it makes a difference when you can wear a nice pair of jeans and knee-high boots.
To read part one of Shauna's weight loss tips click here
To read Shauna's blog, check out http://www.dietgirl.org