The kilos have left the building. What now?

2 mins to read

The deed is done. You've lost that weight and now you're supposed waltz happily off into the sunset, right? Felicita Benedikovics finds that life on the slim side can take some getting used to.

Weight management

When I signed up to a weight-loss program last year (the first one in over 13 years), I knew it wouldn't be easy. I needed a plan, especially if I was going undo the slow but steady increase in my weight over the past 15 years.

But life on the right side of the scale has been an eye-opener, especially since discovering that the real challenge occurs when most of the kilos are gone.

It sounds ridiculous, and kind of like complaining about being too rich. But for me, losing weight feels like returning home from a big adventure. Quite intangibly, life as you know it and see it is has changed. You are left searching for a way to make sense of it all.

While the original goal was to be lighter (and, by implication happier), six months on and 15 kilos off the scale, what resulted is a reassessment of my identity, perception of my looks and lifestyle.

I never understood why contestants on TV's The Biggest Loser broke down at certain points. Having been a blubbering mess on the scales myself, I now know that feeling. You feel like you are being scrutinised by your worst critic – yourself.

You see, losing weight is lonely. No matter how much support and interest you receive from your friends, family and hopefully the program you are following, the person in the middle of it all is you. Emerging from this spotlight is like coming out of a solitary confinement of sorts.

Simultaneously, you feel more alive than you ever have been, with your body working at its peak. I can testify to the untold joy of living, feeling and being healthy and fit. But the fact is that after the kilos are gone, what's left is the hard graft of sustaining it.

And while I'd never want to invite the kilos back, I can understand why others do. Accepting this new, somewhat shinier, version of me will take time. Happily, I'm open to the idea that she might just be worth getting to know.

Keeping it off

Once the kilos are off, the support typically peters out in most weight loss programs. This is why seeing a naturopath could be just what you need.

"Naturopaths follow the principle that prevention is better than cure, so the first tip to overcoming weight problems is to do it right in the first place," says Blackmores advisory naturopath Sophie Tesoriero.

"The ideal way to lose weight is at a rate of half to one kilo a week, by reducing the intake of calorie-rich, nutrient-poor foods and exercising four times a week. This should include at least two sessions of resistance training (weights, lunges, sit ups and push ups).

"Maintaining your new, lighter weight is easier when you have a clearer idea of what foods contain a high proportion of fat in their kilojoule-count. This means eating small amounts of red meat, poultry skins, dark poultry meat, fried foods, butter and margarine, cheese, full fat milk, junk foods and most processed foods," says Tesoriero.