My first memories of feeling different to everyone else date back to a girl of 8, I thought then that I was fat, eventually that thought changed to fat & ugly. I tried not to do anything to be noticed, I smiled a lot so that everyone thought I was a happy person, but inside I was miserable. My first diet was at 10 years old which I started, when a Teacher with good intentions, pointed out that I really needed to watch what I was eating so I could lose some weight. The strange thing was I was eating just like everyone else, plain good healthy food. In those days we didn’t eat ‘junk’ food, we always had home cooked meals and very rarely dessert. To buy lunch at the tuckshop was a very rare treat!!

I did quite well at school, I think I had the attitude that whatever I did it had to be perfect to make up for all that was wrong with me physically. But school was not fun when I was so worried that someone was going to call me names and embarrass me about being fat. The worst I can remember, was in Grade 6, when a Teacher asked the class for the definition of immense and one of the boys put up his hand and said “Sue’s legs”, well you can imagine how that felt!! Not long after, I developed recurring migraines and a stomach ulcer……not a happy time at all.

Starting High School with the focus being on ‘looks’ led me to try every diet I could find. I was sometimes successful, mostly starving and very unhappy, nothing worked long term. Had I been a binge eater or sedentary there would have been an explanation. However, I wasn’t, I was actively involved in several sports up until Grade 11, I then a joined a gym and would pound away trying to control my weight. I kept trying the latest diet craze, Scarsdale, Israeli Army Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Herbalife, Weight Watchers (lost count how many times I joined!), Jenny Craig (several times), Dr Phil, Tony Ferguson, Ultralite, The Zone, Body for Life, Atkins, CSIRO, Cabbage Soup Diet, Leslie Kenton, Fit for Life, Pritikin, Dean Ornish, Liver Cleansing Diet, Susan Powter, programs through various gyms, any diet I could find in the latest magazines and Hypnotherapy.

Searching for a solution continued through my entire life, the yo-yo dieting, the constant struggle to just be ’normal’ and fit in. After going through menopause it all got really out of hand. Nothing I did would work, I had reached my highest weight ever, 106kgs, and honestly just wanted to die, I could not see any way to resolve this problem and now my health was starting to suffer. My liver function was poor, cholesterol and sugar levels were high, I had no energy at all and became very reclusive and depressed. Every Doctor I saw just told me to eat less (I was already starving myself!!) and exercise more, one even suggested I just go and have liposuction!

In 2011 I received a newsletter from Xtra Health Wellness Clinic which outlined a new weight loss program they were facilitating, called Real Food Real Weightloss, based around a hormone called HCG, delivered by way of a nasal spray. Funnily enough I heard of this program being available overseas but had thought at the time it sounded too good to be true and besides I would not have attempted it without Doctors supervision. I attended an information evening, which I have to say is the best decision I have ever made. I knew on that night I had to try this program, Dr Karen Coates explained how the hormone worked in the body, about the great results she was seeing and how clients were achieving their weight goals and more importantly, maintaining the weight loss.

So, I began the program and having now shed 40kgs I am a changed Woman on so many levels. This is the most amazing program, I found it easy to do but most of all it works quickly, you feel fantastic and the results are permanent. Yes, it does take commitment, discipline and the right mindset but I had all those things in the past on other regimes and did not achieve what I have with Real Food Real Weight Loss. On this program I had lots of energy, was not hungry at all, had no cravings, no headaches, no brain fog, just felt fantastic!! The other surprising outcome is the weight has come off in all the right places….stomach, thighs and bum, this had never happened for me on any other diet. I am enjoying my life like I never have. Doing this under the guidance of Kaz, at Real Food, has certainly made this process an easy one. I was educated & supported every step of the way, I was never alone. I now have my life back and look forward to a very happy, healthy future!!