Your Success Stories

‘In six months I lost over 25 kg. It has been a very interesting and enjoyable journey … and I bore my friends with the details! Some think I am obsessive (possibly true).’ – Robert

My diet management, fitness improvement and weight loss program was based on the recommendations in The Low GI Diet: 12-Week Action Plan (Prof Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell & Dr Joanna McMillan Price, Hachette Livre Australia).
Goals set on 29 December 2007

1. To lose 20 kg by 6 November 2008 (next birthday – age 57), and
2. To run a 400 m (competitively) at the Sydney International Athletics Centre during November 2008.

Diet program: What has changed with my diet? Based on The Low GI Diet, I eat breakfast daily (did not beforehand); I have increased consumption of tea (black, no sugar), vegetables, fruit and seafood (e.g. tuna and sardines); and reduced my intake of bread, some high fat dairy products, coffee, honey (which went into the coffee – 6–10 cups per day prior to 29 December 2007), potatoes (gone completely from the diet) and saturated fats. I still eat red and white meats. Wine consumption is part of my lifestyle – I am not desperate enough to stop drinking wine.

Exercise program: I have used The Low GI Diet as a guide and my program consisted of a 60 minute brisk walk plus resistance exercises, or 60 minutes of Concept 2 Rowing Machine routines, plus resistance exercises 6 days per week (mornings). The resistance exercise component now takes around 10 minutes. In week 16, I changed my routine to a shorter 45 minute walk (more hills), plus 16 minutes of a Concept 2 routine, plus resistance exercises; or 60 minutes of a Concept 2 routine plus resistance exercises. Still exercising for a total of 6 sessions per week (mornings), and around 1.25 hours per session. Every Saturday morning after the walk, I perform a 2000 metre time trial on the Concept 2 – my test of my fitness level. I have also taken up (March 2008) single sculling after a 25 year absence (try to go sculling on Sunday mornings – around 8 km). I used to row competitively for Sydney University in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s – my body weight then was around 85kg to 90kg at height 188cm. During the week of 7–13 June 2008, I commenced some light jogging (will lead to running assuming the legs i.e. knees etc are OK).

Challenge: Sustaining a reasonable level of exercise (e.g. 5–6 times per week) and maintaining a body weight at around 95–100 kg (my height is 188 cm).

Graph of Robert’s results – click for full view

‘I’m having fewer hypos, I am on low doses of insulin and I feel much better.’ – Sarah
‘About six months ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which I managed with insulin. I read lots of handouts about how to manage diabetes with diet, but the focus was very much on reducing sugar in my diet and little about low GI foods. As a result, I continued eating breads with high GI, lots of potatoes and so on and my BSLs were all over the place. Six weeks after having my baby I found out that the diabetes was actually late-onset type 1! It was recommended that I try a low GI diet; I did lots of reading, including The New Glucose Revolution and incorporated their recommendations into my diet. I have found that my BSLs are much more stable, I’m having fewer hypos, I am on low doses of insulin and I feel much better. My partner is also on the low GI diet and he feels more energetic, particularly in the mornings when he used to feel lethargic and unmotivated.’