Odette’s story – Managing a healthy lifestyle and a demanding corporate job

Over the years since I started working and life became more and more busy as my career progressed, I fell out of good eating habits and out of touch with what I was actually putting into my body – as a result, the weight crept on, slowly but surely. When I got back from a very decadent Christmas holiday and got onto the scale, the needle went past a point it had never been before. I was in shock, I had never weighed that much in my life. I had tried the odd diet here and there in the past, but I had never reached the point that I did after that holiday – that was my tipping point and my motivation to change my lifestyle for good. I don’t believe in “diets” – I love food and eating out and when I have tried diets before and their “all or nothing” approach, I felt deprived and would fall off the proverbial bus and then not get back on again. I thus decided that my goal was to re-learn good eating habits, moderation and to understand food portions so that my lifestyle, holistically, would get me to, and keep me in, a healthy shape. That’s when I decided to see Emily. Emily has been an amazing support. She has helped me in setting up a firm understanding of how to eat properly, within my specific lifestyle and the challenges that I face – Because I travel so much for work, she has helped me with practical advice on how to overcome those challenges. She has also given me excellent guidance involving how to read food labels – I thought I knew how to do this, but I was looking at the wrong things. This has helped me immensely in choosing better options, especially when eating on the go. I’m now about 60% of way to my goal weight. And the best thing is that the weight has stayed off, despite the fact that I am still travelling a lot for work and it’s been a very long and cold Cape winter! Emily has really helped me to change my lifestyle and I’ve learnt how to structure and balance my meals. I do still indulge, but when I do, it’s in keeping with the big picture – I don’t fall off the bus anymore because I now have a better holistic view of my diet. To anyone who is dissatisfied with their diet/body shape and considering a lifestyle change: do it! Nothing beats the feeling of being healthy, having more energy and being able to fit into awesome clothes!