After your first Dexa scan, how did finding your truth, inspire you to begin your weight loss journey?
‘My moment of truth’ as I call it was a big reality check and wake up call. I had known that I had put on weight and pretty much stopped weighing myself as it was only going up. However; that was only a number, I thought I could deal with ‘that number’. Seeing the amount of fat I had on my body was ‘really gross’ (I think I said on the show!). I could see the outline of my body and how much ‘that number’ had affected my health, and how much a poor role model I was being to my children.
‘I didn’t want to know the truth I see what I see every day and I carry it with me every day and having that scan done was just another twist of reality, for what I have become’ (quote from the show).
Why do you believe it is important to get such accurate readings from a DEXA scan?
The importance of the Dexa scan was to see the true me and face all of the facts not just ‘that number.’ Knowing and facing the damage I was doing inside was really important and a pivotal point as you don’t actually know that when you weigh yourself on the scales at home.
‘You can’t walk away from it, you can’t turn the page or say that poor person look what happened to them because that poor person is me’ (quote from the show)
Can you tell us more about your beliefs that weight loss needs a life style change rather than a diet change?
I can’t remember how many diets I had tried in the past and obviously failed so many times otherwise I wouldn’t of reached 101kg! This time round it was going to be a lifestyle change something that was sustainable, I wasn’t about to do another diet and fail again and again and again. Why do something short term, why not make it a moment that you can live? I now say ‘live a lifestyle not a diet’ and so what if I put a piece of bread in my mouth, I know what I need to do and I know I can’t do it every day. Life is about living not dieting. When you have kids you make the most of it and make the right choices as an adult and for yourself, not just for the kids.
What were your biggest challenges in your weight loss journey and how did you overcome it?
Portion serves was my biggest obstacle knowing that there should be a different in size to Marks plate and mine and not have him ask which one is mine. Smaller meals throughout the day and more flavour was a great option.
The 2nd obstacle was not eating, who would of thought doing this would sabotage my metabolism! I now have been reunited with my metabolism and feeling hungry is a sure sign of success. However; the true success is what I then eat. Being organised with food and setting an alarm to eat at 10am and 2pm was instrumental and then would help stop eating a massive meal at night time.
What are your favourite motivational tools on your weight loss journey?
I honestly thought I was going to use it as a piñata when Cam asked me to create a body cast of myself. That was ONE massive turning point in my life. BUT having that cast and seeing but feeling what I had became wanted to make me get so far away from that it wasn’t funny, many of tears happened looking at that thing! I absolutely love it now and I am soooo proud of it!
Like a lot of people my kids are my motivation. Being around for all 4 of them and keeping up with them as they grow but also them being proud of me being healthy is a great feeling and every hug they gave me their little arms came closer and closer together and they can hold their elbows when they hug me before they could only just touch their fingertips. Kids have their own way to motivate us without them having to say a word.
The other thing, which some people may find silly, is having a normal size bathroom towel fit around me! I love being able to close that gap and now being able to wrap it around me, I know I have change and it wasn’t the towel size.
Sometimes you have to really break things down and find the small things that matter and motivate you along the way.
Why is it important to have a dexa scan not only at the beginning of your weight loss challenge but throughout your journey?
Having the Dexa scan at the start really sets the pace and what you want to get away from. Know the moments of achievement was inside and out, physically and emotionally was amazing to see it in front of you and broken down with no rose coloured glasses, just facts and facing the truth. When you lose weight you also sometimes don’t see yourself to how much weight you have lost and might just say oh yeah I have only lost 12kg, but seeing what that loss of 12kg actually means in health not just weight, there is nothing else like it, it give you the edge mentally.
As well as being in the public eye, you had a team supporting you on your weight loss. Why do you think is important to having a supportive and motivational team around you?
I had a small team around me to start with, but my number one team was my family. Let’s be honest you can have a support team around you but have you been honest to them? Have you broken it all down and shown them? Without getting everything out in the open with my husband I think I may of failed again and well I really didn’t give thought to getting it out in the open and doing it on national TV! until about a month into filming when it hit me and I turned to Mark glassy eyed and he asked me what’s wrong! It was that moment I said I’m going to be on Tv like ‘ALL’ of me! Wow that was a moment I will never forget, the total honesty, the total truth everything no more hiding and it was that point of knowing well that’s the truth they know it now I have to do something about it.
I found that the most important supportive person had to be myself, I had to put myself first and motivate myself if a person is going to make a change they have to want to make that change themselves. I made that commitment to myself and there was not going to be anything that would stop me, not even the repertoire of excuses I had from the past efforts.
How have you found maintaining your new lifestyle in terms of fitness activities?
I honestly know that I can sit back and say that I made this work, I wasn’t locked away for 3months, I had to do this in my own life, as a mother, as a wife, a business owner, I had to work, I had to cook, I had to clean (ok that did get put down the priority list) I had kids to take care of and live a fairly normal life as another mum out there. I made it work and I know others can also. I made commitments to myself that I could maintain. I honestly really only did 20mins in the morning first up on the cross trainer that Fit online supplied to me, I only had 20mins free and I made it work. My lifestyle now doesn’t need as much regular training as I did, I just make sure when I do train, as I always did, I make the most of each session, I don’t got there to look pretty and come out the same way everything comes down to how much effort and commitment you are willing to put in.
Why should people enter your competition?
The life changing opportunity that I was given by Channel 7 on Bringing sexy Back was just that! It was a healthy lifestyle change and such a wonderful opportunity. If I can help give someone else a jump start at their new life and experience a little of what I have then I would be so happy knowing that I have the old saying ‘pay it forward’ it truly is how we all support each other without knowing. The emails and Face book messages have been so inspiration al from so many people out there in the same situation I was and it is just my way of trying to say thank you and help change the life of someone else to ‘live a lifestyle and not a diet’.
To enter Paula’s competition to kick start your healthy lifestyle journey- which involves winning over $4500 in prizes (including a FREE before and after Dexa scan) visit Paula Beckton “Bringing Sexy Back” Facebook page to enter!
