Starvation diets followed by binge eating and a regular dose of laxatives is no way to stay slim, as Rachael Olejnik discovered after decades of abusing her body in a bid to lose weight. Instead, the more she starved herself followed by binging, the heavier she became. It didn’t seem to make sense, but the evidence was undeniable.
“When we were younger we were told that you had to starve yourself to lose weight,” Rachael said. “So as a teenager I functioned on a diet of lettuce leaves. A typical day was coffee in the morning, skipping lunch and then a pretty big dinner because I was ravenous by then. I don’t know how I functioned.”
Old habits die hard
What Rachael didn’t realise at the time was that by starving herself she was inadvertently slowing down her metabolism and hampering the weight loss process. Despite living on very few calories during the week, Rachael would gorge on fatty food over the weekend creating a vicious cycle of starvation followed by binge eating with serious health consequences.
“By my early 20s I was on a continuous starvation diet and living on a muffin a day,” she said. “I was borderline anorexic and my body was very confused. But once I hit my 30s this see-sawing of starving and binging had turned my once size-8 frame into a size 18-plus.”
There is no quick fix
Feeling desperate, Rachael tried every diet and weight loss program she could think of. She even took the radical step of testing a dangerous combination of slimming pills and diet shakes, but that just made things worse. Meanwhile, as the kilos increased, so did Rachael’s unhappiness.
“I wouldn’t look at myself in mirrors and I would avoid cameras,” she said. “So many times I went clothes shopping and ended up crying. Towards the end even size 18 was getting tight on me so I would hide under big coats despite the hot weather.”
Throughout this period, Rachael continued on her quest to find a quick weight loss fix. “I wanted a quick fix and I wanted results immediately but with minimal effort. Finally, I came to realise this was not the way and joined The Biggest Loser Club.”
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Rachael before
Rachael before
Rachael before
Rachael before
Rachael after
Rachael after
That's Life covergirl
Success at last
Rachael describes watching The Biggest Loser on TV as a “light bulb moment”. “I was thinking these people are twice my size and they can do it so I can too. It was my own mind and my negativity that was stopping me so I changed my mindset and started thinking positive thoughts. There were no more excuses and I made a pact with myself that nothing was going to stop me succeeding now.”
Supported by The Biggest Loser Club, Rachael finally started to see encouraging results, but only after some resistance to eating the prescribed amount of food on her weight loss plan.
“I was told I should be on 2000 calories a day, but I decided to start on 800 calories,” she said. “After three weeks on the program I had gained weight and this is why the diary was invaluable. It showed me where I was going wrong and that I wasn’t eating enough.”
Once she started following the diary and the exercise plans religiously, along with adapting the Club’s menu plans to her particular likes, Rachael started to lose weight and for the next seven months she averaged a healthy 1.3kg loss per week.
The exercise buzz
While she’d never been one to actively partake in any form of exercise, Rachael soon found she enjoyed the buzz of mood-enhancing endorphins produced from a heart-racing workout. However, because of her poor fitness level she took things slowly at first and opted to walk on her home treadmill away from prying eyes.
“I walked on the treadmill every day regardless of whether I wanted to or not,” she explained. “I did half an hour each time and monitored my heart rate to ensure that I got to that fat-burning zone. As soon as I felt my heart rate slowing, I would increase the incline on the treadmill.”
Fitness freak
Today Rachael likes to flaunt her trim size-8 frame and is happy to exercise outdoors. Each day she completes a 45-minute jog followed by half an hour of yoga. But she never goes anywhere without her trusted diary.
“I get a huge sense of accomplishment each time I exercise,” she said. “And the diary helps me prepare for the next day. I refer to it all the time and it’s a good habit to get into.”
Next on the agenda for this fit and healthy 38-year-old is to write a book on her weight loss journey to motivate others. “I feel that I have learned so much in the last seven months that I’d like to share my experience. I’m not on a diet now, this is a lifestyle change and there is no end point. I am way more confident and happier than I’ve ever been.”
Rachael’s top tips
- Get your mind right and change your mental attitude
- Tell everybody what you are doing so you can get the support you need
- When exercising, break it down into achievable chunks
- Make healthy food fun, for example try freezing yogurt so it tastes like ice cream
Read Rachael's success article, 'Eating myself thin', as featured in That's Life magazine