Hi, my name is Kandra and I recently lost roughly 40 lbs. (18 kg for my Aussie mates). It shockingly happened quite fast, however along the way I barley noticed a difference. I purchased a $13.99 ‘Yoga Now’ magazine back in December 2014 when I was living in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in hopes to pick up something from it. This was also a spontaneous impulse buy after my friend Louise who I met in Lake Louise the previous winter snowboarding brought me to one of her yoga classes when my boyfriend and I paid her a visit in, Whistler, BC. She recently became an instructor but you could tell she had been practicing faithfully as she was one fit fiddle! Did I mention she is also amazing at snowboarding too? I always thought that these two things could have had something in common when I’d always be eating her snow on the hill.

          Anyway, when I first bought the yoga magazine I may have looked at a few different poses and that was it. I started following ‘Yoga with Adriene’ a YouTube series of yoga sequences a few times a week because I enjoyed Louise’s class so much and it made me miss yoga. I had done yoga many times in the past, even had been to a few different classes over the past five years and watched yoga DVD’s at home like, ‘Colleen Saidman’s Yoga for Weight Loss’, ‘Beginning Yoga with Chrissy Carter’, ‘Jillian Michaels Yoga Inferno’, and ‘Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga with Bob Harper’. This time when I was doing Adriene’s it felt different, I wanted to pick it up as a hobby. Growing up I had always taken dance whether it was acrobatics, jazz, gymnastics, ballet, even tap and hip-hop I tried once. It was always acro and gymnastics I enjoyed the most mainly because I could succeed in them, as I have always been very flexible. I hadn’t done these activities for years but I knew I still kept the flexibility from them. Later on in high school I became a cheerleader, in the routines I would always have the role of any pose or trick that involved flexibility. To me, yoga is something I was meant to do in my later years. From child to teenager, to now adult, I just found my next favourite activity I enjoy doing.

          To start, no my boyfriend did not call me ‘fat’ and I also didn’t think I was. To be honest, I thought I was skinny with big boobs and a butt because that’s what everyone told me. I was always a little self conscious of my cellulite-osaurus legs though. My Aussie boyfriend Brad however was a little snap happy with our new camera. All it took was one picture at the wrong angle to notice I had gained weight. For the last eight years I thought I had been the same size, everything still fit okay and I rarely weighted myself to even know if I had. I guess over the past several months before losing weight I noticed myself eating more, and also coincidently feeling more tired.

          When Brad and I met we were living in the town of Lake Louise, Alberta. We ate ‘Bean’ food provided by the hotel we were working for, mainly food dunked in oil if you weren’t careful and selective of what you ate. I wondered why my tummy would hurt all the time, I even remember asking the chef one time and he told me it could be the amount of oil used to cook the food. When we didn’t eat at ‘The Bean’ Brad or I would cook at one of our places. A reoccurring specialty dish of Brad’s would be some type of meat cut open, stuffed with cream cheese then wrapped with bacon and of course melted cheese on top. As a side he would have some form of potato and veggies, sometimes there was even an appetizer offered like garlic bread. A typical dish for me would be hot dogs and French fries, oh and the side was Heinz ketchup, sometimes could have been mistaken for the main because there was so much of it. Yah, I wasn’t much healthier, he at least had a veggie. Once I started living with Brad I noticed my meals getting bigger and bigger, I was serving us both the same portions and so was he. I should have considered that he was a boy and I was a girl, that alone should have distinguished how much was served. We were splitting grocery bills so I thought it’s only fair if I eat half. Little did I know what I was in for.

        Just in case you were wondering, no I did not once shove my finger down my throat, take any type of pills, or miss meals. This happened in the most natural, purest way possible. Every part of this journey was self-inflicted with a few pointers from friends, family, and strangers along the way. I never once turned a blind eye to some ones comment, even if it was negative. Whether it was the man I met running telling me I had amazing form, or Maria, a masseuse I met who told me how to stand properly in my new body. This of course was my first time losing weight so listening to every piece of information I could get was important. In the process, I didn’t pay for a nutritionist, a gym membership, or even new gear unless I didn’t have it already. I had just moved to Australia with Brad, only brought one pair of Under Armour workout pants – eight years old, and one pair of six year old worn in Nike running shoes. Goes to show if it’s going to happen, it’ll happen, no matter what is holding you back.

         Brad and I had been there for about a month and me, being the picky person I was, noticed right away that the food was different. I wasn’t interested in Aussie ‘snack foods’ like the Favourites boxes of Cadbury chocolate or Smith’s chips (Lay’s in Canada) because I had never had them before. None of my favourite treats were here, at least none that I knew of. If they were, they tasted slightly different like Smarties because they used ingredients from alternative places in Australia. I also wasn’t going to go through all of the brands to find the hidden duplicates that are the same company, just a different logo or name. We were living at Brad’s parents’ home when we first arrived where everything in the fridge was different to what I was used to back at home. The fridge had ‘whole milk’ which I soon learned was 2%. I was used to skim at home that I couldn’t find here. The grocery stores supplied different varieties of apples and different fruit in general, even some shelf products I had no idea existed because they weren’t available in Canada or I just hadn’t noticed. I instantly thought these changes that were about to happen to my diet could potentially be for the better or for the worse, though I’m not sure how much it would have made a difference, I just knew I didn’t want to find out. Stephen, Brad’s dad, was also kind enough to offer me a piece of chocolate nearly everyday. I knew if I started saying yes to his generosity, it’d be a hard habit to get myself out of, as I wasn’t used to this.

          During my first week of arrival happened to be the annual ‘butcher on wheels’ visit to the farm. I grew up in the city and living in the country was all new to me, I quite enjoyed the reduced chaos though so far. Everyone grows up differently, to me the slaughtering of the cow was definitely shocking but to Brad, this is what he was used to. I’m sure everyone would also handle this situation differently too, for me, this was the last time I ate red meat.

          It was Saturday, March 21st, the day it all began. I remember I had a ‘girls night out’ planned that evening with some of Brad’s friends I had become close with over the last few months or so. During the day Brad and I went to a beach close to his hometown. At this point I was still addicted to tanning so I loaded on the oil, laid on my towel and started reading the book I happened to choose to read that day, my yoga magazine. I found a sequence in it that looked simple called, ‘Curb – Your – Appetite – Yoga’. After reading some more into it, I realized it was actually intended for weight loss. The yoga sequence was more of a challenge that was meant to be done with cardio as well. It gave you a six-week ‘to-do’ list that looked quite achievable. So on that beach is exactly where I started. I jogged in my bathing suit, jiggling everywhere, to a pile of rocks at the end of the beach and back, about five minutes. I then did the ten minutes of yoga routine to give it a try and I was successful. Brad looked at me a little funny until I showed him the page in the book and said I was going to give it a shot! Little did I know how far this one-day would bring me or how much change it would unfold. It truly felt like I had accomplished something even though it wasn’t much. I proceeded with my day and had an awesome night out with the girls. The next day was already planned to be a hangover day, which I knew I would classify as ‘a day off’, yes – so soon.

         The first week of my new challenge consisted of four days of 15 – 20 minutes of moderate – intense cardio and the same yoga routine three or more times in a regular seven-day week. I started keeping track on the Saturday I first went for a jog, so that has always been the beginning of my seven-day week. Written examples of moderate – intense cardio were walking, cycling, and the elliptical machine. At the pace I was jogging, you could considerate it walking. However, I was successful completing all three days of cardio and yoga, some workouts were staggered instead of doing them on the same day. I left the remainder of the week for rest days. I found it pretty easy to make time and allow it into my busy schedule where I had no job but travelling. I was going out in the evenings for short jogs, made some cow friends out in the country who sometimes would cheer (moo) me on (I always thought it was because I stopped eating red meat) and watched sunsets over rolling hills. It was very enjoyable compared to running in a city having tried this before. There were rarely fumes from traffic and hardly any observers. However when an old country ute (truck) would drive by that you could tell had missed it’s last twenty years of emissions tests, or the wonderful aromas of dead road kill, I’d beg to differ what location I enjoyed more. Occasionally Brad would join me giving me an extra challenge to try and keep up to his 4 ft. long legs. We were also being Tassie (Tasmanian) tourists so if we had a day of hiking it would count as a day towards my weekly challenge.

           In a few weeks time Brad and I had plans to drive around the southeastern states of Australia, Victoria, NSW, and ACT (Australian Capital Territory) and live out of our car. I thought that might bring loop holes to my new routine because of the long car rides, day touring, and what always seemed as a crunch for time to eat and set up camp before the lights went out. With some determination, I managed to fit my workouts in. If I couldn’t get out for a jog in the evenings before sunset I would try and make up for it by going for a hike the next day where ever we were to see something neat. As a week started on Saturday, I would always try to make up for unsuccessful days before Friday came around. Once Friday came, if I missed a day and the day was done, it was gone. I’d forget about it and try harder the next week. I was coming up with some pretty creative running routes, as they were always in a different location and different type of landscape whether it was on a beach, in a grass park, dirt road, uphill, downhill or flat. When we bought our surfboard ‘Squirt’ named after the turtle on the board and in relation to Finding Nemo, I remember using ‘learning how to surf’ as a day done.

           Before leaving for our trip I purchased a yoga mat on sale from $99 to $30, something I knew I’d have to get in Australia because bringing one with me wasn’t an option. I was doing yoga in our tent, on beaches, even right out in the open on campsites. I once recall doing it in a parking lot beside our car, I was definitely determined! Brad and I travelled around the Great Ocean Road, followed the coast up to Sydney and then back down through inland Yarrawonga where Brad’s brother and his girlfriend live. At this point I was still eating the same food as when I left Tassie, however, I did start watching my portion sizes.  I would usually have 2/3rd’s of Brad’s plate size, which still filled me enough and probably what I should have been having for a female. I think most people can agree that being stuffed, bloated or over full is uncomfortable and you want to fall asleep right after – this is food coma. I no longer wanted to have this feeling; I wanted the most energy out of food I could get in order to do my workouts. I would also never let myself go hungry. If I wanted to snack between smaller meals, then so be it, as long as I wasn’t hungry or full I was content. My initial thought was the food would be there tomorrow and sometimes even now I remind myself of this thought. Though I continually refer back to this philosophy, keep in mind that sometimes preservation dates or best before dates can hold you back. Sometimes the food will go bad before you can get to it and therefore it turns into a budget predicament. When eating late at night due to a packed full day of fun, I would usually eat less as well as this meant bed time was right around the corner. If there was no campfire, there was no way we were staying up after sunset. Who likes going to bed on a full stomach!

          Five weeks later after what turned out to be an amazing road trip we returned home to Tassie. The challenge I was following gradually had me increase time first, with 25 – 30 minutes in 3 weeks, and intensity came to follow in week 5. In week 5 it went from 4 days of moderate intense cardio to 2 days of high – intense cardio and 2 days of moderate – intense cardio. The high – intense cardio was for less time at first and built its way up over time. Whether the time brackets were 15 – 20 minutes or 30 – 35 minutes I would start off with the lowest end of the bracket at the beginning of the week, then finish with the highest at the end. Similarly I was improving with my yoga practice. Every pose it said to hold for 3 – 5 breaths however I was starting to perfect and hold them for 5 instead of 3 like at the beginning. My poses were becoming less sloppy, more comfortable and also more enjoyable. I could notice myself gaining strength not just physically but mentally to hold poses. I was forming a mind – body – soul connection, something I had never felt before. I was enlightened by the power my mind actually had, and how much of it I had never used before until now.

          This week would have been the first time I weighed myself, for some reason it never occurred to me that this is a great way to measure improvement. Unfortunately I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning but I know when I left home I weighed around 143 lbs. The last time would have been when I weighed my suitcase before locking it; I too jumped on out of curiosity. So I gave the scale a good clean at Brad’s place, figured out how to work it, and hopped on. I was weighing in at 61.5 kg, yah the next thing to figure out was how to read and interrupt an Aussie scale. After minor calculations, I came to the conclusion I weighed 136 lbs., a 7 lb. difference than what I thought I weighed. I thought to myself,  “could I really have lost 7 lbs. in the last 5 weeks?” At this point, I realized I had figured out how to lose weight. Maybe it was the exercising, or the little less I was serving myself for dinner, all I know is whatever I was doing worked. Either way, I liked the results so I decided to make some goals. I thought it would be healthy to lose 3 lbs. a month, so that’s what I started at. I was also starting to take notice more and more of what I was eating. If I made goals and was going to make this into a weight lose challenge, I didn’t want to put the weight back on with what I was eating. I felt the healthier I ate and the more water I drank, the further I could push myself leading to better results.

           Week 6 was where the challenge brought you to the most intense workouts. It was 5 days of cardio (3 high – intense cardio and 2 moderate – intense cardio) plus the yoga 3 or more times a week. As the yoga practice I had been following in the magazine was getting a little repetitive and lost its sense of challenge due to me reaching my goals, I decided to add bits and pieces to it. In the magazine it had great poses to try for whatever kind of activity you were doing. If I were running, I would add the running stretch poses into my sequence. If I were swimming, I would include poses to help stretch the different muscles I would use while swimming. The magazine offered many opportunities to add in poses to the sequence wherever I wanted them. I was slowly trying new things and gaining more and more muscle. I found it more of a hobby and a fun activity than anything; I think that is why I stuck with it. When I added challenging poses in that I wanted to try, it was about making it beautiful and special, not weight loss.

When we got back to Tassie I didn’t just want to run because when we were road tripping it was a whole variety of different activities keeping it interesting. On Friday evenings we would go swimming at a local pool with friends as a social gathering. I would chat with the girls while treading water and then would do laps for 20 minutes and consider it a day done. I was still running the rolling hills near Brad’s place pushing myself to make it up another hill or to a further distance. And boy, was making it ever rewarding! I was also doing runs with my new friend Nat, Brad’s cousin’s girlfriend. Our mini workout on Saturday mornings consisted of a short – yet fast for me as Nat has long legs – run around the block followed by ‘the stairs’, which were known by everyone in town as being tough. Occasionally we would do strength-building exercises and use the water fountain structure as a prop in the park. There were usually Saturday afternoon footy games to follow where we would have a drink, snack on hot chips, and watch our boyfriends play while putting it all back on again.

           On Monday evenings Nat started inviting me out to boxing classes done in a community hall. This was something completely new to me; I literally needed her to explain every move the instructor was talking about. After turning up a few times she had me trained to be the perfect partner punching bag without her giving so much direction. I started to have fun with it too even though I didn’t think I’d ever try it in my life. We also did one evening of pilates with Nat’s Canadian friend instructing – I just had to meet her! Nat went to school for nutrition so along the way I asked her opinion on a whole bunch of things regarding food, working out, and how much was too much or too little. She also would be the one to lead ‘the stairs’ and park workouts. Once I started to become more curious about the food I was eating, I got Nat to explain the ‘Nutrition Info’ on the back of products. I had no idea about anything and she was nice enough to share all her knowledge with me without holding back. I was very lucky to have met some one like her, it’s as if she came into my life at the perfect time. For at least 1/3rd of the pounds I lost, I would say she was right beside me for it doing it as well, whether it be running up the stairs, packing apples or ‘poking tunnels’ at the berry farm.

           Once we started to settle down in Tassie again we also began looking for jobs. In the three months time I was in Tassie, I had a total of three jobs. First I started in a cauliflower paddock, cutting cauliflower. By far it was the most physically demanding job I have ever done, the pure definition of hard labour. Being on a Working Holiday Visa it is required of me to do 88 days in rural areas in the agricultural industry in order to get a second Working Holiday Visa or even to be able to work in Australia legally ever again. If Brad and I wished to come back to Australia and get jobs again while visiting, this is the only way we would be able to. The job was a constant bend cut, throw, bend, cut, throw roughly 600 times a day. As much as I could barely sit comfortably after the first day let alone work, I still went back with even more determination. I can remember a girl I worked with coming in and telling me she went home to her mom the night before and said, “I can’t believe the new girl kept up with me,” this boosted my confidence a bit more. I lasted about four 6 – hour days before finding another job with more hours, a lunch break, and a toilet.

           Next was the apple orchard where my job title was an ‘apple packer’. This was also very physical with bending, standing, lifting, and walking eight hours a day. Sometimes while sorting apples on the grader, I would get some squats in to pass through the boredom even chair pose entertained me! What I’ve realized and been told about the Working Holiday Visa is that the Australian government tries to encourage foreign workers to hold jobs in industries they struggle to find their own Aussie labour workers in. So pretty much because it is hard manual work, no Aussie wants to do it!

           Next in line was the raspberry farm and you can only guess if this one followed the pattern. The maintenance position included pulling, bending, standing, walking, and poking – a 10 ft. wooden pole. Sundays would be my rest days because I was getting the weekends off from physical activity at work. I would simply do nothing, though I was always tempted to do some yoga for a stretch. These day workouts on the job may have had an impact on my weight loss.

           A few weeks passed and we moved into our friend’s Tal and Clay’s place. They were going on a trip of a lifetime to travel America and Canada and asked if we would be interested in house / pet sitting for them. Before this my diet hadn’t changed much other than the smaller portions and finding out the hard way that working out on a full stomach actually leads to failure. I was eating smaller meals more often and I would never go starving or fill myself to the max. I always remembered my dad saying to have seven meals a day, essentially that’s what I ended up doing. At Tal and Clay’s place is where I would strongly say my diet started to change drastically. In the first few days we were there I found Tal’s cookbooks. Before this, cooking had never really interested me. It took having a whole kitchen to myself for the first time to spark a new interest. The books Tal had, happened to be 100 Snacks and Light Meals, 100 Soups and Salads, and 100 Healthy Desserts sponsored by the T.V. show ‘The Biggest Loser’. I was really enjoying cooking; I truly found a new hobby. At home I would always do arts and crafts as a hobby. I still love my arts and crafts it is just a little hard to do them when it is something tangible that would have to come home with me in my suitcase where there is not much space as is. Also, you usually have to buy in bulk like a full set of paints or a bottle of glue, which would end up being a waste of money as none of the people I have met loved crafts and would want my seconds. I can assure you there would be no room for a ‘my Aussie scrapbook’ to come back with me either. Cooking on the other hand, was an intangible hobby, one that was disposable. If I had to eat and spend money on food anyway, why not?

          Tal owned a cross-trainer that I decided to give a try. I had never been on one of these before but as the days got shorter and I started getting home on sunset, running outside wasn’t an option. This thing officially kicked my butt, however I loved the challenge. I tried all different levels and workouts it had except for the last few that were way over my head. It helped that the workouts were constantly changing. I would always try and beat my record from the last time I was on it. I would compete with myself to make new goals whether it was calories burned, distance, or time. During my workouts I would watch T.V. series one after the other to keep my mind busy. I was determined to finish the ‘Pretty Little Liars’ series before Tal and Clay came home as she had them on her hard drive. Every episode was roughly forty-five minutes long and I think that is what pushed me to excel from thirty minutes to forty-five minutes, it was just easier this way. I was still running once or twice a week on weekends mainly, boxing every other Monday and swimming Friday evenings.

           My yoga was also bringing me to whole new levels as I had already memorized my routine and it was getting easier and easier. I started adding in different poses again here and there. My inner child started to come out with my practice. I added in poses from ‘Turn Your Practice Upside Down’ and started doing handstands, shoulder stands and headstands. These were all things I practiced in acro class growing up. I had so much room for activities in Tal’s living room; it was like my own personal dance studio. Next I added in poses that were part of the ‘Elevate Your Practice’ chapter and they were definitely true to their name – making you reach to new heights! The poses were Side Plank B, Crow, and King Dancer, all I tried and failed miserably. Three weeks in after trying my absolute hardest I was able to hold the beginner stage of the poses for five breaths. Tal had also left her two, 1 kg weights. At the time I never had an interest in the weights but after reading yet another section in my yoga magazine, I decided to give them a try. The section had simple poses that involved holding weights during them. The weights were used to help you engage in your core muscles more. At first I couldn’t feel it, then after a few weeks of practice and going from holding for five breaths to fifteen breaths I started to learn how to use my stomach to do a lot more of the work. Holding a pose became easier once I found these muscles. The sequence I was now doing would be Ashtanga yoga, “…breath, movement, and discipline. While this style will help you build muscle and burn calories, the real reward comes from the dedication and consistency this practice requires…” and a bit of Vinyasa with weights. My practice was now about forty minutes long, another episode of ‘Pretty Little Liars’ or complete relaxation looking out the window where there was a beautiful view of the mountains.

          Six weeks had passed and it was time for Brad and I to go back to live with his parents as Tal and Clay had returned from their vacation. I had to stop playing in her kitchen and living room but I was not yet ready to stop what I had already achieved. During the six weeks I was starting to leave certain ingredients out of recipes like sugar, oil, salt, and butter. I knew too much of any of these wasn’t good for you and I was curious to know what food would taste like without them. I wondered if it would really make a huge difference, if it would taste worse, or even better. Now after working on the cauliflower farm and apple orchard where I tried fresh fruit and veggies straight out of the paddock, it made me think the stuff we think we need to cook with like butter or salt are just extras. Stephen, Brad’s dad, also brought me to a bunch of different crops nearly ready for harvest when I first arrived. I got the privilege of trying things like carrots and beans. Essentially I fell in love with them all and their freshness, it was a good thing because I still wasn’t eating red meat and this gave me more variety.

          When I first heard sugar was bad for you, or at least in large quantities, was at home in Canada. I think everyone knows sugar in high amounts is bad for you. When I started cooking I was looking at all the ingredients in the goods I was buying. I was surprised to find sugar in nearly everything, even in things I always thought were healthy like low-fat yoghurt and low-fat semi-dried tomatoes, even 97% fat free black forest ham had sugar added into it. When Tal came home I told her what I had been up to in her kitchen, she responded by giving me a book called, “That Sugar Book,” another by Michelle Bridges, “Get Real!” and a copy of the “That Sugar Film” oh and of course the Pretty Little Liars last few seasons I hadn’t gotten through yet.

          At this point I was starting to educate myself on what ever I could get my hands on. The “That Sugar Film” I watched a couple of weeks later and is one movie I would strongly encourage everyone and anyone to watch. I understand at first it can come off as a little brainwashing, especially if you never thought of sugar as a bad thing. I however looked at the movie like, “Oh my God, there are other people out there that have proven my sugar philosophy to be correct – it is a problem, thank God I’m not the only one!” Then I realized I wasn’t the only one who had tried giving up sugar even in my day-to-day life as I overheard my supervisor saying her family had tried it for a year. I just felt like I was doing what I always wanted to do. For instance, growing up my mom told me everything was chicken, I’d only eat it if I thought it was chicken, maybe I only liked just chicken. Now I mainly eat chicken, maybe if I had just eaten what I wanted to eat then I would be a vegetarian, and there is nothing wrong with that. I have to give it to my mom though, it is society that pushes the ‘4 food groups’ diet so she was only doing her best to give me what she thought I needed, a veggie, a starch, and meat at dinner time.

           Meeting people from work that had similar views on even a few eating habits made me think that what I was doing wasn’t so different after all. Everyone is different, no one is right or wrong, or the exact same. I knew this change could also come off as selfish, like I only wanted to eat what I cooked sometimes not what someone else was cooking for me. I wanted to save my sugar-free homemade baked goods for my lunch box. But it was only because I put time, effort, and thought into my bars and most of all time management. To someone else they are just a bar, it wouldn’t matter if they were store bought, unlike me where they were the only thing I was eating. I had never been a selfish person and that is definitely not something I intended to become or to be thought of, I just wanted to eat what I wanted to eat. I experienced a slice of being healthy and physically fit and I fell in love with it, I needed to do this for myself.

           When we left Tal and Clay’s I was weighing in at 10 lbs lighter than when I had arrived. It was as if the pounds had just blown off, I didn’t notice them missing. I only weighed myself the once at Tal’s as I had started using my ‘Period Tracker App’ to full advantage and only when I got my period did it require me to put in my weight. I feel this helped me to stay encouraged, not knowing how much I was losing. To be honest, I didn’t care how much I was losing, I felt healthier and more energetic than I ever had before.

           As my goal at the beginning was 3 lbs a month and in six weeks I lost 10 lbs., I thought it would be a good idea to research BMI (Body Mass Index) and figure out how much was too much to lose. The first chart I looked at enlightened me that I was actually over weight for my height and frame when I arrived in Aus. I found this extremely shocking, as I had no idea. I looked at a few more charts to confirm and sure enough, I was. Then I proceeded to find the lowest amount I could possibly weigh and still be healthy as well as the highest. The lowest was 106 lbs. I told myself I could do whatever I wanted with exercise and food wise as long as I don’t go under that, no matter how much I was enjoying my yoga sessions and workouts. I’ve seen people become addicted to losing weight, like how people become addicted to drugs or even their job. I knew in any form, addiction can be a bad thing and sometimes even cause you to get sick – I definitely didn’t want that!

           I’ve always thought there is or should be some sort of simplicity to life. For example, washing your hair everyday or putting on make-up takes time though they are not a necessity. It’s like taking Advil or other drugs when you know your body can fight a certain tolerance to pain. I would say it isn’t just extra from a budget perspective but even just a waste of energy. Like a bottle of water, the amount of time it took for the company to create the bottle, the waste from it after, the environmental damage it caused to get to the grocery store, probably from a foreign country, and then finally the effort it took you to get it to your house. When you calculate it, a bottle of water costs more than gas. This natural way of living is something I had never put into action, but always something I thought of. Now I think I am truly living the way I want to live my life, the natural way and it has now even affected my eating habits. Yes, it is okay to treat yourself and I can’t say I have never bought a bottle of water, but I have at least thought about it. I’m not judgmental on wasters or people who damage the environment, however if they have not thought of this simple way of living, I think they need to educate themselves a little more.

           Once moving back into Brad’s parents’ again I would say is where I was first experiencing this natural way of life, which essentially led to my now raw eating habits. I started making everything from scratch using whole raw ingredients. I was making my own granola bars, chips, ice cream, dips, and sauces, even my own crackers. As I was working at the apple orchard at this time I was even making my own juice, which I started at Tal’s place with her miraculous juicer. I loved knowing exactly what was going into the food I was eating and where it came from. If I were using recipes online that called for sugar or butter I would not add it in, add a portion of it in, or find a healthier alternative sweetener. For example, like adding stevia a substitute for sugar into chocolate-coated ice cream popsicles with almond topping because it didn’t taste just quite right without it. Mixing different concoctions and trying new things became a fun game of trial and error. Most of the recipes I still haven’t perfected because there are so many more new ones I want to try. It was products like Keen’s mustard that I fell in love with, a pure ancient 1742 staple product provided by a company that didn’t fall into the sugar scheme or ‘bliss point’ – as the “That Sugar Film” refers to it as; a time when all companies started adding the optimal amount of sugar in their products because it would make their consumers buy more. The outcome was every company started adding it in more and more, trying to keep up with their competition. All I knew is that if Stephen was eating my goods over the store bought ones in the pantry, they must not be all that bad.

           I ended up investing in a recipe book, something I had never purchased before. At the time I thought it was an insufficient item to buy that I would have to leave behind in Australia because there sure wouldn’t be enough room in my suitcase for it. Kenko Kitchen was the name of the book, it turned out to be one of my best buys yet. With a few snap shots of Tal’s recipe books, 100 Snacks and Light Meals, 100 Soups and Salads, and 100 Healthy Desserts from ‘The Biggest Loser’, Nat’s gluten and dairy free habits and her 4 Ingredients Gluten Free and Lactose Free book, recipes off packaging, recipes from conversations with people at work like basic garlic aioli made from scratch, my mom’s hand me down recipes, the chef who told me ingredients to teriyaki sauce when I couldn’t find a meal with it anywhere, and Cat’s raw smoothie ingredients from Bohemian Raw Café in Airlie Beach, I was starting to form a collection to make my very own recipe book. After searching high and low for the right recipe book, Kenko seemed to be a pretty good fit; I found it to be very inspiring. I wasn’t looking for any specific health requirements, just for one that had recipes that looked good and would be achievable. My intensions were to cook sugar-free, however I had already realized I could make any recipe sugar-free if I wanted to. Kenko Kitchen was a Japanese inspired cookbook with simple, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free recipes. I wasn’t really interested in the Japanese part of it as I have never been one to experience different cultural food. It was more the sugar-free characteristic that intrigued me to purchase it. I still wasn’t sure I had chosen the right one as the layout was a lot different to Tal’s books and of course they were the only ones I had ever used, I had gotten used to them.

           A few weeks in after trying a few recipes I went through the entire book to see everything it offered. I realized there was a description for every health food I had no idea about, where to find it, and the benefits it could give you. I also came across the last page – a mini documentary about Kate Bradley the author, “Australian-born, 23-year-old Kate Bradley first gave up refined sugar, gluten and all processed foods in late 2012, which completely revolutionized her health and well being, not to mention her cooking style.” At this moment I knew I had picked the right one as I turned 23 years old when I left Canada to come to Aus. My mom also told me when she was 23 she lost the most weight she ever had in her life. She was working out on lunch breaks and got right into physical activity and her exercises. She was also the smallest she had ever been since she was younger. Maybe 23 is a time in your life to reflect on your health and the life you are living or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Maybe change in your diet and activity made while you are young is the recipe to a longer, happier and healthy life.

            I already hadn’t been eating much dairy to begin with as it was ‘full milk’ or 2% milk that was in the fridge and I was used to skim at home. I found it very creamy and thick, I may have looked for skim milk once and couldn’t even find any. I think it is called ‘light milk’ in Australia. I recall Suellen, Brad’s mom encouraging me to try soymilk when she noticed I wasn’t drinking any milk. All the ingredients in my new cookbook called for plant-based milk like coconut, soy, and nut milks. I tried it once in a smoothie and it was actually tastier, like a natural sweetener. I’ve compared all the milks including all the nut milks like almond and macadamia, to find that cow milk actually makes my stomach upset every time I had it. I may be lactose intolerant like many people are because even when I eat ice cream, sour cream, and cheese I get the same feelings. It was only once I started eating raw, homemade food that I could really pin point what was causing the disturbance in my tummy. It is easy to test different foods now with such a clear palette. Plus, when I lived on my own I could never finish a 1L jug of milk before it went sour anyway; nut milk has an awesome shelf life. Cheese is also a different story. If I’m going to an event and cheese is served, damn right I will have some because cheese and crackers is still a yummy treat, but in small doses. Nearly every time I’ve been to an event in the past few months that had cheese, it followed with severe stomach issues. I continuously ask myself if it’s worth it. It’s almost like a hangover on a Sunday morning.

           When I was living at Brad’s I had reached what I knew was my limit to push myself with weight practically because I had hit my lowest BMI for staying healthy. Along the way I thought it’d be neat to be the absolute lowest I could be, just like one day I’d like to try being the highest I can be, like eating the amount for two during pregnancy. I had reached the plateau with my challenge in my yoga magazine, high – intense cardio three times a week and low  – intense cardio two times a week. I was exceeding the time that the article said just because I enjoyed the challenge. I found it hard to stop pushing myself and for the first time I thought this could be a little addictive. The magazine said specifically not to go past forty-five minutes of high – intense cardio – I was doing one hour. I wanted to know I could run for an hour, or even be able to run a marathon without stopping. I knew it was too much when I started to get pains in certain places, which would only happen once I past forty-five minutes. It was things like blisters, and a thigh strain pain I think I got from running on slopping roadsides. It helped that I wouldn’t be running everyday. I pulled out an exercise bike from the 70’s that Stephen used for knee problems, so I wasn’t just running. Swimming was still happening on Friday nights as well. This is when I started doing maintenance at the raspberry farm where we would be getting home just at sunset so it was nice to have an alternative option indoors. I was now doing a heavier weight during my yoga practice – 1.5 kg as I no longer had Tal’s and I had already mastered them anyway so I had to buy new ones. The constant change in my sequence allowed for it to not become too much of a routine.

           At the raspberry farm the physical intensity changed frequently. To start, the majority of the work was on rolling hills so it was a constant walk up and down rows for breaks (smokos), toilets, and the job itself. Some days we were pulling canes out from trellising which was hard on the abdominals, back, and arms. Other days we were putting massive laminex tarps over rows of raspberry cane that formed tunnels. This took a lot of energy to do, lifting a 10 ft. tall wooden pole with cloth and duck tape wrapped around the top end of it continuously. I would bring smoothies and water out on the farm with me to drink and eat when I was working. Once I ran out of food, which I usually brought plenty of, I would beg Brad for whatever he had left. Somehow I managed to have enough energy to get me through the days. I was also cooking all my own meals from scratch at this point. I felt as if I had so much energy because I was eating healthy, running, and doing my regular workout. I couldn’t stop; it was like nothing could hold me down. I was even starting to get things done that I had always procrastinated with like planning a trip, writing in my journal, or even started making time to paint again (I did manage to bring a mini water colour set), something I always thought about doing on a regular basis. It was as if enzymes were being produced when I was working out that just kept reproducing giving me more and more energy. It soon led to more of a go-getting personality where I had trouble shutting myself off.

           There were only a few days I felt weak in the muscles and like I couldn’t keep up with myself. At work we had four days of tunnels and I missed my swim so instead did another day on the bike. The variety of exercise I think has a huge impact on how much your body can tolerate. This is where I found my maximum level of tolerance to push myself. Once I realized this weak feeling I started eating even more during breaks to see if it would make a difference and it did. I would say I now eat nearly double the amount of food in a day than I was at home. Now the difference was I was eating healthy food in smaller portions more frequently throughout the day in order to not be stuffed before a workout. Having multiple breaks also helped me form this routine of meals spread out during the day. If I was hungry, I was eating; there was no doubt about it. I now believe in the saying my dad would always tell me, to eat seven meals a day.

           I had reached all my goals by the time my sister and mom came to visit in the beginning of September. It took roughly six months for this change to happen; I’d say that is a healthy amount of time to lose weight. I was 106 lbs., right at the lowest BMI for my frame and height and to still be healthy, it felt fantastic. I knew when my family was here I wouldn’t be doing as much exercise or even eating as much. It was the perfect time for a break and to rest my body as I hadn’t done much of that and I was curious to know what would happen if I did. I also hadn’t made any further goals, just to stay at the weight I was at. My family said they wanted to lose weight while they were here so I decided I would start with them right where I started, with the yoga magazine challenge. I would also do it from the start again. I had six weeks with them so it would work out perfect as that’s how long the routine was for; it would also bring me back to my plateau again. As I reached my goals a few weeks before their arrival, I was going a little easier the last few weeks because I wanted to ease into the slower weeks I would have ahead. This way it wouldn’t be such a shock to my body not working out everyday.

          Just when I thought my body was getting a rest it deserved, I gained 1.5 kg due to getting synthetic dreadlocks put into my hair, yah – not light. I also lost another 3 lbs. off my actual body weight when my family was visiting. The saying that Nat always told me, “muscles weigh more than fat,” may have been proven right here. I was working out less, going out for tea (dinner) more often, had Brad’s, Suellen’s, and Daniel’s (Brad’s bro) birthday all in the month of September, one weekend after the next. I indulged in chocolate cake at every one – I fully believe it’s bad luck not to eat birthday cake at all birthdays, not just your own. All of these things changed in the month however, I still managed to lose more weight. I wasn’t using weights in my yoga as much so it could have been muscle I was losing. The dreads could have done it too, as I was now virtually carrying a small infant on my shoulders, or a water basket on my head like tribes in Africa do. Almost like carrying my weights with me at all times. I was still running and doing yoga with them as well. I could definitely notice a difference in me getting tired faster but I soon over came that burden. It was also uncomfortable at first, but I found alternative ways to hold positions to balance the weight on my head, just as your body naturally would.

          Once my family left, Brad and I drove six hours southwest of Brisbane to a little hamlet called Pallamallawa where his Uncle and Auntie lived. We were actually ten minutes out of the hamlet so literally in the middle of nowhere – living the peaceful country life. We had plans to do this years harvest season with them. Harvest season is pretty much the craziest time of year for a farmer. It’s when they stay up for seventeen to twenty hours a day for roughly thirty days in a month depending on how much land you have to cover, cutting their crops. The only rest days are when there is a miracle that takes place made by Mother Nature – it rains. And even then it seems a bit unfortunate because too much rain can ruin your crops. Everything seems spontaneous and suspenseful about it. As unhealthy as it is to stay up for nineteen hours on end, day after day, working seventeen hours, it is a quick, easy, and efficient way to double your income. I’ve worked seventy-five hours this week, which was five days. When Aus is so big and with so much left to see, it seems like the right thing to do to make money fast, with only two months left in this beautiful country. In my eyes health comes before money now, however this month will stay out of the books and I will forget about it. In other ways, an example would be purchasing the more expensive bag of flour if it were healthier for me. When I weighted myself this month I used a scale that was in the cottage also known as the ‘Love Shack’ where we were living. It showed if you were over fat, unhealthy, healthy, or under fat in comparison to your BMI. I was showing healthy so I knew I still hadn’t lost too much weight. Brad on the other hand, showed as under fat probably because of his height to weight ratio.

           This is the first time in seven months I have not done cardio for longer than four days. I’ve done a minimum amount of yoga in my tractor cab, and maybe a few stretches in the paddock, and I can't forget the dancing to the radio! This job has given me the time to read my yoga magazine and experiment with meditation, which is new to me, and perfect my breathing. I have done as little as pull two massive tarps over a pile of barley and wheat to cover them from the rain in the early hours of the morning. I am also happily accepting my harvest mother’s warm cooked dinners (tea) every evening upon sunset. With my picky eating habits, this is a big deal. My prepared baked goods are running out as well, with no time to make more. I guess this will be a good chance to see if I will gain or lose weight, and how my body reacts to the change. I even ate six mini chocolate bars on Halloween only to realize they are actually painful to the mouth after not eating sugar for a while; I woke up with two cankers. All I know is that I feel extremely weak which I’m sure is from the lack of sleep, and for some reason I can see the definition of the veins in my arms a bit more, maybe this happens when you don’t work out as much. I think this job will be good for me as it takes a lot of patience and things usually get done at a slower pace than expected. The big picture looks easier than what is actually achievable. The patience is something I mentioned my ‘go-getter’ personality needs to work on.

           All of these changes in my daily living formed a new lifestyle. Along the way I noticed a chain affect occurring. The healthier and more active I became, the more successful I was. I would say I am 85% more likely to succeed at something after undergoing these changes. I do not procrastinate nearly as much as I used to because I have so much more energy. My attention span has improved greatly and when I make goals I don’t have nearly as much trouble sticking to them. It’s like grabbing life by the shoulders and shacking it. Why not be the best you can be? Or be as healthy and exercise as much as you can? If you are looking for advice, the best I can give is to educate yourself. Appreciate your body and food for all it can be worth. No, you can’t gain 10 lbs. or lose 10 lbs. over night, so relax, let this slow process work it’s best in a natural way. When exercising I would always think to myself, this motion only hurts for a moment in time, and then that moment is gone. When I see other people struggling with weight loss and eating healthy I so desperately want to be in their shoes and step into their body. Not just because I would love you have pounds to lose again but if I were just able to get them started, to feel what it’s like to figure out how to succeed. And believe me, you too will soon realize living this lifestyle will make living life more enjoyable, the way it should be.

           There are some things I will never forget like the first day my tights didn’t touch or rub together when I went for a run and how much more comfortable it was. Or the first time I went on a hike after getting fit and feeling like I could smash it. I sure didn’t have trouble keeping my head up to spot wildlife or view the scenery. I had more time and was more relaxed doing the things you should do while hiking. I noticed my nails became more strong and grew at a faster rate, something most girls who this doesn’t naturally happen to want. I remember checking myself out in a body mirror at a hotel for the first time after going four months without looking in one, Brad didn’t have a body length mirror at his home. A friend even caught me doing it, but if only she knew how strange it felt she would understand. Or trying on all my summer shorts after a long Tassie winter, to only find out that I now have nothing to wear that fits. Or going into a change room for the first time in months and trying to figure out what size I was and to find out some items don’t even exist in my size. That was harder than it would seem, I went from a size six Canadian to a size six Australian, somehow I managed to stay the exact same size. I had to figure out my bra size as well. For those of you who are curious to know, if you have no boobs and always wanted them, save yourself the $10,000 worth of implants because in my eyes, life is comfier without them! And to those with no butts, I praise you because of all those years you’ve sat uncomfortably; boney butts really do hurt sometimes!

            I had rules too, none I had officially written down until now, but they were repeated in my head over and over again. I would never judge someone based on what he or she ate or what he or she looked like. That was something I like to think I never did and just because I was changing physically and mentally, I didn’t want to let it get to my head like I’ve seen it do to others. I also said I was never allowed to judge myself, for what I was like before, or what I look like now. I could not reminisce on old photos or look at myself as a different person. Also as I mentioned, this all happened when I had no mirror, I did not want to start obsessing over little imperfections where muscle could be bigger or smaller. And most of all, I would not let others judge me. Yes, I would listen to what people say and consider it but if you don’t know when I treat myself or take a break, then it's pretty hard to judge my healthy habits. Everyone is different, and I know my own limits. If you wish to feel the need to judge, please don’t call me skinny. To me, skinny people don’t eat much, which is fine for them. I also thought I was skinny before as I mentioned. I want to be looked at like I’m healthy, muscular, and strong. This is what my own yoga practice and now go-getter personality has left me with, whether I want it or not. If you can't help but judge, I will try to do my best to be insensitive. I hope you can accept me for who I am though I may look different, and do a few different things. All of these new things however, have honestly and truly made me feel more in touch with who I am than ever before. I am not skinny; I am a strong, healthy, happy, beautiful person.

            I think the mind-body connection I have gained from this experience has given me courage and confidence to try new things and old things all over again. Whether it is sports I gave up on because I was never good at them, or trying new ones that would be more challenging like ice climbing or rock climbing. Activities that I used to see as unachievable now seem realistic and attainable. I feel it is not just a physical power I have created, but also a mental one. Now that I know how to push my mind through something, I would have more confidence to learn new things and shoot for my dreams. Like learning a different language let’s say, or how to read music, or even one day getting a few more tattoos. It could have even given me the confidence to write this. Or to do other things like I had always wanted to do like having dreads or not wearing make-up as much or tanning. Sometimes I wonder if it could have been coming to Aus that gave me this confidence, stepping out of your comfort zone, travelling and feeling free.

            So here I am sitting on my ass in a tractor, sweating to death in 36° C weather, smashing food down all day long, and holding my tummy over every bump to get every bit of physical activity in I can during these long days, writing out my journey of how I became healthy, physically and mentally. Maybe I’ll gain it all back now that my days are twelve hours plus and I don’t move much, or maybe once you’ve fallen in love with this healthy lifestyle and all the benefits it brings, you’ll figure out a way to keep it up for good and you’ll never go back!

Thanks for reading!:)

Cheers to healthy living,

                                                          Kay