Battle of the bulge

Kara Irving
A CRANBOURNE North family has been highly commended for losing a staggering 62 kilos between them, in the annual Weight Watchers Healthy Life awards.
Iain Whitecross, 60, his wife Daff, and daughter Heather, 27, were recognised in a new award category for outstanding weight loss, at the gala event held in Sydney last Wednesday night.
Sisters Felicity Davis, Sophie Gladman and Chelsea Fletcher and brother Rodney Fletcher from Mount Eliza in Victoria won the Weight Watchers Family of the Year title.
Tipping the scales at 125kg, Iain was admitted to hospital six times in three years, suffering from high blood pressure and chest pains, before he even considered losing weight.
However it was his daughter, Heather, who initiated the change of habit.
“It wasn’t until September 2007, eight months before my wedding day that I decided it was time to get the wheels in motion again,” said Heather.
Before entering the Weight Watchers program, Heather weighed 68kg. Although she was considered a healthy weight for her height and age, Heather was dissatisfied with her appearance and decided to take action before walking down the aisle.
From a young age Heather had difficulty maintaining her weight, despite having a healthy diet.
“What I hadn’t learnt until joining (the program) was portion control. I thought if it was low in fat, sugar (or) carbs- I could eat as much as I liked,” she adds, “in hindsight I can see how silly that sounds now.”
The week before her wedding Heather had reached her goal weight-losing 11 kilos and dropping four dress sizes in eight months.
Even Iain’s wife Daff, lost 25 kilos, simply by tailoring her diet and exercise regime.
Iain said the family’s weight loss journey had been a truly life changing experience and had given him a more positive outlook on life. “The most important thing for our family was to change our eating behaviours, lose weight and regain our health,” he said. “I know that I am now teaching my children healthy eating habits for life. I’ve got the ultimate prize, I’ve lost the weight.”
Today the Whitecrosses are a changed family. Iain walks a lot more than usual, taking a 20-minute power walk before and during breaks at work and on weekends aims to walk between four and five kilometres.
Heather has taken up salsa dancing, attends yoga and pilates classes once a week and has even joined a basketball team for the first time in years. “You need to be ready to join on your own, and be ready to say no to cake handed out at morning tea…if it won’t fit your points total, because at the end of the day you would only be cheating yourself,” Heather said.