Lee-Anne Wann’s Eating Disorder & Body Battle

Lee-Anne Wann the trainer from reality weight loss show Downsize Me revealed in this week’s Woman’s Day magazine that she has battled body image issues and bulimia (that’s when you pig out and barf it back up again) for several years, with her weight peaking at 72kg. She’s currently 62kg.

As any real fattie - aka most of her victims on Downsize Me - will tell you, being 10kg overweight isn’t such a big deal. I mean really, she should try harder. Miss Prozac could easily surpass that effort if she allowed herself to quaff wine and chocolate every night – especially if she didn’t stuck her fingers down her throat as Lee-Anne was wont to do.

Now, that’s not to say that being bulimic isn’t a serious issue, and Miss Prozac is delighted that Lee-Anne has come out in public to face this serious eating disorder that has afflicted the likes of Princess Diana and newsreader/presenter Alison Mau (who by the way looked mighty spiffy in nothing but a pair of boxers for a prostate cancer awareness campaign). Errr Ali, have you had a sex change operation. What Miss Prozac means is, is there something in your boxers we should know about?


Anyway back to ex lardo Lee-Anne who is now a svelte 62kg. Her weakness is carbs, and she craves breads, sugars and the likes, having months without and then going on a wee binge.

So, next time she yells at you, you know she’s not angry, she’s just hungry.

The real surprise is that fitness junky Lee-Anne Wann has leaky gut syndrome which she says has resulted in chronic fatigue syndrome. If you’re wondering about Miss Prozac’s scepticism it’s because the definition of CFS according to Medline is:

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition of prolonged and severe tiredness or weariness (fatigue) that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other conditions. To be diagnosed with this condition, your tiredness must be severe enough to decrease your ability to participate in ordinary activities by 50%.

Miss Prozac has no doubts that Lee-Anne is being perfectly honest about being extremely fatigued. After all, Miss Prozac would be fair buggered if she did all that running around and boxing and beating up people all day long. I mean it must be exhausting to have to put up with all those lazy slugs that want to stop after a mere 60 minutes of strenuous exercise. How does she survive?

But, by definition she can not have CFS and Miss Prozac mentions this, after having herself been diagnosed with the condition (except her Mum reckoned she was just too lazy to get out of bed, or too hungover – take your pick) so she knows that it would be impossible for anyone to run a gym and undertake a rigorous exercise program if that was her operating at 50% capacity. And by definition leaky gut syndrome can not cause CFS. So Miss Prozac thinks that Lee-Anne is perhaps fatigued and maybe chronically fatigued but not suffering the full syndrome known as CFS.

Lee-Anne also admits that she still ties body image to happiness. In other words she has to feel that she looks good and is slim to feel happy. Maybe Lee-Ann needs to watch How to Look Good Naked.

Downsize Me Baby Fat

Busy Mum 26 year old Manju Batija has been a vegetarian since 10 years of age yet she only eats one serving of vegetables a day. Damian Kristof says she has been eating negligible amounts of protein and too much sugar and processed foods. He reckons her metabolism has slowed explaining her weight loss plateau.

Manju wants to lose weight and get back her health and energy. It was hard not to like her. She was incredibly sweet-natured and you could see how pretty she would look once she lost the extra weight off her face. And she needs to do that pronto. She has health problems, including heart disease, at the ripe age of 26. She has already walked off 20kg of baby fat in the last 12 mths but she still has another 15kg of baby fat and bad habits to lose.

Starting measurements
Her starting weight was 75.1kg which is about 18kg overweight according to Damian Kristof. He has set her a goal of 5kg net weight loss as he expects her to gain muscle.

• 1.62m height
• Cholesterol level 5.4
• 110cm waist
• 45% body fat and not much muscle

Elise is her Crash Diet Dummy and enjoys protein. She’s not enjoying the sugar and fatty creamy curries. She feels bloated, is constipated and flatulent. She feels agitated, grumpy and is having trouble sleeping. At the end of 10 days Elise has a yeast infection in her mouth. Yuck.

Manju already does some walking and at home workout, which didn’t look particularly strenuous. Lee-Anne Wann plans to increase her exercise intensity with strength exercises she can do at home, focusing on her abdominals and legs.

She’s finding the exercise a challenge, with the added problem that her hubby is still enjoying his biscuits and complaining about the vegetable stir fry. He wants his creamy curries and processed junk food!

2 week weigh in
Crash Diet Dummy Elise Started at 47.1 and lost 500gm 46.6kg. That's frightening. She already looks like the wind would blow her over.
Manju has gone from 75.1 -72.5 = 2.6kg lost

Manju is doing well with her diet but she’s walking instead of strength training, so Lee-Anne Wann sends her to a Les Mills Body Jam class. Manju loved the dance feel to her workout. Unfortunately that didn’t last and she was back to her low intensity walking and at home stepper machine. On top of that she’s enjoying her new food a bit too much so Damian Kristof instructs her to watch her portions.

4 week weight in
71.8kg = 700gm lost
Both Damian and Manju are disappointed with the loss so Damian did a body test to check her body fat. He found she is losing retained water but she’s also losing muscle and not fat. He adds a twice daily protein drink to her food regime.

At the next check in we find the food is going well but the exercise is still at low intensity. No more nice Lee-Anne – she reckons a snail has more intensity and decides on some serious butt kicking.

Lee-Anne introduces Sonia the belly dancer and tells her that in 3 weeks time she will be filmed for a Bollywood belly dancing video for friends. Lee-Anne is concerned she won’t make it. However she loves dancing and she has been getting into her belly dancing. Unfortunately the eating has slipped. It seems Manju can’t get it together. She seesaws between good food habits and high intensity exercise but doesn’t manage both at the same time. The trainers say she’s not giving it 100%

Week 6 weigh in
69.6 = 2.2kg lost but that includes 400gm of muscle. Something is seriously wrong and the trainers are worried about the results.

Talk about a turnaround. All of a sudden she’s an exercise machine, working hard and eating well. But she fails the Downsize Me hidden camera challenge. Don’t these people watch last season’s show? They did a hidden camera challenge then too. Apparently even though she thought it was healthy she failed by eating something not on Damian’s plan. Hmmm doesn’t seem fair. However, it was explained that she needs to be cautious eating food she hasn’t prepared as she can’t know what it contains.

Final weigh in
Manju is looking good and 2 dress sizes smaller
75.1 -> 69.2 kg = 5.9kg lost and 660gm muscle gain
Cholesterol 5.4 -> 3.7
Body fat
Waist 110 – 92cm = 18cm lost

Related Stories:
Ms Blobby says Downsize Me
Downsize Me Sugar Queen Emeline
Excuse Queen Swaps Chippies and Chocolate for Beetroot and Tofu
Downsize Me Corned Beef & KFC
Downsize Your Pet

Ms Blobby says Downsize Me

Helpful tip:

• Healthy takeaways : Sushi, Greek salad and seafood, Thai stir fry, Falafels

Highlight:

• Sarah Ulmer and the Ever-Swindell twins cooking up lamb and beef in the ad break. They are just so cute, Miss Prozac wants to pinch their cheeks. Now they should be fronting the diet show. It was certainly more entertaining than the other advert for Libra liners. Ugh. No wonder men are frightened of women if they imagine us dripping endlessly into our knickers all day long. Oh yeah, where was I? Downsize Me. Yep deprivation and endless exercise. No wonder Miss Prozac is so excited by panty liners.

Ugh moment:

• Self-important dietitian showing zero empathy when he tells Julie she has to learn to get past acting like she has the taste buds of a 5 year old. Hope that guy never has kids

Self-described Ms Blobby, Legal Secretary Julie Hawkins, loves fast food. Well, who doesn’t? Pizzas, pies, fish n chips, twisties, and sweets. She says she can’t be bothered cooking cos she lives on her own. Awww but what about that doggie outside the window? Yeah just toss him your leftovers and give him diabetes. Real smart, Julie.

Yes this gal is so motivated that she lies down on the couch to watch fitness DVDs. I bet that’s really effective.

Anyway Ms Blobby feels sorry for herself and her single life. She’s been on Prozac for depression, and a steady diet of fat and sugar to compensate for her loneliness. No doubt men are already dialling the show for her number. Helpful tip - Miss Prozac finds that ripping apart reality TV shows is much more effective than Prozac.

Her goal is to lose 20-25kg. Hmmm girlfriend, first thing you need to lose is the attitude. That doggie of yours needs a walk and so do you.

Holy cow she spends up to $300 a week on food. Perfectly understandable if she lived on Moet and caviar, like Miss Prozac, but the KFC and other takeaways are costing her waistline and her wallet. This was a very exciting week for Miss Prozac. She was delighted to find Guylian chocolates slashed from $15 to $10 per box. What a bargain. Hmmm feeling peckish. Hope there’s an ad break soon.

Starting weight – 91.2kg. That’s pretty low for sustained overeating, although Diet Demon or whatever the heck they’re calling him this week reckons she’s 32 kg overweight. Her waist is 102cm, body fat 52% and her cholesterol is high. Quelle surprise. Damian Kristof says she will lose 12kg over the next 8 weeks.

Julie says she’s ready for change. Enter Emma, this week’s Crash Diet Dummy who gets to indulge in crap for 10 days and get indigestion, zits and all the other niceties of life.

Armed with the Downsize Me plate Julie is sent to the kitchen to learn to cook ‘Tantalising Turkey Stir Fry’. You just know the Downsize Me cookbook is only days away.

Julie’s sick of lettuce. Understandable. It’s not the same without slatherings of creamy mayonnaise. Meanwhile Emma is enjoying her cookies and fried takeaways.

Lee-Anne Wann is here to work her out. Huh. Turns out Julie has only been away from the gym for three months. That explains why she’s only 90kg. after the intro I expected her to be > 100kg. Not quite the lazy slug we were initially led to imagine. Lee-Anne Wann even raves about how Julie has nice muscle definition in her shoulders. What exactly is the problem here? Seems Julie just needs a good kick up the butt.

Emma is finding the food is harder to stomach. She feels greasy and revolting. But Julie’s decided to ditch her vegetables for pancakes with maple syrup. Tsk tsk.

Week 2 weigh in

At the first weigh in we find out that Julie's excuse for eating the pancakes is that she was hungry and there was nothing else in the house. Yeah right. The trainers weren't falling for that.

Damian’s response? He told Julie she has to learn to get beyond a 5 year old’s taste buds. Even Miss Prozac thought that was an arrogant and condescending approach.

Emma’s iron stores have dropped as a result of the bad diet and her weight has increased from 57.1 – 58.5kg

91.2 -> 87.2 kg = 4 kg lost. Clearly pancakes with maple syrup is the key to weight loss.

Julie isn’t liking her gym workout and figures she’s had enough. But at least the dog is having a good time with his regular walks.

“Super sculptress” Lee-Anne Wann is back to give whingeing Julie a rev up in the gym. Turns out that Lee-Anne Wann is the nice one. She was very encouraging when Julie stopped and had a bit of a blubber on the Swiss ball.

We are now looking at a transformed Julie who is gobbling her veges and hoping for a big loss on the scales.

Week 4 weigh in

87.2 -> 85.7kg = 1.5kg lost. Julie was hoping for more and is feeling disheartened. Now she’s decided to get stuck in and exercise more and think about changing careers to become a personal trainer. Good on her! As an incentive her challenge is to become Lee-Anne Wann’s personal trainer. She seems pretty excited about the chance to put Lee-Anne through her paces.

She pushed herself hard. Miss Prozac recommends she invest in a better bra. Those gals were joggling along with her. Someone send her to the sports shop to get them lashed in.

Unfortunately her enthusiasm for veges hasn’t lasted. Now she’s frying her bananas with butter and adding yoghurt. Yummo! But Damian is not impressed with her less than healthy approach. Oh be fair. She has to live this way for the rest of her life. It’s probably better for her to have a few temptations as it’s clear she can not live fry free for the rest of her life.

Week 6 weigh in

85.7 -> 83.5kg = 2.2 kg lost

The binge bin is reintroduced and for the first time we have a dieter who is seriously tempted. How will she fare in the tempt test? She’s offered fries but luckily her friend says she can’t have them. Her reward is a $100 shopping voucher for new clothes. Presumably she’s expected to splash out at the church shops.

Final weigh in

91.2 -> 81.7kg = 9.5 kg total loss

Her cholesterol has dropped from 5.0 – 3.3

Body fat 52-47%

She’s lost 10cm off her bust, and her waist has gone from 102 – 89cm and dropped 3 dress sizes. Wowser!


Related Stories:
Downsize Me Sugar Queen Emeline
Excuse Queen Swaps Chippies and Chocolate for Beetroot and Tofu

Downsize Me Sugar Queen Emeline

Emeline Polaoi has been living a double life: as well as being a loving Mum of two, as soon as her family's backs are turned she becomes a secret sugar scoffer shovelling in any sweet treats she can find. Her family are keen for Downsize Me to help her change her wicked ways. Twisties, fizzy drinks, biscuits and chocolate.

This week’s puke moment
Are you kidding me? Emeline is so constipated she hasn’t been to the loo for a week. Damian thinks that could account for 2.5-3.0 kg of weight. Miss Prozac feels really sick.

Diet Demon Damian Kristof and Cardio Commando Lee-Anne Wann to the rescue. (Don’t blame me for the corny alliteration, that’s what the voice over by producer Alex Hogg said. Not that I’m not capable of being original you understand. Oh, never mind). Emeline eats in secret stashing away sweet and cheesy snacks to eat in private bingeing until she’s ready to burst.

Doc Simon Mayhew says her bingeing, low activity and extra weight are increasing her chances of becoming diabetic or having a heart attack. Emeline says she’s ready to change.

Damian finds everything she eats is full of caffeine and sugar. Emeline eats 22 times the recommended amount of sugar each day. It all goes into the Binge Bin. Carina is the Crash Diet Dummy, same age, Polynesian and slender so Damian Kristof reckons Emeline can’t blame her overweight on being Polynesian.

Starting Measurements

• Weight: 104.9 kg
• Damian Kristof reckons she is 38-40 kg overweight for her Polynesian frame.
• Waist 110cm
• Thighs 116.5cm due to fluid build up
• Body fat 51%
• 1.67m tall
• Her goal is to lose 10kg over the next 8 weeks

Out comes the portion plate, lots of fibre to clean out her bowels (yuck, Miss Prozac is imagine her food scouring her bowls and feeling slight sick. Fortunately the wine soon made her forget about this) and a big bottle of water. Emeline looks good natured but unimpressed with the simple tasty cooking. We just know she’s too busy thinking about her secret stash of chocolate biscuits to worry about the pumpkin dish. Actually it looks pretty tasty. I don’t think the Downsize Me recipe book is far away. Wonder if it comes complete with a cook and dishwasher? Miss Prozac would always eat healthily if she had a personal chef. Well maybe not always.

Here’s a shock. Emeline is lazy and doesn’t like exercise. But the good news is she knows it’s time to change. After a couple of minutes she’s exhausted but she gamely continues with step ups, power walking, skipping and something else that Miss Prozac missed while she was topping up her chardonnay. As usual the crash diet dummy is in a bad way with asthma, eczema, tiredness, dehydration, headaches, bloating and general ill effects.

Emeline is doing better healthwise and her headaches and bloating have gone although she has constipation but Damian Kristof thinks it’s just a matter of increasing her water and fibre from veges.

Week 2 weigh in
104.9 -> 102.0 kg
Emeline is disappointed to lose so little. She was hoping to lose 5kg but Damian reminds her that this is about improving her health.

Right it must have been stomach exercises because Emeline is noticing a sore tummy. She is showing great commitment with food turning away Cadbury chocolates in favour of walnuts. Well I would too if there was a camera poked in my face. But later is another story…

Trainer Lee-Anne Wann is back to check up on Emeline’s exercise and is disappointed to find she has dropped three days exercise. Poor gal, of course she needed a rest. Boy oh boy, Miss Prozac can visualise this one in a year’s time. She will be back to square one. She needs someone right beside her to crack the whip. On her own she goes to pieces. Miss Prozac things she should invest in a remote telephone service to abuse lazy sods who don’t keep up with their exercise.

At day 24 she is still constipated and decides comfort food is the answer. Who can blame her. A week without moving her bowels. Yikes, Miss Prozac doesn’t even want to think about what is backed up inside Emeline’s system.

Week 4 weigh in
102.0 -> 100.7 kg = 1.3 kg down
Euwww puke. Damian Kristof reckons there is 2.5 – 3.0 kg of errr food backed up inside her. Gasp. Think the wine needs refilling.

Well hallelujah she passed that crud and is on track. She’s joining a work netball team and getting some extra help from former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering who will help her with fitness. She had a cool little rebounder thingee that she could use to train with the netball. Her challenge? Lee-Anne Wann tells her that in 3 weeks time she gets to train with the Northern Force netball team.
Week 6 weigh in
100.7 -> 98.4kg = 2.3 kg lost
Pretty good although if that is all the backed up food accounted for then how much did she really lose? Miss Prozac wonders about Damian’s calculator. That 2.5-3.0 kg is sounding suspiciously like a pile of hot air.

The binge bin is reintroduced. Oooh pizza. That Hell’s Pizza looks good. Gimme Gimme I’ll eat it!

Without her support team on hand Emilene spirals into a binge comfort eating on pies, chocolate biscuits, takeaways and other junk food. Miss Prozac knew wouldn’t be able to make it. For the first time ever, Damian Kristof is called back to intervene as Emilene gets stuck into fatty and sugary food. If only Lee-Anne Wann had thought to offer Emilene a dance with hunky Brendon Pongia. Now that would be motivating. Lee-Anne Wann popped back in to get her back on track.

Uh oh. Here comes the chocolate cam to tempt her to taste the chocolate and strawberry swirl. Go on. One itty bit of chocolate strawberry swirl won’t hurt! She really wanted it but resisted. Her reward? A family pass to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World.

Final weigh in
According to Damian Kristof the old her was grumpy, bloaty and windy. Hmmm. Sounds like the seven dwarfs.

• Triglycerides 1.2 -> 0.6
• Weight: 104.9 -> 98.0 kg down 6.9 kg lost in 8 weeks
• Body fat: 51 -> 48%
• Waist: 110 – 99 cm

Down 3 dress sizes and she gets to work out with the Force netball team

Excuse Queen Swaps Chippies and Chocolate for Beetroot and Tofu

This episode’s helpful tip:

• Tamari is wheat free so Damian reckons it’s helpful for irritable bowel syndrome

This episode’s I wanna puke moment:

• Anita and Andy are each eating 1 kilogram of fat each day. The bag of fat was pretty ugly but it didn’t discourage Miss Prozac from finishing her packet of pineapple lumps.
• However she almost choked on her Chardonnay when Damian Kristof pointed out that fatty liver had caused the whites of Andy’s eyes to turn brown. Yikes!

Hubby and wife team Andy and Anita live on fried and convenience food. Anita is addicted to potato crisps and Andy drinks around 14 litres of cola each week.

He has bloating, breathlessness, sore back, IBS, sore joints, sore head and has been diagnosed with fatty liver. Doc Mayhew said Andy has a family history of diabetes, and with Anita’s gestational diabetes both are at risk of diabetes or heart disease.

Anita’s starting statistics:

• 111.2kg ideal weight 72.0
• Body fat 49%
• Fasting blood sugar level 5.9
• Waist 117cm
• Age 27 yrs

Andy’s starting statistics:

• 124.9kg ideal weight about 100kg
• Homocysteine level = 19 maximum range is 15 indicating hardening of the arteries
• Fatty liver and the whites of his eyes are brown
• Body fat 33%
• Waist 130cm
• Age 33 yrs

Next we met the happy couple aka the crash test dummies who get to pig out on pies, chips, fried chicken and cola for the next 10 days.

Damian gets into the kitchen and whips up a tamari soaked tofu stirfry. Anita reckons it feels like eating rubber. Hmmmm yummy. These pineapple lumps sure are good.

Why don’t they get Sarah Ulmer and the Evers-Swindell twins to pop in and cook a stirfry? That advert for lean beef and lamb looked much more appetising than the tofu glop. Next on the menu the happy couple get to juice up raw cabbage and beetroot. Bet that went down a treat

Now it’s time for trainer Lee-Anne Wann to kick-start this couch-bound couple. Andy starts with a slow walk as his starting heart rate is 135 while Anita is doing a home based program. Labelled the “excuse queen” by Lee-Anne Wann, Anita is not showing much commitment to the exercise program.

The crash diet dummies find themselves exhausted, grumpy and moody. Michael’s fasting blood sugar went up from 4.5 to 6.0 – scary.

2 week weigh in
Anita 111.2 -> 106.1 kg 5.1kg lost in the first 2 weeks.
Andy 124.9 -> 119.4 kg so 5.5 kg lost

At the three week mark, Anita is exercising to plan but Andy is slacking. Lee-Anne Wann organises a gym membership and shows them their new program. Lee-Anne puts Anita in charge of whipping Andy into shape. She’s feeling good and sneaks in a square of chocolate to compensate for what she describes as a boring diet.

4 week weigh in

Anita 106.1 -> 102.3 kg = 3.8 kg lost (8.9kg total)
Andy 119.4 -> 116.2kg = 3.2kg lost (8.7kg total)

Things are now getting tough and Lee-Anne arrives to check their fitness and sends them fetching Frisbees. Sheesh Miss Prozac’s cat can run faster than that. She tells them their challenge is to run up and down the Mt Smart stadium stairs eight times. The incentive is season passes to their favourite team, The Warriors. Well, I guess someone has to support them.

6 week weigh in

Anita 102.3 -> 98.7 kg = 3.6 kg lost (12.5kg total)
Andy 116.2 -> 111.9 kg = 4.3 kg lost (13.0kg total)

Damian Kristof and Lee-Anne Wann now reintroduce the junk food and cola from the binge bin and leave them on their own for two weeks. No trainer, no nutritionist, no gym membership.

Tempt Me
So far they haven’t touched the chippies, cola or chocolates. Next, the demonstrator offers them cola and chips to sample at the mall. She tells them they are low fat and to have a taste. She’s pretty pushy and Andy succumbs. Miss Prozac would have snarfed those chippies in no time.

Anita passes the test and gets a year’s free gym membership, but Andy is punished by having to exercise in the mall. Didn’t he watch last season’s show? They producers pulled the same stunt in the last season’s shows.

Final weigh in

Anita

• 111.2 -> 97.2 kg = 14.0 kg total weight loss
• Cholesterol down % to
• Fasting glucose level 5.9 down 5.1 to lowering risk of diabetes and adding years to his life
• Waist 117cm -> 99cm

Andy

• Homocysteine levels 19 down to 11
• GGT 128 down to 59
• Andy 124.9 -> 109.8 kg = 15.1 kg lost
• Weight kg -> kg for a total weight loss of 22.75kg
• Body fat 33% – 25%

They achieved their physical challenge and received the free season tickets.

Downsize Me Corned Beef & KFC

This episode’s helpful tip:
According to Downsize Me trainer Lee-Anne Wann swinging your arms while walking burns 10-15% more calories. Makes you look snazzy too – like you really are exercising.

This episode’s gripes:
Producer and narrator Alex Hogg’s fondness for alliteration, rhyming and hyperbole:

• Nutrition magician
• Dieting demon
• Wheelbarrow of weakness
• Binge bin
• Transforming Oscar from a “greedy guts” to a “Greek God”. If Damian Kristof and Lee-Anne Wann can achieve that he really is a ‘Nutrition Magician”

This episode’s I wanna puke moment:
Holy heck. Damian Kristof (aka the Nutrition Magician and Dieting Demon) has calculated that greedy guts Oscar consumes more than 15kg of lard each week at a cost of about $55 a day.

Oscar Afele’s favourite foods are KFC, corned beef, sausages, pies, pastries, cola and pretty much anything fried. Add a sedentary job and a long history of weight problems, including being put on a diet at Primary School and we have Oscar tipping the scales at a massive 202kg.This puts him at double Damian Kristof’s ideal weight goal of 85-90kg.

This guy’s waist is the same length as his height at 179cm. This is one big Samoan boy. Oscar’s goal for the 8 week Downsize Me program is 15kg but Damian suggests he aims for 20kg.

Oscar is hoping to rid himself of the effects of bad food including flatulence, depression, mood swings, snoring, bad breath and skin, burping and fatigue. Meanwhile his crash diet dummy double Willie will be couch surfing and gorging on KFC and fried food and hoping to avoid the same ill-effects.

Damian shows Oscar how to eat healthily and even does the dishes.

Lee-Anne Wann says Oscar is a walking time bomb with a resting heart rate of 140 beats per minute and not even having the energy to reach down to pick up a 2 litre bottle of water. She sets him a program of stretches, power walks, long distance walks and a goal of 10,000+ steps per day.


2 week weigh in

Crash diet dummy Willie is feeling lethargic and tired, oily skin, immune levels are low and seems to be getting a cold. He complains of a sore guts, diarrhoea and constipation and not sleeping. He’s spent $100 more on food than he would normally.His triglyceride levels went up 80%

Meanwhile after 10 days Oscar is starting to feel better and his energy levels are increasing.

Weight 202.0 -> 192.2 kg. Incredible 10kg lost in the first 2 weeks.


Lee-Anne arrives for a surprise visit. How much of a surprise can it be when the camera crew is there? She checks his pedometer and finds he’s only done 499 steps for the day on his treadmill. She reckons she does more before she gets out of bed. The mind boggles. Lee-Anne what do you get up to in bed. And ahem, are you alone?

She tells him off for choosing the easy option and gets him scampering up hills like a mountain goat. Well, a mountain something anyway. She says he is averaging only 1.5km per day but it needs to be 5km.


4 week weigh in

Week four and his food cravings are kicking in. Fried rice is proving tempting especially as the rest of his family are continuing their high fat fried ways. So far his willpower is holding firm. Good on him. Damian is disappointed that his kids are not joining him in his healthy habits.

Weight 192.2 -> 190.4 kg which is another 1.8kg lost.
Naturally, Oscar is disappointed that his weight loss has slowed down.


His father is still bringing KFC home each night but his partner is joining him in the 5 km walk.

At the next work out trainer Lee-Anne gets him walking at the beach to increase the intensity. The surface moves beneath his feet potentially doubling his workout. This would be why Miss Prozac avoids walking on the beach at all costs. Beaches are for sunbathing, reading books, admiring toned butts and drinking ice cold drinks.

Oscar’s challenge is to be in a 10km race in 3.5 weeks. He was pretty surprised! Given that he is struggling with his 5 km power walk it will be a struggle but he is determined to do it.

6 week weigh in

Oops! Lee-Anne is unimpressed to find that he’s taken his pedometer off and isn’t applying himself to the power walking.

Weight 190.4kg -> 188.3kg another 2.1 kg lost

Damian tells him he will have to exercise his guts out to reach his 20kg weight loss target (another 6kg) for the 8 weeks. At this stage Damian Kristof reintroduces the Binge Bin with pies, corned beef and other goodies. Lee-Anne is on hand to tell him how many hours he will need to pound the pavement to compensate for eating the food. She tells him she doesn’t think he’ll be able to make the 10km walk in two weeks time. Does that reverse psychology work on anyone? Apparently yes, as Oscar tries to prove her wrong. Miss Prozac would be on the couch exercising her remote control.

Oscar is now on his own for the remaining two weeks and feeling motivated. Partner Tai is impressed with how happy and energetic Oscar has become and the rest of the family are starting to eat healthily and the exercise is still proving to be a challenge. He’s motivated to keep eating well and exercising

Tempt Me
Robyn from the Irresistible Pie Company offers Oscar a steak and cheese pie with tomato inside. He tells her he’s on a diet and not interested. Well, duh! A stranger comes to his house with a pie and a camera crew in tow. Of course it's a set up. Anyway, Oscar says no and is rewarded with a new pair of walking shoes. And only moments ago he said his trainers were wearing thin. Coincidence? We think not.


Final weigh in

• Cholesterol down 20% to 3.4
• Fasting glucose level 5.2 down to 4.6 lowering risk of diabetes and adding years to his life
• Oscar’s waist 179cm -> 150cm a loss of 29cm
• Dropping 6 shirt sizes
• Weight 202.0kg -> 179.25kg for a total weight loss of 22.75kg
• 57% – 52% body fat

And he makes it through the final 10km challenge. Well done Oscar! We look forward to an update on your progress in 12 months time.

Downsize Me Tonight

Lee-Anne Kwan & Damian Kristoff

On tonight's Downsize Me we meet Oscar Afele.

Weighing in at a whopping 202 kilos, 28-year-old Oscar Afele has feasted on fried chicken every night of his life and can barely clamber off his couch. But will a gruelling eight week overhaul be too much for his fragile heart to handle?

Downsize Me Episode Recap May 1st Jo & Catherine

In this week’s 8 week challenge we are introduced to the show’s youngest participant, 13 year old Cathryn and 42 year old mum Jo.

We are told they barely ever eat. They skip breakfast and lunch. She’s a nurse and says she should know better. Golden syrup sandwiches, energy drinks, smokes, coffee. Even Miss Prozac who is renowned for her sweet tooth felt repulsed by the sight of large spoonfuls of golden syrup. Yuck.

They live on pies, pizza, cake and crappy convenience meals with nasty side effects including fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, poor memory and concentration, mood swings and other problems.

First, they meet doctor Simon Mayhew who says they have risk factors for stroke, heart attack and other problems.

Nutrition Magician Damian Kristof was appalled that a mother would feed that sort of crap to her daughter. He reckoned 14 cups of coffee plus energy drinks each day was the worst he’d ever seen. 100 cups of coffee a week - Yikes! Predictably Damian makes Jo give up her coffee and fags.

Daughter Cathryn weighs 76.3kg. She has low B12 levels which Damian reckons normally only happens in third world countries. Not strictly true. Some people have difficulty absorbing B12 (pernicious anaemia). Mother Jo weighs 99.2kg with body fat over 50%.

Surprise Me
Crash diet dummies Bronwyn and Jessica are going to be eating the same diet except daughter Jessica will also be allowed some fresh fruits to help her concentrate at school. The binge bin is passed to the Crash Diet Dummies and the diet errr healthy eating begins.

First off, Damian wants them to have three balanced meals a day and he wants healthy snacks available. They will be getting water plus green tea for mother. He has a menu board for the day’s eating. The food looked pretty yum. Miss Prozac wants a personal chef to whip up those yummy treats.

Damian served essene bread which uses sprouted grain not milled grain. That sounds very nice but it’s not something Miss Prozac has noticed at her local New World store.

The crash diet dummies have to test the effects of the food on their healthy bodies. They’re finding it hard to wake up and get going and are feeling moody - Headaches and a cloudy head from 10 days on the poor diet and no exercise.

Lee-Anne Kwan arrives to kick Jo and Cathryn off the couch. She has decided on kick boxing as it is something they can do together and it’s a good cardio workout. Three-weekly kickboxing plus power walking is prescribed.

Jo is finding the withdrawal symptoms from coffee to be painful with bad dreams, headaches, mood swings and other problems. But the good eating and exercise is starting to kick in and things are on the up.


At the 2 week weigh in the crash diet dummies have put on weight.
Bronwyn went from 64.5 -> 65.7 kg
13 year old Jessica from 56.3 -> 57.4 kg

Jo was 99.2 -> 96.5kg = 2.7kg lost but she had hoped for more
Cathryn 76.3kg -> 73.9kg = 2.4kg lost which she was really happy about.

Week 3 and Cathryn is still eager to exercise but Jo has lost interest. Lee-Anne Kwan decides to up the intensity in the workouts but Jo is struggling at first. Eventually she gets into it.

Week 4 weigh in
Cathryn 73.9kg down to 71kg = 2.9kg loss= 5.3kg
Jo 96.5kg down to 94.5kg = 2.0kg = 4.7kg

Damian Kristof allows Jo to introduce 1 cup of coffee a day.

Cathryn’s school report card shows improvement now her concentration and energy has lifted. Lee-Anne Kwan gets them to do a Fight Do class to test their fitness and give them more challenge. Their challenge will be to instruct their own Fight Do class for their friends and family in three weeks time. Interesting. Miriam and Robyn from Fight Do will help them put the class together.

Jo and Cathryn were like different people in only five weeks. Their complexions looked good and they looked positive and happy.

Week 6 weigh in
Jo 94.5kg -> 92.6kg so another 1.9kg = 6.6kg to date
Cathryn 71.0kg -> 68.1kg = 2.9kg (8.2kg to date). That girl is a machine!

Damian Kristof introduces the tempting foods to see if they can manage in the real world with temptation. He showed them energy drinks and chippies but they weren’t tempted.

For the final two weeks they are on their own. Jo is no longer troubled by giving up fags and coffee. At the supermarket they are tempted by the Tempt Me challenge with a free taste of a caffeine-rich ice cream but they turn it down. She then revealed that it was a challenge from Damian and Lee-Anne. As a reward they get to go whale and dolphin watching for the day on the Dolphin & Whale Safari.

Week 8 final weigh in
Jo is over-exercising in the run up to the final weigh in and is determined to reach her 10kg weight loss goal.

Cathryn’s B12 levels have lifted from 182 up to 252.
Jo’s total cholesterol level has come down from 5.5 to 4.0 and she has added 7 years to her life expectancy.
Her body fat has reduced from 53% to 46%

Cathryn 76.3 -> 66.4 = 9.9kg loss in 8 weeks.
Her body fat has reduced from 43% - 38%

Jo 99.2 -> 91.0 = 8.2kg loss which is great but she was disappointed not to achieve her 10kg weight loss. Lee-Anne reminded her that she has put on muscle.

Downsize Me Series 3 Starts Tuesday

If you enjoy watching people being deprived of their favourite tucker and exercising until they're ready to cry then you're in for a treat. The latest series of weight loss and health show Downsize Me kicks off on TV3 this Tuesday at 7:30pm.

The format of this award winning show produced by Alex Bolton, sees unhealthy overweight Kiwis battle the bulge and their cholesterol levels with the aid of trainer Lee-Anne Kwan and nutritionist Damian Kristof.

The best part of the show is watching the Crash Diet Dummies take on the diet and exercise habits of the show's participants, and seeing how their health takes a dive on a diet of chips, beer, pizza and fried foods. Overall, it's a pretty good show. My one criticism is that it doesn't help people with emotional eating, but as health/diet shows go this is one of the better ones around.

In the first episode, 42-year-old Jo O’Donnell is fat, unfit and very unhappy, and she’s dragging her 13-year-old daughter Cathryn down with her.

Both skip meals then binge on junk food for dinner, but Jo’s biggest danger is drinking around 100 cups of coffee each week and a malnourished Cathryn is unable to even concentrate at school.