The Battle of the Bulge

By Angela Bensemann

Over the past six months I've lost 11kg. Saying it now it all seems quite easy but at the time it was anything but.  The hardest thing was getting my head in the right space.  It seemed to be one step forward and two steps back until I cracked the head space game and started to see some real progress.

Here’s how my journey evolved:

1. Getting into the right head space – a lot of internal head arguing.  “You need to lose weight, no you don’t – you’re fine.  You need to lose weight none of your old clothes fit you – I’ll buy bigger clothes.  You need to lose weight – you should expect to be heavier once you hit 40!  You’re out of breath walking up the road – ok maybe it’s time to lose weight and get fit.”

2. The research phase – this is where I tried to work out how I was going to actually stop procrastinating and do it.  Were there any get thin/fit quick schemes that worked long term? No (dammit). Would hypnosis work? A bit outside my comfort zone but hey I was willing to give anything a go at this point.  Yes I did try it and no, it didn’t work for me.  Dietary supplements – could they be right for me? No.  How could I give up a meal for a shake?  It was back to the tried and true – time to go to Weight Watchers.

3. Find a friend.  A bit like phone a friend in ‘Deal or no deal’.  Find a friend involves reaching out to a support person. Once the friend had been found (thanks Peta) off I trotted to Weight Watchers meetings where I had to front up each week and be weighed in front of strangers.

4. Start doing some exercise.  This was the hard bit for a couch potato like me.  Trying to find a part of the day where you can fit in a 45min walk or shorter jog is not easy.  I worked out if I did it at 6am I could get it over and done with and get on with my day.

5. Get into the groove.  This part involved following the weight loss plan and exercise regime, going to meetings, keeping a food diary and starting to track my success.

6. Set small milestones and celebrate when you achieve them.  Non-food related rewards were the best!  Hitting the 5kg mark was a great first step.

7. Reap the rewards – people started to notice I was looking different, I had more energy and could fit my old clothes.  I can comfortably fit my 15 year-old wedding dress should I decide to wear it on our 20th anniversary!

8. Stay on track.  This is the next major hurdle and currently where I am at.  This is where your support network is critical – it’s easy to think, “I’ve done so well so I’ll just have a big chocolate cake and bottle of bubbles and cheese and crackers etc etc”.  You can have all these things but moderation is the key!

9. Enjoy the new you.

10. Look for the next challenge.
Use our free Goal Setting worksheet to get you on the way.

And the winner is...



The winner of our Symmetry Health and Wellness voucher is Victoria Parsons.  Well done Victoria and thanks to everyone who entered.

Our independent adjudicator drawing the lucky winner.

Chasing your dreams by retraining

Guest post by Gillian Fry, former HR practitioner, current Naturopath and Career Coach

Is it possible to make a career out of doing what you love?

Can you totally change direction and retrain?

Is it easy to do?

My answer to the first two questions is yes and the third question is yes and no!  Let me explain.

I made a career in Human Resources, learnt some great skills, worked with some wonderful people but I never felt like I was completely fulfilling my potential or being completely true to myself.  I had always been interested in natural health and natural remedies, and through a suggestion from a friend, I investigated study options, and found the Diploma in Naturopathy through the NaturopathicCollege of New Zealand. 

The Naturopathic Diploma was three years full time or six years part time.  As I needed a regular income I chose part time to continue working, although daunting to think of six years study whilst working, I started and loved it!  Don’t get me wrong, it was challenging, required discipline and commitment, was sometimes stressful and frustrating but I felt like I was achieving something for me and helping me meet my long term goal.  I was fortunate to be able to negotiate going down to a four day week with my employer which meant Friday was my key learning and assignment day.  This meant the weekends were not entirely study focussed and enabled me to spend time with my partner and son.  As for housework – well that’s way over rated!

In my last two years of study I had the opportunity to leave HR and go into a natural health clinic as a Natural Health Therapist – via networking.  Pretty scary, but it was one of those ‘now or never’ moments!  I learnt a lot – both what to do and what not to do, and this gave me the courage and skills to set up my home clinic.  So now I’m my own boss, consulting and providing massage from home, some corporate chair massage in town and little bits of wellness contracting.

It’s great to have the freedom to manage my work and hours, being at home to see my son off to school and after school.  Being self employed definitely has many benefits, although like anything there can be downsides too, such as no holiday pay, no regular income – aspects to consider in weighing up your decision.

Strangely enough although the actual work is health related, many of the HR skills were transferable such as consulting, questioning, listening, building wellness plans rather than people plans.  So although my direction has changed the skills I have developed are portable.  This experience has been invaluable in helping me career coach my clients and work with my naturopathic patients.

So what does it take to chase your dreams?

An idea and passion

Research and discovery

Overcoming your fears and preconceptions

Commitment – stickablility

A supportive partner and/or network of friends

Wishing you the best of luck and health and happiness!

For more information Gill can be contacted at Gillian.symmetry@xtra.co.nz

Running a half marathon – how Charlie's Angels changed my life.

By Jane Comben

Much to my Mum's disappointment I'm not a natural athlete. My body works fine but I lack a competitive spirit and hand-to-eye coordination.

So how did I, and my team mates, make it smiling over the line in a tidy 2 hours 14 minutes?

Well, it's all down to Charlie. She's young, she's beautiful and like the 70s TV character, we've never met. She's also very sick.

Charlene (based in Scotland) changed my small corner of Aotearoa when I said "yes" to a walk.

The walk was the Cancer Society's Relay for Life and I joined a team of people I vaguely knew. Charlene's friend wanted to show her support from NZ so organized the "Charlie's Angels" team.

Two years on and those people are now good friends. Inspired by Charlene, we've challenged ourselves and grown in confidence. Confidence to raise money, complete a duathlon, shave our heads, run a half marathon and make a small difference to those around us.

Was it easy?
Yes and no.
Saying yes to the first walk was easy. I'd wanted to do the Relay and this opportunity saved me the hassle of organizing a team. Walking and talking through the night certainly helps you get to know new people. From there saying "yes" to the next incrementally mad idea was fine. We were growing together and that was fun.

And No, getting up on dark, cold, winter mornings at 5.45am to train was hard. Knowing someone else was waiting for me was the only thing that got me out of bed. We also knew that our challenge was nothing compared to what Charlene was going through.

Would I have done it by myself?
Nope! Like I said, personal competitiveness does not drive me. Whereas being part of a team does. For me, getting across the line together was the prize. Having our children watch us do it was even better.

Strategies for success

• A great team of different personalities that compliment each other.
  We relied on our different strengths to pull us through.
• A plan.
  We blindly followed this training schedule, although there are many other options to try.
• Finding the right motivation.
  It's a mind game and what stops us is mostly in our head.

And now?
I'm really glad I ran a half marathon but I'm in no rush to do another. I'd walk one maybe. Most of that hard-earned fitness faded fast. We still meet for walks and we're working on finding the next challenge that inspires us.
In fact, the biggest reward has been friendship and knowing that we're actually far more capable than we might believe.

Thank you Charlie!

Finding the Balance at Sea

Guest Post by Brenda Webb, intrepid sailor and part-time freelance writer.

Six years ago I left behind a well-paid, secure job and comfortable lifestyle in Marlborough for an unpredictable life at sea.

My husband and I wanted to expand jaded horizons, explore the world and get some ocean miles under our belts.  We packed our belongings into a container, found homes for the animals and worked for 18months in the superyacht industry to earn the money to buy a boat.  Now we’re living the dream, sailing the world on our 46ft yacht Bandit.

Early this year we sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean two handed after five seasons in the Mediterranean.  We’re now about to sail down to the Venezuelan Island of Los Rocques, then Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba and Guatemala where we will leave Bandit for hurricane season.

But…back to the beginning.

After 30 years working fulltime as a journalist…..with just the odd year off to produce and raise two sons……I wanted a better work/life balance.  In essence, I was stale and completely over work – asleep at the wheel if you like.  A two month stint sailing from Italy to the Caribbean in 2004 convinced us there was a better life out there.

We dreamed, planned, schemed and worked our butts off until we felt ready to go. We rented out the house, put a manager on our small vineyard and headed off.  People tell us we are lucky but believe me, luck had absolutely nothing to do with it.  It was all about careful planning, making some sound financial decisions and most of all, having the courage to do it.

Don’t get me wrong - I still work.  I write for various publications and for the past five winters we’ve worked in England as animal and house sitters.  Work opportunities constantly arise.  For instance, this New Zealand winter we are heading to Golden Bay for three months to caretake a motel. 

Living cheaply on a boat is pretty easy – there are no cars to run, no rates to pay and our food bills are probably a third of what they were in New Zealand. We live on far less than ever before – our wants and needs are minimal, our lifestyle is simple and we’re both the happiest we’ve ever been.

Deep down I had a fear that I may go running back, cap in hand, to my former employers asking for my job back.  But you know what?  There hasn’t been a day go by when I’ve thought that.

My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.  Being a working solo mum was tough on my two boys and I missed out on precious time with them.  But there was a mortgage, school fees and bills to pay!

In the past few years we’ve made up a bit and had some wonderful times together.  In October I had a fantastic week in Thailand with my youngest son and my oldest is on board with us right now.

We’re often asked if there is anything we miss about our previous lifestyle.  As I write this it’s 30 degrees outside, the sky is clear blue and the Caribbean water crystal clear.  The answer is a definite no!

If you'd like to find out more about Brenda's travels check out her blog.

The Joy of Networking: 5 Reasons to Bother

By Jane Comben

Imagine you're relaxing after a potluck dinner with friends. The host's husband comes home and catches the end of your conversation about how you're pondering a change in career direction. How wonderful if he offered you a personal introduction to the owners of an internationally recognized, local company. And simply because he knows you through the kids and thinks you'd be a perfect fit.

I witnessed this scenario recently. It highlighted just how powerful fairly mundane social connections could be.

Or in other words, it's probably worth passing the time of day with people.

So why bother networking?

1) "It's not what you know, but who you know"
Dispiriting as this cliche is to school leavers, it's fantastic for those with more acquaintances under their belt.

Perhaps you're looking for a lawyer or a new job. Just think of all the people you've met at work, through sports or hobbies, at the church or marae, at school or through your children. That doesn't even include your close friends and family and all the people they know!

2) Pay it forward
Networking is a two way street. You don't need to get all mercenary and only socialise with people who are useful to you. Help others with a happy heart.


3) The 6 degrees of separation theory (or less depending where you live and long you spend on Facebook)
Fact: when I was starting my business my Mum insisted I contact her friend's daughter's friend (4 degrees of separation and 376000km). Anyway; this generous stranger kindly welcomed me into her home and design studio. She shared how she did everything from invoicing to getting business. She even gave me copies of her excel files!

4) Mind your Ps and Qs
In a small country such as ours, It's worth considering how your actions today may impact your social or professional life tomorrow. Play nice, resign well.

5) It's fun!
Find interesting people you like and spend time with them. It's networking, I promise.

Click here for our free "Mine my Network Gold" worksheet.