“... as the saying goes, never work with children or animals and I’m doing both!” Natalie regularly shows children that milk does not come from the supermarket. These children are visiting Maleny Dairies from Chevallum State School
“When I came to Maleny I put on 20kg so I joined the gym thinking that I would lose weight. I was doing a couple of hours of cardio work and weights several times a week, and I thought I was eating sensibly but I continued to put on weight, so I asked Ray what I was doing wrong.
“We did an eating plan and when I looked at it I thought, well, where’s the rest of the food! Because even though I generally ate healthy food I was eating more than double what Ray had set down for me. Mind you, I always had a problem with comfort eating – sweet things like chocolate and ice cream” she adds with smile.
“Ray Louden told the Hinterland Times that dieting is all about cutting down on quantity and increasing the quality. It’s also about getting the individual’s metabolism working properly.
“You’ve got to reduce your calorie count because it’s the calories you’re ingesting that are maintaining your body weight”, says Ray. “And of course the exercise helps to burn up those extra calories too.”
“Ray increased my protein intake”, says Natalie, “and there were less carbohydrates than I was used to, and much less fruit. Ray cut me down to two pieces of fruit a day whereas I used to have up to six or seven. I think it was the sugar fix in the fruit that was making me more hungry. Dropping that sugar stabilised my blood sugar level, so now I’m not getting as hungry.”
Ray Louden is a keen supporter of the ‘Sunshine Coast Slow Food Movement’ which also believe in the principals of the Weston A Price Foundation. He and his wife make their own bread, yoghurt, kefir, soft cheeses and fermented drinks from in season fruit.
Natalie has a busy working week
“ One of the biggest dangers these days,” says Ray, “ is that the fast food industry has killed the way we should be eating. We don’t cook the way our grandmothers used to. We don’t have bone and chicken broths anymore for example. We don’t have good wholesome home cooking, because there’s simply no time. Fast food just encourages you to fill up and feel right. It’s not about nourishing the body.
“Fast food provides a short term hunger fix. It tastes good but it’s not good for you. And if you go off it for a few months, and you go back to it, fast food tastes awful.”
Natalie has a busy working week doing the accounts and office administration for Maleny Dairies and also conducting tours around the factory and farm for a variety of groups including families, schools, mothers and seniors. On the day that the Hinterland Times visited, Natalie, who was once a primary school teacher, was hosting a group of 30 pupils from Chevallum State School.
“ I certainly have to be on my toes because, as the saying goes, never work with children or animals and I’m doing both!”
With Natalie’s busy working life, has she managed to stay on her program of regular gym workouts and her food plan?
“When I came to Maleny I put on 20kg so I joined the gym thinking that I would lose weight” - Natalie works out at the Maleny Gym several days a week.
“I’ve only had one little Easter egg since I started on the diet three months ago, and only one ice cream. Ray gives me such a hard time that it’s not worth it!”, she adds with a laugh.
“I have lost 6kg. I would like to lose another 2kg but it will depend on where my body wants to rest. Ray’s been very good at encouraging me and keeping me focused.
“Starting this plan was really hard! I kept feeling really hungry, or I wanted another cup of coffee. The quantity was a shock for me, and not being able to eat anything after dinner was really hard.
“Once I have achieved my goal we will talk about maintenance. I might loosen up a bit but I don’t want to undo the work that I have done.
Ray Louden also stresses the importance of a long term balance between nutrition and exercise.
“You have to combine diet with exercise”, he insists. “You can’t keep dieting. You need a proper nutrition plan that you can follow every day, and if you keep up the exercise, you can enjoy the odd treat,“ he adds with a knowing smile.(Ray’s personal treat is the occasional scoop of ice cream!)
Maleny Community Gym Contact Ray Louden Tel: 5429 6911
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