Twelve months ago, Tanya Lillyst was among that majority. 

“I was depressed, nothing would fit me, I needed to change or something would have gone wrong,” said Ms Lillyst who took on Mudgee Community Health’s chronic disease rehabilitation program.

In eight months she has lost 26.5 kilograms.  

“Dieticians taught us how much fat and sugar is in the food we eat. Now I walk every day. There is no judgement here,” Ms Lillyst said.  

“I haven’t looked back.”

Before she undertook the program, Ms Lillyst completed a mindfulness based stress reduction course through community health. 

“I began the mindfulness course in January to work through the stress and emotions and I began to heal and get out of my little black box,” she said. 

“The next step was to lose the weight.”

She believes she wouldn’t have succeeded in her weight loss journey without a focus on her mental health. 

“The mind has to be healed before you can lose the weight. I’ve been on a lot of yoyo diets and I never succeeded because my mind wasn’t healed,” Ms Lillyst said.  

“I was worried about looking after everyone else but wasn’t focussing on me.”

Mudgee Health Service chronic and complex care co-ordinator, Penny Small said 70 per cent of health problems in our community are lifestyle related.

“Being overweight or obese can have a serious impact on health, such as cardiovascular disease (mainly heart disease and stroke), type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis, and some cancers (endometrial, breast and colon),” Ms Small said. 

“What is not widely known is that the risk of health problems starts when someone is only very slightly overweight, and that the likelihood of problems increases as someone becomes more and more overweight. 

“Many of these conditions cause long-term suffering for individuals and families.”

For enquiries about Mudgee Community Health’s programs and activities call reception on 6378 6236.