My name is Megan and I’m thirteen and a half years old.

When I first came to Maxine, I was really over my body. I hated the way I looked and the way I felt all the time.

This was me before I started losing weight

I was always tired and crabby and I felt generally unhealthy. I was always telling myself how fat and ugly I looked. I tried a million different things to change my eating and exercise habits. I tried going it alone, dieting with my mum (who is now also with Maxine),  Mum and I did Weight Watchers together, we even got a gym membership that I used, like, twice. I always found it really hard to keep motivated. And of course, I could never find a weight loss program to sign up for that didn’t require me to be over sixteen. And that would make me feel bad about myself, so I would go home and eat. Chocolate, mostly. And then I would feel bad that I ate chocolate, so I would eat chocolate to make me feel better. Do you see a vicious circle forming?

The worst part about feeling fat and ugly was clothes shopping. At my heaviest/biggest, I was twelve years old, 156 centimeters tall and I weighed 82 kilograms and had to buy size 16 to 18 clothes. So while my friends were borrowing clothes from each other, I could barely fit into clothes that their mums wore!!! So I would go into the WOMEN’S section of Target or Kmart or Big W, and I would try and find something that fit me and that I liked. Yeah, good luck with that. And I would look wistfully at Cotton On and City Beach and think, “Man, if I went in there, those skinny, perfect looking girls would just whisper to their friends, ‘Guuuuuuuuuurrrll, you are WAY too fat to be in here. Stop being a try hard.’ ” So I would be as difficult as possible for my poor mum so that she didn’t take me clothes shopping too often.

So feeling fat really restricted my life. I even hated going swimming in public. I tried to put on this  ’I don’t really care about how I look or what you think of me, I’ll eat whatever I want’ facade, when really I cared deeply about how people perceived me. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when a charming young boy in the year below me at school thought it would be a fabulous idea to call me ‘heifer’, (a female cow, not the thinnest of animals, if you get my drift) ‘tank’ and the highly original, ‘fatty’. That was when I decided that I wasn’t going to let my weight control my life anymore. I was tired of feeling awful and creating the illusion that everyone was staring at me. I was going to change.

Enter Maxine and Laurie…

Me, skinny again!

My mum was the one who wanted me to do the whole naturopath thing. By this time I was absolutely desperate. I just wanted to feel good about myself. She asked me whether I was going to see this through and in my head I was like, “DAMN STRAIGHT!!” but she would have looked at me funny so I just said, “You betcha!”

So I filled out the questionnaire with my answers to the what I thought slightly intrusive questions and went into Maxine. Yeah, I was a little wary thinking it would be all the Chinese symbols and Indian chant music and the smell of incense thick in the air and herbs everywhere and I thought, “Oh no, this Maxine is going to come out looking like a stick insect wearing a flowy white cheesecloth shirt with a daisy chain round her neck and flowy blue hippie pants with bells on the bottom, and she’ll say I have to go vegan and live on leaves and berries.” WRONG!!!!! Maxy comes out, with funky clothes and big cool chunky necklace and heels! Not at all fat, but not freakishly thin. Normal and approachable but utterly fabulous!! She whisks me into her little room and has a look over my questionnaire and tells me some stuff about listening to my body, and completely unjudgemental!! Yay!! I remember quite clearly when we came to the last page of the quiz she said to me, “Attractiveness? You put a four? You know that’s the worst one? You don’t think your attractive at all?” I shrugged sheepishly. “You are an attractive, vibrant young woman and attractiveness has absolutely nothing to do with your weight.” The foundations of my brand new positive mind set were in place!!

So Maxy told me the proper foods to eat and gave me the herbs that I forgot to take for ages but I eventually took them regularly. Everything was tailored to my exact needs and lifestyle. But good old Maxine was definitely not afraid to pull me up if I needed a bit of a reality check. And so I FINALLY began losing weight!!! I reached my first weight goal, 78 kilos, then 75 kilos and I started having to buy new clothes. Well. Wasn’t that a very…special experience. I felt totally defeated!! Nearly in tears, I said to Mum, “I’m so fat, I still have to shop in the same shops, I’ve worked so hard for nothing!!” So Mum, being Mum, consoled me and told me that, realistically, I may have to do that, but let’s go look in Sussan.  It was there that I found my favorite black tights that I practically live in and
my favorite gorgeous flowery shirt. I tried them on and looked in the mirror. And proceeded to burst into tears. Yep. Crying in the middle of the changing rooms. A poor woman that was trying something on and she didn’t know what was going on!!! But I felt so good to feel good in something!!

So with new resolve I pressed on with my weight loss. I went through all the stages of dieting:

not eating because I couldn’t find anything good to eat and I was so over having to think about it and make choices all the time, recklessness, exercising to within an inch of my life, making my diet so strict and restricted I literally only ate meat, fruit, vegetables and nuts, and of course the inevitable ‘I’m so fat moments’, through all of which my wonderful, amazing friends, family, parents and of course Maxine and Laurie supported me.

Skinny Minny at Mt Coot-tha!

I still have a bit of a way to go in my weight loss journey, but I am almost at my goal weight, size and shape. I am now 69.25 kilograms and I am a size 12, with one size 10 dress in my box of tricks!! This brings my total weight loss to 12.75 kilograms, and taking with it four dress sizes. But in this I have gained invaluable self-confidence and knowledge about health and nutrition which will help me in a million ways in the future. I feel so much better about myself. I have learned not to put myself down so much and that
I have been created exactly as I am and to celebrate it!! I also learned that I can’t just spit my dummy in the dirt because I ate a chocolate or some loser laughed at me about my weight. We are strong!!!! But I could not have done any of this without the amazing support of my wonderful friends, my gorgeous family and the absolutely fabulous Maxine and Laurie!!! I owe them my health and my self-image!!   Thank you!!

Megan

After the birth of my second child things began to drastically change with my body and eating habits.  I stayed very healthy throughout my pregnancy and was fortunate enough to have had cravings for healthy salads of any kind. By the time my daughter was 7 months old I had actually put on weight and craved sweet foods and carbs.  I become depressed and suffered extreme fatigue.  After seeking medical help and being diagnosed with Hashimotos disease, I turned to Step into Health  for help to lose weight and to get healthy again.

Maxine with her compassion and wisdom put me on a weight loss plan and support for my health concerns.  After having followed the program, taking the recommended supplements and shakes I noticed not only a massive difference in my weight but also my overall health.  I felt brighter, lighter and my energy levels increased dramatically!  I dropped back down to the weight I was before my pregnancy and felt better than ever!

The wellness plan was simple and easy to follow and fitted into my lifestyle.  I would have no hesitations in recommending Step into health Wellness Centre for a permanent and lasting change to your  health and life.  The support was incredible and the service superb!  Not only did I lose weight and gain my health and life back, but learnt so much about what to eat and how to support my health issues with the right supplements . I was also pleasantly surprised when my weight loss efforts won me first prize in Pharma Food national weight loss competition and I received a travel voucher to any destination I desired!  I pampered myself at a health spa retreat in the mountains to top of my amazing wellness journey!

If you want to change your health and life for the better, go to the business with ‘heart and soul’. Thank you Maxine and Laurie so much!

Jullyana Landels

Teri and Stacey

I was referred to Maxine Wright by a friend when my partner was diagnosed with a serious condition a couple of years ago.

We were very impressed with Maxine’s knowledge and service but it was her calmness and down to earth manner that made all the difference for us. We were able to relax, focus and get on with the business of improving our health with her guidance.

We were able to commit to Maxine’s regimes as they were easy to incorporate into our daily routine and she even customs designs them for fussiness & stubbornness! This has been important to us as we are time poor professionals and the fact that you can purchase all your prescriptions on site at an affordable price is an additional advantage.

We have never felt better since our first visit to Step into Health . Maxine& Laurie are always available for any questions or follow up making us feel like they genuinely care. We thank you both for all you do for us, and recommend you to anyone who wants to feel well when they wake up to the day.

Stacey Platts & Teri Maguire

Lorral Love

HI my name is Lorral Love and when I first thought about giving Maxine a testimony I thought how easy,  no problem it would be a cinch, now I find myself trying to find the words to say what I need to convey.

I first started with Step into Health back in 2008 and for whatever reason (and I am sure I had many )I ceased going, I swear I was like 20 kgs lighter back then maybe even more.

But here I am full circle back to where I began, my story isn’t necessarily one of great success but it is success none the less. I was 101kg on the scales and knew I had to do something so I started lite n easy, although it was easy it wasn’t necessarily lite for me, this is nothing against the company either they are fantastic for a lot of people but it was not working for me, as my health also needed some TLC not just my waist line.

Hence I ended up back on the doorstep of Step into Health desperately trying to do that, step into health that is, my attitude changed and it became more of a health focus than a weight focus I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

It’s been a slow progress as my health has a mind of its own, I am wavering between 93 and 95 kgs at the moment some weeks are worse than others but needless to say I am still hanging in there and honestly the support and love I get from Max and Laurie is something that you don’t expect to get from anyone in the medical world natural or otherwise (well its nothing that I have found before).

But I can say my skin is looking and feeling great from the saunas, the advice and products that have helped me feel great for the first time in a long time have been priceless (without the MasterCard), I don’t feel like I have failed even when I have not progressed, all I receive is encouragement and suggestions on how to make small but significant changes and thanks to Laurie I don’t even mind walking up a hill now as I have his voice telling me he would rather me walking 10 mins on a steady incline that 30 mins on flat ground. I make better food choices both in the supermarket and take away when I am too tired or hungry to bother.

As I said earlier I have had some issues with my stomach which at times leaves me feeling so bloated that it is discouraging but I have the wonderful help and support from Max and Laurie and though I am on again off again with my walking and sometimes participate in too many morning teas at work I am still on the road to recovery and I am gearing up and getting ready to face the Step into Health weight loss challenge in the new year(it’s ok Maxine I am still watching myself now and over the Christmas season).

I just so love the emails and the tips from Maxine, she strongly believes in educating you on your choices, when your armed with the facts it’s a little hard to ignore the consequences, I will be seeing some of you around in the new year and I will reach my goal weight because I am inspired by the story of others like Tina and the support from Maxine and Laurie.

Losing weight and finding good health is one of the hardest challenges I have had to face and I have faced a few, it’s an uphill battle but thankfully none of us have to do it alone and the great part is while you lose weight you get healthy, oh and that, did you really eat that, look from Maxine which is priceless, you have to start somewhere and I could not think of a better place to start, it is one on one, personal and personalized including any workout you need to do, no standing in a gym feeling like the world is staring at you. But don’t be fooled by Laurie’s charm he can be a hard task master but somehow he makes you want to do the work.

I want to say a personal huge thanks to both Max and Laurie, I couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to do this without you and I can completely understand how you are the leading weight loss clinic you are both amazing.

Lorral Love

Here are some of the lovely things our facebook fans have been saying about Step Into Health Wellness Centre.  We so appreciate each and every one!

Great people and great results. Known them for about 20 years. They have helped me and so many others. It is a one stop Health business…. Julie Didlick

If you are looking for personal, caring guidance to health and weightloss then you have found it…. Lorral Love

Pick up some sound advice and enjoy this site!  (www.facebook.com/StepIntoHealthWellnessCentre)  …. Lisa Petri

Maxine is a very nurturing caring healer. I would recommend anyone with a health issue, however hopeless you think it is, to visit Step Into Wellness. Choose health!….June Price

Kathy Zillman

I would not be living the life I am today if it was not for Maxine and Laurie Wright at Step Into Health. I have been under their care for over 10 years, and whilst there is no known cure for my condition in conventional medicine I now enjoy a wonderful quality of life with true relief from my debilitating symptoms. Their support and wilingness to do everything they can for me is so appreciated. They are constantly researching new methods of treatment, herbs and supplements, to treat different issues that have arisen over the years until we have success. I always know I can turn to them for help, and feel very cared about, which is so important.
Kathy Zillman

Mellaine Newman

After experiencing several years of severe postoperative digestive problems and spending lots of money and time visiting a number of naturopaths, a client of mine recommended Maxine Wright at Step into Health Wellness Centre. By following her excellent advice and taking the appropriate supplements recommended, I recovered my vibrant health very quickly. I am really amazed and the ongoing support is most helpful.

Mellaine Newman – Yoga Chi Gung Teacher