Clive Palmer on his massive weight loss, and the year that’s been
CLIVE Palmer has been larger than life but the mining magnate and former pollie is showing off a slimmed down figure.
“I’M PRETTY different now if you saw me from what I was.”
He might be one of Australia’s most divisive characters, but one thing that is undisputable in Clive Palmer’s life is he sure as hell is looking good.
“I’m not as big a story because I’m not as fat,” he told news.com.au.
Last night the billionaire businessman-turned-politician-turned-disgraced MP-turned retiree announced he had lost a whopping 49kg.
After eight-months of “eating healthy” and maintaining “portion control” he’s lost almost a third of his body weight, and is now sitting at 104kg.
Ever since he began his weight loss journey in April, Mr Palmer has been using social media to chart his journey.
But in a frank discussion with news.com.au, Mr Palmer said, “I spent three years in parliament serving the Australian people, now it’s time to serve me.”
“I made a mental commitment to do that, to lose the weight,” he said.
Mr Palmer credited a three-step process that he now lives by.
“First up you have to say, ‘I’m going to keep doing it (diet) for six months’.
“Mentally, you’ve got to make the decision to make a commitment, realise the gravity. You've got to implement it as a discipline.
“If you make that commitment upfront you won’t be undermining yourself every day.
“Secondly, I thought, ‘well how much do I eat every day and how much should I eat?’
“I limited my portions, rather than worrying what’s on your plate, I went to Lite n’ Easy who gave me all my measures.”
He credited Lite n’ Easy for educating him on the size of meat portions in particular; a Lite n’ Easy meal consists of just 20 per cent meat, while the rest of the portion is usually vegetables. Before the diet Mr Palmer was eating close to 60 per cent meat.
Finally, he credited cutting out the “simple things”; no sugars, no additives, sauces or salt.
Instead of drinking full strength ginger beer, he now drinks diet. He saves 170 calories just from swapping from full strength.
“I’ve got a two-year-old daughter and I’ve got a strong obligation to help her live life, I’m 62 now, at 153kg I was pushing it uphill on the long term.”
Mr Palmer says that despite the achievement, he plans on shedding another 15kg.
“I’m feeling a lot better, feeling the benefits, spending more time engaging with people. They’re all things I couldn’t do before.”
He says the smaller meal portions have trained his stomach to eat less.
“I was invited to dinner last night, I got the main course but I could only eat a quarter of it,” he said.
“I didn’t feel I needed to eat any more, before I’d go out and eat the lot.
“It’s a strange feeling in a sense. Before, I was restricting myself, and this was a time I wasn’t and yet my lifestyle had changed and I didn’t eat any more.
“I feel pretty good, I look pretty good, I’ve had good comments from people, it’s quite strange, my wife’s not so happy,” he jokes.
“But she’s happy, I’ve done it for the children, but also for myself.
“A lot of people say your life can be better if you want it to be, the reason to lose weight is to be better for yourself. You can be a more productive person in society.”
It’s been a rough year for Mr Palmer.
Drama began to engulf Mr Palmer in January when his Queensland Nickel company spiralled into voluntary administration and slashed 237 jobs at its Yabulu refinery near Townsville.
Within days, unflattering opinion polls suggested Mr Palmer had lost so much support as the federal member for Fairfax he may as well not bother contesting the seat at the next election.
In May, he was ordered to face court and will have his assets pursued by special purpose liquidators following the collapse of Queensland Nickel.
In September, the short-lived yet action-packed political party founded by the mining magnate, Palmer United Party, was deregistered in Queensland.
“I gave it a good shot, there were reasons why they didn’t want us there,” Mr Palmer added, referring to the major political parties.
“They both ganged up to get rid of me. There’s no charges against me and no legal cases against me because I haven’t done anything wrong.
“They wanted to blacken my name.
“I hope I can continue to serve the Australian people, even losing weight helps other people.”
Lost another 1kg today. Thats 21kg total. Still trying... #liteandeasy
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) October 4, 2016
I've now lost 49kg. At 104kg. I hope you all support me to smash through the 100kg barrier
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) December 12, 2016
Im heading for the 100kg barrier.
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) December 12, 2016
Another Lite'n'easy tonight for dinner.
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) November 18, 2016
— Lite n’ Easy did not respond to questions posed by news.com.au.
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