Real Life ‘Fun-Fit’ Stories Raymond Leung - "A Major Milestone in my life" I joined the Adventist Hospital “Funfit” weight control program in 2004. In the previous year, I was just a typical city guy who thought he was doing enough exercise. I was 170 pounds in weight, 165cm in height, and had a 36-inch waist, and a high blood pressure. Due to taking blood pressure medication for almost 4 years and not doing much exercise, there were some side effects. I am personally against taking medication long term. I was planning to lose weight and start exercising, in accordance with my doctor’s recommendation. Then I noticed a newspaper advertisement, stating that the Adventist Hospital had a program on weight control. After a brief visit to their office, and without any commercial hard-sell techniques or tricks, I decided to join, and commenced immediately on my 3-month course. During those 3 months, I received instruction from a doctor, dietitian, and a fitness instructor. I changed from a meat-based diet, to mostly vegetables and fruits, with less meat. For a snack, I ate nuts. During this period, I lost 18 pounds in weight, 4 inches from my waist, and my blood pressure returned to normal and I no longer required medication. Within those three months, the most difficult things I faced were changing my eating habits, and the occasional ‘temptation’ from my friends. In traditional Chinese society, family meetings and social entertainment always includes lots of meat and oily foods. It is a symbol of dignity. The knowledge I gained, taught me that too much oily food and meat accumulates fat in our bodies. Lack of exercise, without expending what you consume, gets your body into trouble. I was caught in-between, and needed to find ways to balance my health and social life. With the supervision of the doctor and the dietician in the program, I now know how to choose my foods, and how to handle myself on social engagements without anyone realizing that I’m on a special diet. Of course, a supportive family, a healthy body, and the jealous eyes of your friends, are the greatest reward. After completing the course, I understand that weight control must be an on-going process, so I have joined the 8-month half-marathon training course at the Adventist Hospital. I have since participated in a small half-marathon competition in Japan, and completed the 21 kilometers within the time limit. I want to tell everybody, that when I passed the finishing point I was almost crying, because I could never imagine a man who had never done exercise, could complete the race within the allowed time. (Why did I go to Japan? Because I feared I would not be able to complete the minimum requirement, and it would be so shameful to fail in front of my family and friends.) On a cool morning in Macau on December 5, 2004, I completed another half-marathon competition easily, and my time was 10 minutes faster than before. Ten minutes is just a short period of time, but it represents a great accomplishment to a runner. After this competition I understood completely that if you want to meet your goal, proper and continuous training is essential. A healthy body, proper diet, and thorough preparation are the basic requirements. I do not expect that correct weight and frequent exercise will necessarily assure me of a long life, but I do hope I can maintain my health and dignity for the rest of my life. To conclude, my past year’s experience with the Adventist Hospital has shown me the most important principle, that I must exchange ‘QUANTITY’ for ‘QUALITY’. This not only upgrades your lifestyle and gives you a healthy body, but it can do the same for your family and friends. Because I know now how to make wise choices, I can ENJOY DELICIOUS FOOD (IN MODERATION) ALL THE TIME, and DO PROPER EXERCISE to keep myself motivated and fit. Lena 's story My name is Lena, and I am a new graduate from the university about to join the workforce. I decided to join the weight control program organized by the Adventist Hospital, although I didn’t expect to lose much weight. However, I lost more than 30 pounds and 10% body fat in just over 10 weeks. I recall my parents looking after me very well when I was a child, and they fed me much more than I really needed. I was not into sports, and my parents never forced me to participate. In addition, I had an introvert type personality, and I was rather quiet and not too happy with myself. As a result, I used to eat a lot when I felt unhappy, therefore, my weight during junior middle-school exceeded 200 pounds, and sometimes even went up to 230 pounds. Of course, all the people around me were always pushing me to do something about my weight. However, I never paid too much attention to them. When I reached F.4, I suddenly felt that I could not go on in this way anymore, and began a weight control plan. Unfortunately, I had frequent relapses. My time at university was the turning point for me. I left home to further my studies overseas, and due to the disciplined life in university, as well as the fixed meal times, the opportunity to eat snacks was considerably reduced. Due to this environment, I lost more than 50 pounds in the past four years. I was not completely satisfied with this achievement however, because my weight was still far from being ‘standard’. On the other hand, I wanted to go a step further to improve my health, so I joined the Adventist Hospital ‘Funfit’ Weight Control Program. Among the many different aspects of this program, those that helped me the most were the visits with the dietician, and the workshops. The program strengthened my faith regarding health, and corrected a lot of my previous bad life-style habits. For instance, I did not exercise in the past, but now I have developed the habit of exercising regularly (of course, I don’t do hard exercises). All of these have helped my physique to change. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my family for their support. It really enhanced my motivation and gave me the power to change. However, I do not dare relax, because as the dietician said, “There’s still a long road ahead”. I believe that a healthy lifestyle is like homework, and we need to continue these habits for life. My friend, I believe you too can experience the enjoyment of good health, and reduce your weight just as I did. |
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