David B
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23 December 2016
David joined Up and Active to lose weight and manage his stress and anxiety levels.
Medical History -
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Obesity
Stress and anxiety
David was encouraged to contact the Up and Active team by his GP (Dr Chadwick at Yorkshire St Medical Practice) to help manage his stress and anxiety levels. David also wanted to lose weight and get fitter. David self-referred onto a 12 Week Weight Management programme at St Peter’s Centre in June 2016.
David’s motivation to lose weight was after seeing a picture of himself; he couldn’t believe how much weight he had put on. David was determined to commit to making positive changes whilst attending the programme; he attended a weekly weight management weigh-in and health education topic on diet and healthy eating.
Before starting the programme David was inactive, he had never used a gym before, so the whole experience was new to him. David remembers his first few weeks in the gym were very challenging. He struggled to manage 10 minutes on any of the cardiovascular equipment on the first week of the programme, however, he attends the gym 3 times a week and has gradually increased his fitness levels, and exercises 60 - 90 minutes on each session.
Losing almost two stone in weight David reports that he feels better overall, he is happier, has increased mobility, feels fitter and able to do much more than he could before, and feels less stressed and anxious. David is also pleased that his clothes fit better and he has reduced his waist size from 42inches to 38inches. David reports he was struggling with joint problems before starting the programme, especially with ankle pain, and is now pain free. He has also noticed a significant improvement to his recovery rate, with a reduced resting pulse from 90bpm at the start of the programme to 75bpm upon completion of the programme.
David has now encouraged his wife and daughter to become more active, and they have signed up to a joint membership at the St Peter’s Centre and swim together at least twice a week.
Lack of willpower was one of David’s main challenges; joining the 12 week weight management programme has helped David to make massive changes to his diet. This has been achieved by gradually making small changes to his portion sizes and cutting out high fat and sugary foods such as biscuits, cakes, crisps.