At this time of year, many in our community are working hard to keep the New Year’s resolutions they’ve made, and one perennially popular resolution is to live a healthier lifestyle.
It’s a commendable task, but often a difficult one — especially if people approach it without a plan of action. With the right plan, however, some in our community have seen remarkable success.
For Pamela Schwartz that plan came, in part, from attending Alberta Health Services’ Alberta Healthy Living Program seminars in Westlock.
She made the decision to get healthier after she had her blood pressure checked in December 2011 and, as she described it, her doctor’s eyes popped out of his head. Her decision to lose weight wasn’t specifically a New Year’s resolution, but she knew the time was right.
“It just happened to coincide, but for me it was just ‘This has to change and it has to change now,’” she said. “There’s nothing scarier than seeing your doctor’s eyes pop out.”
A little more than a year later, she says she has lost about 120 of the 296 pounds she was carrying around — and she credits her success in part to the support she got through the AHS program — but more importantly for her, she got her blood pressure down as well.
“The best way I can describe it is I feel like a totally different person,” she said.
Schwartz said what’s most satisfying is the change she made hasn’t been about hitting a treadmill every day and counting calories, but just making little changes. After taking the WeightWise class, for example, she has reduced her portion sizes.
“I figured out I was eating probably for two or three people instead of one person, and it’s so easy to do,” she said.
Another aspect was proportions on the plate — she now makes a point to have half a plate of vegetable, a quarter starch and a quarter meat.
As far as exercise goes, Schwartz said it’s been as simple as making a point to just be more active in her day-to-day life. For example, she’ll take the laundry up the stairs in two loads instead of one, or walk the dog more to just get outside.
Sarah Greenfield, the local co-ordinator for this program, said it’s free of charge and available to any adult who wants to participate.
The program has several different components, and people can take one of the education sessions, some of them or all of them.
The main intended audience for this program is anyone living with a chronic condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure or a host of others. Caregivers are also encouraged to look into these sessions, as well as anyone who might be at risk of developing a chronic condition.
“We know that as we age, we are all at risk of developing a chronic condition,” she said. “What we have with our programming is an opportunity to support people who have maybe already been diagnosed with a chronic condition to help give them the best quality of life possible.”
Greenfield added that she knows it can be difficult for people to get started with a lifestyle change, which can seem like a really difficult task, but the Healthy Living Program aims to make the process less intimidating by having a fun group atmosphere.
“We have a very fun, interactive group setting,” she said. “It’s so much easier to embrace some of these difficult changes in life when there’s other people just like you. We hope that the environment we have allows us to have some humour and have some fun in exploring these changes.”
For Schwartz, the process has been fun and incredibly rewarding — walking around with 120 fewer pounds has made a big difference in her life.
“That’s a whole other person,” she said. “If anybody has time to take (those classes), it’s definitely worth it.”
Anyone interested can learn more about the program or sign up by phoning 1-877-349-5711.
