Trials and temptations for the ‘Move Me’ Three

It’s not exactly a ‘piece of cake’ undertaking the ‘Move Me’ programme, according to Lifestyle Champion and Carterton mayor Gary McPhee.

Gary McPhee, Nicky Poona, Tere Tora are 5 weeks into their ‘Move Me’ programme – a year long programme designed to help them make sustainable lifestyle changes to get fitter and regain a healthy weight.

“While we are making good progress, some bits are much harder than others,” says Gary. “For me, trying to build enough exercise into my day is a real challenge. I can go to up to 7 meetings in the day, where I am sitting down and probably getting fed. That sounds really nice, but seven snacks and no activity is not a healthy lifestyle. I get really tempted by the food that is put in front of me, and it’s hard if it’s all cakes and pies with no fruit platters, wraps or club sandwiches. If there is one plea I’d make, it’s to provide healthy snacks at meetings. Having food is a great ice-breaker and helps you keep focused, but loads of fat and sugar doesn’t do anyone any favours. The trick is to make the other stuff look just as tasty!”

Gary finds the best time of day for exercise is early morning – he’s had the hard word from the vet that his 40kg black lab will die if he doesn’t get more exercise, so that’s a fairly strong motivation. “Even so, if I’ve got a 7am meeting, the morning walk just doesn’t happen,” says Gary. “I’ve realised that with my lifestyle, I’m going to have to make more of a commitment to building in time for exercise – it doesn’t just happen, I have to make it happen.”

Health Promoter Nicky Poona also has days when she’d just like to ‘sloth out’ instead of going to the gym – but usually manages to build in at least 30 minutes exercise a day. “I’ve got lots of people around me helping me to stay motivated,” says Nicky. “My big temptation is takeaways – I used to be the takeaway queen, and it’s hard to change that habit. My mouth waters when I drive past the outlets and I haven’t stopped altogether – I’m just going for the healthier options like wraps, instead of deep fried pieces and chips – and I’m only doing it once every two weeks instead of every couple of days. I’m aiming for once a month,” she says.

Nicky has also found that doing more cooking at home has given her much more control over her meals. “I’m trying to keep a stock of healthy ingredients like pasta, rice, tinned tuna, tomato cooking sauces and lots of veges in the house,” says Nicky. “If I don’t have any fizz, chippies, or cakes and bars in the pantry, I can’t go and snack on them. If they are there – they end up inside me, bit by bit.”

Tere Torea feels he’s staying pretty focused – even managing to bypass his favourite pavlovas at a fellowship meeting last week. “One thing I’ve had to change is my habit of snacking on lollies in the car,” says Tere. “I’d have a packet beside me, and by the time I got somewhere, they’d be mostly gone.” Tere has found substitutes like nuts and fresh or dried fruit, and is staying well away from his other previous temptation – peanut slabs. “I just don’t have any around any more,” laughs Tere. ‘I used to eat so many of them that I call them ‘peanut flabs’ now.”

You can follow the Champion’s progress in the media, and also on the MoreFM website www.morefm.co.nz – and click on the Wairarapa link.

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