Weight loss with the help of family, community and SHB

Family and Community Support Helped Napier Woman Lose 40kg through Sport Hawke’s Bays Green Prescription Programme

Losing weight and keeping it off can be quite a difficult task. It’s easy to slip into old habits, especially if the change made in the first place is not done with a long-term approach. Nyree’s first attempt at weight loss was when she joined a weight loss programme, where she lost 60kg. She admitted that “in hindsight, no wonder I put it all on again. I didn’t do it in a very healthy kind of way.”

Nyree grew up in Waipukurau and has been living in Napier for the last 18 years with her husband, Charlie. Nyree and Charlie have two children, their son Sacha – who has various special needs – and daughter, Maddison. Growing up Nyree kept active through netball and biking but was very much an emotional eater.

In 2014, Nyree was referred to the Sport Hawke’s Bay delivered GRx Active Families Programme through Sacha’s dietician. With Nyree’s increased concern about her and Sacha’s health issues, she looked into what the GRx Active Families Programme could do to support the whole family and thought “well if we are going to do this, we might as well do it all together.” The Webb family agreed.

“I think you have to travel that journey a couple times for it all to click.” which is exactly what happened the second time around when Nyree lost 40kg on the GRx Active Families Programme and still remains an active and healthy lifestyle.

“It’s habits that you pick up over the course of your life that you are now trying to change. I’ve learnt to make changes slowly because a lot of those things don’t just change overnight.” For Nyree this fits in perfectly with her family too. For her children, she believes that it takes time to adjust, so making one or two changes per month has worked really well for them.

The support for the Napier mum is what sold her though. Not only from her family, but from the other people on the programme who have their own stories and are on the same journey too. “It’s cool to see people out and about that I had met through Green Prescription. I meet with a friend regularly to do some hill walking. I also encouraged her to join the programme and we have been doing the Multiple Steps for Multiple Sclerosis Fun Run in Napier for the last three years.”

Keeping active has been a key part of keeping her and her family healthy. Nyree and her husband recently bought Sacha a drift bike for his birthday in late September. It’s kept him away from the TV, he now opts to bike to school rather than asking to drive and has been on it every day since he got it. “It’s been the best purchase we have ever made for Sacha,” Nyree admits.

Her children have also become exposed to different activities through the GRx Active Families Programme, including different cooking classes and challenges, games, and swimming activities. “It was great having information that I already knew reinforced or refreshed in my mind. The same goes for my kids too. Who listens to mum? Having Olivia (Sport Hawke’s Bays Active Families Coordinator) there to tell them what I had already said was great.”

Whānau are the number one factor affecting the way children feel about living a healthy lifestyle and with 25.9% of the population in Hawke’s Bay composed of families. The Green Prescription team at Sport Hawke’s Bay provide the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure that parents and families support each other to live an active, healthy lifestyle.

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