New discipline for a new decade of life

For a 70-year-old retired man, I thought my overall health was pretty good. I rarely felt ill or got colds, and I’ve always been fairly active. But over the years, my weight and blood pressure had crept higher and I became borderline diabetic. This didn’t come as a big surprise, because I have some family history with diabetes on my mother’s side, and my father had bypass surgery. But these hidden health issues evolved into metabolic syndrome. I had never even heard of this condition before. My family doctor recommended the CHANGE Program to help get it under control.

The CHANGE Program taught me discipline and focus, especially with how I eat. The Mediterranean Diet was new to me. I always ate fruit and vegetables, but now I concentrate on eating more legumes and I make sure to make fish once a week, even though I don’t love it.

I exercise in different ways now too. Before the CHANGE Program, I would just use my treadmill sometimes. The kinesiologist developed a structured exercise program for my treadmill sessions with proper interval training, and introduced me to other strength and flexibility exercises to complement the crunches I already did to strengthen core muscles for my back.

Today, I feel better than ever. I lost about 2 inches in my waist circumference. And you know, I hadn’t been on a bike in ages, but being with the program encouraged me to buy a new bike and get out there again. I started riding around my neighbourhood, and now I do 45 minutes out along the river and take on some hills. CHANGE has changed how think about what it means to be healthy.