Column: Our good health is entirely in our own hands

The Government launched its strategy to tackle obesity the other month.

The problem is politicians are the last people we’ll listen to when they start telling us get fitter, healthier and maybe lose a few pounds.But (deep breath), they’re right.

We have drifted into obesity. We’ve supersized everything, binged on three-for-two deals, and that wee packet of crisps you got as a kid is now a max size munch bag.

We kid ourselves that low fat ready meals and two litre bottles of diet juice are a healthy alternative. They’re not really.

Getting healthy takes commitment and effort - and no-one else will do it for you.

So, we’ve become a nation that finds excuses not to do it. We’re tired, we don’t have will power, we’d rather pop open a tube of Pringles and watch a documentary on 600lb people getting their stomachs stapled in America. I’ll plead guilty.

But, if we keep dodging the issue then it’ll be us starring in the next series.

The bigger we get, the more strain we place on our bodies, the more pills we need from our GP which don’t offer a cure, simply numb the pain and discomfort, and the more our mobility starts to buckle.

So much of that is preventable, and I say that as someone who has never exercised, and whose diet has consisted of ready meals and takeaways for far too long.

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If lockdown had a positive, it was changing that diet. After six months of juicing and blending, I’m now two stones lighter, sleeping much better, less stressed.

Had I been in lockdown on my own, I’d have pigged out – see, another excuse. Doing it with my other half was the key – she deserves the credit – and we both made the effort to go get out and walk. Running still seems a step too far!

With that support and right frame of mind, losing weight is, when you boil it down, simple – eat healthier, and exercise more – but our relationship with food is incredibly complex.

But I guess my point is, it can be done. Baby steps - lose one pound, then another, and keep going. Accept some weeks will be rubbish and don’t beat yourself up, and, if you still want a take-away.

I’ve zero interest in counting calories , or joining a slimming club, but my kitchen now has a funky wee juicer and blender which comes complete with an app which tells me what to do. So does my other half …

I’m now back to a weight I last was about 25 years ago, and the stuff I’m blending is everything I’ve loathed since childhood ... and I’m enjoying it!

Jason Vale’s documentary on juicing underlined the impact it can have. He took a bunch of folk, all with long-standing medical conditions and weight issues, and gave them nothing but juices.

They all lost weight – for some, it was a struggle – were happier and, perhaps most important of all, they’d ditched almost all of their medications. A win for them. A win for the NHS. Imagine if we all lost 5lbs…

Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Fife Free Press.