Annie

Annie is a fellow Rotarian whom I have known the past year and a half. She is also a participant of Get Healthy! and I just realised how little I knew about her until today. This is her story.....

' My excuse for my weight gain is the tumor which was in my body. It was detected inAugust and in Sepember I had the operation to take it out,.since then (around 2004) I have put on a lot of weight. Eventually, my body was experiencing a severe lack of cortisol so my doctor put me on steroids. It has only been a year that the doctor is taking me off it and since thenm i have lost some of the baby fat but a lt more has to go.

Cortisol is at its highest level in the mornings so that is when i am at my strongest, but by evening i am really exhausted. Stress can also wear me out. My energy level is actuall half than normal people.

So my challenge in this Get Healthy! Campaign is to lose weight without tiring myself out and overdoing it. If I over exercise I can fall ill. At my age i also need to look after my weight and be easy on my kness.The gentler exercises are better for me which includes walking.

Being in this Campaign is good for me as I get the group support and I consciously remind myself everytime I eat what i put in my mouth. My husband is my greatest supporter!' .

Annie's battle with her body and her desire to be healthy has inspired me. There is so much I take for granted that it never occured to me that she could have been going through something like that,.I am glad that Annie opened up and shared her experience. What is clear to me is that whilst Annie is facing her challenges, her inner strength shines through by her constant smiling face and detemination to heal her body.