The 2021 “Fitness Challenge” of NNC – Calabarzon staff is currently in full swing, as a great way to get everyone excited about wellness. The challenge is intended to encourage the NNC-Calabarzon staff to achieve the “Desirable Body Weight (DBW)” through “Moderation, Variety and Balanced (MoVaBa)” in eating and adopting an active lifestyle.
As a start in the fitness journey, the staff were divided into two teams. Each team is represented by a leader assigned as its “fitness coach” – and tasked to create a fitness plan to help the members achieve their goal of either losing or gaining weight.
Awareness of one’s nutritional status is vital to the fitness plan. It begins with the question, “Is my weight proportion with my height?” Subsequently, the height and weight of each staff are taken to get the nutritional status using “Body Mass Index (BMI)” and the DBW.
Eventually, the weight change will be checked/monitored every 2 months, with final results on the sixth month of implementation of the strategies.
Start of the Journey. A closer look into the life of one of the several staff brings us to the specific fitness journey scenario. We have Ms. Geraldine Aladin, also known as Mommy Jing to her officemates. She is an administrative aide, and the mode of her work does not require physical movement. Thus, she spends a lot of time sitting for long hours in her computer chair and laptop. Mobility is scarce because everything that she needs (such as supplies, documents and printing) to complete her tasks, is reachable.
Another reason why Mommy Jing has difficulty losing weight is related to her hormones. She said, “May hormonal imbalance ako. Talagang lumaki ako simula nung matanggal ang matris ko nung 2005.”
Aside from hormonal imbalance, not losing weight may be caused by an increase in the intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat and sugars, reduction of physical activity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization.
Given Mommy Jing’s condition, she has a BMI of 42.7, which is classified as “Obese Class III” in World Health Organization (WHO) Standards. The normal range of BMI is 18.5 - 24.9. A raised BMI is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancer.
Road to Change. The journey to fitness is tough, but Mommy Jing is willing to exert extra effort to reach her goal. What would motivate her to deal bravely with the hindrances? She said, “Nahihirapan ako. Lagi akong hinihingal.” This is the number one reason why she wanted to lose weight.
Based on the computation of her DBW using Tanhausser’s Method, Mommy Jing needs to lose 53.5 kg to achieve normal BMI. According to her, she was previously taking slimming teas, but she always ends up in the comfort room.
Mommy Jing’s team needs to help her strategize the gradual decrease of her weight by using only the right, healthy methods and by addressing her hormonal imbalance.
The challenge will be a long fitness road for her, but Mommy Jing is now eager to take the safer and healthier road to wellness. Will she finish her journey and achieve her goal? It all depends on the effectiveness of the fitness plan, the support from the team and the personal discipline involved.
By: Mary Emerene P. Pingol
Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
