health trainers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Health Trainers – Text only version:<\/p>\n
Reflections of a Health Trainer – by Mark Howie<\/p>\n
After qualifying I was eager to put my new skills into practice, I had the shells of diet plans and exercise regimes in my mind, just waiting to tailor them for my clients. Jail time can be hard time; it can drag if you let it. I was determined to make the most of my time and I figured that my helping others would be a positive use of my energy.
\nI had some successes, but I also found men that I could not motivate. They were caught in a rut and couldn\u2019t see a way out. That got me thinking about finding other ways to help. It was then that I realised that most of the men that didn\u2019t want to engage with Health Trainers were not in any activity. At that point I started to try to encourage them to do something, anything. It could be to get a job or to do a course in education. Really it was a matter of just doing something to get out of the cell and off the wing for a bit.
\nI found that this was often the first step that these lads needed. It seemed to open a door for them which then helped them see other opportunities. Now I see new arrivals in the prison, ideally before they have picked up bad habits here. I try to encourage them to see their arrival here as a new opportunity, a fresh start. I will try to steer them in the right direction. I have the contacts here and I know enough about the prison to guide them and make sure that their enquiries are going to the right people to ensure a swift response.
\nOn a personal note, I get great satisfaction from helping other people. If I am doing my bit to help people, those people in turn might be more inclined to help others. If more and more people do the same it means that the place I live becomes just a little bit more pleasant, which is a win-win for everybody.
\nI am a far better communicator than I ever was. I have learned to listen, to really understand what somebody is saying. I know that this is something that will help me for the rest of my life.
\nI have learned to treat everybody I meet as a unique person. There are different solutions for everybody. I now have a mighty, mighty Arsenal of skills that I can use to help other people. However, I am finding that I now look at problems in my own life differently. I have learned to look beyond the obvious solutions and think laterally.
\nI am far more humble and grateful for what I have. I have seen and heard about some of the problems that my clients are facing; it helps me to keep my own worries in perspective.
\nWhen I can help somebody it makes me feel better, and it keeps me determined. I won\u2019t quit, not only for myself, but also because I don\u2019t want to be a hypocrite and let other people down.
\nAbove anything else, I have found a passion that I intend on pursuing after prison and by my having qualifications and certificates I may be able to turn a passion into a career. But I also know that employers want qualifications and experience in their staff. Every single day I am backing up my qualifications with real life experience. Often I am helping clients with complex needs. If and when I am looking for a job I will be excited about the interview. I will have a huge portfolio of work and experience to fall back on. I will be able to quote numerous examples of how I overcame difficulties in real life situations. I will be able to point to a proven track record and show that I will be an excellent candidate for work.
\nReflections of a Health Trainer\u2019s client.<\/p>\n
I never had a six-pack. It didn\u2019t interest me. I was never much bothered with the gym either. But I had always worked in physical roles, like construction. While I was never super-healthy I was in fairly decent shape.
\nThat changed when I came to prison. It didn\u2019t happen overnight, it was over a period of months and years that I went from a 34 inch waist to pushing 40 inches.
\nMy first solution was to kit myself in joggers and baggy clothes, to hide the gut like a pregnant teen in a strict Catholic family. But even that became a joke.
\nMates would stop in mid-sentence when describing other people. I could see their mouths in the \u2018F\u2019 shape as they were about to say \u2018Fat\u2019 – but they would pause and then describe a moustache, a haircut or an accent instead.
\nI had been feeling \u2018not right\u2019. I was getting the odd chest pain. Even walking upstairs was making me breathless. Even getting dressed, putting on socks was becoming more of an effort.
\nIn December 2017 I finally said enough is enough. I made the resolution! I pledged to myself that I would lose weight from January 2018! I even decided to go on the Vegan diet. But I had no success, and no wonder. I didn\u2019t really have a plan. I didn\u2019t make a note of my starting weight and most importantly, I never set any targets or deadlines. I guess I was thinking that I would physically see the weight falling off me.
\nNeedless to say it didn\u2019t fall off and after a couple of months I got disheartened.
\nIs it any wonder? While I was eating Vegan food it was still fatty food. Just because a deep fried samosa has no meat doesn\u2019t make it a healthy option! After a break of 6 months I spoke to a Health Trainer.
\nI was Initially surprised by how knowledgeable he was. He listened to what I wanted to achieve and worked with me to sort of draw a line in the sand. To give me a base point to start forwards from. When I told him I wasn\u2019t much for the gym it was no problem, we would work around that.
\nBut perhaps the biggest change was about diet. It wasn\u2019t a matter of starving myself, but just being careful in the choices I was making. I started keeping a food diary – it worked for me. If I would be embarrassed for it to be seen in the diary then I shouldn\u2019t be eating it! I started exercising – I began with brisk walking on exercise, then I started doing squats in my cell or walking up and down the wing stairs. It didn’t take long until i was starting to get my pace up.
\nAt my first weigh-in on 29th July 2018 my weight had risen up to 108.8Kg (17 stone 2lbs). My first target was to reach 100Kg in two months. I did it with two weeks to spare. I was able to dig out a box from under my bed and fit into jeans that had been tucked away for three years. I then set myself a target to reach 90Kg by the end of the year. On my 12th October weigh in I had gone from 100Kg to 92.9Kg. I hate to sound like one of the TV commercials, but that is a loss of 18kg (2 stone 11lbs) in under three months.
\nBut perhaps the most important thing is that my whole attitude has changed. I am not punishing myself to get to a weight. If I did that I know that I would end up putting the weight right back on again as soon as I went back to my old ways. No, this time I have made permanent changes, I am thinking in the long-term. I will not be obsessed about forever losing weight, instead I know that I will find the balance that works for me. I am happy abort the quantity and type of food I am eating and I am happy about the levels of exercise that I am getting – my weight will find its own level over the next few months.
\nWhat made it all possible was the Health Trainer, even though he is a Spurs fan and must be used to disappointment, he was always on hand to offer me the encouragement and support I needed. But it was up to me to take the first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seeing as we’re still in January, and that healthy kick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[219,247,263],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-interview","tag-life-in-prison","tag-magazine-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jailhousemoose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}