Since May 15th Jacqueline Godwin has been on a personal and public
mission to get healthy, which means losing weight and getting her high blood
pressure and diabetes in check. You’ve seen her struggle with her workouts,
test her patience with the scale and try to learn how to eat right. It’s
a three month challenge and so she’s only one month from completion. Tonight,
we’ll find out if she’s on target to succeed.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
After 8 weeks of regimented workouts in the gym, my instructor Robert Mariano
decided it was time to break away from my regular programme of exercise and
incorporate other kinds of activities that are just as healthy but more adventurous.
And that meant taking to the water for an unconventional exercise: rowing.
I have never paddled before and I do not feel comfortable in small water vessels
like the canoe and so it was a bit unnerving trying to keep my balance not even
realizing that what I was also doing was working the abdomen, arms, back and
legs.
Robert Mariano, Gym Instructor
“It builds your upper body a lot, like abs, upper arms strength, your
chest - that is what the paddling does a lot so you can develop a lot more muscle
and you won’t have to strain yourself by lifting heavy weight. It is a
very rapid exercise that if you do it for a two or one hour a day, you will
be surprised to know how much it will do for you in two weeks time.”
It is normal to feel bored and tired on a routine exercise programme so complementing
it with outdoor activity does keep the fitness buff motivated. In other words
there is no excuse for you not to exercise.
Robert Mariano,
“You have all different types of exercises. Sometimes even out in
your yard is a exercise so it is not like you can’t do an exercise for the week to keep you healthy. You always have something to do.”
As much as I enjoyed paddling in one of Vista del Mar’s canals it was
now time to make it to shore and get on the road. The only cycling I have done
was spinning inside the Health Maxx Gym. So after putting on my helmet and being
briefed on safety tips I was off to a comfortable start. I have come quite a 
long way on my journey to good health and fitness but it has been quite a challenge.
In the past two months we have seen how the exercise and diet have helped to
control my glucose levels and normalize my blood pressure but knowing that I
have been pushing myself harder than usual by working out six days a week for
past two weeks is suspect it would have an impact on my readings…and it
did.
My blood pressure was one ten over ninety slightly high but still within the
normal range. The same however cannot be said for my blood sugar level. After
battling with high numbers for over a decade I now have to deal with low numbers.
Why? Well I am also learning that a diabetic on any workout programme must daily
monitor and learn to adjust the amount of medication administered to the level
of exercise done. If not you can have a low reading like I did of 53.
Kira Nu’man, Nurse - Integral Family Health Centre
“You have to regulate, you have to regulate and check often that it
doesn’t go too low. If you’re feeling any dizziness or any nauseating
feeling, you have to take at least one mint sweet or if some sugar and water
so you don’t have that bad feeling.”
Karen Rosito, Nutritionist/Dietician
“It was at 53 so we know now that like I said I am not a doctor but
she will definitely have to come off the insulin because it is lowering the
blood sugar too much because she has gotten into her exercise routine s the
sugar cannot go back to where it was normal 90 to 100 because of the insulin.
So basically Jackie will have to see a doctor to put her on something milder
to stabilize the blood sugar.”
My decision to push myself even harder did help to achieve my ideal weight 
of one hundred and forty eight pounds. That means I now have zero fat to lose.
I also lost another inch from around the chest and two inches from the waist.
Karen Rosito,
“Before the program I noticed a little bit of cellulite. All women
know that cellulite is the worst thing you could possibly have on your legs
because they are unsightly in shorts especially so she’s lost all her
cellulite and now it is time to tone.”
But as I now work towards muscle gain, the good news is I have not lost any
muscle mass.
Karen Rosito,
“Robert and I promised Jackie that in two to four weeks she will gain
approximately an inch and a half to two inches on her legs doing squats and
lunges with weights.”
The best news of all is that I have now worked myself to the point that I can
now return to a normal but moderate diet.
Karen Rosito,
“Now the minute Jackie stops her exercising maybe five days a week
and she drops it to maybe three she will stabilize and she won’t gain
weight. If she chooses not to exercise, she will definitely start gaining weight
again and the blood sugar will start going up. She can have her corn tortillas,
her ducunu, her rice and beans, she just needs to eat well portioned amounts.”
The goal now is to maintain my weight but gain more leg muscle. The test will
be whether I can do this with minimal supervision as my three month challenge
is coming to an end. I have achieved what I set out to do: lost my required
weight and controlled my diabetes and hypertension.
My family has supported me throughout this challenge but the one person I wish
was here to see my progress is my dad. He was always concerned about my diabetes
but he died on august eighteenth, 2007 – one year before I brought it
under control. So the last segment of battle of the bulge will be aired on the
first anniversary of his death and in his memory. Until then think healthy.
So tune in for the last instalment in a month’s time.
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