Has lockdown resulted in you eating more, sitting down all day and an increase in your drinking? We should not be hard on ourselves because this year has been unpredictable. But now is an important time to act and become fitter and healthier than ever before! Your Health Your Way (YHYW) are here to help that.
Your Health Your Way is a new, free service available to support residents of Nottinghamshire to lose weight, get more active, eat healthier, drink less and quit smoking.
- Weight Management (adults, families, maternity): They take a realistic approach to weight management, no strict/expensive diets or exhausting exercise routines but a positive, practical, and realistic changes to achieve a healthy weight. In each session they go over a nutritional topic, eg how to read food labels and follow this with an exercise session.
- Physical Activity: If you think you currently do less than an hour of activity a week then get support with personalised activity support. You can join one of their groups to increase your fitness levels safely and 1:1 support.
Smoking (12 years+): Your Health Your Way’s Stop Smoking Service helps individuals quit smoking for good. Their dedicated and friendly stop smoking advisors deliver a range of 1:1 and drop-in sessions as well as phone and digital support. They provide a full range of free nicotine replacement therapy / Champix alongside weekly support from stop smoking advisors. - Alcohol: It has been reported that at least 1 in 5 drinkers have been drinking more frequently since lockdown began. They deliver a range of 1:1 and group sessions (for those aged 18+) that support people to reduce their alcohol intake and drink within the recommended guidelines.
Stuart kickstarted his weight loss journey with Your Health Your Way
Stuart visited his GP and asked about weight management support, he was advised to join YHYW and they completed referral on his behalf. “I was contacted two days after seeing the GP and booked onto a telephone appointment. I was a bit nervous as I was not sure what the service involved, but Darren, my Healthy Lifestyle Advisor (HLA) made me feel reassured about the service and confident on embarking on this journey.”
Stuart is doing his intervention over the phone and was sent nutritional resources via email. He loves the portion size module and really likes the fact he was asked to create food diaries and send meal photos to get more specified advice. “Darren has been doing my 1:1 Nutrition – he has been brilliant, explains everything to make it as simple as possible. All information is relatable to my weight loss goal and I feel like I would have struggled if it wasn’t for the regular support. He sends information after every session and is always available for a chat when I need him or if I have any extra questions or queries,” Stuart said.
“Losing the weight has made me feel a lot more confident and being able to be more mobile than I was before. I find reading food labels interesting and now I always looks at things to see what it contains. Seeing these results in nine weeks has motivated me to continue with the healthy lifestyle. I had tried to lose weight in the past, but nothing ever worked for me! With YHYW, I have lost 8lbs and found all the nutrition information well explained so I could fully understand”
Stuart is also now receiving Stop Smoking Support from YHYW and has not had cigarette since July, thanks to his advisor Karen and using nasal spray and patches she prescribed.
All interventions are free and are with the support of friendly and positive advisors, who will offer encouragement and advice. For more information or to make a quick, easy self-referral visit www.yourhealthnotts.co.uk or call 0115 772 2515. Follow their social media for videos, recipes, and tips!