Springtime Renewal and Healthful Habits

For me, during spring, that's when I tidy up my front garden and I tend to see if, based on the weather, whether I start bringing in new plants or I wait a little while to make sure that the frost and things are ended before I go and get my new plants and I plant them in my pots and hanging baskets and try to tidy up as well like weekly cleaning yes because my husband did have asthma so cleaning was quite important on a regular basis. And you said that schedule helped you in just your whole health and outlook? Yes and I also I walk a lot. I walk a lot and sometimes I will purposefully go to the shops and will meet certain things which I don't need that very day and then the following day I'll go back to the shop and go and get those things. Okay perfect. Are there resolutions you've made with your health care that have worked for you in the past? I won't say resolutions but I consciously try to eat healthily by and this started when I went on some courses with my husband he had his first stroke in 2011 so we had a a rehabilitation course and it was ten week course and each week was a different topic like pharmacy, exercising, diet and things like that so I learned a lot through that and so I decided well I might as well apply it so it became a natural thing for me to do yes to support my husband and then do it for myself as well. Okay brilliant. What would you say to others in your community with diabetes or other health conditions to motivate them to take on new resolutions or motivations and challenges and how to make their them a success? Well I tend to use my husband a lot as an excuse that as I tell people especially people who knew both of us before he died that, look, if David can do it, you two can do it. So why don't you try this method? And if it doesn't work for you, then try this. Because this is how we do it. We don't just go strictly by one way of doing things. But we always try to evaluate and see if it is OK. Then we stick with it. If it is not, then we improve it. Yes, brilliant. Now, if I want to look at a piece of paper, it says, considering the eight behaviors and 12 characteristics, is there one that particularly speaks to you? And which one is it? And what are you talking, what are you doing about it? Owning my own health, for example. I said earlier I have completely changed the way I eat and what I eat how I eat and like I said I'm also doing the intermittent fasting I haven't eaten anything since last night except for an apple during the lunch break today and I will be having my dinner when I go home so I use that and also I now exercise a a lot more at home. I've got an equipment which is like half a bicycle. I'm sure you know that. You put it on the floor and you paddle or if you want to strengthen your arms you put it on the dining table and instead of your feet you use your hands. Yes, so my husband used to use that and now I use that. And in addition, like I said earlier, I walk as well, so I try to do what will make me not to go to the surgery. In fact I haven't seen my doctor for more than a year now. Yes. Very good, that's good. May that continue. What do you feel a health shared or online community can do to contribute to you during preparation for the spring months? Well I think like with this group for example, we meet via Zoom on Saturday mornings and at that meeting we talk about different things concerning diabetes as well as IT issues. So if somebody is not that good with say the computer for example, somebody else who is a little bit more advanced then ask would you like me to help you and then we support each other that way.