November Member of the Month - Pat McAuliffe

Posted 02 November 2009

Meet our member of the month for November, Pat McAuliffe, 54 from Wolverhampton...

How did you originally find out about Fitbug?
I read about it in a local magazine, 'One City News', at the doctors. The article mentioned that your GP could refer you for a free 12 week weight management programme, run by the local Primary Care Trust in Wolverhampton. Fitbug was one of the programmes on offer.

So was weight loss your main motivation for joining?
Being diabetic and on insulin had always made it harder to lose weight, but thanks to a change in medication and healthy eating, I'd already lost two and a half stone by the time I joined Fitbug in July.

I felt I'd stopped losing though, and I thought the programme might give me a spurt, help me along. I'd plateaued and I wanted to try something different as a kick start, and I'm pleased to say I lost another stone during the initial 12 week Fitbug programme.

How have you found the scheme so far?
From the beginning I was shocked at how many steps I did each day. On my base week, where you wear the bug but don't do anything different, I found I was doing 10,000 steps a day anyway, just in the course of the day.

However, I wasn't doing any aerobic steps, so my first target was to fit in 1000 aerobic steps. I started doing a brisk ten minute walk after work, then it was 15 minutes, then 20. It went from there.

I tend to walk the same route along the well-lit main road because I'm very conscious about safety. The same walk used to take me 49 minutes and I now do it in 39 minutes. I'm ten minutes quicker, so I must be fitter.

Have you found it easy to stick to?
I've had a few blips. Nine weeks in I had a transient ischaemic attack, (TIA), like a mini stroke, so for a week or I didn't do many steps. I'd been on 13,700 steps a day and my target was 6,800 aerobic steps. But I went back to just a few thousand for ten days or so and I had to then start and build myself up again. I still did the most steps overall in my weight management group though.

Did you think going through the programme as part of a group helped you at all?
Well we'd all been referred to the same 12 week Fitbug programme at the same time, so as well as the walking we looked at different foods, what was in them, the barriers to exercise, the triggers, why we ate certain foods...the group was lovely; very supportive of one another.

How has life changed since joining Fitbug?
It's lifted my mood a lot. Walking clears my head and gives me chance to think. If I don't go out for a walk I don't feel as happy. I'm sleeping better and I feel a lot more energetic. Even on nights when I get in feeling really tired, it's shoes on and I’m off!

Do you do any other exercise aside from the walking?
I've been going to aqua aerobics two, three times a week as well as the walking. If you go for a one hour session it's the equivalent of 6,800 steps and it takes a bit of strain off your joints.

It's mainly walking though. I've just gone back to something I used to do, volunteering to deliver leaflets for the local MP and the council. It means I walk with a purpose.

I had a man stop to talk to me with his dog the other day while I was out and I kept marching on the spot the whole time we were chatting. I did explain I was on a walking programme so he didn't think I was odd!

I think the programme is fantastic. It's better than going to a slimming club because walking doesn't cost you anything except your time.

Have your friends and family noticed a change in you? Oh yes, everyone. My daughter, Katie has even got herself a bug and she's been doing it as well. We go to aqua aerobics together as well and we're starting Salsasize on Wednesday.

Do you use the website much? I've downloaded lots of different recipes and tried them out. I do read a lot and see what people are doing on the forums. I've played around with most of it really.

I also registered for the Amsterdam challenge but I then lost my bug so I did lose some steps! But I’ve got another one now, and am back on track.

Any tips for other members? Get some proper walking shoes! I was walking in unsuitable shoes and I was left with an arch fracture in the top of my foot. I've got some proper walking shoes now and they’re much better.

Also, make sure you do some planning. I travel to Oxford a lot for work meetings and I used to jump on the bus to and from the station and the office. Now I make sure I can carry my bag. I put everything in a back pack and walk the 15 minutes each way.

I've had some funny experiences when travelling for work where I've walked 20, 25 minutes around a car park just to get my steps in! Where there’s a will there's a way.

As this month's star member Pat receives a fantastic Molton Brown gift set. If you'd like to feature as our member of the month - or if you know someone that deserves to -

send us your story!