When is the “right” time to start on that weight loss and fitness journey? With the New Year upon us, is this your time? From time to time I’ve tried most of the “Secrets” of weight loss and fitness - take this tablet! Have this meal replacement powder! Buy this machine!! Well, over the years I’ve done just about all of them – and that machine sat in the corner of my lounge room for ages and I never lost any weight!!

I’ve been overweight most of my life. From an early age, I was always on the large size but my weight was kept in check to an extent by being heavily involved in many sports; swimming, squash, cricket, soccer and rugby league to name a few. When I became disabled it was obviously a huge change to my previous sporting endeavours. My weight ballooned to the heaviest I have ever been brought on by both inactivity and depression.

Over the years I’ve made some attempts at exercising by walking (see my previous blog “Discovering Your Neighbourhood”) and swimming, but never really put in a sustained effort. Even competing in wheelchair basketball which I love hasn’t had a big effect on my weight.

November last year was a major catalyst for change for me. I was reaching a milestone age on the 3rd and fortuitously I noted a fundraiser online – Stride4Stroke, a Stroke Foundation initiative raising funds via donations and completing “moving minutes”; by exercising in some way or another. Stroke has been at the forefront of my mind for many years; due to a medical condition, I am at a higher than normal risk of stroke, my father passed away from a stroke in 1995 and a close relative suffered a stroke in the middle of last year. To hear the words “she’s had a stroke” over the phone invoked so many fears in me – What was the effect on her body and how badly was she affected? Would she recover at all? Fortunately, she has had nearly a full recovery thanks to the swift actions of her partner in recognising the seriousness of her symptoms.

One statistic that astonished me is that EVERY 11 MINUTES someone in Australia has a stroke! Tragically 300 to 500 children and babies are diagnosed with strokes every year.

So with these things in mind, I decided that now was the time for me to start on my fitness and weight loss journey. I have changed my diet considerably; cutting down on the amount I eat; eating more fruit and vegetables and cutting right back on a lot of processed foods. As I am looking at this as a permanent lifestyle change, I am not averse to having the occasional treat such as a custard tart (which I will admit a slight addiction to). I have also put in a greater effort with my exercise regime. My previous walking endeavours saw me walking at a very slow pace over 700 metres a day. This distance and speed was about as much as I thought I could manage.

With the decision to commence my lifestyle changes and the support of Stride4Stroke, I started off walking the shorter distance I had been doing and gradually, over a couple of weeks, I increased it. Seeing a positive effect on the scales and feeling better in myself helped enormously. I ended up walking 34 kilometres for the month of November with my usual distance being 2.2 kilometres a day. I also raised $530 for the Stroke Foundation. As well, I have made a new friend from Stride4Stroke and we compare our efforts on a weekly basis which helps keep us both motivated to continue our efforts.
About two thirds the way through my walk I take time to rest and recharge on what I describe as my meditation bench; concentrating on my breathing whilst relaxing the painful areas of my body. This few minutes really is a highlight of my mornings.

One of the biggest motivational factors to the new me has been of a morning, seeing the scales smile a bit instead of thinking to themselves “One at a time please”. To date I have lost about 14 kilograms with a lot more to go but I’m very happy with my efforts to date. Apart from feeling so much better in myself, I have so much more energy and have completed many projects around home that I have previously been neglected.

But don’t think its all “sunshine and lollypops” for me; there are mornings when I could roll back over and grab another hours sleep. With my myriad of disabilities, my excuses or reasons can be valid. What works for me is not giving much thought about what I am doing, just going through the process of getting ready. If I allow my mind to think too much about it, I can come up with a thousand different reasons not to go on my walk.

Over the years, I have thought about these positive changes in my life but the time never seemed to be right. In hindsight, I could have let these catalysts pass me by thinking yes - I really should make changes or I could have done something about it and acted on my instincts as I have done and made the start.

In conclusion, there will always be reasons and excuses I could make as to why it wasn’t the ideal time to commence positive changes in my life. Are you the same as me and is now, I mean right now, the right time for you to make positive changes?

About the author:

Bill is a husband, father and grandfather who lives in the central Queensland town of Maryborough. Bill is an ambulant wheelchair user following two failed surgeries and has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He is very passionate about disability rights and social justice and was selected by Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) to take part in the Emerging Leaders Program for 2024. Bill plays wheelchair basketball which he loves and serves on the committee of the club as Vice President. You can find Bill on X/Twitter @bilfulaAU, on bluesky as bil.bsky.social, and on Facebook as Bill Fuller