“This class has been a great blessing for me,” she says. “It’s helped me to put health and wellbeing first for me and my family, and it’s shown me just how much our Heavenly Father loves us.”
By Lillian Arp
When the Eat Healthy and Be Active programme was offered at a nearby stake, Sister Sinafoailuga Rifat Taatiti Leiataua was already concerned about health. She and some friends from her Apia Samoa Pesega 6th Ward decided to sign up – to see if this class could help them make important lifestyle changes.
“I wanted to learn more about healthy food and to lose weight,” Sinafoailuga says, “and I also wanted to set a good example for my husband and family.”
The Eat Healthy and Be Active course (EHBA) was created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in response to a growing problem with diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in the Pacific. The course is based on medical science around health and nutrition, as well as the Church’s guidelines for physical and spiritual wellbeing, which is known as the Word of Wisdom. It is delivered through our network of Self-Reliance programmes and has been created specifically for members in the Pacific Area.
For 12 weeks, Sinafoailuga’s EHBA class had formal lessons once a week, and three times each week they met for exercise sessions. They favoured a combination of Zumba and Tabata – a high intensity interval training workout. Sinafoailuga loved it so much that she showed up to every exercise session and would often stay for extra workouts.
But that’s not all. This EHBA group issued challenges to each other throughout their programme. For example, one challenge was to eat no meat for 6 weeks. Others included drinking lemon and ginger water every morning, eating only one serving at each meal, and eating a big breakfast and a small dinner. Sinafoailuga has been especially committed to drinking water and reducing her intake of meat.
“I learned how to make healthy eating part of my lifestyle,” she says. “I manage to eat healthy and drink a lot of water – no more fizzy drinks – and also when I cook dinner for my family, I always have to add vegetables because I want my family to eat the same [healthy] food I eat.”
Something new that Sinafoailuga learned from this class was how to manage stress. A healthy diet plus a lot of exercise definitely helps, but she also learned that in stressful situations, she can just, “sit down and think twice [about things]. Also, pray to God for help.”
Sinafoailuga successfully finished her Eat Healthy and Be Active class at the end of 2020, and she is still reaping the benefits of everything she has learned.
“Now I can fit [into] most of my clothes and also I can do my chores for the whole day,” she says. “But before, I couldn’t even finish one or two chores a day, because I was too lazy to walk and even bending down was difficult.”
She is still working with her family – her husband, her mother and two nephews – encouraging them follow her example of a healthier and more active lifestyle. She hopes everyone who has the opportunity will sign up for the Eat Healthy and Be Active programme.
“This class has been a great blessing for me,” she says. “It’s helped me to put health and wellbeing first for me and my family, and it’s shown me just how much our Heavenly Father loves us.”