Brent Eastwood 'Sport Thought': John Tuakana's Green Prescription success

Kensington Fitness has played a big part in people changing their lives for the better. Photo / File

After a month of humming and hawing, John Tuakana, 57, took up the offer from his doctor to get Green Prescription (GRx) support again. The doctor had offered GRx because of John's high blood pressure, but John took his time over the next month deciding and just started walking while he was thinking about it. John says he seriously had to make a conscious effort to want to do it.

During the time when John was considering GRx support, his knees and legs started giving him trouble, so he stopped walking. But he knew - "if you don't use it, you lose it", and this helped him to decide to get started with GRx.

A green script is written advice from your doctor, practice nurse, or health professional to become active. It is a support service delivered by Sport Northland and funded by the Northland District Health Board.

Once a patient is referred, contact is then made by one of Sport Northland's Healthy Lifestyle Support team based throughout Northland. Their role is to support individuals with suitable physical activity and healthy eating options. The individual is then followed up through regular follow ups with their support person who tracks their progress and provides support and motivation along the way.

John met with his Sport Northland support person Jo Naera and they explored options that could help him to be active, despite the arthritis in his legs. He decided to try the pools at the Whangarei Aquatic Centre as a starting point, with the hope of eventually moving to the gym.

Things went really well over the next few months, and John was able to move to Kensington Fitness after his time at the Aquatic Centre.

John says of the environment at Kensington Fitness "the people are really friendly, the staff are good, they show you everything, and it has good facilities too." The amazing gym environment and being able to do the things he really loves helps to keep him motivated for the long run. His main goal is to stay fit and healthy now because as he says, "I don't have to worry about losing weight now, I've already knocked it off."

John is delighted with the health benefits he is experiencing from this journey. He doesn't have type 2 diabetes anymore, his heart is mostly problem free, and he is very happy to say, "I used to have to take something like 14 pills, but I'm only on two now." The one thing he is still working on is the high blood pressure, but since starting at the gym, it has come way down.

John has found that he has a new thirst for life. Now when someone asks him 'how are you this morning?' He says, "I'm glad to be alive," because he is now out there living! He elaborates, "If I didn't do it, (get active) I'd probably just be watching TV from the couch, getting old and decrepit and things like that. I don't want to do that."

He is also trying to get some of his friends to get into the gym with him, hoping that they can find some love for it too.

John really believes in the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and his suggestion to anyone who is struggling with the motivation to make changes is, "look for your goal and aim for that, it might be something small like me, just to walk, and start walking to get fit, you know, but you have got to make a start." He adds, "If you don't start you won't do it. Give yourself a go, give yourself a chance. You can go to any gym and any exercise place, but it's up to you, if you don't go, you're not going to do it, simple.