The bigger the snack the bigger the slack. That’s the advice from Lotu Moui Health Coordinator Vaine Russell from the Manurewa Seventh Day Adventist Church. It is a little quip which people will remember during the day – so when they reach for something to eat in between mealtimes they know that the bigger snack they have the more weight and flab they’ll be adding to their body.

Vaine mentors people in her community whose weight is causing them health and family problems. She often works with people weighing more than 200kgs.

Vaine says that it is really important to help people to be disciplined around the way they eat. She helps them take ownership about what they are putting into their bodies, starting with getting them to make a food diary of everything they eat and drink everyday so that people can see what they need to change.

The discipline of eating the right foods at the right time is the crucial step for lifestyle change which Vaine is determined to get through to the people she helps.

To many people Food is Food, it isn’t good food, or bad food. It is just food that we can eat and we can eat now and we don’t have any limits on how much we are eating. I tell lots of the people I work with eating lots of the food you love will kill you and eating the food you don’t like to eat so much will keep you alive and nourish you.

Vaine writes out an individual meal plan for each person and enlists the support of family members and the Church community so that each person on the programme has one main support person that they can contact at any time. Her advice is practical and real. She’s adamant about people increasing their veges and salad, eating less meat and cutting out fizzy drink and moving on to water. She tells people if they buy less food they will have enough money for better food.

She’s a tough teacher and she has been known to do a few surprise home visits to see what people are preparing for lunch!

Vaine is a very compassionate woman, and she sees helping big people in her community as part of her mission. She will take people to GP visits, run weekly swimming sessions, teach people how to cook some basic healthy meals, she’s on the phone sending messages of encouragement and advice everyday. She enjoys seeing her people’s successes and as they learn to take control over their lives she encourages them to support other people’s journey’s and see begins to support the next person in line. “There’s only one of me!”

If you would like to support work such as Vaine’s in your Church Community contact Silao Vaisola-Sefo, Lotu Moui Programme Manager at Counties Manukau District Health Board on Silao.VaisolaSefo   "at" middlemore.co.nz or phone 262 9590 or contact the Health Coordinator at your Church.

Notes

Lotu Moui is the name given to the partnership between the Counties Manukau District Health Board and local Pacific churches. Health information, resources and programmes aimed at supporting healthier lifestyle choices for congregations are delivered through the programme.

The LotuMoui programme current runs through 83 churches and this number will increase to over 120 in the next few months throughout the Counties Manukau region, reaching approximately around 45000 people.

Lotu’ means ‘church’ or ‘prayer’ in most pacific languages, while ‘ Moui’ is Tongan and Niuean term that generally means good health that encompasses mind, body and soul.