Sisters Keep Focused in Whanau Weight Loss Contest
Media Release
From Mana Whenua i Tamaki Makaurau
18
November 2009
Sisters maintain focus as Whanau
Weight-loss Challenge draws to a close
Sisters Florence
and Geranium Hoeta of Waiuku seem to spend more time at the
gym than they do at home these days.
That’s because
they are competing in the 12 Week Whanau Weight-loss
Challenge –a unique event initiated by Mana Whenua i
Tamaki Makaurau, which is a consortium of iwi in South
Auckland. Almost 500 Maori are participating in the
competition, made up of 40 teams of between ten and 12
members. The competition started in August and will finish
at the end of November, with teams competing for cash prizes
of $21,000.
“I go to the gym at 6.00am to do an
hour’s cardio, then go back after lunch for another hour.
I also go to the gym after dinner. I’ve stopped doing
weights, because it’s getting near the end of the
competition and I want to focus on weight loss not
toning,” says Florence Hoeta.
Sister Geranium is the
mother of seven children, and has had a history of
diabetes.
“I know about the complications of
diabetes because I dialised my mother at home for five
years. Then my doctor told me I had to lose weight. He
explained that when you’re big you’re vulnerable to
everything,” says Geranium.
At her biggest Geranium
weighed 125kgs and started the 12 Week Whanau Weight Loss
Challenge at 78.8kgs. When the competition finishes in a
couple of weeks, she hopes to weigh in at 65 kgs. Over the
eight weeks of the competition Florence has gone from
159.8kgs to 135kgs.
“I must admit, it has been a
struggle,” Florence says. “It comes to a point where
there are certain places I can’t go because of the food,
if there’s too much hangi for example.”
Hard as
it’s been Florence is keen to keep going and even join the
next Challenge which starts next April.
“It’s
about life and death. If I’d kept going the way I was I
may not be here today. I was on the borderline of so many
diseases it wasn’t funny.”
The two sisters are
determined to maintain their weight losses after the
challenge is finished and say that the battle is won when
you have the right attitude.
“You’ve got to stay
positive but at the end of the day you have to want to
maintain it.” Florence says.
Details for the end of
competition celebration are as
follows
6.00-9.00pm
Monday 30 November
Telstra Clear
Event Centre
770-834 Great South Rd
Manukau
City
All media welcome
Questions and
answers
What’s different about this weight-loss
challenge?
This is a Maori initiative and the first of
its kind in the country. Project Manager Tahuna Minhinnick
believes that if we are serious about getting Maori to lose
weight we have to get the whole whanau involved – and
change the behaviour of the whole whanau.
That way
individual whanau members are supported to lose weight and
can maintain good nutrition and exercise. Whanau teams are
self selected and cover the Franklin District, Manukau City
and Auckland City. Many participants has pre-existing
medical conditions, talked about being addicted to eating,
and said that poor diet and eating habits were normalised in
whanau settings.
Weekly incentives are offered for
teams to upload video clips at http://http://www.orapaho.co.nz
How
many people are involved?
Tahuna Minhinnick expected
around 60 people to enter the competition but the challenge
very quickly swelled to 40 teams of 10-12 members. So
that’s almost 500 Maori competing in the
challenge.
How does the competition work?
Each team
takes responsibility for developing their own weight-loss
plan which is a combination of diet and exercise. The team
with the biggest collective weight loss wins.
What
prizes are at stake?
There is a total of $21,000 in cash
prizes up for grabs, spread across the following
categories:
* Most weight loss (whanau)
* Most weight
loss (individual)
* Kura kaupapa/kohanga reo
challenge
* Funniest video clip
* Most innovative
whanau activity
* Courageous video clip
* Most
innovative whanau meal
* Best edited video
How is
the competition going so far?
Teams are losing an
impressive amount of weight, and the challenge is impacting
on whanau outside the competition too. Attitudes and
behaviours around food are changing. Whole communities are
being mobilized.
What is the future of the
competition?
Mana Whenua i Tamaki Makaurau will run
another challenge next year. They believe the challenge is a
great example of Whanau Ora in action and provides a good
template for Maori in other areas of the country.
ENDS