BEEP Case Study
Jacqueline Tedder aged 67 and Philip Tedder aged 75 from Cross Hills have seen tremendous results since joining the BEEP Programme.
Philip unfortunately had a cancer diagnosis about 18 months ago, and the treatment that followed left him very tired and unable to do much physically. He also found comfort eating played a big part and they both put on quite a lot of weight. Then a routine blood test showed that Philip was pre-diabetic and it spurred them into action.
Jacqueline said: “We had fought the cancer and now this! But a lovely nurse at our GP surgery helped us to get a referral to the BEEP programme.
“We knew we had to do something, we had always been active, walking being a favourite of ours. Winter isn’t the best time to be outside, so we weren’t sure what to do. We had never been to a gym before and both felt really unsure about it. But Ibrahim from the BEEP team explained that there would be loads of help once we were there.
“The first visit was a real eye opener, the gym wasn’t full of glamorous girls in Lycra or body building men, as we had thought, it was people just like us, a little overweight and extremely unfit!”
Jacqueline and Philip received lots of encouragement from the whole team and also the other people at the gym and soon found that things started to change quickly. Up to now, Philip has lost more than 2 stones and Jacqueline isn’t far behind him losing almost 2 stones too, but they both say that the physical differences are the most amazing result.
Jacqueline said: Little things like getting up from the floor, walking up stairs and putting our socks on is now so easy, I know it sounds silly, but I couldn’t put my shoes and socks on before without sitting down!
“Every day we found we could do a little more so we couldn’t wait to get back to the gym! We soon went from just one visit to the gym each week to visiting four or five times a week and every single time we were given the same warm welcome and all the time we needed.
“If like us, you think that you’re too old to start something new, or you’ll be the most unfit person there, or that people there will laugh at you, it’s really not the case. Whatever is stopping you joining, we would both say, take a deep breath and give it ago. The encouragement you will receive and the benefits to how you feel are worth it we promise. You will feel so much better, move easier and also sleep better too.
“Philip and I never thought we would go to a gym, to be honest we never thought we would need to…but getting older takes you by surprise. You suddenly realise you can’t do all of the things you used to. I think we both thought that was it, we just wouldn’t be able to do things ever again. How wrong we were! The BEEP programme has given us our energy and our lives back, truly we have been inspired by the BEEP team and seeing the others there”.
If you would like to know more about BEEP and what it can do for you, please click here
Speak to your doctor, nurse or health care practitioner to ask about a referral. You just need to live in Bradford district, be 16 years or older, be currently inactive and have a long term medical or mental health condition and/or a BMI above 25.
