Ten years of Wellbeing for Life: Tony’s improved resilience through an ‘eye-opening’ experience with Eatwise

We recently reconnected with 43-year-old Tony Teasdale who completed the 12-session Eatwise programme with our Wellbeing for Life (WBFL) service ten years ago.

At the time, Tony was attending sessions at the Ferryhill Ladder Centre with Talking Changes who referred him to Shaun Gooch – Wellbeing for Life Practitioner, now Coordinator.

Tony’s goal was to improve his eating habits. He was struggling with back pain, and he wanted to lose weight and maintain this to reduce the strain. When the pair got together, they set realistic goals: there wasn’t pressure on set weight loss targets, it was about making long-term behavioural changes.

Before entering the Eatwise programme all those years ago, Tony didn’t know how to use food labels to make better choices when shopping. He said of Eatwise: “It was very informative. It was just, like, eye-opening; it changed the way I looked at what I was eating.” Eatwise is a re-education. Shaun used visual aids and demonstrations throughout the 12 sessions so it would be easier for Tony to make better decisions in the future.

As the sessions progressed, Tony and Shaun worked together to put plans in place that worked to support Tony to continue changing his habits. Strategies that Tony still uses to this day.

Tony (left) and Shaun (right)

One thing that Tony had taken on board was the idea of balance and moderation that runs throughout Eatwise. He loves bread and he used to eat a lot of it, admitting to going through “three loaves of bread in one day.” He has cut down on eating bread, but he also knows if he does overtreat himself with this, how to get ‘back on the wagon’. Shaun commented: “Sometimes you do fall off the wagon, sometimes you do overtreat yourself, but at least you know how to get back on track.”

Ten years later, Tony still remembers the tools he learned. He learned about the traffic light system, which was something simple but extremely helpful. Tony said: “Yeah, I’d seen them on there, but until they explained what they were, I was just like, I wanted a lasagne. But then you see the traffic lights, and you go that one’s a little bit better than that one. I’ll go for that one.”

Tony also remembers the activities the two worked on to help his bad back; certain exercises to strengthen muscles to take more weight and pressure. He learned and still uses these breathing exercises to this day. Tony’s bad back was the result a few motorcycle accidents and his job doing manual work in a factory. The work with Shaun improved his back pain, although he still does have flare-ups.

WBFL uses a personalised approach that connects different aspects of health and wellbeing. Speaking of Tony finishing the programme, Shaun said: “The holistic approach we used with Tony worked really well because he did lose some weight.”

“Tony’s resilience was much improved by the end of the course,” said Shaun.

Tony replied: “Without meeting Shaun, I would have probably still been where I was, and not very well.”

They both still bump into each other every now and then, and Shaun is “buzzing” to see how “amazing” Tony is doing. As Shaun puts it, Tony was just “a young man who needed a little bit of help and guidance.”

Wellbeing for Life is part of Adult Wellbeing Services and is delivered in partnership by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) and the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP).