Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

Weight Loss

Society is now becoming so health conscious, it's not funny. You see almost everyone holding a little bottle of water and taking walks. Junk food has been banned from schools and soon junk food advertising is going to be banned. Yet, it’s a fact that obesity and non-communicable diseases are still on the rise.



I had to suppress a laugh the other days when I saw two young ladies in training outfit walking along Sukanaivalu Road in Waiyavi. To me they looked like they were going for a photo shoot  for a sports wear company. They could have outshone a super model. As I walked pass them,  I am a fast walker, I thought I had just passed a perfume factory. I smiled at them, said hello and walked on. I wish the ladies well. I just hope they pick up speed so their walk could be of some use.

But back to health and fitness. Many people who think they are overweight tend to go on a training regime that renders them looking like a yo-yo. I have a friend who I worked with a few years ago. She left for Australia  with her husband and children for a holiday. When she came back after three months she had lost a few inches of her waist and looked trim. All the other ladies we worked with were envious of her new look. But she soon started to put on a little weight and then miraculously lost it again.

We asked her what her was secret. She smiled and said that when she was in Australia she visited a friend who had a bathroom scale and a picture of herself when she was slim. On her scale she had put a little mark at 65 kg and a note not to pass it. Each day she went to bathe she would weigh herself and look at her photo. She did not diet; she just had the scale tell her she was putting on weight.

Wow, was all I could say. Today she is still slim and she said she has saved some money from all the junk food she used to buy and bought a new scale and given the old one to a friend who is now on the same regime. Isn’t that wonderful.

I have a thought. How about putting bathroom scales in all work places near the time clock or near where people sign in. In the morning and every day you weigh yourself and if you are a little overweight tell the scale, “I’m goon lose weight, you just wait and see.” And the company or government department could have a reward for all those who managed to lose weight with the report passed onto the Ministry of Health for a commendation certificate. Sometimes we have to tap into a person's ego to be able to get to them.