Queen Afua helped heal me a personal story

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New beginnings, change, making our lives better than they have been, these are the types of feelings and ideas many of us turn our attention to at this time of year.

Losing weight, staying clear of junk food and exercising are typical of the types of life-bettering practices we promise ourselves we’ll do. But willpower is a difficult trait to master for a sustained length of time, and so after a few weeks, or even a few days, most of us revert to our previous habits.

But what if making the changes was more pleasurable than our old habits? What if you could eat potato chips (I love Pringles) instead of having to cook dinner? What if you could sleep instead of doing a gym workout?

The problem with us not being able to stick to our good intentions is usually that we prefer the feelings we get from the behaviour we are trying to change, to the behaviour we are seeking to adopt.

Lifestyle coach Tina Christopher is all too familiar with this conundrum. In 1995 at 5ft 4 ins, she weighed more than 200lbs, but remained stumped as how to shed any of it.

“I was always overweight,” she said. “I tried so many diets, but they didn’t work. I didn’t like the food or some other part of the programme.”

Then she happened upon a book by self-proclaimed wellness warrior Queen Afua.

“I read her book — ‘Heal Thyself’. Her story was similar to mine. She had suffered asthma and eczema and so had I,” said Ms Christopher.

“I had these conditions from the time I was very young and by 1995 my eyesight began to deteriorate and I weighed 210lbs. When I read her book I identified with her and felt that what helped her would likely work for me as well,” she added.

Queen Afua advocated a vegetarian diet as well as specific herbal remedies. Ms Christopher said she followed the prescribed remedy. She ordered the suggested products, fasted on juices for a while.

“My eyesight cleared up and I lost 30lbs in the first month. I was on my path to wellness and I didn't have to do anything I didn’t like,” said Ms Christopher. “I could eat organic raw chocolate for my breakfast.”

And because she enjoyed her weight loss diet more than what she had been eating, Ms Christopher said the progress she made was sustained.

After a few years her life became busier, she said, and she began to give in to faster ways of getting food.

“Life happens. I became so busy making it in the working world, that I fell off my path of wellness.”

In the autumn she regained the weight she’d lost plus more. She developed anaemia, gallstones, endometriosis and had to watch her cholesterol levels.

“I became so sick,” she said. “I had to re-evaluate my life and determine what changes I needed to reclaim my health.

“I am grateful to Queen Afua because her programme set a foundation I could go back to,” she said. “It reminded me that going against the grain causes all kinds of health problems — emotional, mental and physical issues arise.”

Ms Christopher said she’s stopped reaching for the nearest food to fill her hunger and now ensures that it’s nutritious. Out of work for over a year she said she knows first hand the challenges of staying on the healthy path on a limited budget but she said it has gotten easier.

“My focus is on good solid food. I have been creative. I am not stressed. I am not grabbing anything. My spirit is at ease. I am cooking at home. Cooking breakfast lunch and dinner instead of swiping my card at the quickest place to have dinner because I was too tired to cook,” she said.

“It's all balanced out. I’ve removed my thinking about what a meal looks like. Gingerbread and cheese for lunch, oatmeal and cinnamon for breakfast and I’ve found it’s often and less expensive than the convenience food,” she added.

Now back on her wellness path Ms Christopher said she feels compelled to share what she’s learned with the Bermuda public.

She is bringing Queen Afua to the Island for health a wellness seminar on Friday, January 18, at The New Testament Church of God (see Healer Queen Afua to Lecture in Bermuda). Queen Afua will also be available for one-on-one consultations on Saturday, January 19.

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