Simon Thomas - Health and Wellness Coach.

how much I wanted to see them grow up into the wonderful human beings they are now becoming. I needed to look after my health and take more of an interest in it. My Diabetes diagnoses was the first wake-up call. I needed to watch my diet and I needed to exercise. Two horrible words in the English Language - DIET - EXERCISE. Well let me give you a small tip ....... it's not all that bad. Watching my diet didn't mean dieting - I just needed to watch what I put into my body. Exercise ...... No Thanks. I'm not a gym ju**ie and pushing my body at my age didn't sound to great either. I soon realised that exercise meant MOVING. I started to walk every day. 45 minutes walking as a minimum. I put myself first and made time to walk each day. I would be no use to my family or anyone for that matter if I didn't look after myself. With help from a dietician specialising in diabetes willing me to do these two things I controlled my diabetes. Funny at the time I didn't realise but the dietician was more of a coach than a dietician. She kept me on track making sure I was accountable doing what I needed to do. Since then I have become more and more active extending my exercise from walking to Cycling and Training with a bunch of dad's from school. In 2007 this "Diet and Exercise" very likely saved my life. Looking after myself and caring enough about me gave me the strength to fight the fight of my life. I contracted Strep A and the downward spiral was fast. Within a matter of days you go from looking forward to Christmas with your kids to laying in the ICU ward fighting for your life. To this day the doctors are unsure why I survived but they have conceded that the strength of my health helped me through. Since my time in ICU I have raised in excess of $130,000 for my chosen charity by riding a push bike. At 50 years of age I enjoy doing the CRAZY sometimes. I have ridden from Sydney to Melbourne via the Snowy Mountains, ridden from Brisbane to Mission Beach in 10 days, ridden from Sydney to Hobart and Adelaide to Canberra in 10 days. I still have many rides in me and they are all in the name of helping others. We all have a story to tell and we are all still writing that story. The one thing that I do know is that my passion to help others has grown over the years and whether it be on a bike or helping someone reach their health goals I am 100% committed to the cause. Your health is the most valuable asset you will ever have and you are the one person that has control over it.