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Enjoying a day of pampering in Grove Health Spa & Wellness Centre for a hen do were Catherine Kearney, bride-to-be Olive O’Kelly, her sister Grace Dowling and Niamh O’Leary, who all travelled to Shanballymore from Limerick. Photo: Sandra Quinn

Being overweight, knowing that diabetes could be waiting down the line or dealing with type 2 diabetes already can make life very trying, but at the Grove Health Spa and Wellness Centre in Shanballymore, they are starting a programme which aims to give people the tools to help themselves to combat these problems.

Being run by the spa and wellness centre in conjunction with Professor Ivan Perry from UCC, nutritionist Fiona Geaney, therapist Jackie O'Mahony, mentalist Liam Sheehan and personal trainers and fitness experts, the programme will be very much evidence based.

Jacqueline O'Farrell of Grove Health Spa and Wellness Centre explained that the programme is a way for them as a local business to make a real difference to people's lives and it also a way to put the research from UCC into practice.

"The programme will start with three full days from April 11-13, which will give the participants a wonderful kickstart while they are here," she explained.

Those interested in the programme, which runs for 12 weeks, have also been invited to an information evening tonight (Thursday, March 13) at 7.30pm, but anyone who misses this oportunity and wants to find out more is invited to contact Jacqueline who reminded us that places are limited to just 15.

Jackie O'Mahony, a therapist who will be working with the participants on holistic treatments, positive thinking and mindfulness, explained that the programme is about empowering people to help themselves by using the expertise and knowledge of the full team involved in delivering the programme.

"If you're not in the right place, you will not succeed," she said, adding that sometimes when people make New Year's resolutions, they set the bar too high and when they fail, they give up entirely, whereas with this, they will be in control of how and what they want to change in their lifestyle.

"This is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change - people need to make a commitment to it, a promise that they deserve to be healthy and off their medication.

"The person who is going to achieve results is not those on the team, it's the person themselves, nobody can do it but them," Jackie added.

She acknowledged that people will have bad days and days when they don't feel like sticking to the new regime, but it is about overcoming those stumbling blocks and getting back on track.

"Every day, people will have a bag of tools that will help them," the therapist explained.

Talking about people's relationships with food, Jackie said that people often eat without ever being nourished, so there will also be a focus on introducing foods that will make people feel better, instead of sluggish or weighed down.

Jacqueline added that the programme will be tailored to meet the individual needs of the participants and it can be adjusted and changed as it progresses, to make sure that the participants are getting the most from it.

She told The Avondhu that Fiona Geaney from UCC is confident that they will get results from this and Jacqueline said that she thinks it will make a significant change to people's weight. "This could help to reduce and, in many cases, reverse diabetes, leading to a case where some participants may be able to gradually come off medication."

The proof of the programme and how it works will be available very soon as the centre will have the results to publish by July. It is hoped that by changing the way people eat and exercise and, combining this with their attitude towards the changes they are making, they will be seeing some significant results.

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