It Is Never Too Late for a New Beginning Campaign
When a person wants to change something in his or her life, the first thing is usually the appearance. Some of us see that only as a new haircut or dressing style, while others start to pay more attention to their bodies’ necessities. The It Is Never Too Late for a New Beginning Campaign of the Ministry of Physical Education and Sports is aimed at the latter. It is funded by the Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2007 – 2013, co-financed by the European Social Fund. The project will try to change the attitude of the average Bulgarian towards sport activities. Three programs have been developed within the frameworks of the program – for people, suffering from obesity, hypertension, or people that want to reach the perfect weight. Mrs. Rumyana Ilieva, one of the most popular fitness instructors in this country, has compiled the groups of exercises. Those can be performed anywhere, no special devices are needed.
“People usually start to do some sport when they have a health problem,” Rumyana explains. “They realize the need of a change, pressed by the feeling of discomfort. The Bulgarians start to take care of their health when no other option is available, but I think this is a feature of many other nations. Our everyday life is too busy and tense, we are always in a hurry and people tend to postpone anything that is not too urgent. However, when we face health problems, priorities change and the treatment necessary turns into something urgent. People begin to read and get information on the subject. Obesity is usually accompanied by high blood pressure and other problems. Diabetes is a common disease that comes as a result from the excessive amounts of sugar that people eat. The bad thing is that one cannot imagine where sugar is hidden – it can be found even in crab rolls, sauces, mustard and ketchup. That is why people should always read what is written on the package.”
Persons that have health problems or who want to change their appearance are Rumyana’s most regular clients. However, many children are also sensitive to their outlook.
“A great number of such kids get in contact with me, but actually I try to establish connection with their parents, since they are the ones that buy the food and take care of their children’s health. That is why parents should be also trained. Thus they will be able to pass on this knowledge to their children. Parents tend to neglect their own health, but they become more responsible, regarding the one of their kids. Unfortunately their attention is attracted only when a problem appears.”
As far as middle-aged people are concerned, they have their habits that are difficult to be changed. According to a nationwide poll, conducted for the project’s purposes, 55 percent of the active population didn’t do any sports in 2011. Despite that fact 70 percent of people, aged 18-65 think that if they do some sport their quality of life will be a better one.
“If you have got used to bad habits and overweight for 10, 20 or 30 years, you can’t see the great difference over a fortnight, when you start changing things. However, I still encourage people to begin, since some small differences can be observed as early as the first week. The change can be spotted not only in their weight and the way their clothes look like, but their will for life, the level of their overall energy change. The truth is that one doesn’t need long hours of sport activities, but he or she should simply do it on a regular basis. If you enjoy your practice, most likely you do nothing. The results appear with the accelerated pulse and faster breathing. I am really happy, when I see people addicted to working out. They start to appreciate their own efforts and that makes them think more about the things they eat. This way of thinking creates successful persons. My advice to those, who have given up is to start all over again.”
All exercises, developed by Rumyana are uploaded at zastrashen.bg. However, many people have never heard of the campaign, despite the free access:
“The project is a very good one, but unfortunately it is not popular enough. I wonder why there isn’t an ad on the national TV for instance. There are free DVDs with the three programs, along to free access to many sport centers. Many activities have taken place under the project, but no one has ever heard of the programs. In my opinion people should be more informed on the whole initiative,” Rumyana Ilieva says in conclusion.
Text and photo: bnr.bg
(21.02.2012)