James Kon
Abdul Karim bin Haji Muhammad lost 10.1 kilogrammes (kg) to win the male category of Ministry of Health’s (MoH) Fit and Active Lifestyle Club Season 1 (FALCS1) organised by the Health Promotion Centre with cooperation of Jerudong Park Medical Centre.
Noraini binti Haji Yahya won the female category after shedding 12.5kg.
Other winners include Haji Mohd Khairul Aminuddin bin Haji Abu Bakar losing the highest percentage of body weight in male category and Noraini winning in the female category.
Noraini also won the best attendance award alongside Nurizzati binti Md Salleh.
Executive Committee member of Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) Haji Mohammad Noor bin Haji Hamid @ Damit presented the prizes at an event at FABD’s lecture theatre.
Abdul Karim said he joined the programme because he wants to be healthier and also for his family of nine.
He said he found out he was obese in 2010 and had difficulty breathing when weighing 113kg. This prompted him to join a series of weight loss programmes to lose 30kg over 10 years.
Abdul Karim pledged to continue exercising to reach his ideal weight. He said the biggest challenge in the weight loss journey is reducing food intake and frequent exercise which takes a lot of commitment. His advice for those seeking to lose weight is to not give up and exercise often.
Meanwhile, Noraini expressed hope that her achievements will inspire others. She said the FALCS1 programme taught her more about exercise, self-discipline and stress management.
She lost three per cent of her body weight in three weeks and with reduction in food intake and regular exercise, she lost nine per cent by the 12th week.
Echoing Abdul Karim, her advice to people wanting to lose weight is to not give up.
FALCS1 is a six-month weight loss programme for participants from six ministries.
