For Alan Nicholson, our Healthy You programme has transformed his life.

Alan is one of the participants who has benefited from the lifestyle and wellbeing scheme that is continuing to improve lives across North Yorkshire.

The retiree signed up to the Healthy You scheme in April last year after reaching a point where he felt low in energy and was struggling with both his mental and physical wellbeing.

Delivered by our sport and active wellbeing service, Active North Yorkshire, the free Healthy You programme helps individuals and families to make sustainable, positive changes through enjoyable physical activity, behaviour-change skills and personalised wellbeing support.

After needing to use the lift to reach the gym on his first visit to Active North Yorkshire Selby, 69-year-old Alan has since embarked on an incredible fitness journey – losing more than five stone – which has helped him overcome a series of physical and mental health challenges.

Having completed his own tailored Healthy You programme, Alan is now looking forward to a healthier future – and is encouraging others across North Yorkshire to consider signing up.

“I was struggling with my mental health but also physically,” Alan said. “I was well overweight so needed to change my life and my doctor recommended that I should look into joining the programme.

“I was fat, lazy and depressed – I couldn’t walk properly. What’s happened since then has been absolutely remarkable. I’m now five stone lighter, I can walk further than ever before, I can run up and down stairs and play with the grandkids.  

“Quite early on when trying to get fit, I realised that I’m not the sort of person who can motivate myself very well in the gym. But instead, I found I loved the classes where someone stands in front of you and tells you what to do – that was perfect for me.”

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The Healthy You service covers the whole of North Yorkshire with dedicated teams in place to support individuals and families to improve their physical and mental health.

Qualified Active Health practitioners offer flexible one-to-one, group, online, telephone and face-to-face support sessions, setting personalised goals and providing specialist coaching to help customers make positive changes.

Our executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers, said: “It is fantastic to hear how the Healthy You programme continues to have an incredible and long-lasting impact on customers’ lives.

“Whether the goal is to build confidence through being active, improve wellbeing or simply feel healthier, the scheme has already proven it can be a successful way to support people to find sustainable, enjoyable ways to keep fit and feel well.”

The Healthy You programme is available to adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, or children aged four and over who are at or above the 91st percentile for BMI.