Going from burnout to burning calories
JACQUES Robinson was starting work at 3am when he collapsed. He woke up in an ambulance, in excruciating pain and with no idea what had happened.
Aged 19, he had never had a seizure before. That marked the beginning of a health journey that, at its worst point, had him wondering whether he’d live to see 30. He was plagued by seizures and headaches, his mental health was at rock bottom and at his heaviest, he weighed in at 190 kilograms. Fewer than 18 months later, aged 23, he’s lost close to half his body weight, gone vegan, and is on the way to being a personal trainer.
Robinson, from Warkworth, north of Auckland, was at ‘‘burnout’’ point when he had his first seizure. He was working up to 70 hours a week and had packed on weight, he said, relying on fast food and fizzy drinks.
After the seizures started, he had to quit work. He never knew when they would hit, making him scared to leave the house alone
With normal life ripped away, depression and anxiety set in, but they were triggers for the seizures, creating a vicious circle.
‘‘I thought I was going to die by 30. There were some days I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t do anything.’’
Doctors never worked out what was causing the seizures; every test came back negative.
At the beginning of last year, three years after the first seizure, Robinson said he’d had enough. He started walking. He prioritised his mental health. In six months he lost 40kg, and then he joined a gym and got a trainer. Around the same time, he decided to go vegan. The original plan was to cut out animal products gradually, but he went cold turkey. In three weeks, his health ‘‘skyrocketed . . . a lot more energy. My mind really strengthened.’’
Before that, he’d eaten ‘‘mindlessly’’, but going plant-based forced him to think about nutrients. ‘‘It has been one of the keys to getting me to where I am,’’ he said.
Robinson has now lost 90kg and hasn’t had a headache or seizure in nine months. From taking 25 medications a day, he now takes none – and hasn’t for the past year. His depression and anxiety are also history.
He’s training to be a personal trainer, and is hugely motivated by helping other people. When he was at rock bottom, there was no one he could look to as a mentor, and he said he’d like to be that for someone on their own health journey.
‘‘I could be somebody that could say, well actually, hey, I was there. And it will be okay.’’
‘‘We have a rule that they’re not to watch anything behind closed doors. We like to know what they’re looking at, and all the accounts are under my name.’’
Darvill said it was hard as a parent to keep up with all of the technology available, such as parental locks, new apps, and the range of devices that were internet-capable.
‘‘There’s a lot to stay on top of.’’
He said the children were always given a reason why they couldn’t visit certain sites, or use certain apps.
‘‘We have open discussions about and talk about some of the bad stuff out there.’’
The children have access to Chromebooks as their main online connection, but Darvill was a little apprehensive about what would happen when they got old enough for other devices, such as cellphones. ‘‘That will change everything because it’s all theirs and it’s under their name.’’
He welcomed policy changes that would protect the collection
of kids’ information.
Massey University clinical psychologist Kirsty Ross says parents should show – rather than just tell – children how to share information online appropriately, from personal data to photos.
‘‘I always ask my kids if they are happy with me sharing a photo, and respect their wishes if they say no, so they feel in control and that they have power over their own image.
‘‘Secondly, I think it is important to set up accounts with your children, so you can go through the privacy settings together.’’
Ross said the key message to young people was not to share anything online that you wouldn’t share in person.
‘‘You wouldn’t give out your address to a stranger, so don’t give it out in an online forum. Only give out information that reflects the quality and depth of the relationship you have with that person that you would share in person – and if in doubt, a young person needs to know they should ask an adult.’’