“IT’S all in the mind.”
These were the words of former national sprinter Jone Delai in terms of encouraging Fijians to be physically fit.
This newspaper caught up with the Suva Grammar School physical education teacher while he was walking home, something which has now become a habit for the man who once held the title of the fastest man in the Pacific with a time of 10.34 seconds in the 100-metre sprint in 1995.
Delai, 48, said he was thankful that Government was now recognising the need for its citizens to be healthy and to also live a healthy life.
Delai said he walked to school from his Toorak home every morning and again walked home in the afternoon and encouraged Fijians to always try and keep fit.
“I don’t follow any certain diet plan — this is what I do every day. So for beginners I would recommend they spend 20 minutes on walking, because when people reach a certain age, their bodies will just slow down and they will need to continue to exercise, so 20 minutes of walking a day will really help,” Mr Delai said.
Delai said people should also watch what they ate and always be mindful of the saying, “you are what you eat”. The Olympian who had competed in the 1992 and 2000 Summer Olympics believes if Fijians stayed true to their diets, which should include fresh vegetables and fruits and less meat, Fiji will have a very healthy population.
“You see most of the sickness we get is self-invited, because we have a lot of fresh grown food around us but we still prefer to eat junk food and factory processed food. If we continue to eat home-grown food, we won’t be hearing about non-communicable diseases,” he said.
Delai said his best friends were his loyal pair of joggers.
