I was introduced to Pactive following an invite from a member of my family. At first, I was unsure how a health app could benefit me in beginning to live a healthier life. My first Pact I became involved with was created by my niece and was simply to get me walking 3000 steps a day. The targets for my Pact slowly grew and we also began trying different Pacts including; drinking more water and eating our 5-a-day.
Through Pactive I began to find that families, friends and social groups can help individuals recognise that they need to take action to manage or where possible reverse the many life-threatening conditions that have resulted through the lack of exercise and poor diet etc; once I came to the realisation that I created my own poor health it was imperative that I took action to make positive changes to my lifestyle.
In my experience of Pactive, it provided me with the greatest motivation to improve my health. The continual prompting and goal setting that was available to me 24/7 through Pactive. Pactive acted as a real-time caring and supportive family of users. These users were people in my social circle who I had joined or joined me on Pactive to ensure I had constant encouragement and support throughout my journey to where I am today. Pactive gave me a place to go free from the fear of being judged when I needed support and allowed the people who wanted to support me the opportunity to not only encourage me but to join me on my journey and improve their own health as well. The simple goals and targets that in our Pacts we were able to set offered me forfeits and rewards that gave me an added motivation each day to reach these small slowly increasing targets that I had set myself. Not only did this add to my motivation it also made being active and healthy eating enjoyable and fun again. We set personal rewards to increase our motivation and the laughter when a friend had to complete a forfeit made me love walking to the shop or drinking my fifth glass of water of the day and I think there is something great in that. The fact that throughout my recovery I not only felt supported but had a smile on my face doing it helped my recovery more than I could have imagined. The more I shared my achievements, such as walking to the shops instead of driving, the resulting weight loss through the small changes the more encouragement I received. In turn, I could share my experiences with my family through Pactive which bought us closer together! The group messaging gave me the feeling that I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t just doing it for myself, Pactive showed me that I was doing it for all the people who cared for me as well.
The Pact groups I became a part of we’re continually setting individual targets and challenges that are specific to my need and were not over facing. The care and attention I received from the other Pactive members enabled me to receive advice on diets that had worked for other members, along with daily motivational quotes that helped me maintain a positive, can do, frame of mind. This was all while improving my general health + wellbeing without even realising because it was no longer a chore or a struggle, I felt part of a community who wanted each other to be better people every day.
My journey was an uphill battle and I am still walking up that hill, but I can now see the top! I found learning to sit and reflect and connect to my true self, focusing on what goals I had set how much I had already achieved each day enhancing my feeling of wellbeing. I focused on the positives if negative thoughts came, I would listen to a piece of music I liked or focused on thoughts that made me happy pushing the negative away or I would seek help from my friends and family who were in the Pacts with me!
Pactive has given me unbelievable momentum, nobody wants to feel they are battling on their own, the Pactive family is a network of people striving to make small changes in their lives to make that difference. I would like to thank Pactive for the key part they have played in my journey from being unable to walk upstairs, to learning how to swim and swimming over 20 lengths a night. My Pactive family like any family understood my needs, desires and helped me through the dark times, the times you would like to raid the fridge, give in to temptation or just give up, Busy working lives are a big factor when looking for support. I can access the family at the times I need as any average family does daily when offering support and direction and giving you the awareness that you are never alone.
Author
Julie Ford – Pactive User
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