Talofa lava, my name is Faamatatolu Niutao. I am a Samoan woman age 29 years old, married, and I work as a daycare teacher in Balclutha. My husband works full-time at the Finegand freezing works. I was struggling for a while with my weight and had been looking for support to realise my health journey to lose weight. My main motivation for this weight loss goal is to be able to support my family, work and church community to my full capacity. I understand that to do this, I need to be healthy.
In December 2023, when I was first introduced to Pacific Trust Otago and the dietitian, I was 151.8kg having won a three month’s weight loss challenge through my church. I managed to go from 170 kg and actually won that challenge! But after that, being busy with work, family and church and community commitments, I slowly started gaining the weight back. When I finally saw the dietitian in June 2024, my weight had gone back up to 169.6 kg.
At that first clinic visit, I shared what I usually ate, which wasn’t the healthiest. I was having a lot of sugary drinks (about 3 cans of Coke a day), peanut slabs, chips, meat pies, and not much fruit or vegetables. The dietitian explained things in a way I could understand and encouraged small, manageable changes, like cutting back the Coke over time, adding vegetables, walking a couple of times a week, and eating balanced meals, having food items from each of the food groups. We discussed and put a plan together, and it was not easy to put these into practice. I tried various ways to implement the advice, learn and practice the healthy eating habits including trying intermittent fasting.
In Summer this year, I started attending zumba organised and run by PTO in partnership with my church aligning with our Church theme this year of ‘Health and Wellbeing’. Having the zumba weekly and increasing to two classes weekly in Balclutha helped me stay motivated. In March 2025, I attended the zumba session which ran together with a nutrition talk and where I got reviewed by the dietitian and the nurse. By then, I had lost 16.7 kg, bringing my weight down to 152.9 kg. I had also made some big changes to my food, I was eating 4 servings of vegetables a day, I had reduced my carbs and cut sugary drinks completely.
The dietitian gave me a new booklet called ‘O la’u peleti plan’, it had the healthy eating guidelines, recommended servings, serving examples, resources I had before, but this time, it also included simple daily tracking pages for meals and servings. That really helped me stay focused. I even asked for more tracking pages so I could keep going! Furthermore, PTO offered our Balclutha Pacific community Zumba a two month’s weight loss challenge which is even increased my motivation. Again, I won the challenge at the end of May 2025.
By my next review in June 2025, I had lost another 14.7 kg, bringing my total weight loss to 31.4 kg (18.5%) in one year. My new weight is 138.2 kg and I feel it! I’m more mobile, energetic, and confident. I feel lighter both physically and mentally. I move more easily and even think more clearly. The community-based support, like Zumba and the group challenge, made it fun and motivating. I’d love to see those programmes continue, especially during winter when it’s harder to stay active on my own.
This journey has been life-changing, and I’m still aiming to continue this journey in improving my health and wellbeing. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and truly grateful for the support I’ve received through the culturally appropriate dietetic and other PTO health services. They made a real difference in my life. But I’m not done yet. My goal is to get under 100 kg and I believe I can get there.
Looking back, I’m really proud of how far I’ve come. It wasn’t a straight road, I had a few setbacks, but reconnecting through the PTO Zumba, nutrition and lifestyle services, other PTO events and our Church theme this year, reminded me that I’m not alone and that my culture is part of my strength. Having support that understands who I am and where I come from made all the difference.
Thank you again for everything Finau. I’d be more than happy for you to share this feedback for your champions. Fa’afetai tele lava to everyone who supported me on this journey, my family, my church and community, and the team at PTO. This journey is still continuing, but now I walk it with more confidence and joy in every step.
