BOPHELONG. – The pain of having to join the never-ending Bophelong Clinic’s queue once every month to collect his medication for hypertension has led Vusi Makhubela (36) to lose 30 kg just through jogging. A Ph.D. student at North West University (NWU) Makhubela stays in Muvhango, Bophelong.

He was diagnosed with hypertension level 1 about six years ago and placed under light medication which he had to take once a day.

But as a young university student, he convinced himself that there was no immediate reason for him to start taking the medication as prescribed by the doctor given that he was always on the ‘run’ either to class or to catch a taxi to go to school.

“And if by any chance you happened to be a student, you will quickly agree with me that part of being a student there is to navigate the many steps leading to lecture halls, the library, and even to the cafeteria, so I was covered as far as giving my body the much-needed excise it deserved, or so I thought,” Makhubela said.

Five years later after that diagnosis, Makhubela was at Johan Heyns Hospital standing before a doctor who had to make a prompt decision on whether to transfer him to Sebokeng hospital or immediately upgrade his medication list from one small pill a day to six pills a day.

That is when he took a decision to change, take care of his body, and start running (jogging).

“Ever since I started to run, I have gone from taking six pills to only one pill a day, I have participated in two running events where in each race I completed a 10km distance. For the first time in my life, I will be attempting a half marathon of 21km in the upcoming Sasolburg marathon event, thereafter I will work towards doing 42km in a few years.”

Makhubela started running (jogging) around March/April 2020.

“Unlike many inspirational stories of how people started taking better care of their health, my reason for starting was rather a somewhat sad one. My extensive knowledge of habits allowed me to harness one habit rule that drives all of our behaviour and that is cue, routine, and reward. Thus cue, routine, and response have helped to keep me running for 2 years and 11 months.  “