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Need some inspiration to help you lose weight? Read on...

Need some inspiration to help you lose weight? Read on...

The Fitness4Less ‘Member Of The Year’ competition this year has been hugely successful again. With over 50 entries from our gyms across the group, we received some amazing nominations directly from our gym members, their friends, family and our personal trainers. Our winner was Tiffany Paul from Bristol, a real inspiration! To find out more about her story click here

Being that time of year when we tend to make New Year resolutions and look at our lives with a fresh pair of eyes, we felt it was a great time to tell you a little bit more about some of the other nominations who have changed their lives for the better this year, with some amazing stories of weight loss leading to a heathier , happier 2017!

Michelle Dawes from Northampton

Michelle

Michelle kept her entry short and sweet – an amazing testimonial about the benefits exercise can bring about!
“This was me before and after. Thanks to your gym I have lost 35lb and feel so much healthier and confident about myself - thank you.”

Rack-ell Wood

Rack-ell’s story is a familiar one, of having to push through the barrier of embarrassment and the feelings of ‘I can’t do this’. She really has shown that hard work and determination can help you make an incredible change!
Rack-ell says;
“I have been a member at Southwark gym for about 4 years and in the first couple of years I was really up and down, having good and bad months. The weight came off.. then went back on...

Then of course came the suggestion from friends that I try running... I had only at this point run on a treadmill once in my life and that one time I did try at my heaviest. It hurt so much - my chest hurt, my back hurt, my legs hurt and that was after about 2 minutes. I was so upset and felt like everyone was staring at the puffy red faced girl, who could hardly walk after jogging for 2 minutes and so I never tried running again. But I decided my New Year’s resolution going into 2016 would be to run on the treadmill once a week. The first time was so daunting and I braced myself for the pain I felt before, for the embarrassment that would come when I would have to quit because I couldn’t do it. I did my first run of 2016 on a treadmill and did three 1 minute runs separated by 2 minute walks in between and although I felt some tightness to my legs,I could see the colour red fill my cheeks and I needed a minute to steady myself, I still felt amazing.

Over the next few months I upped the time running and eventually decreased the walk time in between. I began doing more time running and for longer and now feel more confident on a treadmill than I ever have, and am looking into signing up for a 5K next year and start training for that. It’s one of my proudest achievements to date in my weight loss journey to be able to succeed at something I feared for years.

The next step now I’ve conquered this challenge was to make 2016 the year I really stepped up and actually picked up some weights. So, after I educated myself a little I decided to give it a go and now I am more confident using kettle bells and dumbbells.

Now I’m more determined than ever to keep going and get to my goal weight. I lost another one stone and seven pounds this year, just through getting the confidence to try some new things and am happy to say that makes my total so far SEVEN STONE.

Just goes to show if you really want something and you overcome that fear you can do it and I thank all my family and friends and Fitness4less for always pushing me and encouraging me to carry on.”


Stacey Moss from Southend

Stacey

Stacey suffers from chronic insomnia and also has fibromyalgia, so as she says,‘I didn’t think I could do it’. However, it’s amazing what you can do with a dose of healthy determination!
She says; “My life has completely turned around. I've never felt so fit, strong and healthy. I have been going to Southend Fitness4less 4-6 days a week, no matter how tired I am. I've now gone from a size 16 to a 10 and I could not be happier!”

Pete Cash from Brierley Hill

Pete

Pete was nominated by his wife Jackie. His story is of someone who, at 53 years old, has made a real change in their lifestyle and is seeing the incredible benefits. Jackie wrote,
“I’m sure that we all have that one pivotal moment when we look in the mirror and think ‘I’ve got to do something about my weight’. For my husband Pete Cash he realised that moment when he could no longer do up his 36” waist jeans. At 5’7” Pete weighed in at almost 16 stone – obese.

He needed a challenge and found inspiration through fundraising for a local charity - Living Springs. They were seeking volunteers to trek in Nepal - he knew it would be tough! The training began in earnest with a walking and healthy eating regime and the weight began to shift. Pete knew that to lose even more weight, walking was not going to be enough and that is when we both joined Fitness 4 Less in Brierley Hill (Dec 2015).

We both thoroughly enjoy ‘power bar’ with our trainer, Laura, on Monday evenings and also ‘Core on the Floor’, ‘Body Blitz’ and ‘Power Bar ‘with Adil on Wednesdays. Both trainers make the classes fun and we always look forward to attending them. This week we will also be trying a new class, ‘Intensity’. On days in between we still enjoy walking; this weekend on a ten mile local walk we were chased by young bulls – it added a new dimension to HIIT training!

In June, Pete embarked on a 32 mile day trek raising money for St Richard's Hospice in Worcester and finished in under 10 hours. He is now proud to say that he weighs in at 10 stone 7 pounds, has a BMI of 22 and owns several pairs of size 30” waist jeans! No longer flabby, his body is toned and he has muscle definition, thanks to our trainers Laura and Adil at Fitness4Less.”

We hope these amazing stories are just the thing to keep you motivated this year and to make that Fresh Start you might crave in 2017.

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