From Serious Health Circumstances, to Hopeful Again, to “2019 Member of the Year”.
Elaine accepting the Evertrain 2019 ‘Member of the Year’ award, alongside her Coach Kyle and 2018 ‘Member of the Year’ winner Gordon.
Elaine’s story is one of resilience and overcoming life threatening health circumstances. It all started in the summer of 2013. She faced 2 years of trials and tribulations related to her health.
“I was overweight, stiff, my body blew up. I thought I had the flu. So I went to emergency, they admitted me and found a mass in my abdomen and in my lung. Then they operated on me and said I had stage 4 colon cancer,” Elaine describes.
“As it turned out, I had a blown appendix (not colon cancer) and it ate a piece of my colon. Then it turned out I did have lung cancer and I found this out after the fact. I then had 2 lobes of my lung removed, half my colon removed and my gallbladder removed and 2 recuperative surgeries for a hernia. I had one and it didn’t work and it got worse then I had another one that did work.”
Elaine’s tremendously challenging trial took place from 2013 to 2015. Elaine describes her feelings after this all took place.
“I had a sense of inertia, I felt I could not change my life. I had some really scary health things happen. I thought at that point in my life it was my chance to turn things around and it didn’t happen. This was my chance to turn my life and my health around. It felt like now or never.”
With practice and lots of mobility work, Elaine gradually improved her squatting. This became a helpful tool towards her getting stronger, more fit and feeling her best.
Elaine had her operations in 2013 and had 2 years of post-operative complications. At this point she had a corrective surgery but things were not improving for her.
She didn’t feel healthier, or like she had more energy. And she definitely wasn’t feeling better about herself.
The “Catch 22”
Elaine describes the “catch 22” that so many people experience when contemplating what to do about their health.
“It’s a hard thing when you’re heavy. You know you should do it, but you’re afraid of hurting yourself. Then the idea of signing up at a gym. It’s very overwhelming. Having had false starts in the past, you get this feeling that it will be the same thing again.”
Elaine had tried many other avenues towards getting her health back on track in the past. She’d tried Weight Watchers, a weight-loss clinic (where they gave her some kind of amphetamine), gym memberships, etc. But she would always somehow lose track.
The first steps towards success 🏃♀️
Elaine first heard about Evertrain through her hairdresser who had already started training months prior. She noticed how enthused her hairdresser had been about her experience with the private studio and her new coach.
Elaine describes how her expectations started so low that any results would have made her happy. “I would have been happy with anything. But the results happened quickly and it was so encouraging that I kind of seemed to start strong (which never happened before). The team at Evertrain was so excited for me and it made a big difference.”
Elaine lost 45lbs with steady and consistent dedication to putting her health first.
Elaine’s transformation. 🏋🏼♀️
Elaine’s program had a large emphasis on improving mobility and creating routines that would gradually build her up. That along with a steady amount of weight training to help build lean muscle, metabolism and strength, all the while burning calories actively with regular cardio at home.
Although initially not enthused about performing regular cardio workouts, Elaine and her coach were able to come up with a solution.
Watching her favourite shows online while doing cardio workouts at the same time proved to be a recipe for success. Now cardio seemed like a treat rather than a chore.
With improvements in her eating habits, Elaine was losing weight on a weekly basis and the inches were coming off at an even faster rate.
Elaine describes some of the experiences that never expected to come from her training.
“I am proud of myself. It’s the little weird things that come out of the blue. My sister flicked my arm the other day when I said a smart comment. And she was shocked at how hard my arm felt. That’s eye opening! I put the Christmas tree up by myself. I couldn’t do that before.”
A hopeful future. 🙂
Elaine feels much more encouraged about her future than ever before.
”I am thinking of doing things, thinking of traveling again, I am starting to think more specifically about doing things. Before I was not doing that. I had a bit of PTSD after my health shenanigans. I was always concerned about travel before because of the activity levels involved.”
We’re so proud of you Elaine. Congrats on all your hard work and dedication!
Her experience with Evertrain 👍
When we asked Elaine what she loved most about Evertrain she said, “I think it’s the attitude. I thoroughly enjoy working with my trainer Kyle. We laugh a lot, we have fun. If it wasn’t like this I would still be coming, but the attitude of my coach and the atmosphere makes a huge difference.“
If you’re wondering what to do about your health
We asked Elaine what she would say to someone else who is in a similar situation as she was before she started training with us.
“It’s hard to see out of it. It’s discouraging and you don’t have the energy. It hurts. I didn’t want to be far from the hospital. I was in this place where I didn’t trust my body, but little by little it passes and you improve. You start to feel better. Its worth it.
I feel more encouraged now than ever. This is the decade when things come together (Elaine is in her early 60s).”
Elaine’s story has been such an amazing inspiration to our community. Not only has she seen amazing changes in her health and fitness, but she was named the Evertrain 2019 “Member of the Year” at our holiday event. Congratulations on all the success Elaine! We’re so proud of you.
You can achieve longterm success too
If you’re feeling discouraged, overwhelmed or just plain stuck with your health and fitness, we can help. At Evertrain we help people over 50 get clear on the steps they need to take to reach measurable, injury-free and long-term results.
If you’d like to realize the same kind of success Elaine had, book a free consultation today by clicking the button below.
Yours in health,
The Evertrain Team