HAPPY FABULOUS FRIDAY!
Over the coming weeks, I would like to share some REAL stories about REAL people who are on their own personal health journey with the support of ELM. Sometimes all we need to make the change we desire is to SEE ourselves in someone else who has gone before us and I hope that you find inspiration from these great stories! If you have a story to share about your health journey with ELM then please send it my way so that you can help someone just like you reach their own dreams and goals:)
Say 'Hello' to Shelley Gartside!
"Exercise and fitness doesn’t come
naturally to me. At heart I’m more of a creative person that likes
to sit and do craft type things. However, eventually I got to the
age where everything was starting to hurt. I knew from previous
experience with exercise I actually felt better if I exercised more,
so I called a personal trainer. I was lucky enough to meet Sarah
Seads and ELM when I made this decision, and that call has improved my life
so much I wanted to tell people about it.
Most people go to a mechanic to get
their car fixed, a dentist to have their teeth done, and a doctor for
health problems. Making a commitment to fitness can be hard thing to
do on your own. The initial enthusiasm generally wanes within a
couple weeks, and then you slowly slip back into your old habits. I
know this happened to me…a number of times! However, when you have
a personal trainer, it’s not just you that commits to your health. A Personal Trainer commits to your health too!
At first when I started working out
with Sarah, I moaned and groaned on the days I met with her because I
really didn’t want to be working out. And even though I had paid
for the sessions, I would happily have cancelled them, but Sarah
always turned up, happy and upbeat, and full of encouragement. Her
attitude changed my attitude, and I would leave each session feeling
a little better than the last session.
This past summer, in the only week it
rained, down poured actually, we spent four days together biking as part of my Personal Fitness Camp. The
first day was a LOT of fun. The weather was nice, and we went to
Seal Bay Park and I learned some mountain biking skills. I was a
little nervous about that, but with Sarah’s encouragement and
expertise I was able to maneuver the trails safely. The next day we
set to meet up a Comox Lake Dam. That day it was raining so HARD, it
was coming down in sheets. I would happily have gone home, but when
Sarah commits to something, you don’t give up. So we spent the day
traveling thru water on the trails and got soaked! It was fun
though, and afterward I felt quite a sense of accomplishment for
having completed that ride in that kind of weather. For the next two
days of the “Bike Camp”, it continued to rain. Not as hard as
the day we were at the Dam, but when you are on a bike in the rain,
it feels like it’s raining REALLY hard! Fortunately it was fairly
warm, so it wasn’t too bad.
Those four days would have been a lot
tougher if I didn’t have Sarah’s sense of purpose to keep me
going. That’s the thing about working with Sarah….You can just
let her expertise, encouragement, and positive disposition lead you
while you (as she says) “Get outside” and have fun!
-Shelley
