She Almost Died

I was literally on my way out the door.

It had been a SUPER long day…

6:00 am team workout, 3 full classes, “optional” team practice, and finally a few clients at the big box gym that I was a personal trainer at. I was EXHAUSTED.

With my bag over my shoulder I started walking out the door to my moped (that’s how college kids get around in Hawaii) when one of the membership counselors stopped me, “George, you got a second?”

I sighed, visibly annoyed, “Sure, what’s up?”

“George, this is Jona. She is our newest member and we were talking about getting her started on the right track with a personal trainer.”

And that is how I met Jona…

Jona was overweight, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and worked for the phone company, which means that she sat for 8 hours a day.

She spent all of her time after work caring for her 2 parents in separate care facilities as well as supporting her son.

She was so busy caring for everyone else in her life that her own personal health and wellness fell to the wayside.

Until her sister had a heart attack and almost died…

That is when Jona noticed that she was having the same symptoms as her sister. So she went to her doctor.

The doctor was so alarmed by what Jona told him that he scheduled her for open heart surgery THE NEXT DAY!

Luckily, her surgery was a success, but that is where the journey began. The surgeon told her that she needed to get a gym membership and get her health and fitness back on track or she would be dead within 5 years.

So Jona went right to the gym and signed up for a membership.

There was one problem…

Jona told me that she pretty much had never worked out a day in her life.

In high school she skipped gym class and she actually had never even ran a mile.

But she knew that she needed to change, and by a twist of fate, she crossed my path.

Jona told me that her 50th birthday was in 9 months, and she wanted to lose 50lbs for her 50th birthday.

So we made her a plan. She would workout with me 3 days a week, she would follow the meal plan that I made for her every single day, and she would be in the gym to do cardio one extra day a week.

Jona will be the first to tell you that it wasn’t easy. There were plenty of times that I had to talk her off the ledge and keep her from quitting.

Then one day she sent me a text with a picture of a treadmill display. Under distance it read “1.0 miles” and under time it read “10:00 minutes.” She wrote “Today is the first time IN MY LIFE that I have run a mile without stopping!”

She was so excited! But she still had 30lbs to lose, so I knew the work wasn’t done yet.

Then a few weeks later I got another picture text of her on top of Koko Head, one of the toughest hikes in Honolulu. Her text read “I have always wanted to do this hike, but was always too scared! Thank you for helping me climb this mountain!”

I was so happy for her, but the work wasn’t done, she had 25lbs to lose.

Finally, the day before her birthday came. It was her final workout before the deadline…

She had rented a ballroom…

Invited all her friends, family, and me.

She had been too scared to step on the scale that entire month, because she didn’t want to dread her party…

She closed her eyes as she stepped on and told me that I could only tell her good news.

I looked down and said “51lbs! YOU DID IT JONA!”

Jona immediately burst into tears. She had never been so healthy. She had never made fitness a priority. But in 9 short months she was a completely different person, with different habits, different priorities, and a different outlook on life.

Since I moved back from Hawaii I don’t train Jona anymore. But I am happy to say that she is still living a healthy lifestyle.

She runs 5Ks regularly, she plays softball with her company team, and she takes her boyfriend out on hikes.

Stories like Jona’s are why I became a trainer. I hope to make a difference in this world by helping people like you improve your health and fitness so you can live a long active life.

I’m here to help you take those steps, if you would like to see how I can help you move in the right direction with your health and fitness goals reach out to me with the links below. I can help you at my gym Create Fitness, or even online.

Ways to work with me:

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