My name is Vivienne S. and it is only a year and a half ago since my life took two very dramatic changes. One was for the worst, the other for the best.
The worst?
- My already damaged back finally went into meltdown; I waited eight months for an operation.
- My employers (teaching children with severe emotional difficulties who are in care) said they could not longer insure me to work with violent children.
- I put on weight, looked a mess and could barely walk more than 50 yds - and that was two months after the op.
The best?
Well, I met Rick of course. No, not inperson - I met Rick on the Internet.
And?
- I go to the gym three times a week, swim and have even started jogging when I stride through the woods near my house with my two dogs.
- I have lost 5 inches from my waistline.
- I no longer look at myself in the mirror and think - "Well that's it then girl - you may as well accept the fact that you are a middle aged wreck".
Now I know - that if I want to - and I am prepared to think about it and DO it - I can change and go on changing.
Would you like to know some details? Well I am more than happy to share them with you - and if you are looking for a way to become fitter, happier and more self confident, you have come to the right place.
The First Problem.
I damaged my back in a car accident some years ago, and am used to back pain, so it is easy to ignore warning signs.
Working with children in care, who may be violent and need restraint at any time, means that we need to do a rigorous certificated restraint course each summer. Whilst practising a three-person floor restraint, I felt a pain in my back, which shot down my right leg. I tried to ignore the signs, but had to give up. Next day, I was at screaming point.
Doctors do not like to jump in with backpain - for as we all know 80% will eventually improve significantly in a couple of months if we rest but keep moving.
But I couldn't move. My partner managed to beg some crutches from the surgery so that I could just, and I mean just, struggle to the bathroom. When he went off to work in the morning, he left me a flask of tea and a sandwich, because even with crutches I couldn't get as far as the kitchen.
So, to cut a long story short - I was at last - given an MRI scan, and the result was:
"Very large intervertebral inward disc prolapse at L4/L5 causing severe compression to the cauda equina (the main nerve running through the lower back) and spinal stenosis."
I also had horrifying sciatica down both legs and into the feet, and some nerve damage, causing numbness in my right foot.
This went on for eight months - meanwhile I was getting heavier and less fit, and more depressed!!
TheFirst Solution
A back operation in April 2007, which took away 95% ofthe prolapsed disc, and a removal of some of the bone to make more room for the cauda equina nerve.
This was a great success. From day one I was able to get out of bed and walk a little.
After six weeks, I was given a course of hydrotherapy at the local hospital and taught a few exercises to help with mobility. Then I was on my own.
The Next Problem
So, I joined my nearest gym with a swimming pool and went two or three times a week to swim and do the gentle exercises. This was good. A beginning. I began to feel better.
But I needed more and was frightened to try. I had been very active before, working, and living life to the full. Now I was sitting a lot of the time. I would look at people striding along a path and wonder if I would ever be able to walk with that kind of elasticity and freedom again.
Actually, I hated myself. A mess. Why bother?
The Best Solution.
Not being very mobile, I was using the computer a lot during the daytime, and that, is where I met Rick.
"I can help you with that," he said. "You can???" I asked disbelievingly.
When I told him about the back problem and the lack of fitness, he asked me to copy my medical records and the results ofthe MRI scan for him, so that he could understand the exact nature of the problem.
Clearly here was someone who was not going to give hurried or misguided advice.
First he explained to me the simplest of back stretches. "All you need is a wall," he told me, "Go and have a go - now!"
Hmm, it was hard though, at first.
"Keep doing that when you have an odd moment, and when it gets easier, tell me and we will move on."
I persevered, and the simple stand became easier, I pulled back my shoulders, stood tall, and felt better already.
Next he gave me help with the mobility exercises for the water, making them more intensive. He suggested that as well as swimming, I should try some of the cardio machines at the gym, so I started with fast walking and cycling.
He asked me to keep a programme of what I did, and some heart rate monitoring.
Then we discussed diet. I have always eaten properly - I hate junk food, couldn't give up biscuits, burgers, chocolate, crisps because I didn't like them anyway. But I was a plump nightmare with a huge waistline!!
Rick gave me advice about calorie intake, and realised that I must up the exercise rate if I wanted to lose weight as well as become fitter.
What Makes Rick's Way Special then?
Well you see, it is partly the interest hetakes in you, because you are a special person, and you should have only the best in life.
He has a way of making you feel motivated, of wanting to achieve as much as you can - and he makes you understand that no-one can do it for you. It is all down to you.
He has a wonderful way of helping you achieve what seems impossible by breaking it into little steps. So little you hardly notice them.
For example - a simple little thing .....
"You should be doing some press-ups now, for upper body strength," he told me one day.
My heart sank. There was no way I could get into the position for a press up, never mind push my disgusting waistline off the floor. Hmmm, better tell him, I thought.
"No worries, just try this."
And he told me to start by simply standing upright by the wall, and pushing to full arms length from there. When I could do that easily enough he suggested from the kitchen worktop - then a bit lower- the kitchen table.
He was SO right - after a few weeks, I could! Wow - that's been such an achievement for me!
"Go and walk those dogs for half an hour - get some air into your lungs." So I did. Further and further, more and more mobile and strong.
Later, we added the rowing machine and a set of resistance weight workouts in the gym
I would send him records of what I had achieved, he would encourage and suggest another step, or just say - "That's great, don't change it yet - work on that for a week or two."
I am a bit shy you see, I do not like to have a trainer watching my every move in the gym. Just talking to Rick, knowing he would be there, motivated me enormously. I did not want to miss any exercise; I couldn't wait to tell him what I had been up to.
And Now?
I feel fitter than I have for years and years - so full of energy. With my new mobility has come a changing of my body shape so that I no longer look like an overweight apple. This intrigues my partner - "You have been re-arranged," is how he puts it.
I like clothes again - I might even dare go shopping soon. I take a sneaky glance in the windows of the french doors when I do the gardening, instead of carefully not seeing. Skin care, hair, nails - so exciting again.
Friends I haven't seen in while comment on my looks -I have such a "glow" they say.
I still have work to do, and then the maintenance, but already it is a pleasure that I look forward to.
I can only say one thing to you Rick - Thank you - without you I honestly wouldn't have bothered.
"I can help you with that," he said. Oh yes Rick - you can that!
-Vivienne S.
Viv is so happy with Fitness by Phone® and the way it has changed her life, she has kindly offered to talk to anyone who has enqired via the questionnaire. If you want to discover how Fitness by Phone® can help you get a better figure and your life back, click here to find out more, and to get Viv's contact details.