We are pleased to announce that our Member Of The Year for Sutton is Susan Solly. Susan tells us her inspirational story below.

" In August 2017, I was 51, size 14-16 and aside from a little walking, I had never exercised. I absolutely hated PE at school, had no confidence, ability or competitive spirit. My slim and sporty daughter was so fed up of hearing my moans and seeing me struggle, that she dragged me to her gym. I can’t explain how awful I felt at that first class. My fitness levels were appalling, my body just didn’t do what others seemed to find easy and I struggled to walk home afterwards.

However, the kind encouragement of the instructor and the way he adjusted the exercises to suit me somehow made me determined to improve. I expected to feel humiliated, as I had done at school, but that was not the atmosphere at all. So, with a weird mix of determination and frustration, I tried a variety of classes and combined this with healthy eating.

I started to lose weight, gain confidence and gain some gym friends too. The gym felt like a giant playground and I started to feel like a child again, enjoying the activities and the challenge. I could hardly believe it was ‘me’! My enthusiasm rubbed off on my husband, son and three colleagues, who have also joined up.

Some unexpected benefits –

1. I can now squat down to get things out of my kitchen cupboards and easily spring back up again. I used to haul myself back up whilst making an ‘old lady’ noise.
2. I’ve gone from having 2-3 headaches per week to having barely any these days.
3. I absolutely love the challenge of weights and strength training. Boxing and hitting things is the best fun too!
4. I walked the 14 mile Marsden March for the 4th year running this year. It was an absolute breeze compared to previous years and I could have walked it twice over.
5. I’ve just lost over a stone and am happy at a size 10/12.
6. My daughter is happy that I’ve stopped moaning but now I drive her mad by talking about what I’ve done at the gym! I’ll never be super fit or super strong but I’m proof that you can make a massive difference and how important that is, as you hit your 50’s when muscle generally starts to decrease.

Massive thanks to all the instructors at Fitness4Less Sutton. Not once have I felt stupid because I can’t do something, just supported and quietly encouraged. You don’t know what a difference you have made to me."

Congratulations Susan. What a great example of how it is never too late to start introducing exercise into your lifestyle and to achieve amazing results!