Helen, or Raddsy, as we have come to know her, began her journey with us to repair an abdominal separation some years after the birth of her 3 kids. She was diligent with her repair program and brought her separation together quickly. But the real reason we voted her MVP this week is much bigger than just this.
She's been with us for about 3 years now and recently she's undergone some major shifts and lifted some big blockages to her health results.
After suffering the limiting effects of arthritis for many, many years, her pain, mobility and range of movement have improved dramatically after making some important changes to her diet, mindset and exercise habits. And as an added bonus of making these changes, she lost about 10% of her body weight without even focusing on it! (This is a pretty significant amount - Helen is a pretty teensy person to begin with!)
So what, exactly, did she change?
She is no stranger to the world of health and fitness and has always made thoughtful decisions about what she allows in her body. At the end of last year she stepped her interest up another notch and, with the support of a friend, decided to get truly educated as to the world of sugar, is many forms, and just how many foods it is found in. She decided to give up all sugar for 4 weeks.
Barely 2 weeks into her no-sugar mission she noticed that the arthritic pain she regularly experienced in her hands, feet and knees was virtually non-existent. 😳 Excited but also keen to ensure this positive result wasn't simply a coincidence, she diligently continued with her no-sugar eating plan.
In addition to her nutritional changes, Helen has been working progressively to increase the strength of her quads and increase her squat depth without resulting pain or swelling of the knees. Slowly and steadily, with her PT she increased her tolerance to squatting under weight and noted closely how her knees recovered from the load stress.
We are proud to say that these days, nothing holds Helen back.
Not only is she almost 8kg lighter as a result of her continuance to keep sugar at bay, but her arthritis is much improved. Her knee and leg strength is in better shape today than they were 3 years ago when she started with us; she is squatting over 30kg with ease and recently hit the big milestone of deadlifting her own body weight - with no follow-up knee pain or swelling!
These remarkable and meaningful results are in large part due to the mindset Helen has adopted: the mindset that change IS possible. She realised that even though she has arthritis, this does not have to be a life-sentence to never squat or to just put up with knee pain. She decided to believe there was another way, and that's where all meaningful change must begin.
Next stop is deadlifting 1.5 x body weight, right Rads? 😏