Kate Vedder
Three and one half years ago I faced a personal crossroad. I was 70 years old, and felt even older. I was overweight and out of shape. Furthermore, my arthritis had made it even harder to exercise, and I had begun to spiral into self pity. I retired to my couch by 4 PM daily to drink my well deserved white wine. I walked with a cane, and consumed the maximum dose of anti-inflammatory meds.
I then realized that the folks in my family all live to be 93 or more. I just could not imagine 23 more years living like this. I made an appointment to see a joint replacement surgeon, and began taking water aerobics classes with Heidi at the Pinnacle Fitchburg pool. I had my hip replacement surgery in February 2014. I got back in the pool as soon as I could. I quit drinking all alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. I started cutting portions by half at every meal.
Kate works out with Vanessa, her personal trainer.
By my one year anniversary of my surgery, I had lost 50 pounds, and had added deep water running to my regime. I was able to enjoy a trip down the Grand Canyon river rafting and hiking. I felt so much more alive.
I was still having knee pain, and poor balance. I decided to consider personal training to work on strengthening my legs, especially to protect my knees.
I met Vanessa, and the rest is history!
One year and a half later I have lost a total of over 60 pounds, and gained so much muscle. Thanks to Vanessa, I no longer take any pain medication, and my surgeon tells me my knees and other hip are now stable. My posture is excellent, my energy level high, and I look great in my clothes.
When I started down this road, I looked and felt like a woman 10 years older than I was. Now people assume that I am 10 years younger, and I feel even younger. I can run after my grand children again, and toss them around. My favorite compliment came from my 10 year old grandson, after we visited a jumping and climbing facility, and I jumped off the platform with him. He stated, “I don’t know any other grandmas who can do what you do.”
Vanessa and I have worked together to attain my excellent results. She has carefully designed my workouts to accommodate my knee pain, poor balance, etc, and steadily challenged me to improve. I still do water aerobics and deep water running with Heidi twice a week. Thanks to Vanessa, I now feel like I have a new lease on life, and can’t wait to get even stronger and more energized!