A Touching Testimony

Hello, my name is Janique, and I am a woman in her early forties who exercises at the Longueuil Nautilus Plus centre. I suffer from being overweight, but most importantly, from severe osteoarthritis that has trapped me in a very sedentary lifestyle for five long years.

Despite being young to be suffering from osteoarthritis, I had to undergo a total knee replacement surgery on December 5^th, 2013. Following this surgery, I did some physiotherapy, which rekindled my desire to be active and heal. Because I wanted to maximize my rehabilitation and lose a significant amount of weight to put as little stress as possible on my prosthesis, I thought about getting a training program. I didn’t want to go to one of those trendy gyms that are always changing names and owners, so I opted for a well-recognized company.

The first step

People have no idea how much courage it takes for an obese person to step through a gym door for the first time, as this door carries the weight of all our fears: “I am too fat to exercise,” “Will I be able to keep up with the rhythm?,” “Will I have enough motivation?,” “What will I look like?” The gaze of others can be a heavy burden to bear!!!

After several days of pondering and being concerned with my health, I took my cane in one hand and my courage in the other, and met with the manager, Sammy, who welcomed me with a warm smile, incredible respect, and listened to me. There was no judging, no pressure, but a lot of precious advice. He referred me to one of his trainers, Guillaume, who according to him was the man of the situation to help with my rehabilitation. Guillaume is very attentive to my needs, and available. Together, we set achievable and sustainable objectives.

Slowly but shurely

As a bipolar, I have to take medication that slows down the metabolism, hence making weight loss even harder to achieve. My trainer understands this and does not focus entirely on weight loss, but rather inquires about how I feel and how motivated I am, takes the time to listen to me, and adjusts the level of effort in function of my knee, as I would not benefit from an injury!

Guillaume has always believed in my ability, even when I doubted myself. I would have never imagined I could resume an active lifestyle so quickly, but thanks to him, I biked a lot of kilometers with one of my daughters, initiated my two teenagers to golf (without a cart), started taking leisure walks again, and regularly take part in aquafitness classes. Since my return to work, I have not used the elevator.

The reward

Now, when I feel bottomed out because of my condition or simply because I’m having a bad day, instead of moping around doing nothing, I feel the urge to go for a workout. First, it makes me feel good physically and mentally, but I also get the need to feel the dynamic, personal, friendly, and happy atmosphere of my Nautilus Plus centre.

I lost 30 pounds* of fat this year, but I am even more proud of dropping three dress sizes and of my knee rehabilitation progress, which exceeded the expectations of my orthopedist. I still have to lose another 40 pounds, but with the encouragement I get from the staff in general, and especially from my personal duo, Guillaume and Sandra, l am confident that I will reach this objective, slowly but steadily, and in a safe and long-lasting way.

Thank you to all of you.

Janique Ladouceur

*Disclaimer: Please note that the results can vary from a person to another. Nautilus Plus is not responsible of the validity of the statements in this testimonial.

A Touching Testimony is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
Copyright © Nautilus Plus 2015