Julie Stone:-

"I embarked upon a mission to get as fit as i could before my 50th birthday. I met with Fran in 2004 and we decided to start out on an intensive personal training course which included stretching, weight training and running. I had never done any type of personal training before and had definately never done any running.

I found i got on with Fran which made training so much fun. To cut a long story short we ran the Great North Run in 2006 which was the 25th Anniversary making it extra special. I wanted to run all 13.1 miles without stopping which i did with Fran alongside me all the way. I had such an amazing experience and have continued to run.

I was so fit at my 50th birthday party all my friends and family could not get over how fantastic i looked. I still exercise regularly and participate in many of Fran's fitness classes such as Bodypump and Bodycombat. "

Liz Colclough:-

Hi, I’m Lizzie. I thought I’d better tell you in case you didn’t recognise me - especially if you haven’t seen me since Christmas.

You may know me from attending many a class at Well-Fit. I’m there quite a lot because I love it so much! The picture here is of me as I look this summer. It shows a much slimmer, tougher, toned and balanced person who has gone beyond reaching her goals, and is literally walking on air – as a result of the fun, safe,, and healthy and effectively motivational way to exercise shown to me by the team at Well-Fit.

I think it sums up what anyone can do if they have the drive, determination and the ability to focus their mind on a goal, in conjunction with having the right expert guidance and support, such as that I receive from Francesca and her team. Eight months ago I would never have put a picture of me on the web, especially with the way I looked (or perceived I looked) back then. Although I wasn’t grossly overweight, I constantly felt fat, and stressed and my self-esteem was low a lot of the time. My metabolism was quite slow and any exercise I was doing, even though I felt I was working hard, was maintaining the weight I was – not really putting any on, and not losing very much either.

Admittedly I had got quite lazy with my training and diet before I joined Well-Fit. I had suffered quite a bad injury to my hamstring, and recovery had made it hard for me to train to my fullest for a while. I am one of those people who has to work to keep weight off and in this time I had managed to gain it all back after the 6 years I had spent losing it all after having my children. At the start of this year I felt enough was enough. Time for a kick start and get back to losing the feelings of being sluggish, self-conscious, fat, stressed, negative and inward, and start feeling agile, alert, energetic, stress-free, able, positive and confident...

My journey of incredibly effective weight loss, muscle toning and increased fitness all started in February this year when I finally caved in to my inhibitions and plucked up the courage to start attending running club, Fran’s famous bootcamps, and Paul Woolls’ Marine Military style circuits classes, (now called Well-Tuff™ ).

Running was something I had had no burning urge to do for a long time. I have always found running so hard to do - it was boring and I really hated it. Any bits of running I had done in classes, like circuits, I had found really hard work and couldn’t imagine myself doing it for an hour or so non-stop. I think I had made myself believe I was not cut out for it and therefore I wasn’t even going to try – especially long distances. For a couple of years I had supported my husband when he had completed numerous half marathons, watching comfortably from the sidelines. The prospect of running out with the running club scared me to death simply because I didn’t want to be the one left behind. I wanted to be involved with it though, and I couldn’t stop myself so I asked if I could cycle alongside them. For two weeks I went out on my bike, all the excuses about not being able to run coming out all over the place as a cover-up for my laziness - then somehow Francesca managed to get me to leave my bike behind... there was no looking back.

My first run, I discovered to my disbelief at the end of it, was nearly 7 miles! Talk about chucking me in at the deep end – but I did it! It was the most hideous experience ever. It was freezing. I couldn’t breathe, nose was blocked and running badly, nearly threw up at the top of the steepest hill ever, and was white as a sheet the whole way round. Fran stuck beside me and used her usual very effective method of talking to me to take my mind off the agony. My system was in shock. When I got back to the gym all I wanted to do was curl up in my well-fit hoodie and cry. All the way round I was thinking I never wanted to repeat that experience ever again. My mindset was so uncontrollably negative. In many ways that was more to blame than for my inability to run. Somehow though, I found myself turning up the next week. I did not want to be beaten and I did not want to give up easily, and I wanted to do something that Fran and everyone would be proud of me for. I wanted to know what it was like to be able to run easily, and how long it would take for me to get to that point. The words of encouragement and advice from Francesca, and the burning urge inside me to watch myself improve and get slimmer, motivated me to keep going with it each week, and almost every week this year so far.

Then came the bootcamps to add to my new regime. When it comes to weight loss there is no rest for the wicked. Already I had pleasantly surprised both myself and Fran when I found out I had lost a whopping 10lbs in the 4 weeks since I had started running. The first weigh-in at the Bikini Bootcamp confirmed this. The bootcamp exercise classes were extremely hard work, designed to take you well out of your comfort zone. Amazingly after 6 years of training in a gym environment, Fran managed to teach us exercises and postures I have never seen or done before, and motivate us all to push ourselves beyond our limits. The diet, Well-Fit’s nutritionalist, Stella got made us to follow is also very effective. It isn’t anything revolutionary or faddish – just simply a calorie and portion controlled balanced diet, and when followed properly in conjunction with exercise is key to your body working more efficiently to get the results you are after. Amazingly, none of it involved starving ourselves! It was good to have the science behind it explained to us by her at the start of the bootcamp in order that we could understand how things work so we didn’t need to feel guilty about eating whilst losing weight. Initially it involved a lot of planning and personal discipline, but as the weeks went on, it became normal and routine, and after seeing the results, I ended up not having to think about it at all. It has now become a way of life for both me and my family. The weight dropped off me but at a healthy steady rate of 1-2 lbs per week which is so much better for healthy long term sustainability.

As the weight came off, I found gym classes and running, by far, much easier. I also surprised myself to discover that I was actually starting to enjoy running, mentally I was more positive, and I even entered my first 10K race! The bootcamps got totally addictive – I have done all three so far, and in the month-long breaks between the bootcamps I can keep my fitness levels up with hardcore classes like Well-Tuff™ and Well-Boxed™ , and then stretch it all out at Well-Fit Yoga. (Don’t worry, I do rest and rejuvenate in between them all as I know this is just as important).

Since I started running I have had some quite noticeable differences, other than the weight loss.  My core muscles have become considerably stronger.  I noticed this when I found press-ups and plank type exercises massively easier than I used to.  Since this I have not experienced the back pain I used to either.  My metabolic rate and my hormone levels have changed - I now don’t experience the monthly water retention at all!  At Easter, at the point when I had lost about 10kg, I mused that back in February it was like I had been running around carrying two 5kg dumbbells.  Hard work or what?  To date I have actually lost about 3 of those.  I was given a new ring back in November last year.  Today, if I shake my hand it falls right off with ease. 

In total to date I have lost 2st 5lbs, 10% body fat, 4.5” off my hips, 3” off my waist, 3.5” off my right thigh, 2.2” off my right upper arm, and have dropped 3 dress sizes.  I have never felt as fit as I am now in my life and haven’t been this slim since I was at school.  In my last fitness test I managed to pump out 59 full press-ups in a minute – that’s nearly one per second!  A year ago I would have barely been able to do 5 before collapsing!
Of course, nothing can ever run smoothly for me.  Every week during my mission to become a runner I experienced a different pain somewhere.  None of this would hold me back for long though. The chiropractic treatment and sports massage clinics at hand at Well-Fit, as well as the expert training advice I get, are the perfect combination to get all the niggles sorted.  In the long term the benefits of exercise has outweighed any aches and pains I have experienced along the way, and in most cases, actually helped them to go away.

I would fully recommend Well-Fit to anyone who is looking to get fit.  By getting involved with so many different things there, I have made so many new friends in the past year, and as well as being hard work it has been really fun.  Francesca and any of her staff are perfect role models as trainers, always teaching at a level higher than anyone else and expect you to work hard.  Fran’s personality makes her style of training so unique, professional, personable and focused.

I’d like to thank Francesca and everyone at Well-Fit who have helped me achieve my mission, and thank you to you all for all the lovely compliments I’ve received.  Without you all I would not have got this far – and it is by no means over either...  I hope by reading this I have inspired you to achieve your goals the Well-Fit way too.  I can now 100% proudly say I am WELL-FIT!!