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Spalding woman who shed 11 stone 6 lbs bedcomes personal trainer




Determined to beat depression, Heather Walker swapped her medication for for the gym – and lost a staggering 11 stone 6 lbs.

And now she is determined to help others become their best versions, as this week she launches her new venture as a personal trainer.

“It started back in 2017. I was really suffering badly with depression and was on a high dose of sertraline,” explained Heather (37).

Before and after! Heather Walker has changed her life by hitting the gym
Before and after! Heather Walker has changed her life by hitting the gym

“I tried counselling and that didn’t work. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that. I was at the lowest point in my life and I didn't know what to do and, in some ways, didn’t want to be here.

“I went to the doctors for a routine check up and she said about my weight. It snapped it in me.

“That caused me to quit my tablets. I went cold turkey and threw them in the bin. I walked into Everybody's Gym in Spalding and that’s where it started. I was a size 26.

“I took out a programme and started to work on it, which was a distraction from coming off the medication, which wasn’t much fun with the side effects.”

Heather Walker hit the gym to beat depression
Heather Walker hit the gym to beat depression

Six months later Heather had lost three stone, but wanted to push herself harder.

“I just continued to move the goalposts,” she added.

“I wanted to lose six stone. I knew I was big and wanted to lose a lot. I've currently lost 11 stone 6lbs.

“I’m pleased I started it and it was something I needed to do. If I hadn’t gone to the gym I don’t know where I’d be.”

Heather Walker will launch her new venture as a personal trainer next week
Heather Walker will launch her new venture as a personal trainer next week

Spalding-based Heather hopes her story can inspire others to follow in her footsteps.

“If I can do it anybody can do it,” she said.

“You have to just believe things will get better and trust the process.

Focus on what you want to achieve and you can do it. Don’t compare yourself with others, look to better yourself.

“When I started deadlifting the heaviest I could lift was a 14 kilo bar but you chip away at it, add weights on and increase it.

“I like lifting weights as I like the empowerment of it.

“I can deadlift 110 kilos, around 16 stone, that makes you feel great in yourself. It strengthens your body and mind as you have to push through the uncomfortable.”

While Heather describes her decision to ditch the meds as ‘crazy’, she is quick to point out others don’t have to do it her way.

“You don’t have to go cold turkey. I’m just an all or nothing person.

“For me, fitness and exercise is the best antidepressant. Hopefully others can use it to get to a better place and discuss bringing down your levels with your doctor.

“I’m five years off medication and I’ve not felt the need to go back.”

Gyms can be daunting places to enter for the first time, indeed Heather’s training partner is her earphones, which she uses to blast out heavy metal bands such as Def Leppard and Guns n Roses while working out.

But they also provide an important sense of belonging for others.

“The gym I go to is more of a community. It becomes your lifestyle and then everything else falls into place,” Heather pointed out.

“You don’t feel like a pizza after a workout so you choose to eat healthier which has its own effect.

“You are what you eat. We all have an element of junk in our diets but if you eat rubbish all the time you feel rubbish all the time.

“If you eat rubbish you have less energy and then mental health becomes more taxing.

“I’m not on a crazy diet. All I’ve done is calorie count and moved more.”

Having turned her life around, Heather is now willing others to do the same as she launches her tall Girl Fitness personal training business, based at Everybody’s Gym.

“I feel now I’ve gone full circle,” she said.

“I started off trying to change my life and now I’m a qualified personal trainer.

“I want to be able to help make a difference to others.”

Heather will be taking clients from Monday (July 10).

Further details are available by calling 07933 185 946 or through Heather’s website.

*Got a story to tell? Email andrew.brookes@iliffepublishing.co.uk



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