The best feeling in the world is when you know you have helped someone to achieve their goals and beat their inner demons.
A few years ago, I worked for Nuffield Health as one of their personal trainers.
I loved it, from teaching spin and aquarobics to doing many varied PT sessions with my clients.
Most of my clients were women aged 45+ who were going through menopause and, in many cases, rebuilding their confidence after cancer, a mini-stroke, MS or diabetes.
“I need some help in finding me again.”
At Nuffield Health, as part of the membership, we would do Health MOTs every three months from when you joined.
The MOT would help establish your measurements, blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels, as well as your aerobic fitness.
When someone hasn’t had one before, it can be quite daunting, as it’s the unknown and they’re not sure what it will turn up.
Most people worry about their weight, whereas the secret killers are their cholesterol and sugar levels. These are the ones that need addressing and getting back under control.
I had a client — we’ll call her Athena, the goddess of wisdom, clever strategy and successful outcomes in endeavours. As you will read, “succeeding in her endeavours” was never a truer statement.
Athena came to one of my spin sessions, and after the class she said, “I need some help in finding me again. I’ve lost my energy and zest for life. I need to feel like I used to: fun, enjoying going out, enjoying meeting my friends and enjoying being spontaneous. Not the sack of potatoes I feel like at the moment.”
The first thing I needed to do was her Health MOT and listen to her story and concerns.
A PT is similar to a hairdresser: people confide in you and share things that they don’t even tell their families and friends.
Athena initially shared that she was feeling lonely, as she and her husband had recently separated. He’d chosen a younger model! She’d put on a few pounds, felt lethargic and was generally feeling useless.
I did the MOT, and that’s when things became real for her. Her blood sugar results were very high, indicating diabetes. I strongly recommended that she go to her doctor to get further tests.
This is an excerpt from an email from Nuffield Head Office at the time:
“Just had a lady chat to me about her health MOT. She had it done with Sarah, and it picked up a high glucose level. She went to the doctors and found out she had type 2 diabetes. She said she was really grateful and was just absolutely singing Sarah’s praises, as her mum died of type 1 diabetes, so the fact that we picked up on it, she was really grateful for. Also, she said Sarah was lovely enough to call her, as she hadn’t been in for three weeks having blood tests, and Sarah just rang to check she was okay.”
Athena returned, and that’s when we came up with her fitness plan.
She was aiming high. She wanted to get her diabetes under control and hopefully become diabetes-free. Then she hit me with it:
“I’m going to climb Machu Picchu.”
Yes, that’s right. Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a mountain ridge at 2,430 metres — 7,970 feet. So, not exactly a stroll in the park.
“I’ve given myself a year to get fit, and I’ve booked it for my mother’s birthday, in memory of her.”
So, with that timeline in place, her Machu Picchu training plan started.
At first, we needed to address what her weaknesses were in the evening, when she was relaxing after work, and what she snacked on without realising it.
It turned out to be crisps — family-sized packets of salt and vinegar.
Within three months, she had got her diabetes under control.
We came up with a nutrition plan and a training programme.
As part of the training programme, she would have a PT session with me once a week. She also wanted to do spin and some running.
At her first session with me, she came bounding in and said, “I’ve done it!”
I asked her what she had done.
She said, “I have thrown every packet of crisps out of the pantry. There is not one left in the house, and I won’t be buying them again.”
I said, “That’s amazing, and well done you. How many packets did you throw away?”
I was expecting her to say three packets, bearing in mind they were family-sized.
She said, “No — 20!”
There was not one packet of crisps left in the house.
Over the next 12 months, she did spin with me at the 6.30am classes, building up to doing it twice a week. Then we started with the running club.
We would start by jogging to a chosen tree, then walking to the next. Eventually, she was running four miles, with a hill to climb at the end of the trail.
Her training programme included kettlebells for strength and TRX, which uses your own body weight and increases cardiovascular fitness.
Achieving your goals is a feeling no one can take away from you
You could see each week how she started to beam with energy and walk with her head held high. She started to tone up and believe in herself again.
She completed Machu Picchu and fell in love with herself again
Within three months, she had got her diabetes under control and proudly announced that she had booked to climb Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain. This would also be a test of her cardiovascular fitness and a useful measure of her progress towards Machu Picchu.
Needless to say, she smashed it.
She came in to do the early-morning spin class after completing the “mini mountain”, as she called it, and she was just glowing.
All the members congratulated her, and then we all sponsored her to complete Machu Picchu as an additional incentive — even though she didn’t need it.
Over the next few months, we increased her VO? max. This is a measure of aerobic fitness and would help prepare her body to use oxygen efficiently while climbing Machu Picchu.
She completed the climb of Machu Picchu and fell in love with herself again.
As anyone will tell you, achieving your goals is a feeling no one can take away from you. Catherine, Princess of Wales, recently demonstrated that same sense of achievement when she completed the Three Peaks Challenge after her cancer treatment. Euphoria sums it up pretty well.
So, ladies, I hope this inspires you.
I feel so proud of Athena, and so grateful that she allowed me to be part of her amazing and inspiring story.
The crisps had gone, but her huge smile and sass were back.
Athena is a pseudonym. Her story is shared here in her memory, with warmth and respect.
Story by Aphrodite
Catherine, Princess of Wales, completed the National Three Peaks Challenge in late June 2026, climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours. She undertook it after announcing in January 2025 that she was in remission from cancer.
https://www.itv.com/news/2026-06-28/kate-completes-three-peaks-challenge-to-explore-life-beyond-cancer-diagnosis/
