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John Wood

Group: Step into Life® Swan View, Western Australia

Comments about Step into Life®:

For the longest time it seems I've been asleep. Of course, that's not true - I've lead a busy, some would say exceptionally successful life. But then I discovered something profound. This is my story...
In 2006, I was told I had prostate cancer. As shocking as that news was, it came on the heels of an assortment of other ailments, some quite serious in themselves. In truth no one, least of all me, should have been shocked by that diagnosis. After all, I had been plagued by this or that malaise for so long, it had almost become a way of life. I had become the Poster Boy for a way of life that was killing me.
As you can imagine, I was advised to have the cancer cut, radiated or drugged out - soon! - or suffer a slow and painful death. I elected to heal naturally. You see, I had (rather belatedly) remembered a remarkable healing process from my late twenties - a profound discovery which was that the human body, given optimal nutrition, exercise, rest and state of mind will heal itself without (or in some cases in spite of) medical intervention.
Despite that experience, I had drifted, eating the equivalent of the Standard Australian Diet, doing no exercise, and failing to properly rest. I was stressed, and moving inexorably away from what would enable my body to sustain itself. In short, in the intervening 35 years, I had set myself on a course that would almost certainly guarantee the 'Big C'.
The morning after I received the news, I returned to the diet I had embraced all those years earlier. As well, I started gentle exercise, increased the amount of rest I had, and attended to my state of mind (a state of mind that had not been conducive to a healthy body for some time).
My diet improved quickly - though detoxing, from such a dramatic change, was physically and mentally tough. I was grossly unfit, unable to run a hundred metres without being flattened. I started walking, steadily building up the length and difficulty of the walks over time. I was getting good rest, and my state of mind was heading in a positive direction. There were many ups and downs along the way.
Two of my daughters-in-law, Georgina and Paula Wood, suggested I try Step Into Life. April 1st 2008, I 'stepped into life' and the rest, as they say, is history. Step has filled the critical exercise part towards comprehensive healing. I now participate in two cardio and one toning session each week. I have completed one boot camp and currently, I am in training for the Round the Bridges on April 5th. My goals are to break 60 minutes in the Bridges, participate in the Mini Olympics and run the City to Surf.
I have come so far. And so can you. Here are my 'before and after' comparison charts. I hope they inspire you to begin your own personal self-healing journey.
BEFORE: 64 years of poor diet, a sedentary life, insufficient rest and stressful thinking. Here was the end result:
Overweight.
Hypertension (arterial disease in which chronic high blood pressure is the primary symptom).
Hypothyroidism (an under active thyroid).
Continuous diarrhoea.
Various perennial skin ailments.
High cholesterol.
Exhaustion (one of many side effects to hypothyroidism). I felt old and worn out.
Cancer of the prostate.

AFTER: two years six months later, at 67, following a natural healing regime, my body responded with:
Weight reduced from 83.7kg to 60.7kg - a drop of 23kg.
Blood pressure down from 135/85 to 110/60.
Thyroid Function: TSH down from 27.90 to 3.12 (Healthy Range 0.40 – 4.00).
Normal bowl movements.
Skin conditions/ailments 100% healed.
Cholesterol reduced from 5.3 to 3.8 (Healthy Range <5.5*).
LDL Cholesterol (the bad stuff) down from 3.8 to 2.6 (Healthy Range <3.5).
Coronary Risk Ratio down from 5.3 to 3.8 (Healthy Range <5.0).
Exhaustion is gone. I feel stronger, healthier and more energised than I can recall at any point in my life.
I recently completed a VO2 Max test (a test that determines aerobic capacity during incremental exercise) and scored in the élite class for a 40/44 year old group.
I also took another test that compares and determines metabolic age with chronological age. I rated age 52 on that one - not bad results for a 67 year old non athlete who only recently started seriously exercising!
As for the cancer, test results continue to show steady improvement, with a much reduced PSA and a reduction in the size of the tumours.
I applaud Step Into Life. Proper exercise is a critical part of living a sustainable life. Step, and in particular Rob Cassian, is a central part of my healing journey and I absolutely encourage others to avoid the wakeup call I got by Stepping into Life every week.
You don't have to be where I was at to return your body to its natural health and vitality. I hope you're not. Wherever you're 'at', remember that nothing, absolutely nothing, is in isolation. Fresh air and exercise, rest, a healthy state of mind and good nutrition go hand in hand to create the health state that is inherently yours. Our bodies can and do self-heal, given the chance.
Love... John

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Jonney Brown

Group: Step into Life® Hallett Cove, South Australia

Comments about Step into Life®:

Before training with Jason i never really paid attention to my health and fitness. After only a few months i began to see some real results and even began to enjoy looking after my fitness and health! Before i started i didn't even have the strength to do 1 push up and within months i could do 30-40 plus! I've also seen real positive changes in my day to day life, i have more energy, i have lost heaps of weight and feel physically better than i ever have before. This is all thanks to Jason and his trainers and their ongoing encouragement and support.

~ Jonney Brown ~ (member since Jan 2009)

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Jude Edwards

Group: Step into Life® Forest Lake, Queensland

Comments about Step into Life®:

A flyer arrived in my letterbox saying that Step into Life had now started at Forest Lake. The first thing that appealed to me was that it was outdoors, and after exploring their website, I psyched myself up to give Alex a call. This was a big step for me as I don’t do things on a whim. I told him that I didn’t exercise at all and was incredibly unfit, had a poor diet, high blood pressure and a bad back. “That’s ok” said Alex (maybe he had a hearing problem!) and explained that the program suited all fitness levels. We made a “date”. I didn’t sleep the night before and was really nervous when I turned up before the class.
Looking back at my training diary and the comment I’d written after my first class (which was a Toning class), my comment reads “light-headed, felt like was going to puke for about 1 hour afterwards”. One week later the comment reads “jogged” between cones FIRST TIME!!” A month later it reads “fantastic session – really encouraging”. 12 weeks on, 3-4 sessions per week, my fitness level has improved, I’ve lost weight, my diet has improved, I’m down 2 dress sizes and have lost centimetres from my measurements.

I remember reading the website and some of the things that other people had written, and whilst encouraging, there was also that voice at the back of my head saying “we’ll see”, and expecting that these were probably people who had been exercising all their lives and enjoyed it already. I can honestly say that I look forward to my classes (something I never thought I’d say), I laugh a lot during the classes, I haven’t been bored at all (in fact, no 2 classes have been the same), the other people who have joined are great and vary in fitness levels and we all encourage each other and have a great time even when we’re huffing and puffing. Other than encouraging me, pushing me and laughing with me, one of the greatest things that Alex has taught me is “yes you can”. I didn’t realise how many times I said “I can’t do that” (and truly believed that there was no way that I was going to be able to do whatever it was) and Alex would say “yes you can”.

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Juliah Besselaar

Group: Step into Life® Mawson Lakes, South Australia

Comments about Step into Life®:

I have wasted hundreds of dollars on gym memberships that I haven’t used. I always started with good intentions but there was just never anything to hold my interest or keep me motivated. Then one night while watching TV instead of going to the gym I saw an ad for Step into Life and thought it looked a bit different and maybe worth a go.

Well that was September 2008 and I still haven’t missed a session!

Each session is different and interesting because there are so many options when you are exercising outdoors. There is the park, the lake, the streets, hills, steps and of course equipment that can be used to always keep the sessions interesting. Craig is excellent at using the available surroundings to their best advantage and designing each session so that everybody works to their own fitness levels and no one is left behind.

Some of things I love the most about Step into Life are:

- The encouragement you receive to set yourself goals – be they small (being able to jog instead of walk around the lake) or big (taking on the City to Bay) and to achieve them.

- You receive plenty of feedback on your progress through fitness tests (my favourite!), training diaries and from Craig. You’ll also notice it in yourself!

- Everybody at Step into Life Mawson Lakes is welcoming and friendly. We are quite a social bunch too with plenty of activities organised outside of training. So even if you just want to meet new people you should come and give it a try….the health and fitness benefits are a bonus.

Step into Life is certainly worth a go if you like to keep fit and are looking for something a bit different from your run of the mill gym.

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Julie Driver and Kirsten Rolls

Group: Step into Life® Iluka, Western Australia

Comments about Step into Life®:

Hi my name is Julie Driver and I joined Step into Life Iluka in November 2007. I was enjoying the classes and was slowly seeing a change in my fitness. Then December came and I started to slack off. In January my sister in law came over to live from the UK so my whole fitness stopped as you may well know the wine and bbqs started to flow.
After 6 months of slacking off my sister in law Kirsten and I decided it was time to get fit and lose those kilos that we had piled on. We joined Weight Watchers and started to learn to eat healthy then we came along to Wayne and we both joined started back at Step into Life. We started with fitball and kickboxing twice a week and as the weeks went on we found that our fitness levels were improving and started to see weight loss too. What kept us motivated was that we were doing it together and found that we encouraged each other and still do and there is always a little friendly competiveness between us. Since joining we have seen our fitness test improve every time we have completed one which encourages us to push ourselves that bit harder. We have also done bootcamp which we enjoyed very much. It was hard work but great fun and you feel a great sense of achievement once you have finished.
When Kirsten and I were back in the UK we did various different classes but after a few weeks we got bored with the same routine so we always end up quitting. What we have found with Step into Life is that classes are never the same and each one is a new challenge so you never get bored. Wayne always encourages you to push yourself a little more than you would normally. We love the fact it’s a nice friendly team and you get to know one another and make new friends . We are both now thinking of doing the 10km Bridges Fun Run in April which we would never have thought we could ever achieve in 2008.
We would like to say thank you to Wayne and Jeanette for their hard work and dedication to all their members. We are proof that you can achieve anything, we used to think a walk down the beach was hard enough but now we are heading towards running 10kms. We love our classes and enjoy the fact we feel better in ourselves.

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