Carol Ann was born in New Zealand, however ended up living overseas after she went on a vacation to Alaska and stayed for 30 years! She said that the portion sizes, her job as a chef and the sociable way of living contributed to her weight gain. By the end of her 30 years, she was obese, had COPD and her health was poor.  She was told by medical staff that she didn’t have long to live so she returned to New Zealand for her final couple of years.  Having poor health, being labelled obese and being told she only had a year or two left to live didn’t sit well with Carol Ann and she wanted to fight for a better quality of life and essentially her survival.

After returning to New Zealand and in an appointment with her GP, Green Prescription was recommended so she embarked on this free programme and joined a local gym to see if it could help her. Since Carol Ann began at Coastal Fitness, she has gone from 131 kilograms down to 105 kilograms! Her breathing has improved greatly, and she no longer requires her nebulizer.  She started with doing 20 exercises and 20 reps of each. She now does 3 sets of 25 exercises; 40 reps. Carol Ann no longer has a death sentence hanging over her and instead her focus is losing weight to be considered for surgery as both of her knees require operating on.

Noelene, who is the owner of Coastal Fitness has gone above and beyond with Carol Ann and has been training her personally for no extra charge. She takes her through a range of seated exercises for 1.5 hours 4 days a week.  Noelene says, “Carol Ann’s capabilities have improved greatly since she has been attending the gym as her boundaries are pushed in a safe and controlled environment”. Carol Ann also comments saying “the support and accepting nature of the fellow gym goers at Coastal Fitness have helped me immensely. I have made some lovely friendships and I find that everyone I see encourages me. The gym is great, the music is loud, it’s fun and I can even have a laugh, apart from when I’m on the treadmill….my nemesis!”

Carol Ann’s biggest challenge was breathing, and she overcame that by moving back to New Zealand as the climate difference helps, also a change of medication and her change of attitude. She has only missed 2 gym sessions since joining the gym 9 months ago and has made some changes to her lifestyle to help her succeed including taking her brothers dog for a walk, doing exercises at home, ceasing to buy confectionary, riding her bike, keeping diaries of her food and COPD, and changing her diet to include a more nutritional menu.

Carol Ann has been supported on her health and wellness journey by several people, including family whom she would like to thank, Noelene and Tanya, gym members and Green Prescription. Carol Ann says, “I enjoy the monthly check ins with Green Prescription to discuss the month that has past, the ups and downs, and enjoyed reflecting and then looking forward”. Health benefits that Carol Ann is currently enjoying are mentally feeling in good spirits, emotional relief, she can join others on walks now and keep up and she just ACED her recent lung function test!

Carol Ann wanted to participate in this story to motivate others into becoming more healthy versions of themselves.  Parting words from Carol Ann “don’t change who you are, stay true to yourself but become a healthier fitter version. Don’t compare yourself to others but allow them to inspire you”.

Well done Carol Ann, your positive attitude, fun nature, determination, and all-round awesomeness are the keys to your success. You can have all the support in the world, but you still must put in the work! Keep up the good work, you are an inspiration to us all. We are very proud of you.

At Sport Northland we exist to enrich Northlander's lives by inspiring and enabling more movement and one of the ways we do this is through Green Prescription - supporting people on their journey.  If you would like some support with your activity goals, give us a call on 0800 GET ACTIVE ... we are here to help!