How a mum of two who thought she was ‘Superwoman’ hit the brakes and reset after her dad died

Kelly Catterall, 42 from Whittle-le-Woods, had endured a difficult few years leading up to turning 40 with loss in her life and taking on too much contributing to poor mental health, low confidence and time signed off work.She said: “My dad passed away about five years ago, and I thought I was Superwoman. I was working full time, caring for relatives and looking after myself went down the list of priorities. I took too much on which affected my mental health and, in turn, my physical health just went all wonky, basically.“So that led to quite a while signed off work, I didn’t want to socialise and I didn’t want to speak with friends or family. My whole life just felt like rock bottom, I didn’t know where I was going to go next. So I did end up having some counselling, and medication.”Kelly had spent some time trying to build healthy habits and had a go at signing up to larger or more commercial gyms in the area. She did not enjoy the experience.

‘There were a lot of strutting peacocks and it wasn’t my scene at all’

She said: “I’ve been to a couple of gyms that didn’t really grab my attention because I felt out of place and didn’t know what I was doing. I wouldn’t say that the teams there were particularly focused on your own personal plan. It was very ‘one size fits all’.“And then I’ve been to gyms with friends who tried to encourage me to go with them but they were very commercial and I felt like I wasn’t worthy of being there. There were a lot of strutting peacocks and it wasn’t my scene at all.”

Today, she is thriving and enjoying life in a completely different way. She attributes overcoming the hardship in her life to engaging with fitness in a way she never has before. She did this with the support of May Wellbeing, a small group personal training gym in Clayton Brook.Kelly’s time at May Wellbeing has seen her boost her confidence by building strength and losing some of the weight that she wanted to. She has lost 13kg in body fat through her training and built 3kg of muscle in the same period. The mum-of-two is thrilled with those results, but happier about the changes to her mindset this has brought at home and at work.“At work, I’ve put myself forward for so many things I wouldn’t have done previously. Now, I present to 200 people which I wouldn’t have even thought about doing five years ago. I should’ve been here a lot sooner and will never look back. My confidence has grown no end, and it’s supported in so many ways of life outside of the gym as well.”Aside from her new-found love for a Parkrun on a Saturday, conquering Rivington as part of a triathlon and the success she has since found professionally, Kelly has changed the way she views food and her understanding of what eating healthily actually is.She added: “I think I used to kid myself that I was eating healthily. I thought being healthy was eating lots of green leafy vegetables and salads and not a lot more. At May Wellbeing, I’ve been educated around macros and what’s best to fuel my body.“My family have a history of yo-yo dieting, whether it’s Weight Watchers or whatever the next fad is. But now I know to eat right to fuel my body but enjoy the good stuff as well. The treats. It’s not a diet. It’s a way of life and a regime that I’m going to be following forever.”

Sarah May Webster and Louis Mayers opened May Wellbeing in 2019 and are thrilled to see how Kelly has progressed.They said: “The most rewarding part of all of this is seeing people transform and come out of their shells. That means so much more than just losing some weight. Kelly has grown in confidence and is a happier and more successful person today than when she joined us. We couldn’t be happier for her.”