By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
EMMA Hayley was once embarrassed about her weight but two years on and now 60 kilograms lighter, she wears her triumph on her sleeve everywhere she goes.
The proud single mother from Langwarrin recently got a tattoo of the name and logo of her beloved gym, Pinnacle Health Club in Cranbourne.
Emma says she has “lost a person” in weight and owes her new healthy life and career goals to the gym that’s stuck by her for the past two years.
“I know people will think getting a tattoo of a business is a bit crazy, but so is losing 60 kilograms – it’s a motivator every time I look down at it,” Emma said.
Weighing in at 160 kilograms before she setfoot into Pinnacle Scoresby, Emma said she could hardly walk up the stairs to sign up, let alone work out.
“I was scared and embarrassed, I was really big, unhealthy and unhappy, I never ate properly, never exercised, emotional eating got the best of me and it just got out of control,” Emma said.
The 27-year-old said admitting her size was one of the hardest things to do.
“I can’t ever remember being thin, I’ve always been overweight – since the weight loss my Grade 6 primary school jumper is too big, the clothes I buy now I’ve never bought before,” Emma said.
“I would drive past Pinnacle every day and think I should go in and then one day I decided I had to set a good example for my two-year-old daughter Aurora.”
Emma owes her transformation to the one gym she’s continued to go back to.
“I’ve been to a lot of other gyms throughout my life and said I’m going to lose weight, but so many are intimating and expensive – at Pinnacle there’s no judgement,” she said.
“I’ve experienced trainers at other gyms who treat you like you are lesser than them because you’re so unhealthy and let yourself get out of control and as a single mum I felt like I wasn’t good enough.
“At Pinnacle I first started just walking on the treadmill, they didn’t push me to get weighed when I didn’t want to. At Pinnacle it’s about meeting your goals and being strong and healthy – not getting skinny.”
Emma is currently studying youth work and wants to help others beat their demons by becoming a personal trainer.
“It would be my ultimate dream to work somewhere that has changed my life,” she said.
“I want to help people to realise that physical and mental health are directly connected and it’s so important to work on them both.”
The latest addition of ink to Emma’s new figure is what she calls her reward for sticking to her exercise regime despite her low points.
“When I started two years ago I said to my first personal trainer, Ben Stallworthy, if I lose 20 kilograms I’ll get a Pinnacle tattoo but after reaching each goal I kept putting it off because I felt I didn’t deserve it.”
Emma said the tattoo was initially just going to be the logo on her wrist.
“But then I thought why not the name it’s something I say 50 times a day and I can’t imagine what the future would have been like for Aurora and I if it wasn’t for Pinnacle,” she said.
“I’m so passionate about it and it may seem crazy but Pinnacle has just changed everything about my life, I owe it to them that I’ve achieved what I have, even though I still have a long way to go, I couldn’t be more grateful.
“They helped me to change my body and now they’re on my body.”
To follow Emma’s progress to lose another 20 kilograms like her Instagram page, ‘emmaragetsfit’.
Emma talks about her amazing transformation and the support given to her
