An inspirational personal trainer is offering to help change people’s lives after revealing her own astonishing transformation.
At the age of 36, Lisa Little was an overweight hotel manager with a poor diet who suffered with health problems including heartburn and severe pains in her legs.
But the bubbly mum-of-three met a personal trainer in a bid to improve her health and suddenly her life changed.
Lisa lost an impressive four stone in weight, saying she was determined to change her life as she approached ‘the big 4-0’ while wanting to live a healthier life for her children.
Lisa’s 40th birthday prompted a dramatic career change as she waved goodbye to over 20 years in the hotel and hospitality industry and instead launched her own business, called From The Block Fitness.
She wants to break down barriers for anyone thinking about getting healthier by letting everyone know about her own amazing journey.
Lisa runs her business from her home near Southport town centre. She is currently running one-to-one personal training sessions in her large back garden, with two metre social distancing measures in place at all times.
Personal trainer Lisa Little is helping people to get fit, lose weight and get healthy
She has even set up online group personal training sessions using Zoom, allowing people to take part in her classes from their own homes.
When lockdown restrictions ease in the coming weeks, she will be able to offer two-to-one personal training which will benefit couples, or friends, wanting to get fit together.
With training taking place at Lisa’s home, rather than inside a gym with other members exercising nearby, those training can do so without the fear of being watched, or judged, by anyone else.
Lisa hopes that her example of what she went through will help others to take that first step to changing their lives.
She said: “There are people out there who may not have the confidence to go and see a personal trainer. I want to encourage them to try and take that first step.
“I like people to know that I have been through this process myself. I want people to know me and understand me so that I can begin to understand them and where they are, and to help them. I train anybody, males and females, as long as they are over 16.
“Fitness has been behind me as my strength in recent years. Now I want to help do that for other people as well.”
Personal trainer Lisa Little is helping people to get fit, lose weight and get healthy
Lisa has really seen the benefits of personal training as she looks back to how unfit, and unwell, she used to be.
She said: “I only got back into fitness in 2016. I was working at the Ramada Plaza Hotel as deputy manager and led quite an unhealthy lifestyle.
“I was four stone heavier back then. I was 36 years old and beginning to see the big 4-0 coming up, and I wasn’t in good shape. So I decided to do something about it.
“I contacted a personal trainer and that literally changed my life!
“I fell in love with fitness. I lost four stone, but I didn’t lose it all overnight, I don’t want anyone to get the impression that it happens that quickly. But I soon began to feel the benefits.
“My mood lifted. My general fitness was much better. My digestion improved. These are all positive side effects of better fitness.”
While Lisa was overweight and working long hours at the hotel she suffered from various health issues.
She said: “I am a very bubbly person, but really hid behind that front. I don’t think people realised I was struggling with the health issues I was facing.
“I used to have a lot of heartburn, and acid reflux. It is very incredibly painful and quite debilitating.
“My legs were incredibly painful. That is not good when you work in hospitality!
“I thought ‘I work in a hotel, I am on my feet all day, it’s just like that’. But it wasn’t. It was my weight causing my issues.
“My knees were so painful I struggled to get up the stairs. Since I lost the weight, that pain has gone. It is amazing the difference that getting fitter and losing weight can make.”
Most heartbreaking was the impact on Lisa’s family life.
She has a 21-year-old daughter and a one-year-old granddaughter, as well as two sons, aged 10 and nine.
She said: “Because of my weight I don’t have any pictures of myself with my babies, because I was embarrassed. That is a really sad thing. I wanted to start having pictures taken with my children.”
Personal trainer Lisa Little is helping people to get fit, lose weight and get healthy. She is pictured with husband, Joe, and their two sons.
Along with husband Joe and their children, Lisa’s improving health meant they could start doing more as a family.
She said: “We are now much more active as a family, going out on our bikes and doing lots of fun things together.
“It is good for our children to see us doing things like that, and it is also developing good habits for them to get into. Being healthy with my children really motivated me.
“Becoming fitter and healthier has really improved my confidence as well.
“But I understand wanting to get fit can be a big step for people to make, and wanting to do it does have to come from you.
“I hope people can reach out, and I will then be able to help them.”
Lisa suffered a major setback just before Christmas in 2018, when she was made redundant from her job at the Ramada Plaza Hotel. But training and keeping fit helped her to keep her sanity.
She said: “It was absolutely devastating. I had been working in hospitality for over 20 years and had been working at the Ramada Plaza Hotel for six years.
“All of a sudden I had this curveball thrown at me, and I didn’t see it coming. It affected me badly. I was really down.
“I turned to fitness, and enjoyed a brief spell as the sales manager at The Vincent Hotel in Southport.
“But then I had my 40th birthday and decided then that I was going to change industry and become a personal trainer. It shocked some people, but to me it just made perfect sense.
“I had enjoyed personal training for four years. I completed my personal training qualifications and set up my own business.”
Lisa’s plans have been interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, which saw many restrictions on people’s ability to interact.
She is now able to provide one-to-one personal training outside in her garden, and will soon be able to offer two-to-one training when the rules ease further.
For the past few weeks she has run growingly popular group personal fitness classes on Zoom – something which she thought was a temporary measure, but are now so popular that they will continue.
Lisa said: “Lockdown came in March, but I just see it as a blip in the road.
“But lockdown is lifting now and we are getting back up and running again.
“I love helping people to change their lives. I am really enjoying it.
“Changing my career to become a personal trainer is the best thing I have ever done. ”
Lisa Little, personal trainer, runs From The Block Fitness. One-to-one personal training costs £20 per hour, or 10 sessions for £180. Two-to-one sessions cost £30 an hour or £270 for 10 sessions. Group sessions via Zoom cost £3 each.
For more details please call her on: 07756203294
Instagram: @LisaLittlePT
Email: lisalittle1979@outlook.com
Facebook: From The Block Fitness
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