Contestant looks to be inspiration for senior citizens
Fay Cohill takes part in a PiYo class.
Fay Cohill and Sherry Rockwell take part in a PiYo class, which is an exercise that includes elements of both Pilates and yoga.
Fay Cohill participates in her first PiYo class, which was led by YMCA fitness instructor Laura Kearns.
Matt Howrylak checks Fay Cohill's progress.
Fay Cohill is confident that 2014 is her year.
When she saw an advertisement in the local newspaper that promoted the Shape-Up Challenge, a weight-loss and get-fit competition, she knew it was “a gift straight from God.”
“I just knew that I was going to get chosen after I made the call and had the interview,” she said. “I knew they were going to call me, and I’ve been grateful to God ever since.”
At 5’3″, Cohill, 66, of Palmer, recognizes that 270 pounds is “no joke”
“I went to my doctors, and I wasn’t feeling too good,” she said. “I kept thinking, I’m pretty healthy, but something’s really wrong. My fasting blood sugar was 345, and that was just too high … so I knew I had to do something.”
Weight, however, wasn’t always a struggle for Cohill.
She remembers being active in high school, both while at school, and at home.
But her weight troubles began with her job in home health.
“You sit in the car, you eat while you’re driving to get to the next client’s house. It’s a bad thing. (I) didn’t eat the right foods. (I) ate junk. (I) didn’t have time to sit and eat because you were trying to get your clients done in 7.5 hours,” she said. “The pounds just came on me.”
In one year, Cohill gained 80 pounds.
But she’s looking to reverse that.
With three weeks in, Cohill has lost five pounds.
“I thank God for that,” she said. “So far, so good.”
As one of the seven contestants in the Shape-Up Challenge, she’s hopeful her journey will inspire other senior citizens to take control of their health.
“I’ve had cancer in 1986 with only three years to live – it’s 2014 and I’m still here,” she said. “Don’t sit at home and think you can’t do this. You can do this.”
Cohill’s sister, a dietary aide at a school in Washington D.C., has been putting up Cohill’s photo every week to be an inspiration for others.
“Hopefully, after the 13 weeks are over, I can go down and spend some time at the school, and spend some time with the kids,” she said.
She would also like to meet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to get the word out about her weight loss journey to other senior citizens.
“If I can do this, anyone can do this,” she said.
Her main goal is to be diabetic-free forever.
“If I can be healthy, then I can go out there and do what God is calling me to do,” she said. “To be a support system to senior citizens in the area – to let them know there’s hope.”
Matt Howrylak, wellness director and personal trainer at the Uniontown YMCA, also shared some of his goals for Cohill.
“Nutritionally, I hope she can organize her work and her life to the point where she can consume more, because I still believe she’s going long periods of time without eating anything, and drinking water,” he said. “I have no problem with her exercises. I believe she’s doing exactly what she needs to be doing. I see her getting in here just about every day of the week.”
In one of their one-on-one sessions, Howrylak gave Cohill a routine consisting of cardio and resistance training that she can follow on her own.
“I really hope she continues to follow her exercises, which I believe she will,” he said.