A woman from Newtownabbey is hoping her fitness studio can inspire and discipline others to find a love of exercise.
Clare McIvor, 48, opened Do It For You Fitness & Wellbeing Centre on the Ballyduff Road after her own struggle with getting into exercise during her weight loss journey.
Once weighing 23 stone and living with a food addiction, Clare has lost 12 stone over a number of years and since channeled her energy into developing an active lifestyle which she said has changed the lives of her and her family.
Always knowing exercise was a key component to losing weight, alongside meaningful diet changes, Clare still struggled to find somewhere she could go to feel comfortable to regularly exercise.
Speaking to Belfast Live, she said that made her want to ensure nobody would feel the same way – and instead create somewhere empowering and accessible for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes.
“I knew exercise was important, it was recommended, but I was too sore. I was too heavy and very embarrassed,” Clare said.
“I didn’t know what to do, it took me a long time to build up the courage for exercise to be a discipline in my life. Where I went, not every door felt open to me, because I was a lady who carried weight and also had psoriatic arthritis at the time, so I knew there were things I wouldn’t be able to do.
“There were also things I was too embarrassed to do, and I was deeply worried I would be asked to get down on the floor in front of someone and embarrass myself. With all that in mind, it took me a long time to find my home in terms of where to regularly exercise.
“That was a journey I never wanted any of my members to go through. When I was advocating weight loss, I always encouraged people to get moving, but very few people did.
“It’s easy to say you will make food changes and not actually do them, you can pretend to do it. But for exercise, you either show up or you don’t, there’s no hiding from it.”
Clare McIvor, owner of Do It For You Fitness & Wellbeing Centre in Newtownabbey, with gym member Kim Forsythe.(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
Clare’s fitness studio offers classes including a Chair Move & Groove class, Move to Improve which focuses on slower strength work, while Fit for Life provides general all-around fitness. As well as this, they offer boxercise and yoga sessions too.
Those who attend the studio range in age from 18 to 82, with Clare saying they love having people from all walks of life come along and learn from each other.
She added: “We have empathy where we understand as we’ve gone through it ourselves. I totally get what it’s like when you’re on the floor with people who are fitter than you, who can all jump up really quickly, and you have to struggle to a wall and climb up there.
“My seniors are the soul of our studio. I didn’t anticipate being of use to the older generation, I didn’t think I had anything to give the generation above me as they passed down all the knowledge down to us.
“The advice we get from our seniors here is extremely powerful. I didn’t think I would be seeking counsel from a room of people dancing on chairs, but that’s what I get every week.
“They guide me, they tell me I’m the most improved dancer in the room that week. We have a lot of laughs, we let go, we’re allowed to be ourselves, and that’s the essence of what this studio is.”
Through her focus on exercise and nutrition, Clare said her own life has changed dramatically, and she now longer has the psoriatic arthritis she spent years with.
The 48-year-old is hoping others can learn the benefits of exercise and how it can help them feel better in themselves.
Clare was inspired by her own weight loss journey to help others(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
She said: “My lifestyle has changed dramatically and with the change in my food and movement, I no longer suffer from psoriatic arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease. The second you start moving, your life will start to change.
“I no longer require arthritis medication or regular reviews, and I have been discharged from that system. I know I will always need to manage my health, but I now do that through movement, exercise and continually working on my eating habits, behaviour patterns and mindset.
“People aren’t stepping forward to be who they truly should be. Their chronic pain is causing them to be depressed, and that is a direct link which has been discussed actively now in the news.
“But it’s something anybody who lives with chronic pain could have told you years ago, that they don’t want to leave the house, that loneliness kicks in, that sedentary lifestyle is the greatest killer. So our message to people is that movement is medicine and we are proof of it, and we have evidence of it.”
Clare said she “still gets emotional” witnessing the changes people udnergo when they come into the studio. They have had people who have struggled to walk or lift themselves up become stronger, drastically changing their quality of life.
“I’m a 48 year old woman, and I can still get emotional about this as we have women and men in their 60s, 70s and 80s come into my room and their confidence is on the floor. They’ve come through these doors a complete shell; they’ve lost who they are,” she explained.
“They’ve given their life away to other people, and I understand why. They’re caregivers, and they’re giving away their time, their energy.
“Life is crazy and if finances are hard, if you’re not feeling well, if you’re going through emotional issues, exercise can get lost. But what I’m promoting is how we move in a comfortable way that’s accessible to whatever you need, to allow your own wee inner spirit to come out.
“You can soon see that exercise becomes your best friend and a hobby rather than a chore. It’s part of every day life, and if we don’t bring the discipline of this back into our lives, we are never going to rekindle that wee flame that’s there.”
Clare runs classes each week for people of all ages, sizes and shapes(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
Kim Forsythe began attending the fitness studio seven weeks ago. After having her knees replaced years ago, the 68-year-old began to struggle with getting up from the floor when playing with her four-year-old grandson.
However, she said things have now completely turned around for her.
“One day I was on the floor with my grandson and my daughter’s partner’s family were in, when I realised I couldn’t get off the floor,” she explained.
“I could pull weird positions to scoot myself off, but I didn’t want them to see the way I was getting up. I was embarrassed, so I sat on the floor all day. I was getting sorer and stiffer the longer I sat there for. That made me think what could I do?”
Kim had heard about the studio in a chance encounter at a coffee shop not long before, and decided to give it a go. A few weeks after joining, she found she was able to pull herself up.
She said: “There’s a really warm welcome when you come in to the class. When someone has a triumph we all celebrate.
“There are ladies and men like me who haven’t got a clue how to exercise, who can come along and have a go. I hope I can walk a marathon someday, but at the moment I’m delighted with my improvement.”
More than anything, Clare said she wanted to create a space where people felt happy and comfortable, and that they could be disciplined to return to.
“In here we focus on fun fitness. We skip, dance, hop, swing our arms, and we use steps like they’ve never been used before,” she said.
“Motivation and discipline don’t come easy on days where you’re tired, or whwen it’s raining, or when you’re sore. But when people are waiting on you and there’s accountability there, when you know your friends would notice if you’re missing, that keeps you going.
“We have become a group of friends in here, this becomes the playground people have been missing.”
You can find out more about the Do It For You Fitness and Wellbeing Centre by clicking here.