Success Stories What Others Are Saying About Active Evolution Fitness
Dawna Hauseman
Christmas of 2012, my daughter received an engagement ring. The date was set for March of the following year, 15 months. I had worked hard the winter before I turned 50 and got into the best shape of my life but over the next 3 years, I let things get in the way and I gained that weight back and my conditioning was awful! I thought this upcoming wedding was a great opportunity to get back into shape. Summer came and went, fall passed me by and come wedding time in the spring of 2014, I was still the same as before, not good. But life went on…
By fall of 2014, things fell into place and the time was right. My mind was made up, I was ready for change. There was a Biggest Loser contest at work and a really good friend of mine reconnected me with Nicole! The body changes started happening. With Nicole at my side for conditioning and nutrition guidance, I won the Biggest Loser Contest and I have once again become the strong, in shape “grandma” I want to be. Nicole has been so wonderful to work with. I feel she really cares about my lifestyle and works at helping me to make changes in my life that I can maintain. We have a lot of fun during workouts and that keeps me looking forward to each one of our sessions.
Thank you Nicole!
Don Wheeler
Problem – In February of 2013, I was 59 years old with a herniated lumbar disc and almost constant sciatic nerve pain, overweight, and so stiff in my hip joints that I could not move well at all. I have had an active life with kayaking, wakeboarding, surfing behind the boat and occasional mountain climbing and biking. It was to the point that I could not move well enough to be able to enjoy having fun with my family and friends because my body was in such bad shape. I kept telling myself that I needed to get in better condition and finally I got to the point that I made the decision to change so that I could be healthier.
Solution – Nicole McGraw, the owner of Active Evolution Fitness. My wife, kids and friends had been working out with Nicole for a couple of years at group training sessions and so it made sense to have her help me. I decided to start with Private Personal Training since I had not exercised since high school and I wanted to be able to learn the different movements at my own pace. Even more important, I wanted Nicole to be able to help with my chronic back pain with individualized exercises that would strengthen and not further aggravate the problem. I have been truly amazed by and thankful for Nicole in that my sciatic pain has disappeared and I am stronger than I have been in many years. My wife and I participated in a group “Weight Loss Challenge” with Nicole and other trainers and I won the challenge by losing 28 pounds which was 12% of my body weight. The weight loss and nutrition information combined with training 3 times a week has me feeling much younger and able to again be as active as I want to be. This last couple of months I have had the joy of moving through the wild lands of Oregon under my own power – rock climbing at Smith Rocks and backpacking onto Mt. Hood with my son, kayaking in the Columbia River at Tongue Point and doing a 5k walk/jog with my wife and daughter Katie. I became a wake boarder at 52 years old and I was progressively getting to where I could do less riding each year. This spring my son in law Dan and I have been out wakeboarding about 10 times and I am now riding stronger and enjoying it more than ever. I credit Nicole with having the knowledge, experience and commitment to lead me in achieving the weight loss and conditioning that I desired. It is so nice to be able to do yard work and firewood gathering without being in pain all of the time. The best part of working out is being with Nicole and enjoying her encouragement and fun personality. It truly has been my pleasure and reward in continuing to train with her. I am so very glad I made the decision to become healthier for myself and my family.
Larry Damon
I have been a client of Nicole’s for close to nine months. When I started, I was morbidly obese, a confirmed couch potato, and recovering from a severe shoulder fracture. I knew I had to make a change and had already lost about 20 pounds from my all-time high of 275 pounds mostly by cutting out fast food.
Nicole impressed me with her knowledge of body mechanics during our initial session and I knew that she would be a good fit for me given my injury and relatively poor overall condition. Since that initial session, Nicole has never failed to provide well thought out workouts, plentiful encouragement as well as nutritional support and advice.
Since starting with Nicole I have lost an additional 63 pounds and 7.7% body fat. I am healthier overall now at 61 than I was at 50. The best part is I am now able to really enjoy outdoor activities that would have been unthinkable a year ago. I just got back from camping in Southeast Utah where I went on long and strenuous hikes that involved climbing numerous boulders and steep hills. My endurance and agility surprised me. All that work for the last 9 months really paid off.
While Nicole’s services are not inexpensive, I believe they are an excellent value considering the knowledge and dedication that she brings to the table. I am pretty sure that a significant amount of credit for my success belongs to Nicole. While I certainly worked very hard to get to where I am today, I feel that Nicole was instrumental in helping me get there.
Libby Kirchhofer
After putting on more than a few pounds after turning 40 I started to work out. I don’t think that I ever broke a sweat during these workout sessions but it was a start. As I approached 50 I knew that something needed to change. I chose Nicole as my personal trainer after watching her work with several other clients at the gym I was going to. I noticed that she motivated each person in a way to make them want to work harder and I also noticed the difference in their appearance.
I have found Nicole to be an excellent trainer. Her variety of exercises surpasses anything I could do on my own. She customizes the training to fit my personal goals and she also provides nutritional plans to help me maintain healthy eating habits. It isn’t all in the weight and inches that I have lost but the strength that I have gained.
Nicole is a very kind and caring person who will go the extra mile for her clients to make sure that they achieve their individual fitness goals. She’s an incredibly knowledgeable trainer who has a true passion for her work. Thanks to Nicole, I look and feel years younger!
Christy Allara
Nicole has totally changed my mind as well as my body. She has changed my life in every way.
PHYSICALLY – I am amazingly strong for a 66 year old. I can do 25 “boy” push-ups in a row on a good day. I can keep up with my 6 grandkids. Thank you! When I began training with Nicole, I only saw her once a week. I quickly realized that wasn’t enough. Over the course of the last few years, I have continued to add a day. I now work with Nicole five days a week! I am totally addicted to her positive, friendly, caring, encouraging, inspiring, challenging, and fun attitude and workouts. She never lets me give up!
MENTALLY – She has encouraged and helped me to stop the negative self-talk that I wasn’t even aware I was engaging in. She does this in such a caring way. She has helped me become so much more confident and outgoing.
EMOTIONALLY – She has helped me let go of or at least manage the fear that I had allowed to rule my life.
I love working out one-on-one with her, in small groups and with large groups. The friendships that have developed from working out with others are SPIRITUAL to me. We are there for each other and Nicole has really helped me to be more inclusive. Not only do we perform our work outs together but she arranges exciting events for all of us to do outside of the gym.
Her listening skills are such a blessing. Her encouragement with my nutrition has helped me emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Nicole has and continues to turn me into a much younger person in every possible way. For such a young person she has amazing maturity and wisdom. Her dedication to each and every one of her clients even through the life changing events she goes through is inspiring.
Thank you for leading me on this glorious journey.
Terry Larson
I’ve always been skinny with a high metabolism. I am 5’9” and I weighed 108 when I went into the Marines at age 22. I’ve always been fairly strong and thought I ate well but last fall I decided to try training and nutrition with Nicole after hitting a high of 154 pounds. I’d tried working out at the gym by myself and I even went to a strictly weights gym with a trainer for a while but I didn’t know how to lose any weight since I’d never tried before.
Nicole helped me learn a lot more about food and helped me realize that I wasn’t eating balanced meals regularly. I studied the nutrition information she gave me and I really adhered to her guidance, plus I trained with her twice a week, in addition to other exercise on my own. I started to lose weight and never felt deprived. I did give up my regular trips to Starbucks but I lost my desire for cookies and other sugary/high carb foods. I’ve had ulcerative colitus for over 30 years and had some regular and occasionally bad depressions.
My digestive system is much healthier now and the training and interaction with Nicole and the others in the Group Training have helped me to feel more positive than I’ve ever felt in my life. I just do not feel down or depressed at all since I’m always working on improving my body and myself thanks to Nicole. Nicole’s training is awesome. I always get a good workout. She has as many as 10 people at one time and she can watch each person and customize training as needed for those with injuries or limitations. She makes it interesting and different each time. I really like how she has a warm up in advance with some mobility and active streatching. She schedules hikes and fitness challenges that you can partake in if you desire so she really makes it fun and shows she cares about each person – even outside of the training sessions. I now weight 137 pounds and I have lost 7% body fat. I’ve been able to keep the weight off even while being more relaxed about my extra work outs and eating.
I’m excited to be doing Nicole’s latest challenge and I believe I’ll be a long term regular customer of her training since I greatly enjoy her style and I know I would miss her fitness guidance – I just could not do this without her.
Rosie S.
When I reached retirement age, I started working with Nicole. I have no illusions of ever getting my 25 year old body back, but I’d like to at least maintain the flexibility and strength than I have right now. Working with her on strength, flexibility, and balance are keeping me going at a much stronger pace than others my age. She designs our workouts in a way that challenges us and she does so in a caring and respectful manner.
Chloe Kirchhofer
Going to work out with Nicole gives me motivation to be active and make healthier choices throughout the week. She is so knowledgeable and really cares for her clients.
