At her largest, Elena (Elle) Goodall weighed over 400 pounds. She would frequently eat three large meals when she sat down for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Elle couldn’t tie her own shoes and if she sat down on the ground, she couldn’t get back up. Despite all that, though, the Australian woman didn’t have her wakeup call until doctors told her she was putting her health at risk – in a big way.
Elle’s doctor’s told her she wouldn’t make it to 40 if she kept up her eating habits.
Determined to make a change, she started eating right.
But that wasn’t it. Elle knew that with all the obstacles she was about to encounter, she had to work towards something to truly make a change. The challenge? Elle says, “The triathlon has always been the ultimate for me – it’s three sports in one.”
So she hit the pool, the road, and the bike.
“Did my first spin class ever it hurt all over,” she wrote on Instagram. But she kept going back.
Slowly but surely, Elle saw her body changing. And with it, so did her outlook on life.
“I cry because of how proud I am in less than 2 years I have turned my life around from nearly losing my battles with weight and fast food.”
Elle crushed it at her first triathlon and quickly set a new goal to complete her second.
Her body continued to transform with hard work and strength of mind.
And after completing her second competition, Elle went on to conquer the Cairns Ironman.
“I just want to prove to people that if you reach…” a point in your life like she did, “…there is something you can do, and you can save your own life.”
What an inspiring transformation!
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