Trained for success
BUTLER TWP — Their meeting was pure happenstance.
But it changed Emily Hiles' life.
Hiles, 39, a massage therapist in Butler, had already started a process of losing weight “because I knew it was something I needed to do.”
Kyle Walters, a personal trainer, received a gift card for a massage from one of his clients. His massage therapist turned out to be Hiles.
“We got to talking and I saw how serious she was about wanting to drop weight,” Walters said. “She was interested in learning ways to lose weight and keeping it off.”
Walters put Hiles on an eating plan and a healthy training schedule.
“In five or six months, she dropped 50 to 60 pounds,” Walters said. “She met some of the competitive athletes we work with along the way and started asking what it takes to be able to do a show.
“She had to work up to it. Nobody runs a marathon in their first race.”One thing led to another and a year later, Hiles found herself competing in the body transformation division of the Battle of the Buckeye bodybuilding competition in Akron recently.She wound up winning that transformation division. Hiles competed in two other divisions as well, placing third in the bikini novice class and fifth in the bikini mom division.“My weight was well over 200 pounds when I started trying to lose,” Hiles said. “I dropped 20 pounds on my own over a period of time.“After meeting him (Walters), I began seriously training and dropped another 80 in just under a year. I weighed 104 at that competition.”A competition she didn't expect to win.“I'm not a competitive person,” Hiles admitted. “I went to the show because it was something different to experience. I certainly didn't plan on winning.“It did give me more self-confidence, though. Yes, I plan on doing some more shows. I guess I've caught the bug that way.”Walters said the transformation in Hiles physically — not to mention confidence-wise — was “an amazing thing to watch.“This woman went from never wanting any pictures taken of herself to standing on a stage in a bikini, inside of a year,” he added. “She looked like she belonged up there. This was an evolutionary process for her.“Emily saw that it's normal people doing this — school teachers, nurses, etc. — just committing to an ambitious activity.”Hiles described her meeting Walters as “good timing.” She started training shortly afterward.“Besides general health, I was having back issues,” she said. “The weight had to come off. And while I'm not a competitive person, I also don't pass up opportunities in life.“I'll never be that person who looks back and asks 'what if?' I'm gonna go for it.”Originally involved in nursing, Hiles' career goals were altered after her husband ruptured discs in his back while in his early 30's.She wound up getting involved in different types of massages to help him and determined that was the direction she wanted to go.“It serves as tremendous pain management,” Hiles said of massaging. “Massages are more than just relaxing. They affect people in a very positive way.“This was the right fit for me, If I love my job, I won't ever have to go to work.”Already satisfied with her career, she's now anticipating more self-improvement through physical training.“I go to the gym pretty much every day,” Hiles said. “I've learned time management. Work, training, family, trouble-shooting, there's time for all of it.“I've never been happier. It's just setting a goal and doing what's necessary to get there.”Walters marvels at Hiles' story.“She owns her own business, works 60-plus hours a week, has a special needs child and still found the time to do this,” he said. “She's an awesome example of what's right about fitness.”
