THIS WOMAN has lost four-and-a-half stone after she piled on the pounds following an osteoarthritis diagnosis when her doctor told her to stop exercising, warning she would no longer be able to walk by THIRTY-FIVE if she carried on – but she’s since gone against this advice and says hitting the gym has relieved her painful symptoms.



Self-employed personal trainer, Athena Parnell (32) from London, UK, always struggled with poor body image growing up and thought she was bigger than she was. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis 10-years-ago after she started to experience pain in her knees whilst kickboxing. Athena’s doctor advised her to stop exercising and warned that if she carried on kickboxing twice a week, she wouldn’t be able to walk by the time she reached 35.



Athena accepted her doctor’s advice and stopped exercising but carried on eating big portions, snacking on chocolate and indulging in three course meals whenever she ate out, eating anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000 calories a day. Before long, Athena’s osteoarthritis pain got worse as her weight increased and she struggled to get out of bed some days.



At 16st 11lb and a UK size 22 and feeling miserable with how she looked whilst realising that she was never big growing up, Athena decided in September 2015 that she had to start exercising again and went against her doctor’s advice.

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