A little bit about Dee McCahill (The Million Dollar Trainer)

I’m a Weight Loss Coach. A Fitness professional with years of experience helping people achieve their weight loss goals. As well as being an experienced Fitness Professional, my skills also include Neuro Linguistic programming (NLP), Emotional Freedom Technique(EFT) and Hypnotherapy.

As a coach, I work with many different issues: Binge Eating, Confidence, Phobias, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss, Motivation.

MY STORY…

In 1999 I first began suffering from hearing difficulties after a fantastic holiday in Thailand partying my ass off… and while there, I went for a dip in the River Kwai (as you do). At the time I didn’t realise anything was wrong. I began experiencing problems after the flight home when my ears didn’t pop – again thought nothing of it. After a couple of weeks because my hearing had become so bad went to my GP and was told I had an ear infection. Eventually it was discovered that I had picked up a parasite while in the water and that was what had caused my deafness. By this stage irreversible damage had been done and the defining moment came after a hospital appointment where the consultant casually remarked that I could expect to be profoundly deaf within the next 5 years. That’s when it hit home.  I’d never actually thought about that part. By 2001 I had lost all hearing (yes I’m completely deaf now) & had developed Menieres Disease a really debilitating disease that severly affects your balance amongst other things – life as I knew it was GONE.

I had Vertigo pretty much 24/7 – imagine being on a roller coaster every day knowing that you couldn’t get off no matter how sick or weak you were.

That was me.

For a long time I was in denial, refusing to accept my hearing loss AND most importantly ignoring the fact that everything I was doing right then (partying & eating crap) was making my Menieres Disease worse. My weight dropped – as well as my mood. My confidence deserted me ….  situations that I used to enjoy suddenly became a chore as I struggled to come to terms with my disability. I was prescribed anti -depressants by my GP in addition to the countless other pills that helped me to function daily and keep my Menieres in check yet I still carried on in denial – partying, eating crap and wallowing in my own self pity

POOR ME.

Up until my hearing loss, I had always enjoyed exercising – I LOVED walking my dogs on the beach. I spent hours training in the gym working on my physique. I wanted to be strong, fit and healthy and most of all be happy with myself.

Eating clean & staying lean had always been my mantra.

The stupid thing was in spite of my own fitness & nutrition knowledge, it still hadn’t hit me that everything I was doing … all of the crappy things I was eating & drinking were further adding to my health problems. Depression had set in and I sank to an all-time low.

I still continued training my clients but deep down my heart wasn’t in it – I was a FAKE. My mojo was gone!!.

Eventually I realised that if I didn’t help myself, nobody else could! Focusing on my own personal development, getting my nutrition dialled in 200% and my dogs allowed me to slowly start to put my life back together

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT DEE!!!

Time to start practising what I preached again…

My lightbulb and defining moment came when I signed a new client  – MARY

MARY’S STORY…

Mary was 65 and had lost her sight in a car accident 3 years previously –

The same car accident had also claimed the life of her husband of over 40 years.  If this wasn’t bad enough, Mary suffered from Osteoporosis and had a severly disabled daughter with no speech whom she insisted on caring for herself.

A blind mother with osteoporosis caring for a severely disabled child with no speech….

How on earth did they manage??

I used to come away from each session feeling so humbled and ashamed that I had let myself down.

I WAS LOST

From that moment on, I made a promise to myself to have a positive impact on the life of every single person I worked with, bring out their inner beauty & encourage those who feel like they’ve lost their way, lost their laugh and lost their love for themselves and lives to find it all again…..

“Be The Star You Are”

I had to start with myself – learn to like ME before I could possibly hope to help anybody else. It wasn’t easy but my hearing loss forced me to look at myself in a whole new light and most importantly re ignite my passion for fitness & helping other people.

Fast forward to 2011 …. inspired by Mary’s incredible determination & courage, as well as my own personal journey, I just KNEW I wanted to create something to enable me to take other people on their own Life Changing Journey.

I didn’t want to be just another Personal Trainer offering 10 sessions for X or 20 sessions for Y – I wanted to create an experience, encourage my clients to think outside of the box, RE-INVENT themselves, RE-WRITE their own history and most importantly CHOOSE their Journey Destination.

The Result?

Million Dollar Fitness & the Million Dollar Trainer were born ……..

What Living With Meniere’s Disease Is Like …. From The Heart

Meniere’s Disease is a severely debilitating disease of the inner ear that affects between 1 in 2000 people. Hearing Loss, Tinnitus and severe vertigo are the main symptoms. Over the years I’ve learned to manage my condition through lifestyle changes & nutrition rather than through medication. Every day I face things that are difficult to deal with. I rely mainly on lip reading and of course my hearing aids. Without my hearing aids I hear no sounds at all. Zero. Nada.

Functioning in a hearing world requires so much concentration and effort. Head melting at times!  I’ve been the only one left in the street after bomb threat evacuations, I’ve missed flights & trains, I’ve been stranded in a lift – there have been so many situations that at the time were pretty frightening yet as challenging as it is for me, it’s also challenging for those spend time with me on a daily basis. I’m lucky to have a husband who is tremendously supportive

Living with Menieres is a feeling of being in a fog trying to make my way at times around a room and feeling relieved that I’ve made it to a chair – I haven’t fallen or knocked out some teeth to get there. Music, Songs – lovely songs that make other people so happy can be for me at times head melting and all engulfing to my ears. I want to shout, “Stop”!

I hear all sounds, plates clattering, doors opening & closing, TV, radio, voices … all sound crashing through my hearing aids, hurting my ears every day, all the time.

Taking out my hearing aids at the end of the day is a blessed relief – I guess just like when you kick your shoes off and reach for a glass of vino or a packet of biscuits. Relief – thank god I’m done for the day

Years ago, I loved going to on amusement park rides – even though I was s*** scared!! I enjoyed the buzz, the adrenaline, the excitement and feeling of the roller coasters. I got my kicks riding motorbikes – loved the freedom

No more rides, those days are gone, the feeling is just like those roller coaster rides in my head daily –  when I do get an attack of vertigo, it is the most horrific feeling!

When I walk, I’m sure people look at me thinking that I have had too much to drink, because as I am walking, I veer a little to the left or right because meniere’s affects my balance.

So, I am careful.

No more motorbikes

My life has changed because of this disease.

MASSIVELY

But to be fair, it’s made me more determined to become the best version of ME I can possibly be

I never know from one day to the next what will happen, however, I don’t get hung up on what if’s.

I choose what I can do and can’t.

It hasn’t affected my love for my family, friends and life.

It is a journey for me, I am enjoying my journey of life as best I can, however much I dislike having this disease

Faith in myself, courage, and inner strength allows me to deal with this every day of my life.

We all have the same number of hours, days and weeks in the year. It’s how we choose to use that time. One of my favourite phrases is “Your why should make you cry”. The goal must be so strong that it should make you cry. That’s how much you care about your deepest desire. In everything we do, there’s an underlying motive. Most of the time we’re not aware of it. Which often leads to having no direction in life, and getting nowhere yet the best thing is that once you find your why, you’ll sleep better at night, you’ll feel content and become more motivated to take action towards your goals and dreams.

You OWE it to yourself

 

Live With Passion

Dee x