Discovering YOU Magazine June 2023 Issue | Page 12

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

disease at almost twice the rate as Caucasian women. In fact, African American women have lower 5-year survival rates and die from the disease more than any other race.

Ector co-owns Gymnetics Fitness and gym JUICE in Atlanta, GA, and has released a fitness DVD series, Black Girls Workout Too!, with her daughter Lana. Ellen also organizes walks for adults with diabetes and trains kids in track, field, and cross-country running — basically, she wants to help people from all walks of life learn to take care of their bodies.

“We’ve had kids come up to us telling us that we’ve helped their mom lose weight and we love that. It’s amazing. But we still try to stay humble because we have so much more work to do out there.”

Ellen also organizes walks for adults with diabetes and trains kids in track, field, and cross-country running — basically, she wants to help people from

all walks of life learn to take care of their bodies. If you’re ever in Georgia, you might run into the grandmother turned-trainer at her Atlanta gym or cold-pressed juice company . . . or you can simply follow her impressive fitness journey on Instagram. In the meantime, get inspired by Ellen’s incredible physical shape, and remember that anyone — no matter their age — can lead a healthy life!

After 20 years as a social worker, she decided to quit her job and pursue fitness training in 2009. “I said, ‘Either you’re gonna do this fitness thing or you’ll be working for someone else for the rest of your life,’” “I had five children and I was overweight. I took a pic of myself and I

looked horrible. I had all gut and butt,” says Ellen. “But after five children what do you expect?” So she decided to do something about it. She changed her eating habits, started to exercise and the weight started to come off. She started feeling more energetic too.

TAKE A LOOK: My Story: “Seeing A Picture Of Myself Changed Everything”