From Hating the Gym to 5+ Years of SHINE Online: Emily S's SHINE Story
- Jess Takimoto
- Nov 11
- 5 min read
"I used to think fitness had to happen in a gym. SHINE showed me I could build strength, endurance, and confidence right from my living room.”- Emily S
Watch the full story: https://youtu.be/Wuic3hg4yEU?si=7clMATtut5W8LXyr
Summary
Introduction
Emily S doesn’t live in Toronto. She’s not physically in our studio, often, and she’s not even in the same city. But if you’ve been around SHINE for a while, you’ve probably seen her name pop up in the chat on Zoom, on Slack, or heard Jess shout her out in class.
Emily is a chemical engineer living in Peterborough, working in lab-based R&D by day and logging into SHINE Online by night. She’s been with SHINE since March 2020—yes, OG free-Instagram-livestream-era—and has stayed through moves, graduating university, and a full-time job.
💙 From childhood asthma → consistent, sustainable fitness
💙 From hating the gym → actually looking forward to workouts
💙 From mirror-obsessing → giving herself grace and feeling genuinely strong
This is Emily’s SHINE Story.
What Was Emily's Relationship With Fitness Before SHINE?
Growing up, Emily was never really taught fitness as something you intentionally build into your life.
As a kid, she had pretty bad asthma—so bad she couldn’t run or play most team sports.
“I couldn’t do soccer, I couldn’t really run. I’d be completely winded in 30 seconds.”
While her friends were playing Timbits soccer, she was on the sidelines. And when you don’t grow up seeing yourself as “sporty,” it’s easy to assume fitness just isn’t for you.
In high school:
➡️Her asthma finally came under control
➡️She started to notice her body more
➡️The comparison and body image stuff kicked in
Like so many girls, she learned to pick herself apart in the mirror: checking if her body “looked different” hours apart, watching, monitoring, critiquing.
Food-wise, she’s grateful: her family bounced between diet fads, but nothing stuck long enough to become a pattern.
“I never really developed a bad relationship with food, which I’m so grateful for… but the body image stuff? Oh yeah.”
Then came university, and with it: THE GYM 😅
She tried going to the ARC at Queen’s, but the experience was not it.
➡️Seeing people from tutorials and lectures
➡️Feeling watched and pressured
➡️Hating the environment more than she liked the workout
“I despise the gym. I’ve tried to make it work. I just hate it. Why would I force myself to go somewhere I don’t want to be?”
She knew moving her body was important—but she still hadn’t found something she could stick with.
The Turning Point: Finding SHINE
In March 2020, her second year of university, Emily S's group chat was blowing up about COVID cases and campus shutdown. Within days, Emily was back home in a small town, isolated from friends, stuck inside with her parents, and cut off from normal student life.
That’s when Jess’s Instagram started showing up on her feed.
Free live workouts
Dance-y, high-energy, zero-gym-vibe
5-day challenges and daily classes
“It took me a while to build up the courage just to join a free class. I remember messaging Jess and she was like, ‘Just try it. It’s free.’ So I did.”
One class in, and she was hooked.
What those early livestreams gave Emily:
💻 Structure in a chaotic time
💙 A bubble where COVID talk stayed out of the room
🎶 Fun, music-filled, 30–35 minute classes she could actually finish
🌎 A sense of community in the chat when the world was shut down
“It was something to look forward to every day. It was the first thing I’d ever stuck with consistently.”
That spring and summer, she did SHINE 5 days a week. Her cardio improved, she got stronger, and for the first time in her life, she could feel what consistency did for her body and mind.
Making Space for SHINE
When classes at Queen’s moved fully online, Emily went back to student housing, this time, with questionable floors and tiny spaces.
The solution?
✅She found a spot in the basement for her HIT workouts
✅When she moved again and had less space, she took SHINE onto her driveway
“My mom would be cooking dinner and I’d be doing burpees in the dining room. She’d just say, ‘The floor is shaking, but good for you.’”
At one point, tech, moves, and housing made it harder to keep up. Online options shifted. Life got busy. She fell out of routine for a bit.
But Shine, stuck in her mind.
“Even when I wasn’t doing SHINE, I knew I wanted to come back. I value movement so much more now because of SHINE.”
So when she graduated and moved to Peterborough for work, she made herself a promise:
“There was no other option. I had to sign back up. What else was I going to do-go to the gym and hate my life?”
Now she’s a primarily online member, working full-time in the lab and fitting SHINE around a flexible, often inconsistent schedule.
Making Time for SHINE
Emily works variable hours, and some weeks are busier than others, but she still averages 3 classes a week, often more.
Her system is simple and brilliant:
She looks at when she’ll likely leave work
While still at her desk, she books a SHINE livestream
She gets home, changes immediately, and hits play
“I don’t give myself the chance to sit down and talk myself out of it. If I can do a SHINE class that night, I do a SHINE class.”
When people say, “I don’t have time,” Emily is gentle but honest:
“You do have time. It’s about planning and holding yourself accountable. SHINE makes it so easy, especially online, that it’s hard to make excuses.”
She’s right. If you can spend 45 minutes doom-scrolling, you can spend 45 minutes moving.
💪 From “I Can’t Do a Burpee” → “I’m a Fit Person”
When Emily started, she couldn’t do a full burpee.
She modified. She did squats instead. She took it one track at a time.
Over time:
✅She built the strength to do real burpees
✅Her cardio improved massively
✅She saw visible and invisible progress
“The workouts don’t get easier. You get stronger. That’s what’s so motivating.”
Now, 5+ years in, she can confidently say:
“I would absolutely call myself a fit person now. I never would’ve said that before SHINE.”
Emily’s Advice for Anyone Starting (or Restarting)
Here’s what she’d tell her younger self—and you:
💙 Be kinder to yourself. You don’t have to earn your worth by changing how you look.
💙 Stop waiting for “the perfect schedule.” Your life will always be busy. You make time by planning ahead and committing.
💙 Start small, but be consistent. You don’t need 5 days a week right away. Start with 2–3. Let the wins stack.
💙 Find a space that feels safe. If the gym stresses you out, that’s not a moral failing. You just haven’t found your space yet.
💙 Look for community, not comparison. Movement lands differently when you’re cheered on instead of judged.
“Find an outlet and a community that helps you change your mindset. For me, that was SHINE. I don’t know where I’d be without it.”
READY TO START YOUR OWN SHINE STORY?
Feeling inspired by Emily S's story? Listen to the full episode of SHINE Stories on Spotify or Apple now! If you’re ready to start your own journey and experience the power of community, book a free intro session today and let’s chat about how SHINE can help you transform your relationship with fitness.
Ready to start your transformation? Click here to book your free intro session today!
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