A West Vancouver Realtor will be in the spotlight this Thursday when her mettle is put to the test and she proves nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it.
Debbie Lee Evans’s lifestyle is laid out in a new documentary series, Mind Set Go, which follows eight different Canadians as they tackle their obesity over a three-month wellness journey of body, mind, and soul.
The participants are paired with Canadian Paralympians who have used a positive mindset to overcome their own barriers and provide essential insights to participants along the way.
“My back had gone out last year for about five months and I just felt awful and I just needed to make changes,” says Evans of her mindset this time last year.
A social media post calling for applicants for this wellness reality show caught Evans’s eye. She hastily took a picture of herself, sent it to casting and crossed her fingers.
“If you overthink something you don’t do it,” explains Evans.
Casting called her back and after a couple video chats it was decided Evans would be one of the eight Canadians to be on the show.
“Thank goodness it was not like some of the reality TV shows where cameras followed you around all day and night …,” she says.
Instead the filming schedule for the documentary was more relaxed. Scenes for Evans’s episode were filmed at various locations around the North Shore from August to November in 2017.
“It was really cool,” reports Evans of the experience.
She got to work with fitness experts Lowell and Julie Taylor (Amazing Race Canada) and train with Canadian Paralympian rower Victoria Nolan, who is blind and has broken world records. Lowell, a registered psychologist, is legally blind and a competitive para-triathlete and para-cyclist who’s training for the 2020 Paralympics.
Evans is inspired by their journey, to say the least.
“We tell ourselves constantly that we can’t do something and then you meet someone like that who has just done these amazing feats of getting over all obstacles that were thrown at them beyond the normal obstacles that we deal with every day,” says Evans.
“When you meet people like that, you can’t really say you can’t do it.”
Each episode of Mind Set Go starts with the participant's backstory – perhaps a health scare or a traumatic event was the catalyst for their weight gain. Participant sets a physically demanding goal – like climbing a mountain – to reveal how their lives and attitudes have changed after the three months.
Earning a yellow belt in kick boxing is Evans's goal. She was filmed breaking a sweat at a couple of North Vancouver gyms, KB-ONE Martial Arts Academy and Soul Fitness Health Club.
But it was changing her eating habits that was the hardest part of the challenge for Evans.
“I could live on potato chips,” she says.
Now it’s all almonds, kale chips and hummus for Evans when she gets a food craving.
Evans also has a new mindset and has learned to take care of herself.
“No one is going to do it except for you, right? As a mother and a business person, you tend to focus on everyone else but you; you’ll put yourself last,” she says.
Months after the cameras have stopped rolling, Evans continues to lose weight through healthy eating.
She’s down 36 pounds or so.
“And I’ve toned huge. My body is not even like what it was,” she says.
Evans two sons, Oliver and Logan Neufeld are also featured on the show, as their mom’s support team.
Evans's episode airs this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. on AMI-tv. The series features Integrated Described Video and is accessible to audience members who are blind or partially sighted.
Full episodes will also be available to steam online at ami.ca following the broadcast.
