Finalists / Nancy N.

Nancy N.

66.09% change in body fat percent

*Results not typical

NANCYN 700x500 FRONT

I’ve always been athletic and competitive but I’ve also been a quitter.

I consider myself to be active and healthy. I competed in figure skating from ages 9 to 18. I got married, worked full time, attended college nights, had my first 2 kids and was stressed by work. I started eating too many chips watching TV at night. Enter 2 more kids, more relationship stress and dealing with my parents having dementia/Alzheimer’s.

I quit figure skating when I couldn’t pass a test, I quit relationships, I started and quit college more than once, I quit riding my motorcycle(something I loved) and I quit people in my life when they didn’t meet my expectations. I’m a quitter.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had the usual body aches, a herniated disc in my back, a partial rotator cuff tear, and my hips hurt when I try to run distance. Not relying on proper nutrition left me lacking energy.

My dad and mom were not healthy. They had heart attacks in their 50s and 60s. My dad also had COPD, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My mom had rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My oldest brother had a pulmonary embolism in his 50s and is a chronic smoker; my other brother is overweight and on meds for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My dad died at age 89 of a heart attack and I watched my mom die from Alzheimer’s 3 months after my dad died. After they died I knew I wanted to keep my mind and body as healthy as possible for as long as I could.

Watching my folks die I realized I may not get enough of those days to cross things off my bucket list. However, being a single mom of 4 kids, working 2 jobs and running the kids to their activities, busy doesn’t even begin to describe my days – how was I going to find time to work out?

I decided it was time to hire that trainer at LTF. I started working with Brandon Buchholz in July. Brandon helped me with nutrition (which I always struggled with and wasn’t disciplined about) and he helped me figure out what my priorities were in the way of which supplements to take. I trained with Brandon 2x per week and did HIIT training 3x per week, as well as 1 weight lifting day on the weekend and 1 day off to rest. I started to see results with slowly losing weight and a little more muscle definition. Brandon suggested I enter the 60-Day Challenge which started in August. He said “What do you have to lose?” I wasn’t sure about it but he was right, what did I have to lose?

I decided to enter the Challenge. My body fat was 17.4% and I set a goal that I wanted to be 9%. I wanted to go from 132 lbs to 115 lbs. In my 1st week at weigh-in I dropped over 6 lbs and was at about 14% body fat. I was #1 at the club level and #16 in the nation – that’s all the motivation I needed to keep going to tell myself I could actually win. I’ve always been a quitter when I don’t see progress or the going gets tough. I always give up on things too easily instead of persevering. Brandon’s belief in me kept me excited and motivated. He made coming to the gym fun, always changing my workout routines. I felt great and had more energy. I lifted heavier weights. Brandon was getting ready for his own kickboxing fight, his first in 3 years, and watching him get into shape for his fight was also motivating to me.

I knew I would have to cut out pop, alcohol and all the munchies I loved. I knew there would be no excuses, no bad food, no distractions, and I had to make working out a priority. I usually don’t have willpower or self control. I knew I had to make a commitment to this process.

I wanted to compete at something again. I wanted to know I could win the Challenge and even though I really didn’t have much weight to lose I wanted to see my abs again. I took advantage of Try-It Tuesdays, used some recipes from LTFs website and had a Metabolic Assessment done by Angie Cummings as I knew I needed to burn fat but didn’t know where my Zones were. All of the support at LTF has been amazing. Support from other trainers who also had people competing in the Challenge meant a lot to me as did supportive comments from other LTF staff and members when they started to see my gains. I would never train or go to a gym other than LTF.

I’ve never been much of a runner but started running with a goal of doing a mile. Now I can easily do 3 to 4 miles.

My kids have always been athletic but we changed our eating habits for the better. They have participated in karate, basketball, swimming and Kids Academy classes at LTF. LTF is not just a gym, it’s our 2nd home sometimes.

After the Challenge is over, I will stay in shape. My body and mind are healthier. I will always work out and may compete in a Masters fitness competition.

I have kept my promise that I would see this to the end. There were days I felt like quitting but I’m glad I persevered and can say I finished. I no longer consider myself a quitter.

Through this process I learned that this was not just an “event,” it’s a lifestyle.