Fit, Fabulous & 50: How Nancy Dropped 2 Dress Sizes
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“Probably my number-one struggle was lack of motivation,” says Nancy Puckett. “I had this desire to be healthier and to work out, but I could never quite get it together, could never quite get started.”
After turning 50, Nancy noticed not only her metabolism crawling but also her energy levels slowing down her life. She was always a fit and healthy person, but started to notice the effects of getting older.
“I was putting on weight in areas I had never seen before, and things just didn’t feel normal. Clothes weren’t fitting the way they used to, and my overall health was not what I knew it could be,” explains Nancy.
Her old habits of eating what was convenient and living what she calls an “undisciplined lifestyle” just weren’t working anymore and she realized her ultimate goal: a healthier lifestyle.
It just so happened that Nancy’s son, Preston, was an eager new personal trainer with Kickoff. Nancy is the kind of mom that will do anything to help her kids succeed, including launching herself on a journey to getting fit. She became one of Preston’s first clients (serious mom goals).
Here’s what Preston did to help Nancy get stronger, lose weight, and find discipline — talk about a win-win.
They Started With Slow And Easy Workouts
Preston’s approach was simple at first. He started with short workouts on a regular basis to get her moving and set up for long-term success.
“It was a mix of low-impact cardio and bodyweight movements, and lots of stretching because I have a few injuries so he was very careful with that. And I had not done any kind of steady workouts in years,” shares Nancy.
The key for Nancy was just getting moving again because, as she puts it, “motion is lotion and every bit of movement is beneficial.”
She gave herself the grace to move at her own pace while she got used to a routine, and this helped her stay consistent.
As Nancy got more comfortable with her workouts, that’s when Preston turned up the heat.
Her Coach Checked In Constantly
The best part about Preston’s coaching style for Nancy was how closely he paid attention to her progress. He checked in daily to see how she felt about every workout, and slowly increased the frequency and difficulty of her workouts.
“As he began to see me get stronger, he would give me a new exercise or increase the reps of that [exercise]. That kept it interesting for me because then I could feel a sense of accomplishment and I could see growth with my physical strength,” explains Nancy.
Nancy and her coach also worked together on improving her diet. Preston encouraged her to log her food daily to see what she ate, and gave her tips on how to create more balanced meals. She struggled with mindless eating, but Preston gave her healthier substitutions for the foods she loved.
With a consistent routine, and a whole lot of encouragement, she noticed major improvements in a matter of weeks. She went from struggling to finish her workouts to crushing them.
She Wasn’t Concerned About a Number on the Scale
“As women get older, we begin to see things drop and I was certainly seeing that. I was beginning to notice that my balance was not as good as it used to be, my range of motion, my stability, all of those kinds of things. Through Kickoff, every one of those have improved, and that’s more important to me than a number on a scale,” says Nancy.
Instead of getting caught up in short-term weight loss, she focused on building strength and stamina with consistent exercise. As a result, she went from a size 10 down to a size 6 and noticed that she was able to fit into clothes she hadn’t been able to wear in years.
Her Progress Kept Her Motivated to Keep Going
Her physical progress was nothing short of impressive, but it was the feeling of accomplishment that kept her consistent. “There was an overall physical improvement, but more than that was the mental and emotional improvement, just that feeling of ‘wow a month ago I couldn’t do 10 push-ups, and today I just knocked out 20,’” shares Nancy.
Nancy’s biggest tip for those stuck and unsure where to start? Just do something. Anything.
“Move your body just a little bit, even if it’s just 10 minutes every day,” she explains. Getting started was the hardest part in Nancy’s experience, but she was unstoppable once she made daily movement a priority.
