Getting Started is Biggest Step for Getting Fit!
by Nancy Roy

Almost everyone gets a body wake-up call. It can happen anywhere at anytime. Perhaps it’s a sudden glance in a storefront window while shopping, or not being able to fit into a favorite pair of jeans anymore. For Allyson, it was just after a dream vacation to Italy, celebrating her 40th birthday. While looking at the vacation pictures she suddenly questioned who the woman was in the photos. It was her. The pictures did not lie. She realized she had gained some weight. Was this what life was going to look like now that she had turned 40?

The difference between sulking in a challenge and rising up to it for a solution is huge. Allyson made her decision.. This was NOT how she was going to face the rest of her life! She wanted her energy back, her bubbly personality back…and most of all she wanted her figure back!

I knew Allyson as a neighbor and understood her story. She grew up in West Hartford (Conard grad 1992) and was an active soccer player in her youth. After getting married she cooked more and moved less. On top of a busy work schedule, she had torn her ACL years ago and gave up exercising all together. We talked and I offered her a solution. More than a personal trainer, I became Allyson’s live body coach, offering her work-out sessions right in the comfort of her home, something I have been offering people in and around the West Hartford area for a long time via my ‘Fitness on The Run’ service.

I remember that very first workout session on Allyson’s living room floor and I knew that she was hooked! We simply moved back the couch and coffee table and worked ‘center ring’ on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

I knew that we needed to start Allyson on a beginner level since she hadn’t exercised in a long time. She needed some regular cardio to start losing weight, so I started her off with step aerobics. This is great for beginners because you can go at your own pace and it is a low impact exercise at high impact intensity. If you don’t own a step platform, you could use the bottom step of a staircase in your home, stepping up and down for as long as you can. Even 10 minutes is a great start. Eventually work up to 45 minutes, which you can do slowly over many workouts. Stepping is a fabulous workout. Did you know that climbing up the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building and half way down is equivalent to 45 minutes of step aerobics?!

For beginner muscle toning, we used light free weights. At home, you can substitute the weights for two cans of soup, one in each hand. Put your elbows up against your body like they are glued there and slowly curl up and down 12 times, working your way up to 3 sets of 12 reps over time. When the exercise starts getting to feel easy, you’ll know it’s time to do more sets.

“It was great having someone tell me how to exercise safely,” reflects Allyson on those very first workouts. “I know now it’s important to do a warm up before and cool down stretches afterward. Nancy also gave me homework, like walking my dog more and stretching a lot everyday. My starting weight was 163.3, about 20-30 pounds more than where I was comfortable at and my body fat was between 39 and 40%. I knew I had work to do!”

When Allyson completed her first 8 weeks on the personalized in-home fitness program, I told her it was time to face the scale again. The moment of truth was here…

…Find out how Allyson did and what she looks like after phase one of her fitness program, in the Spring Issue of West Hartford Magazine, and continue following her weight loss/get fit journey in the issues following. Better yet, start moving and JOIN Allyson on her quest to get fit!