Vicki Nystrom
October 2017
What did life look like before you focused consistently on nutrition and fitness?
Before I started to focus on my health, I was extremely shy and quiet. I had no self confidence. I would walk with my head down and never smile or say “hi” to anyone. I always let my two older sisters do all talking. My goal was to blend in and not draw attention to myself. I didn’t want anyone to notice me. My eating habits weren’t great- I was a very picky eater. My diet consisted of cheese pizza, chicken fingers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and hamburgers.
What made you decide to make a change?
In 2002 my oldest sister Jacki got engaged. She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I was so scared and nervous just thinking about having to walk down the church aisle and standing at the front of the church with everyone watching. Jacki has always introduced me to people as her little sister. This always bothered me because I would think, “there is nothing little about me.” I could only imagine what they were thinking. I didn’t want to be the big little sister and bridesmaid. I wanted to be able to have fun and enjoy myself at my sister’s wedding and not worry about what others were thinking about me.
What has changed (race times, blood work, attitude, etc)?
I started working out 3 days a week. As I got more comfortable at the gym, I would go 3 to 5 days a week. As I started to lose weight and see results, I started to enjoy working out. I was motivated and encouraged by noticing my clothes were getting bigger. As I started to lose weight, my taste buds changed as well. I started to love fruits and vegetables, as well as seafood. I no longer wanted the hamburgers or chicken fingers. When my diet changed, I lost even more weight. To date, I have lost 100 pounds. Seeing results and keeping the weight off is a huge motivator. But what is even a bigger motivator for me is the non physical changes I see in myself. I have self confidence, and will smile and say “hi”. My first group fitness class was with Jina at a community center. She got me hooked on Turbo Kickboxing and I haven’t looked back since. Nickie also taught at CSCC and I took a few of her cl asses. Even though I would crawl out of her classes, I loved her energy. When Nickie opened the Warehouse, I was so excited. I love the support and encouragement at the Warehouse. I look forward to coming to the Warehouse and being a part of something so positive.