Nickie makes change for life
Nickie Pharland was so busy giving her time to others that she never had time for herself.
But after joining Marlborough on the Move, the mother-of-three and veritable volunteer has re-ordered her priorities to make room for some Nickie-time..
“I do a lot of volunteer work (Salvation Army, toy library, Under-5 dancing programme, Volunteer Marlborough, Whitney Street School and Lights over Marlborough).
“I work part time. I’ve got a 9-year-old daughter at home and I also baby sit my granddaughter.
“I didn’t think I had time to go swimming.”
But through MOM’s team challenge, Nickie has been able incorporate regular work outs into her hectic schedule.
“Swimming has become an important part of my life,” she said.
“Instead of doing everything else but this – I now make the time to do it.
“My swimming – is my time.”
Nickie’s decision to make exercise a priority has changed her life in ways she never imagined.
“There’s been some big personal changes….It shines through all aspects of my life, I look at things a lot different now,” she said.
“Health takes greater prominence.
“I’ve found that by doing the challenge, I’ve changed a lot of what we were doing at home.
“We’re trying to be really good and eat more healthy and there is less junk food in the house.”
As a single mother, costs have always been a barrier to exercise to Nickie.
“Initially what attracted me was that it was a free swim,” she said.
“For me the financial side of it was a big issue. To come swimming 5 times a week would cost $15.
“I’d put that in my own head that I couldn’t afford to do that.
“Now I know I can afford it – suddenly it is important.”
But just because it was free, didn’t make it easy.
“When we started we did 40 lengths of the pool and felt like we could die – that was only 1km,” she said.
“I can now do over 40 lengths before we start the class.
“I can really see the progress – I can just keep going and going now.
“I really enjoy it. It’s almost like a buzz.
“We have an agreement that I’m allowed to come in one-and-a-half hours early, as long as I keep going for the whole class.”
Her dedication is paying off.
““My fitness levels are huge, it used to take me 25mins to walk into work, I did it the other night in under 15mins,” she said.
“With the swim programme I lost about 10 per cent of my body fat.
“I’ve toned up heaps, and people notice when they look at me.
“I am lighter than what I have been in 20 years.”
With the toning up, and the going down in dress sizes.
“I’m buying smaller clothes now – it’s an empowerment,” she said.
“I went into the wardbrobe and tried on my old sized clothes and they fell to the floor. They were way too big.
“There was one that was three sizes too small – I tried it on the other day and they actually fit me.”
But the best results are not visible.
“I feel brilliant. I have a lot more energy. My asthmas has not played up as much and I’m sleeping better.
“I look better, I feel better …. I’m more in control.
But she hasn’t finished yet.
“I’d love to get down to 100kg. For some people, that might sound like a short target – but then I might be able to get off some of my medication.
“Losing weight lowers my risks for heart disease and diabetes which means less risk for my 9-year-old daughter.”
“I’m getting stuck in and being motivated to do the best that I can.
“I say to people, if I can do it, you guys can too.”
