Beth Mills, a lifelong active person, rediscovered her strength and confidence through Get In Good Nick after years of ankle surgeries and nerve damage, proving the right programme can transform your outlook on ageing.
Before starting with Get In Good Nick, Beth felt a long way from herself. “Rubbish. It really was. I’d gone through nearly 15 years of operations on my ankle and nerve damage and everything else, and it just left me feeling not myself. I’d always been very active before that.” Losing walking, running and cycling in the Cheviots had left her, in her words, “fairly depressed.” Her biggest fear about ageing was clear. “Being dependent on somebody. I’ve always been a very independent person, and the thought of not being able to do things for myself, that scares me.” She had tried other fitness programmes, but they didn’t suit her. “There was one which was a bit of kickbox. I quite enjoyed it, but it was very much the same and it just repeated itself. There was no progression, so I very quickly got bored.” Get In Good Nick’s progressive, encouraging approach was different. “It’s a lot easier than some of the programmes, and because it’s progressive I found that very encouraging.” Starting took a little push, mainly over budget. “I’d prevaricated quite a lot before I joined, mainly because of being a pensioner on a limited budget. And my husband actually said, look, try it, this is your Christmas present.” The gentle check-ins helped her commit. “They always kept in touch with me, not in a sales kind of way, but just to let me know they were there.” The three 20-minute sessions fit straight into her day. “I just do it straight away as soon as I get out of bed, and then I don’t have to think about it. I haven’t found it hard to stick to.” The at-home format was a major advantage in a rural area. “I would hate to go to a physical gym. I’ve tried it over the years and I really don’t like it. So this is just so much more convenient.” The coaching made the difference. “Emma is exceedingly good at explaining things and showing how the exercises should be done, and she’s very encouraging throughout.” Beth’s progress showed up in small but significant moments. “There was a very definite point which sounds daft, but because of my ankle and the nerve damage I’ve not been able to jump. And I actually did a hop on that foot. It left the ground and I thought, wow, did you see that?” The physical changes surprised her too. “Looking down at my legs and saying, what’s that? Then realising it was the muscles toning up.” Everyday movement got easier. “It’s being able to step up and down levels with more confidence. Also climbing five-bar gates and just walking with more purpose.” It shifted how she saw the years ahead. “I was really rather worried because of the syndrome that I have. Some people have ended up in wheelchairs, and I couldn’t give that any mind room. Now my outlook going forward, even after this operation, is that’s fine, I’ll get back to where I was, which I wouldn’t have had before.” Her confidence to try new things came back too, from a mountain trike to a cold-water swim. “It was cold and it was such fun. I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone, which I used to do but hadn’t done for a long time.” Beth’s message is simple. “Just try it. You’ve got nothing to lose.” She won’t hear that it’s too late. “It’s not. When you see the 82-year-old lady who swam the English Channel recently, if you’re fit enough to do it, you’re lucky enough to be fit enough to do it.” More than anything, Get In Good Nick restored her confidence and her appetite for life. “It’s given me a lot more confidence to go out and try things,” she says, describing moving from housebound to embracing the outdoors again. The accountability kept her going. “That thought of, somebody’s going to contact me here, I better get it done.”“I actually did a hop on that foot. It left the ground and I thought, wow, did you see that?” – Beth
Before Get In Good Nick
Getting started
What changed
What she’d say to someone thinking about it
“It’s given me a lot more confidence to go out and try things.” – Beth
Member
Beth Mills
Beth Mills's reviews
Hello, my name is Beth, and I’ve been with Good Nick now for just over a year. This is coming into my second year, and I can honestly say it’s been a game changer for me.
I have always been an active person, walked, ran, swam, you name it, I did it, cycled, and then 15 years ago I comprehensively broke my ankle because of certain failings in primary care. It was 5 hours or more before I got to hospital with no pain relief, um, and ankle not supported whatsoever.
This kicked off a syndrome, chronic regional pain syndrome, to which I still suffer from today. But that causes all sorts of other problems as well. Since then, I’ve had practically an operation every year, and I’m still in a, of what I call a Stormtrooper boot from my last operation. Hopefully, this one may be the last.
However, my mobility was very, very compromised because of it, and because of all of the operations, I had nerve damage, which meant my, um, awareness of where my foot is at times wasn’t there, which meant that I kept tripping, I kept falling. I’d lost confidence. I’d put weight on everything that goes with it.
I was desperate to find something that would get me back to being active, and I tried all sorts.
Some of them were too boring. Some of them, they didn’t have enough in them, and a lot of them you were left to your own devices, where that you had to navigate through quite a, um, a, a dashboard which is very complicated, complicated.
I then came across Good Nick. I did the three-day challenge, quite liked it, and then I signed up for the 9 week and absolutely loved it. And even in that nine weeks I could see the difference in myself.
I won’t lie, it was a bit of a struggle to try and afford it, and the first one I was actually bought it for Christmas present. But since then, husband also has seen the big difference in me, and it’s now just part of my life and subsequently part of his because I’m so much better, so much happier, and so much more able to do things.
I now am able to walk. I have walked seven, eight miles, and where I live, believe me, seven and eight miles here is up, down, up, down. I live on the edge of the Chiefs, by the way. Um, I’ve climbed gates. I can lift field gates where I couldn’t before because my arms and everything else is just so much stronger.
Um, going into my last operation, which was at the very beginning of February, u, my lovely consultant, who I, again, I’ve known now for nearly 15 years, said, “What have you been doing? You look fabulous, and also you’re in such better condition muscle-wise in your leg than you were before.”
So consequently, when it came to being in the cast, non-loadbearing for 6 weeks and on crutches, I could manage them fine.
It is a struggle at times, especially now with how much money sometimes people have going out. However, what I will say to you is, have a think. Think what being more mobile, um, more confident both in yourself and in your body image, and not only that, what people around you will benefit from this.
It’s for you, but it also helps them a great deal.
That’s basically where I’m sort of at with it now. Thank you for listening. Bye-bye.
years old