{"id":3052,"date":"2021-04-30T15:15:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T19:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3052"},"modified":"2021-04-30T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T19:15:08","slug":"jessica-nicholas-finding-the-strength-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3052","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Nicholas: Finding the Strength to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

From struggling with an eating disorder to living a life of fitness and nutrition<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Emma Vallelunga<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every woman has strength inside of her. How far she is willing to go and what she is willing to change or sacrifice to see that strength is up to her. But that commitment is something Jessica Nicholas hopes to spark in women everywhere as she begins her business venture into the world of health and fitness.<\/p>\n

Nicholas is a local fitness trainer and owner of Strength of Change, a personal training business built on the foundation of inspiring women to strive for a healthy and active lifestyle through high-intensity training and clean eating.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Central New York, Nicholas was active playing lacrosse, volleyball and soccer, but her inspiration for fitness stemmed from a challenging beginning. She struggled with an eating disorder, and her illness only worsened by the time she left college at SUNY New Paltz.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came home shortly after my first year there, and I had a hard time with everything,\u201d Nicholas said. \u201cI felt like my world was falling apart, and it was all based around myself, my relationship with food, and that spiraled into bad relationships with my family and friends. I found myself pretty alone, and the only thing I had to back me up was my eating disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas realized she wasn\u2019t happy with the direction her life was going and decided to make a change. Working out became one of her stress-relievers, and what began as only trying to lose weight turned into educating herself on better ways to strengthen her body and improve her relationship with food.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething just clicked one day when I went grocery shopping,\u201d she said. \u201cI got all the whole, nutritious foods for myself, and I was starting to learn more about fueling my body properly instead of just basing it off of counting calories. I really started to become who I wanted to become. I felt better about my body and how I was able to move and have energy and not be so dependent on what I was going to eat next and what that was going to do in terms of weight loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nicholas said she always worked in the restaurant industry before making the switch to focus on fitness about two years ago. She got her American Fitness Professionals Association certification and started working at a gym but eventually decided to start her own business last June.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 didn\u2019t stop her from starting Strength of Change and establishing a small clientele of women to personally train. During the winter months, Nicholas said there was a lull in business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like one thing after another with people getting sick and not being able to come in, and everything slowed down a little bit,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was difficult for me to establish everything at first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a lot of businesses these days, Strength of Change has adapted to the pandemic-world around it. In addition to offering small group classes twice a week for clients inside rented space at Infinity Dance Academy in Baldwinsville, Nicholas livestreams the class on Zoom for those who can\u2019t come down to the studio but still want to follow along at home. She also holds outdoor classes at Gillie Lake in Camillus, which can accommodate more people while complying with social distancing and offer a refreshing atmosphere outside when the weather is nice.<\/p>\n

Because of her past, Nicholas is also passionate about nutrition. She currently offers nutrition consultations through Zoom for women interested in starting healthier eating habits. She hopes to someday have her own gym to not only host her classes but also incorporate hands-on nutrition education.<\/p>\n

\u201cNutrition is super important to me, and it\u2019s what got me into this in the first place,\u201d she said. \u201cSo my dream is to have a gym with a small kitchen attached to it, so I can have healthy things for women to eat there, like grain bowls and smoothies, and also have classes where women can come in and learn how to make properly portioned meals with grains, veggies, fruit and protein.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nicholas continues to market herself, her business and her passion by posting inspiring messages about healthy living, video clips of her workouts from her group classes, photos and recipes of healthy food alternatives and more on her Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n

And her clients know how hard she works. Sue Hanyak knew Nicholas as a childhood friend of her daughter. When she heard Nicholas was starting her own business, Hanyak never imagined how much strength, focus and flexibility she would gain after working with her for almost a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 63 years old, and I had never lifted a weight in my life, and this girl pushed me in such a positive way,\u201d Hanyak said. \u201cShe\u2019s always kind, engaging and consistently focused on form and body mechanics, which I think is so important when you\u2019re working with someone [like me]. At 63, you\u2019re worried about getting hurt, and when I\u2019m with her, I never worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanyak and Nicholas have one-on-one sessions three times a week over Zoom, and she\u2019s planning to attend an outdoor class this summer. She said being able to train with Nicholas in the comfort of her own home no matter where she is and still get the benefits of her workout has helped her immensely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call her my traveling trainer, because I can bring her wherever I go,\u201d Hanyak said. \u201cI\u2019ve never done the same class twice. Every week is something different. She demonstrates, she does [workouts] with me, she stops me mid-flow if she thinks we can improve on my form, even the way I\u2019m holding a weight. She works with my weaknesses and pushes me within my strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen Khanzadian is another one of Nicholas\u2019 clients who enjoys the lifestyle changes she\u2019s made since she started training with her. She goes to Nicholas\u2019 group classes over Zoom and will also attend an outdoor class soon. Khanzadian said having a fitness routine has helped her not only stay physically active but has also kept her feeling good about her overall health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t even do a push-up when I started with her,\u201d Khanzadian said. \u201cBut the wonderful thing about her is she\u2019s an amazing motivator. She just knows what to say, and she does different levels. You can keep going even if you can\u2019t do the level she\u2019s at, so that no matter what, you will feel like you accomplished something by the time you\u2019re done. I\u2019ve done all kinds of other workout programs, and this one more positively impacts my day-to-day energy and activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she continues to work with Nicholas, Hanyak said she hopes Nicholas thrives in her new business and every aspect of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when COVID hit and things were hard for her, you never knew it,\u201d Hanyak said. \u201cShe just kept pressing forward. I hope for the stars for her, because I don\u2019t know anyone who eats, sleeps and breathes her job like she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women interested in gaining strength or changing their lifestyle can learn about class prices, services and more by reaching out to Nicholas on her new website at strengthofchange.com, on Facebook at Jessica Nicholas and on Instagram at jess.strength.<\/p>\n

By nourishing the body with what it needs, moving it through physical fitness and realizing the self-worth that comes with it at the end of each day, Nicholas said she wants to help other women find self-love within themselves and believes she will empower women with the strength to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up with an eating disorder, I never thought I would fully love every part of myself,\u201d Nicholas said. \u201cIt’s been a long journey to get to this point. But now that I\u2019m here, experiencing how good it feels, I am never going back. Every woman is strong enough to overcome any barrier, the ones that are placed upon us by others and the ones we place upon ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From struggling with an eating disorder to living a life of fitness and nutrition   By Emma Vallelunga Every woman has strength inside of her. How far she is willing to go and what she is willing to change or sacrifice to see that strength is up to her. But that commitment is something Jessica…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[247,1162,1163],"class_list":["post-3052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-story","tag-fitness","tag-jessica-nicholas","tag-strength-of-change"],"gutentor_comment":2,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jessica-Nicholas-Syracuse-Woman-Magazine-lead.jpg?fit=819%2C1100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3764,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3764","url_meta":{"origin":3052,"position":0},"title":"Inspire: Angela McCarthy – Keeping fit, both physically and mentally","author":"syracusewomanmag_c4lfdt","date":"September 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Janelle Davis Success depends on your backbone, not your wishbone. 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