Hard work is paying off
Ten professionals and 10 teams are competing in the 2015 Get Fit Challenge. Who will earn the healthiest marks? Follow along on Facebook and then find out at the In Business Expo & Conference on Oct. 21. This week, IB checks in with Kate Karre, HR administrator for Johnson Block & Co., who is competing in the individual challenge.
We’re closing in on the last few weeks of the challenge, and I’m feeling great! I haven’t lost as much weight as I would have liked, but I’ve continually seen the number on the scale go down each week. Plus, I’m building muscle and feeling stronger than ever before. I’ve done exercises I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do, and worked muscle groups I didn’t even know I had. Joining the Get Fit Challenge was an excuse for me to try new things and find a healthy lifestyle that I can continue after this is all over. I recently took up a group dance class at Harbor Fitness that I absolutely LOVE, called WERQ. In addition to the classes at Harbor, I’ve been doing DVD workouts at home, walking around my neighborhood, and completing 30-day challenges, including squats and planks. I’ve been working out anywhere from 30–60 minutes a day, six days per week. I can’t say that working out is something I’ll ever enjoy, except for the dance class, but I know it’s something I need to do in order to continue this journey.
As far as nutrition is concerned, I’ve been doing pretty well despite being occasionally surrounded by burgers, brats, and hot dogs. I do splurge on occasion, and it’s usually on my kryptonite — pizza. With it being summer, I’m easily able to get plenty of fruits and veggies in my diet. I’ve never had any issues eating my fair share of fruit, but my problem is with veggies. For the longest time I was eating a variety of kale salads available at Hy-Vee. I’ve recently become sick of those and have moved onto carrots, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower. I try to rotate as much as possible, and as much as I hate the taste of celery, I’ve started combining it with my serving of health fat for the day, peanut butter, and it makes it much more pleasant to eat.
The one area I know I still need to work on is my water consumption. I never drink the recommended amount of water that I should. I’ve gotten better, but there are days where I’ll start to drink a bottle of water, and by 5 p.m. I’ve only finished half the bottle. While I was working out the other night, I made the comment that I thought I was doing well on my water consumption for the day because I’d just finished my second large bottle of water. I thought that was pretty good, considering I usually don’t reach that point until it’s time for bed. My trainer, Jamie, burst my bubble though and told me that by that time of day I should be on bottle number five!
The other day a friend of mine asked me what my final goals were for this challenge. My response was:
- I want to lose 12 more pounds before the final weigh-in.
- I want to win most-improved female.
Stay tuned to see what happens!
Meet all of the competitors here and see who wins at the In Business Expo & Conference.
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