Mom Gets Fit for family, teammates

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 Melissa Schultz of Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, which is competing in the team challenge. Schultz’s coworkers Barry Richter, Kyle VonRuden, and David Kruse round out the team. Stay tuned for future blogs from the rest of the team members.

I’m a 36-year-old mother of two girls and I’ve been working at Hausmann-Johnson Insurance since 2006. I volunteered for the 2015 Get Fit Challenge because I needed an extra push to get in shape and get healthy. Every year I would tell myself I’m going to exercise and get in shape before summer and it never happens. Until now!

When I turned 35, I weighed 135 pounds. I was comfortable enough with that number but wasn’t happy with my lack of muscle tone. At the time I was nursing my youngest daughter and still eating like I was still pregnant. Needless to say, when our insurance agency announced we were putting an application in for the 2015 Get Fit Challenge, I was up 15 pounds from the summer of 2014 and needed to make a serious change to my eating and exercising habits.

I started out the Challenge exercising three days a week. A few coworkers and I would do Pilates or a core ballet workout on lunch, and then I would exercise over the weekend at home. I knew that wouldn’t be enough to see real results so on April 11th I joined a 10-week Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping session. It’s 45-minutesa day, six days a week of kickboxing or resistance band strength training. I never thought I would be exercising six days a week, eating six smaller meals a day, and drinking 80 ounces of water each day.

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The most difficult part of the challenge is my time away from my family while I’m at those six classes every week. I chose a 6 p.m. class, so I’d like to thank my husband for being Mr. Mom at dinner time for our two girls during the week. He has to make dinner, get the older one to do her homework and reading, and make sure the younger one doesn’t get into trouble. I’d also like to thank Hausmann-Johnson for the flexibility in my work schedule to attend the noon kickboxing classes when my schedule doesn’t allow me to attend at 6 p.m. The easiest part of the challenge has been eating the six smaller meals. Prior to the challenge I had already started watching portion and serving sizes, so it was pretty easy to balance the carbs and protein I need at each meal.

I have several motivations. I have a Get Fit team that is counting on me.  I also have my Mission Slimpossible team and coach at Farrell’s pushing me to do my best. And I have a whole wardrobe of clothes I’m starting to fit back into now. I’m motivated to continue the nutrition and exercise routine I’ve started because it’s healthier and I feel great every day. Thank you, Get Fit Challenge, for holding me accountable and pushing me to actually meet my goals.

Meet all of the competitors here and see who wins at the In Business Expo & Conference.

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