Kessinger runs into a newfound confidence

On April 22, Kristen Kessinger ran a 5K with her best friend.

The key word in the above sentence is “ran.”

Kessinger, a 28-year-old public relations professional from Volo, participated in the Daily Herald’s Fittest Loser competition, a three-month contest complete with working with trainers from Push Fitness, boot camp workouts on Saturdays, and a brand-new, intense diet.

In those three months, Kessinger lost 47 pounds, or 17.9 percent of her original body weight. Which is nice, and what she called “the hardest thing I have ever done and the best thing I have ever done.”

But the 5K, now there is an accomplishment.

“I have never been athletic,’’ Kessinger said at the post-contest party held at John Barleycorn in Schaumburg. “I remember the mile runs in school. I would dread those for weeks and walk half of it.

“But now, I have run a 5K, and I ran the whole thing,’’ she said. “I have signed up for two more, so that I would keep going. That is a total 180 from where I was before.”

For Kessinger, the turn was more than just a weight loss, and a newfound ability to run. In some aspects, Kessinger kind of grew up during Fittest Loser.

“I have been shy my whole life, and insecure,’’ Kessinger said. “When I started with my trainer Michelle, I would walk into the gym and whisper ‘Hi.’ Now, just seeing I can do this, it has given me a bounce in my step. It has opened a whole new perspective and a side of my personality that I didn’t know I had.”

Michelle Amsden, Kessinger’s trainer assigned to her by contest sponsor Push Fitness, has noticed the growth in self-confidence, too.

“Kristen has changed into a different person,’’ she said. “When she first walked into Push she seemed very timid, but during the last few weeks she walked into Push with a new confidence. Kristen was very courageous and strong.”

Of all the competitors, Kessinger probably had the most active social life, and had to suffer through numerous parties and get-togethers while trying to maintain her diet. That became more difficult after the first month, when all the trainers limited the diets even further.

“When the diet changed after the first four weeks, I thought ‘I did not sign up for this’,’’ Kessinger said. “It was intense, but it was weird how quick you got used to it, and it was all worth it.”

“I was worried that the nutrition would be her biggest struggle, but she seriously impressed me,’’ Amsden said. “Kristen was able to fight the temptation of food during holidays, parties and two weddings she attended during the last three months. I’m not even sure I could refrain from even a taste of wedding cake.”

Fittest Loser is a competition, and Kessinger developed a newfound well of competitive spirit. She kept a close eye on the weigh-in numbers that were published in the Daily Herald each week, and although she did not win the contest, she certainly pushed herself harder in an attempt to do so.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,’’ Kessinger said. “But I think this is the biggest accomplishment of my life, because it was the one I worked hardest for. I had given up hope, and had stopped believing I could ever do it. To find out I could, it was life-changing.”

Kristen Kessinger

28, public relations, Volo

Height: 5 feet, 5 inches

Starting weight: 263

Final weight: 216

Pounds lost: 47

Percent lost: 17.9

Starting body fat: 42 percent

Final body fat: 29 percent

Waistline inches lost: 6

Starting body age: 38

Final body age: 33