Columnist discovers her motivation
I'm walking like Frankenstein's monster and I like it.
Three weeks have passed since beginning the Fittest Loser challenge and aches radiate through my body.
Early in my training with Josh, whenever any “pain” was felt in my upper back, a mental alarm would go off telling me to stop what I was doing with fears of an old back injury resurfacing.
Luckily, the soreness surging throughout my body is accompanied with a newfound strength, which supersedes the pain and I'm learning to differentiate between the good and bad pain.
Feeling pain from working out is a given, but the wide variety of exercises has introduced sensations to new areas of my body that previously never existed.
These newly discovered areas appeared after my first boot camp at Push Fitness.
Hearing the phrase boot camp sent chills through my body. Instead of letting this fear consume me, however, I focused on the things that were motivating me.
At first, I was motivated by common goals such as losing weight and eating healthier, but as I contemplated the question, more personal goals arose.
One of the first things that came to my mind was overall health.
The past few years I have experienced a slow degradation of my energy, skin quality and mental clarity, and an increase in stomach pain, headaches, and general pain from my sedentary lifestyle.
Within the first week of altering my diet, drinking more water, and introducing cardio to my routine, I already felt a difference with these ailments.
Another motivator that came up was my recent engagement to my best friend and love of my life, Mark.
After five years of dating, he popped the question during one of our cherished hikes in the forest of Busse Woods last December. This landmark, along with recently entering my 30s, were eye openers to my current position in life.
The past 30 years have slipped by and I'm sure the next 30 will follow suit and I want to be able to care for, not only my future husband but for myself, my family and friends as we grow older.
One of the other more prominent motivators that came to mind is to be accountable and not letting anyone down.
I was fortunate enough to be selected as a participant for this year's Fittest Loser Challenge and have been given a plentiful amount of resources from our sponsors, including training sessions at Push Fitness and a pair of free shoes and inserts from Dick Ponds.
As long as I have these motivators on my mind I can overcome these so called “pains” radiating through my body and wear the badge of walking like Frankenstein's monster with pride!
• Kat Polomsky is a Daily Herald events specialist and also helps manage the Fittest Loser At Work Challenge.
By the numbers
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight:</span> 155
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 152
<span class="fact box text bold">Week weight lost:</span> 0 lbs.
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight lost:</span> 3 lbs.
<span class="fact box text bold">Percent weight lost:</span> 1.9%