Changing Channels

Here's a quick little announcement for you all. Intermountain Healthcare (my employer) is doing a 100-Day Heart Challenge. It's a program for employees. You had to fill out an application to be considered and... I was picked.

Here's the lowdown: For 100 days (beginning June 14th), the contestants are enrolled in a program to make us more heart-healthy. We each meet twice a week with our own personal trainer for customized workouts. Once a week we attend a nutrition class taught by one of the certified dieticians on staff. We have had our blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, waist circumference and weight measured. (They will all be measured again on day 100.) We have to keep a daily food journal as well as track our daily exercise. We are expected to exercise for a minimum of 30 consecutive minutes six days a week.

The point of it all is to get us more heart healthy in the short term and arm us with knowledge to continue to improve our heart health once the 100 days are over.

Oh... and it's a competition. Whoever does the best at the end wins something. I don't know what.

Oh... and the format is somewhat like a reality show. We had to sign consents to have our names and images used in local media (both internet and broadcast).

Oh... and each contestant has been given a blog that they want us to write on three times a week.

Yep... that's what I've gotten myself into. I'm okay with that... and I'd like your support. So... if you see me lounging on a couch, poke me in the ribs and throw a jump rope at me or something. If you see me sending something sweet or salty in my mouth, bat my hands away until I drop it.

Most of all, follow my blog entries and write comments meant to encourage me in my quest and/or distract me from the pain of it all.

Here is the address. Please subscribe and/or follow me however you would like.

http://karla100days.blogspot.com

It's going to be an interesting summer.

Oh, final note: since I have to blog on that other space for the next three months plus, I won't be saying much here. But I'll be back when I'm done. Who knows? Maybe the typeface will be skinnier then... or at least the pulse of the paragraphs will be stronger.