10 contestant winners start Intermountain's 100-Day Heart Challenge


8 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — What would you say to a free gym membership, personal training sessions and weekly nutritional classes for the next 100 days?

While most people may jump at the chance to improve their health, many know it's not an easy road.

Out of nearly 150 applicants, 10 lucky contestants and their partners got up early Thursday to kick off the 100-Day Heart Challenge at Intermountain Healthcare.

“Yes, I finally got chosen,” said contestant winner Lorie Fleischer. “We won. We on the lottery.”

After being weighed and measured, checking cholesterol levels, and getting their picture taken to help mark their progress, the winners sat down for breakfast together.

Each winner has his or her own reasons for improving his or her health.

“I have a family (with a history) of heart disease, and my father died at age 49, and I don’t want to,” Fleischer said while fighting through tears.

Rona Rahlf said that she entered the contest because she already has heart issues, and she’s even had open heart surgery.

“I’d like to lose a fair amount of weight and get healthy,” said Keith Marrott.

Each participant is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

“It’s not a one-time fix," said Maria Black, clinical operations director for the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. "There’s not a magic pill. It takes work.”

Black has been with the program which is centered around women, since the beginning.

“Women have the tendency to always be taking care of everyone else,” Black said. “By helping on individual we can really touch the life of many multiple individuals in our community."

The 100-Day Heart Challenge program offers nutrition classes, personal trainers and individualized plans and goals.

And each goal poses is own set of challenges, like Marrott’s goal to “keep it down to less than five vomits on my first workout,” and “sweating at least 30 minutes a day.”

But the secret to any success in a lifestyle change is consistency.

“It’s not a diet, it’s not an exercise plan, it’s a lifestyle change,” Black said.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Your Life - Your HealthUtah
Jenniffer Michaelson

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast