Chilliwack’s Carolyn Putt is back from Romania, rested and recharged and ready to throw herself into the final stages of the Kin’s Green Fighters Challenge.
Putt stayed in Romania for two weeks and tried to maintain her health and fitness regimen as much as possible.
It was tough.
“I knew my friends were going to be making all my old favourite foods, and in all the villages we visited people would constantly offer us their homemade treats,” Putt said. “So I did indulge, but I don’t feel guilty about it, because I know I won’t be able to eat those treats again for a long time.”
Putt injured her ankle three weeks prior to leaving, spraining it during a reunion basketball game at Agassiz secondary school. The inactivity that resulted, by her estimation, killed any chance she had of winning the overall competition.
The Romanian experience might have killed her chances of reaching her goal weight.
“But I am OK with that, because this competition has shown me that I can be healthy and fit if I choose to be,” Putt said. “I know I can reach my goal weight after the competition ends, even if it is a couple weeks late.”
Putt was somewhat surprised to find herself missing fruits and vegetables in Romania. The only fruit she ate was in homemade jam.
“And the only vegetables were either some form of cabbage, or in a soup form,” she laughed.
Activity wise, she did a bunch of walking.
Putt went with 15 people from the day program she works at, and followed a carefully crafted schedule.
“It was packed full of leading kids programs and training sessions or visiting schools,” she said. “I was supporting the individuals from our program who came along, and so I had no chance of getting out and doing anything.”
Putt lived in Romania for a time, starting in 2007, and remembered another reason why she was never too active.
“I decided I would try going for a morning run, only to be chased by stray dogs,” she recalled. “Maybe that is where my dislike of running stems from.”
Putt had to run at the end of the trip, and not by choice.
“We needed to actually run through the airport and up escalators to catch our connecting plane,” she laughed. “Half of our group didn’t make it, and had to spend the night in London! But I got myself and the individuals I was supporting to our gate just as the plane was scheduled to be taking off. It was the first running I’d done in weeks.”
The Kin’s Green Fighters Challenge gathered 13 contestants from 13 Lower Mainland communities, challenging them to live healthier lives.
They were fitness tested before the competition, and will be tested again after.
The winner wins a cruise for two to a sunny destination.
Get more info online at kinsgreenfighters.com.