Now & Then: Christine Kronich

Christine and her crewmate, Dale, after winning the Yngling North American Championship Regatta

Despite being active as a child, Christine Kronich, forty-one, has always battled her weight. Starting as early as fourth grade, she remembers the pounds creeping on, even though she was extremely competitive in sailing and had a black belt in tae kwon do. By the time she graduated high school, Kronich was carrying 190 pounds on her five-foot-six-inch frame. “I found out later that I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS); being overweight and having a lot of insulin resistance is really common with it,” she says. “The problem with insulin resistance is that you crave carbs, so diets such as Weight Watchers (which she tried), where you can eat anything, don’t really help.”

It wasn’t until Kronich had a little extra motivation—competing in the world yngling (sailing) championships—that she got serious about her health. While growing up (on Lake Michigan) and attending college at MIT, Kronich raced sailboats, and she became serious about the sport when she moved to the Twin Cities for work. “I have been racing yinglings at the Minnetonka Yacht Club for the past eight years, and in August 2007, I won the North American Championship at Lake Okoboji, Iowa, which was pretty unexpected.” That win qualified her for the world championships, which were held in Denmark this past July.

After gathering her crew, securing a boat, and raising the money needed to get to the competition, Kronich realized that the only thing standing in the way of a great race was her health. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, we are getting all this support. I’ve got everything, but I’m sitting here with my aching back at 276 pounds. I’m the weakest link in this program.’ ”

Firm Fit
While sitting in her doctor’s office one day, Kronich ran across a magazine story that listed the top trainers in the Twin Cities and saw a profile of a trainer at The Firm. She researched the studio but admits that it freaked her out. “No way would I walk into this place,” she says. “But I saw information for Firm F.I.T. (Focused Individual Transformation), an eight-week program that meets six days a week at 6 a.m. It includes nutrition, cardio, strength training, and stretching.”

Though her coworkers balked at the idea of Kronich showing up anywhere before 8:30 a.m. (she says everyone knows not to talk to her before 10), she decided to give it a try. “I was a wreck, but I sucked it up.”

The first part of her program included a body assessment, which showed body-fat percentage and weight. Kronich began the program at 276 pounds and 42 percent body fat, but soon after working with her personal trainer, TJ, and the other staff members at The Firm, she began to see change. “After the first eight weeks, I dropped seventeen pounds and five inches off my hips,” she says. “It was a lot of baby steps, but I ended up surprising myself with what I was able to do.”

Kronich mentions that a huge motivation along the way was her trainer, TJ, and the staff at The Firm. “When I came in, I was a mess both physically and mentally,” she says. “At 6 a.m., I was no bundle of joy, and all filters on my mouth were turned off. My trainer didn't stand a chance against my dry, biting wit, but he wouldn't back off. He kept pushing me to try and figure out what made me tick so he could help me overcome mental and physical obstacles.”

Well Anchored

Matt, Christine, and Dale at the Yngling World Championship Regatta

Kronich made it to the world championships and finished thirtieth out of fifty-six boats. “Physically, I was great,” she says. “I could concentrate more on the game and the conditions and doing what I needed to do as skipper of the boat.”

Though her goal was to make a solid show in Denmark, Kronich came to a huge realization during the whole process that would change the way she looked at her health and physical goals. “When I first started the whole workout thing, the goal was to go to Denmark, but a few weeks into it I realized, ‘No, that is what I am going to do in July. Now I am in this for life.’ The trainers knew it a lot sooner than I did—and they had a lot of fun watching me figure that out.

“Firm F.I.T. caused me to do a lot of thinking about and evaluating my life,” Kronich says. “During one of these spells of deep thought, it occurred to me that my trainer might be the person who is supposed to be helping me on this fitness journey, and I might want to ease up on him a bit. This thought actually pained me to some extent, and after my five minutes of swearing and stomping my feet, I went into my second round with a slightly changed attitude.

"The program got me to think differently about food, exercise, my health, my body, myself, my life,” she adds. “I'm not done yet, but I have no doubt that my health and fitness will be steadily improving over the next weeks, months—and my lifetime.”

Tips: Eat Real “All these artificial sweeteners, the jury is still out on them. You think you are doing something good for yourself by going non-fat or diet, but it is really the opposite.” Get Trained “I was so afraid of going into a gym or getting a trainer. I don’t know why, but you think, ‘it is not for me, it is for everyone else out there.’ No, it is for you. At The Firm, they are so passionate about what they do, which is the main reason why it worked for me. It was so personal—they teach you that you are worth it.”

To date, Kronich is down to 34 percent body fat and has lost thirty-nine pounds.