Success Story: Kari Sweeney Gets Fit with Co-Workers

Kari Sweeney, 30, of Sun Prairie, WI, had lots of opportunities to get healthy, but nothing seemed to keep her motivated. “Every year my company hosts a weight loss contest, and for the last five years, I’ve participated. But I’ve always given up or stopped weighing in within the first month of the competition,” says Kari. It wasn’t until the challenge changed that Kari was able to really stick with it. “This year, instead of competing alone, we were encouraged to choose three other people and compete as a team—earning points for plank and wall-sit challenges, for completing a food journal, and for weighing in on time every week,” she says.

Team spirit was exactly what Kari needed to keep at the first part of the challenge: completing a food diary for two weeks. “As a team—Team Purple Cobras!—we decided to use MyFitnessPal to track all of our food and exercise, and we shared our food dairies to keep each other accountable,” says Kari. The tracking and accountability spilled over into their fitness routines, too. “In addition to food, we loved that the Matrix Fitness exercise equipment we used automatically synced with MyFitnessPal, making it super convenient,” she says. And when those two weeks were up? “We all liked MyFitnessPal so much that we continued to use it—liking posts, commenting, motivating each other, and tracking our food and fitness. We had our own online support system that we could carry everywhere!” says Kari.

The weight loss competition at the office ended in March, but Kari continued with her program using MyFitnessPal. “With the app’s nutrition tab I was able to become conscious of more than just calories and I have greatly cut back on the amount of sodium I consume,” says Kari. “Realizing what I was putting into my body—ingredient wise, and learning how to make changes to my food choices has been the greatest take-away for me.”

Kari has also learned to make better choices when dining out. “MyFitnessPal is so extensive that it has nutrition and calorie information for most restaurants, but you still have to be conscious and make a healthy choice,” she says. “You also can’t be afraid to ask for the mayo on the side!”

Since the competition started, Kari has lost 31 pounds and her team has dropped a combined 96 pounds. “Not bad for four people in 12 weeks!” says Kari. “And we took home first place—yay, Purple Cobras!”

Now Kari is convincing more people to use MyFitnessPal. “I’m all about getting my friends, neighbors, family, and more co-workers to get on the MyFitnessPal train because I want them to get healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle—and I know they can with this app!” says Kari.

Well done! And thanks for sharing us with your community, Kari!

Want to harness the power of socializing your health goals, too? Download our free eBook The Rise of the Fitness Tribe from MyFitnessPal.

Have you participated in company health challenge? Did you use MyFitnessPal to keep you on track? Tell us all about it the comments!