SAP Success Stories: Christina Obry
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What is your role at SAP? Senior Product Specialist
What was the turning point when you decided to make a change? For the last 5 years I have been involved in outrigger canoeing on a semi-competitive level. My favorite spot in the 6 person outrigger canoe is the 1st seat, which is also the narrowest seat. Over the years, this seat somehow became narrower and narrower to the point that the circulation in my legs was cut off if I spent more than 20 minutes in it. Hence I was no longer able to paddle in that seat. Pretending that the canoe shrank over time was no longer an option and I had to admit that I gained a fair bit of weight and that it was time for a change, if I wanted to continue racing in seat 1.
How long have you been working on achieving your health-wellness and fitness goals? I have been fairly active for most of my life, thinking that as long as I do some form of sport a couple of times a week, I can eat anything. Sadly that’s not true. It took a long time to realize, but with the beginning of the new year I finally made the switch. It has been 4 months now, I feel great and have lost over 20 lbs.
What inspires you to continue and achieve your health-wellness and fitness goals? With my recent lifestyle changes I feel better about myself, I have more energy and I am stronger than ever. In my last time trial, I reached my personal best time and most importantly I fit back into seat 1 of the outrigger canoe, just in time for the beginning of the race season. Whether it is during a practice or during a race, I expect my teammates to give their best and they expect the same from me. Having a healthier lifestyle allows me to give more to my team.
What advice do you have for others who want to live a healthier lifestyle? One of the key things for me is to make sure that I have some healthier snacks at work for mid-morning and the afternoon, so that I don’t get hungry and get tempted to go to the vending machine or get a muffin at one of the coffee shops around the office. Having said that I did not cut out sweets completely. I believe if you want to maintain a diet then you can’t restrict yourself too much; otherwise you start craving what you want and overeat it when you do allow yourself for a treat. It is all about a good balance of eating more of the healthy food and less of the not so healthy goodness. In terms of exercise, find something you enjoy and find an exercise buddy. Then it won’t feel like a chore and something you have to do. Vancouver is an amazing place to live in, the mild temperatures allow you to do many outdoor sports all year long to get outside and enjoy.
Is there a particular snack you eat to give you energy throughout your workouts? I usually don’t eat during the workouts, but make sure that I eat something like nuts about one hour before the workout. In the summer as our races are over 1.5 hours long, I usually have watered-down Gatorade with me. As for a day to day afternoon snack, I often eat half of a papaya with some Greek yoghurt. It has a sweet taste and keeps me full until dinner time.
How does an onsite wellness facility benefit your training? The onsite wellness facility is awesome, I think we are lucky to have it. Personally I have a hard time to motivate myself to go to the gym alone. I either don’t go as hard as I should or I don’t go at all. Hence I sign up for the H.I.T. (High Intensity Training) class, first of all I commit ahead of time and then don’t want to bail out, secondly, there are a bunch of people in the class and by now we know and motivate each other and thirdly, Paula, the instructor, is amazing! I’ve taken the class now twice a week for several months and I don’t think we had one class that was like the other. She always finds new ways to challenge us and to keep it interesting.
What are your future goals @ health-wellness/fitness/training? I would like to lose a few more pounds and continue to improve my strength. My team is planning on partaking in a relay race from Vernon to Penticton in September, it’s 100km race split into five sections paddled by two crews. We have done it before. It was a fun challenge and this year we like to beat our time from two years ago.
