Danie Skredsvig crowned winner of Ballard Fitness Fest

Danie Skredsvig has taken out the number one spot at the fourth annual Ballard Fitness Fest. The competition challenged locals to loose the most weight over a three month period and was held at Ballard’s EDGE Personal Training (2821 NW Market St).

Skredsvig took the crown after losing 13lbs of body fat, a total of 8% of her overall body fat over the 3 month competition. However, she did not enter with winning in mind. She entered the competition back in February after a long period of melancholia as she knew that regular exercise could help. “I stumbled upon the Fitness Fest post on the My Ballard blog just in time to squeak into one of the last weigh-in spots, and once there, the body fat percentage test startled me enough to add physical fitness to my cadre of motivating factors,” says Skredsvig.

Once the competition was underway, Skredsvig committed to regular sessions at EDGE to improve her fitness. “I’ve never been very athletic, so I decided to sign up for personal training sessions with Erik so I could learn what I should be doing, how I should be doing it, and how often it needed to be done,” says Skredsvig. “Then I just thought of the physical tasks as the homework necessary to solidify the acquisition of this new skill,” she continues.

In terms of what exactly she did to secure the crown, Skredsvig points to a combination of cardio and regular weights sessions. During the competition Skredsvig found completing cardio exercise four to six days a week easy enough, however, found weight training excruciating. “I scheduled weight-training sessions with Erik every other week, and the fear of telling him that I hadn’t done it on my own that forced me into doing it even though I wanted to Rumplestiltskin my way out every single time,” says Skredsvig.

The Ballard Fitness Fest has been instrumental in shaping Skredsvig attitude to approaching exercise. The competition motivated her to look at exercise as something that she needed to do everyday, just like showering or brushing her teeth. “As long as you can trick yourself into starting to exercise, your body will usually comply. And if it doesn’t, don’t sweat it. Just show up and try again tomorrow,” shares Skredsvig.

Will she be going after the crown come next year’s competition? The answer is a resounding yes. “I keep joking that after my personal training sessions are all used up, I’m going on a strict pizza diet so I’ll have lots to work with come February next year. But really, I can’t wait to see where I am next year at this time,” says Skredsvig.

Skredsvig shared the podium with other motivated Ballardites who committed to losing weight throughout the competition. Shawn Behling was crowned 1st Runner Up after she lost 24lbs overall and 6.5% body fat, Michelle Rosenthal won 2nd Runner Up, losing 20+ lbs. overall and 3.1% body fat, and Kate Makinson took out 3rd Runner Up losing over 3.2% and over 6.5lbs of body fat. Honorable mentions also go to Adam Davis, Mary Durkan, Matt Grover and Catherine Schiffler who narrowly missed out on the top spots!

EDGE owner Erik Hroncich was reportedly thrilled with the compeition and especially the first all-female podium!

Congratulations to everyone that participated!