August 28, 2008
Yo DaVita!
I think I last left you Wednesday a.m., immediately before my workout. Wednesday was a good day in the Casa, including a long and thought-provoking meeting on payor contracting. I had to leave the office about 7:15 p.m. to get to my 7:30 dinner with Rich Whitney, our CFO (Chief Financial Officer). The good news about that dinner is we covered our full business agenda, which was long since we had not had a good one-on-one session in six weeks. The bad news is we went to a restaurant where I have a favorite pasta dish … and well you can guess what I ordered.
I got back to the company apartment at 11:15 p.m., where Coach was still awake and wanting to cover some issues. We talked until about 12:45 am, at which point I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open ….despite the energy boost I received from the cereal I ate while we talked!
The 7:30 a.m. alarm the next a.m. was not welcome, although I like the Eagles CD that it turns on. I got a 16 minute lifecycle in with some stretching and shoulder rehab, and then headed into the Casa. For breakfast I just had ham and a banana.
The day included a good meeting with the Chairman of FMC, an interview by a Kidney Care Research Foundation that is honoring DaVita for its good clinical work, a phone call with the woman in charge of Amgen’s global renal business, a discussion of blood glucose testing for diabetics, another great discussion with Laura our new CPO (Chief People Officer), and assorted other meetings For lunch I had some chicken and beef strips over healthy beans, lettuce, and some rice.
At 5:15 p.m., I left the Casa for a one hour drive to a hotel where a DaVita University Way of Leading class with about 16 directors was in it’s fourth day. We spent from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. discussing ideas for making the company a better place and the Village concept ever more real … and then I headed to the airport. It is now 10 p.m. and the plane has started its trip up to San Francisco, my next stop.
I only had time to throw down a snack of a little sea bass and steak before the DaVita University session, so I am starved now — and I am not sure how I will fill that void when I land. Not to mention I will have to weigh in tomorrow or Saturday a.m., since I will be back home and on the “official scale” in our bathroom. I should get home tonight about 11 p.m.
I hope you all had a good and healthy week!
KT
(To affect the quality of the day, that is the art of life. Thoreau)
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Debbie Michaud said,
September 2, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
Reading your entries KT, is just awe inspiring. Just remember that you want to do the best you can. I started in January 2008 with a goal to lose at least 30 pounds, I am down 23 and have maintained that. With all the travel that we do within our positions, hotels, eating out and motivation are always a factor.
The goal before me is that my new years resolution will not be to “lose 30 pounds”, perhaps it will be another 10, or 8, but to maintain and keep the weight lost off, that is the challenge.
You are doing Great KT, with all that you do and all that is on your shoulders, I am proud to be a part of this Village!, your openess and honesty are what drives me and our team to success!
Keep it up!
Debbie
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Diane French said,
September 3, 2008 @ 7:38 am
I have joined the challenge due to an accident I had Memorial Day weekend (fell off a ladder) cracking ribs, making it hard to exercise and prep for Tour Davita. I have not been able to do my usual exercise and water sports due to the discomfort. I have really been trying to ride my bike at least 3 days per week and eat the right foods. I have an issue with dessert and find it difficult to go 3-4 days without some ice cream! Without my exercise, I am gaining not loosing. Much focus is needed here!!
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Brenda McCloud said,
September 3, 2008 @ 8:06 am
Eliminated sugar as much as possible (Read your labels (it is everywhere).Limit dairy and flour (no white). I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies and drink a lot of water. I walk at lunch 1-2 miles and after work I walk about 3-4 miles. I average 20-25 miles per week. I just adopted a chocolate lab and so now we are picking up the pace. She loves to walk and jog (her name is Koko). My goal is to loose 25 and so far I have lost 6 pounds. But it wasn’t easy. Sometimes you reach a plateau and you have to remind yourself what you did to loose 2(AND DON’T EVER GIVE UP)- if I can just loose 2 at a time day by day it gets easier. The hardest thing is eliminating all those extra calories that you don’t realize you consume. I lost 25 pounds before in 4 months. Once it started coming off it was like dominoes. I have been stuck for the past year with about 25 pounds that creeped back on. So to loose 6 pounds is highly motivating. Besides watching the diet I have learned you don’t have to kill yourself. I had to stop looking at exercise like it was a chore, plan it into my day, and get plenty of rest so I feel like fully being there in my workout instead of somewhere else. If I am not highly motiviated still just getting out for 30 minutes is better than nothing. There are 3500 calories in a pound so go figure what it takes just to loose one pound. The main thing, though, is how I feel. It doesn’t matter how old you are- as long as you’re living I would get moving because it makes you feel like you’re living. When I see people who have overcome the obstacle of weightloss I can see it in their eyes-they feel like a million bucks.
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Hannah said,
September 3, 2008 @ 10:19 am
Good afternoon teammates,
Hope this message finds everyone in a state of well-being mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I feel great most of the time. By the way, I do feel great at work–I started here in March and feel like I am in the perfect position for me. In addition to my performing work that I want to do, the company’s values and positive reminders all around help me maintain my enthusiasm. So, thank you KT and others for all you did and do to put this company on the map and to keep it going.
Good news and bad news from me regarding my fitness goals. The good news is that I am still at 189 which means I have not lost but I also have not gained! (I know a lady is not supposed to reveal her weight, but I do it in the spirit of helping me and others to stay focused.) The not so good news is that I did not fit my daily exercise in for the last 6 days. I may have gotten a little bit on Labor Day when I volunteered to drive my city’s van picking up citizens to take them to our annual Labor Day festival. At nearly every stop I had to get out of the van, put down the step, help elderly people into and out of the van, and put walkers into the back of the van. I’m sure that burned up some calories.
As others have said, this is a one day at a time campaign, so I can do something different today. Today I will walk 15 minutes at the end of my work day before I get into my car and tonight is the deep water aerobics class that I love!
Until the next time, keep moving, and keep on keeping on!
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Elvia Estrada said,
September 3, 2008 @ 11:45 am
KT you are doing great!!!! I recently saw you at the Imperial clinic in Inglewood,CA where you personally came to deliver the 1 millionth prescription to one of our patients. You looked great. So keep it up. There’s going to be good and bad days but the important thing is not to fall but to get back up. I guess this is what’s also motivating me. I have still only lost about 8 lbs but I have also not gained any(yeah!!!). I do 20 min aerobics workout every other day before going to bed and I enjoy it because I’m sleeping like a baby. I believe that feeling good despite if you lost or not any lbs. keeps you motivated.
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Hannah said,
September 5, 2008 @ 7:48 am
Thank you teammates for writing in with your successes and continuing challenges. Hearing from you really helps keep me motivated and inspired. Thank you also to KT for starting this fitness challenge!
I am a good example of the person who really has to struggle to keep going with my goal. Sometimes I want instant change and of course that doesn’t happen. Most times, I just “don’t feel like doing it.” I have not been pushing myself through that feeling until this morning. After a great night’s sleep, I got up and did some stretching for about 15 minutes. Even that little bit made a difference in how energized I felt by the time I got to work! Yes, this great feeling is very motivating, as another teammate said.
Because feelings and thoughts can change quickly, I will work on not paying attention to those “don’t feel like it” ones, and just get up and “do it anyway.” Until next time, keep up the good work, and hold onto those good feelings.
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