Challenge Family Success Stories

<< Kelley Fluharty (middle row, second from left), as well as Marjorie Valle (middle row, far right) and her daughters Joi and Jada joined Charlotte Parent staffers and Queen City DanceOut team members at the June Fit Family Challenge meet-up at a Queen City DanceOut Zumba class. Marjorie Valle, 38, has a laundry list of successes that she, her husband John Davis and their two daughters Joi, 12, and Jada, 5, have experienced since beginning the Fit Family Challenge. But when the girls left to spend the summer with their grandparents in Orlando, Valle was concerned the Challenge might lose some momentum for everyone. She’s happy to report she was wrong. “I’d say the Challenge definitely followed them to Orlando,” says Valle. “I got a message from the girls saying that thanks to them, there was no more unhealthy food left in the whole house.” Seeing the girls take ownership of their own health was a sign to the Valle-Davis family that the lessons from the Fit Familly Challenge are sinking in and raising their standards, a shift they hope will help Jada better manage her Type 2 diabetes when she returns to school in the Fall. Kelley Fluharty, 40, and her son Christopher Ortega, 11, have also successfully stayed on course and steered clear of a summer slowdown by exercising later in the day when the temperature drops and frequenting their local farmers markets for fresh produce. Already active Christopher has inspired his mom to keep moving. In addition to her regular workout regimen, Kelley has also joined a local running group and even started taking yoga. Her biggest success so far? Turning this short-term challenge into a lifelong commitment. “I have several 5Ks lined up for the fall, and I’m super excited about that,” she says. Join the Fit Family Challenge!