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WRITTEN BY SANDRA BIENKOWSKIPHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN CHRISTENSON

IF YOU ASK CHRIS FREYTAG WHO HERHERO IS, she will say Katie Couric. She will tellyou it’s because Katie is a great mom, who is

smart, energetic, and has a self-deprecatingsense of humor. But all of these adjectives

easily describe Chris. With her boundlessenergy, permanent smile, and her rapid-

fire way of speaking, she is on amission to help people take that firststep toward living healthier lives.

A nationally recognized healthand wellness expert, Chris encourages

people to have a positive attitude, eatclean, and move more. And she walksthe talk. “My mom always says I’venever stopped talking and I’ve neverstopped moving,” says Chris.

She’s not kidding. Zigzaggingacross the country, Chris maintains a

schedule many people would find hardto keep. One day, she flies to the east

coast for “QVC” appearancesshowcasing her healthy kitchenproducts. Early the next day, sheteaches a class at Lifetime Fitness backin her home base of Minnesota andthen heads back to the airport to fly toa Prevention magazine photo shoot,

where she’s a contributing fitnesseditor. And that’s just a snapshot

of one week.It’s probably nocoincidence that

Chris speaks

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nationally about time management, but don’t expect herto softball advice to you. She will be the first to tell youthere’s a difference between being busy and beingproductive. She doesn’t want to hear any excuses abouthow you can’t “find the time” to exercise. (She will tellyou to create the time.) And when she’s speaking acrossthe country about various wellness topics, she mayunleash one of her favorite quotes: “Someone busierthan you is running right now.” Chris believes in personalresponsibility, but she delivers her message with hersignature upbeat, friendly, and infectious style.

Chris started her own consulting business, MotivatingBodies, more than two decades ago and she works aschairman of the board for the American Council onExercise (ACE). Chris also appears regularly on NBC’sMinneapolis/St. Paul news affiliate KARE-11, in a segmentaptly named “Motivation Monday.” But you will still findher at her kids’ sporting events and cooking dinner athome because family is her number-one priority.

Growing up in Milwaukee, by Lake Michigan, Chrismoved to Minneapolis twenty-five years ago. Herhusband’s family has a lake home in Nisswa that’s beenin the family for more than fifty years. Jim spent all ofhis summers there, just like his mother before him. “Wehave passed the love of the lake house and the lake on

to our kids. They love to go to the lake house as much aspossible,” says Chris. “The house is filled with historyand memories of friends and family boating, swimming,wake-boarding, cooking, sitting by the fire, and enjoyingsunsets and sunrises.”

Chris and Jim have been married for twenty-threeyears and only one of their three grown children is stillat home. “Our oldest son, twenty-one, is in college and isa musician. Our daughter, nineteen, is a professionalballet dancer, and our youngest son is still in high schooland an avid hockey player.” The other member of theFreytag clan is their beloved dog, a miniature schnauzer,who hangs out with Chris in her home office.

While Chris loves being an entrepreneur and has abig online following of fitness enthusiasts, she says onedrawback of her job is not being able to unplug. “Whenyou work from home, you never get away from your job. Iwork 24/7 sometimes. When you are in the business ofhelping people, it’s easy to get overcommitted.”

At forty-seven, she jokes that menopause is hermotivation to stay fit. “Actually, I am just in love withendorphins and I love to feel strong and capable,” shesays. A self-described extrovert, Chris loves to teach groupfitness classes. She also adores the sun, so she takes herclasses outside from May to October. “I love the warm

I really enjoy helping people andmotivating people.The fitness industry is filled with positivepeople and I hope to inspire others to lead healthier and more positive,upbeat lives.”

“

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FAVORITE PART OF LAKE LIFE: Relaxing (and sometimes unplugging)in the sun by the water.

FAVORITE OUTDOOR ACTIVITY: Paddle Boarding!

FAVORITE ACTIVITY FOR A RAINY DAY: Watching movies with my family orplaying board games.

weather and sunshine, and I love to exercise with otherpeople because it pumps me up. I use my live classes topractice and rehearse my videos. If people going to myclasses love it, I know it will make a great DVD.”

Chris now has fifteen workout DVDs, five publishedbooks (including a healthy-eating cookbook called ChooseThis!), and numerous healthy living kitchen products.

Chris recently released a workout DVD series calledHIIT (high-intensity interval training) that features thetypes of workouts she loves most—high-energy workoutsthat combine cardio and strength training. “It’s morechallenging, time-effective, and results-oriented,” saysChris. It’s in line with her “Git ’er done” philosophy andit’s the same reason she prefers to do her workouts earlybetween 5 A.M. and 9 A.M.

Appearing on “The Today Show” and in nationalmagazines, such as SUCCESS and Prevention, she advisespeople to start eating and preparing foods as close totheir natural state as possible, avoid eating processedfoods, and commit to regular exercise. She alsoencourages people to find ways to move more every day,in addition to scheduled exercise. “It’s not about chasingperfect,” says Chris. “It’s about bringing forth effort everysingle day, that’s when real transformation happens.

“I really enjoy helping people and motivating people.

The fitness industry is filled with positive people and Ihope to inspire others to lead healthier and morepositive, upbeat lives.”

Chris regularly makes healthy recipes from her owncookbook, (many of which she shares on her website)including homemade hummus and guacamole to enjoywith fresh veggies. Some other family favorites includered pepper nachos, Asian chicken kebobs, homemadeenergy bars, and zucchini and blueberry muffins. She hasa tall order to fill when all of the kids are home becauseher sons are meat eaters and her daughter is a vegan.Chris describes herself as a flexitarian which means sheis a vegetarian, but eats the occasional chicken or fish.

She loves to grill out at the lake house. “I grill blackbean burgers, beet burgers, and we eat lots of veggies. Myfamily also requests homemade sweet potato fries—andwe all love them.” She also makes healthy desserts toindulge her sweet tooth.

With her focus on family, Chris says her ultimate goalwould be to find a way to make an impact on people, butwork fewer hours. “That would mean even more time atthe lake with my family,” Chris says. “Minnesota meanslake life to me,” Freytag says. “It’s an amazing place.”

chrisfreytag.com