Getting to the Heart of the Matter

DJ the Sports Mom Blog

May 4, 2010

Experts recommend walking 10,000 steps a day to get in shape.

What a beautiful day!  My walking partner was out of town this morning so I decided to sleep in rather than walk at my usual time at 6:30am.  At 6:45am my youngest son, Joshua Odis, knocked on my door to let me know he had missed the school bus.  I decided this was my message from God that I needed to get up and get moving.   I took Odis to school and then decided to park at the nearby Kroger and walk on   the hills in the area.   It was so nice out that I kept extending my walk.  Before I knew it, I had walked 9,894 steps and it was not even 9am!  I felt really good and started thinking about the importance of modeling behavior that I wanted my boys to follow.

Earlier this year, I had the joy of winning the Dr. Oz NFL Mom Challenge.  I lost 52 pounds, 12 inches off of my waist and got my blood pressure down from a dangerous 150/90 to consistently normal.  It is now 110/70 most of the time.  This was a major accomplishment for me.  I have struggled with my weight and eating habits most of my life.  My brother, Ed, had a 7-vessel by-pass surgery two years ago and that was my wake-up call that I needed to get to the heart of this issue.  I finally decided that it wasn’t a food issue it was realizing that I loved my family enough to take care of myself.  I also didn’t want the boys to think it was okay to eat with no regard for health.

So many people think that if you are an athlete you can’t help but be in great shape.   Being an athlete means that you will get regular exercise during the season and hopefully work out during the off-season but nutrition is often overlooked.  Two of my boys ate nonstop most of their lives; however, our middle child, Joshua Alexander, has been a healthy eater all of his life.  He loves to drink water and eats mostly lean meats and lots of raw vegetables. He certainly didn’t get those habits from me.  By the time he was in high school he would tell me that I needed to eat better so that I could live to see him grow up and accomplish things.  That would pull at my heartstrings but I still ate more than I should and didn’t exercise enough.

When I attended the Professional Football Players Mothers Association conference last year, I met Gladys Bettis, the mother of Jerome Bettis , retired from the Pittsburgh Steelers.  At one of our sessions, she gave her testimony about how Eddie George’s EGX plan for the mothers saved her life.  She had no idea that she had blockages in her arteries that would have led to a heart attack if she hadn’t had surgery to correct it.  She went on to lose 60 pounds with the program.   That inspired me!

When I embarked on the Dr Oz program I didn’t realize that it would affect my family as well.  As I begin to experiment with whole grains, lower fat meals and walking more, my husband and son started eating better.  We traded out popcorn instead of chips, brown rice for white, a little olive oil instead of lots of butter and margarine and before long we were all getting in shape.  We even put away our deep fryer which we used quite often and replaced it with a vegetable steamer.

Jay was so impressed with my success that he worked with my trainer and is now the leanest and strongest he has been since entering the NFL four years ago.   He was even more impressed that my trainer was able to coach me from 1200 miles away and I was still successful.  Once I got to the heart of the matter I didn’t need someone to  make me exercise or eat right, I just needed good information to keep me on track.

Children really do live what they learn.   If I only have healthy choices available to the household, that is what they will learn to eat and eventually to enjoy.  We still eat an occasional burger or a slice of carrot cake (my favorite!) but it is not often.  I realized that small steps go a long way.  I am still on my journey to wellness but I am doing much better than I was a year ago.  I no longer cringe at the thought of having walk to the top of the stadium and the days of me taking 10 steps and then resting are over!  When I finished my long walk I felt great and my heart was thanking me.    Please join me in taking steps to get to the heart of the matter and get fit!