In the South, food means "love" and it's a problem when families "love" each other right into the doctor's office. Staying healthy and strengthening your heart and body takes much more than just a "knock" on a wooded surface (or in my case, granite).

It takes getting tough and doing what you know you have to do to get there.

After losing my father to cardiovascular disease, I've spent the past year trying to motivate people to improve their lifestyle and here my own mother had fallen through the cracks. It was a very low point for me because I realized then I still have a lot of work to do if I'm going to make an impact with this problem.

Recently, I received a telephone call from my aunt, who told me that that my mom was in the ER for chest pains. My mom got on the phone and told me she was being taken by ambulance for some tests. It was all just "precautionary," she said. The next morning, they ran some tests and determined she had had a heart attack and that some of her arteries had 30 - 50% blockage.

From what I understand, the doctors won't perform surgery unless the blockage is above 60% so the strategy right now is to get her on a couple of medicines to help with cholesterol, adjust her diet and get her exercising more often. Talk about a "pull" at the shirt.

Since my father was a cop and was often witness to many stressful situations, mom and I turned our heads many times when he lit up a cigarette because we felt he deserved it. Since my dad died, I turned my head and let my mom increase her comfort food and increase her inactivity because I felt she deserved it.

Though my mom has had a "scare" of her own now, it's up to me to make sure she "stays scared." There's a difference in being happy and being destructive. Sometimes when we're going through stressful situations or we're mourning the loss of someone, we do things to ease that pain that aren't good for us. To the people on the outside, turning your head won't make it go away. Though the last thing we want to do is hurt someone's feelings, especially those of whom we love, sometimes we have to use our intuition, however often it's given to us, to tell someone it's time to make a change. My mother is very lucky that she gets another chance to change her lifestyle. Some people don't get that chance. My father didn't get that chance. We can't keep thinking the worst would never happen to us. Because it can, no matter how hard you knock.

So the worst thing I could do right now is put on a face and say that I don't get scared every time the phone rings now or say that mom is going to do everything 100% right 100% of the time. We're all human and we all have bad habits to break. No one has the luxury to just self-medicate with food, nicotine or any other vice of choice. Everyone deserves a break every now and then and it's foolish to think if your vice is chocolate that you will never eat another candy bar.

But there comes a time when we have to step up and help the ones we love go through this process. I can kick myself all day long that, as a personal trainer, I didn't do enough to keep my mom from getting into this position. But just like our intuition, sometimes it's out of our control.

Sometimes God "pushes" us to make statements or phone calls or suggestions for people to do certain things, but other times he doesn't. Sometimes He relies on us to know what's right and to "pull" on our own shirts and do the work ourselves instead of just turning our heads.

Since the attack, my mom has made a commitment to doing what she needs to and I would be a fool not to do the same. That's why I'm writing to you today, dear reader. I hope that you're out there... and looking my way.

Sara Garrison has been a Certified Personal Trainer with the NFPT since March 2010. After working as a trainer for Gold's Gym in the Birmingham, AL, area from March - June, Sara started her own in-home training business, Garrison Personal Training, in July 2010. Sara is a member of the National Physique Committee (NPC) and was a participant in the first-ever Indianapolis Figure competition in 2001. She currently writes a fitness blog at www.garrisonpersonaltraining.blogspot.com and is training for the 2011 competition season with the NPC Bikini division. If you have any questions for Sara, please contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at the Garrison Personal Training page at www.facebook.com.

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written by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , April 17, 2011

very relatable article for many of us i'm sure.it gave me a lot to think about.

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