Mary Lou Retton talks about staying healthy for her kids
Not many women can lay claim to being at their pre-mommy weight after giving birth to four kids — but not many women are former Olympic gold medalists, either. Mary Lou Retton says that she maintains her figure with a steady mix of early morning cardio and weight training sessions five times per week, and that her motivation is not "to look good in a leotard" — but is instead to stay healthy.
The 40-year-old motivational speaker hopes to set a good example for daughters Shayla Rae, 12, McKenna Lane, 10, Skyla Brae, 7, and Emma Jean, 5, — with the eldest two being gymnasts-in-training, themselves. Mary Lou says she tries to make sure that both she and the kids eat a lot of "lean, healthy and natural" meals, which has no doubt helped her stay at the 93-95 lb weight she was at upon winning five Olympic medals at the Los Angeles games in 1984. Says Mary Lou,
I don’t get caught up in numbers, but I figure I was pregnant or getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight for 10 years.
The girls are Mary Lou’s children with husband Shannon Kelly.
Source: Columbus Dispatch
- Posted on Jan 28, 08 at 6:22PM
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- 6 Comments
January 28th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
She’s still my hero.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Why do all of the girls have their middle names listed except for Emma? Were you just unable to find out what her middle name was, because I read an article about Mary Lou a few years ago and it said that Emma’s middle name was Jean.
Sarah’s note: Exactly. Thanks for letting us know.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I could have sworn that I seen on GMA not too long ago that she has breast cancer. Does anyone know if this is true?
January 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am
It was ice skater Dorothy Hamill that is being treated for breast cancer.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 am
i was born on the exact same day as her first daughter
December 18th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
i think its great the way that she lives her life. her being a motivational speaker and the example she sets for her children and everyone else truly makes her amazing.