Golden Girl

American Fitness, Jan, 2001 by Bonnie Siegler

Olympic Hall of Fame inductee Mary Lou Retton shares her thoughts on diet, exercise and personal determination.

She bounded into living rooms around the world in July, 1984--all 98 pounds of her 4'9" frame. By the end of the week, Mary Lou Retton was a gold medalist. The following year, she became the youngest inductee of the United States Olympic Committee's Olympic Hall of Fame. Everything seemed to be going great, except America's most popular athlete was burned out.

"I was exercising eight hours a day," explains Retton, referring to her pre-Olympic routine. "I worked out four hours in the morning, showered in the gym, went to school from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and then back to the gym from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. I was burned out and wanted to take a break. I deserved to take a break and eat whatever I wanted to eat. I wanted to be rebellious, so I retired from gymnastics. I was finally on my own."

That was in 1986. Retton, now the mother of three young children, says she battled with a 15- to 20-pound weight gain for the next three years. "And I still do," she admits. "Being 4'9" and coming from a very round, Italian family, I could be overweight like a lot of my family members. So maintaining my weight is a lifetime commitment. [However,] I had stopped exercising and began eating fattening foods. Then I realized I didn't feel so good, I wasn't happy with myself and I was sluggish. I didn't lose the weight to look good in a leotard or to feel lighter in the air when doing my flips and tumbles--I did it for me!"

Retton was about to achieve another victory--a personal one. However, before she got her nutritional act together, there were some painful moments. "I got hurtful comments from people saying, `Gosh, is that Mary Lou? She's so fad!' People didn't recognize me anymore because I had gained weight," she says. Realizing there is no magic pill for losing weight, Retton says she began to exercise again and watch her fat intake. "My body needs exercise," she says. "I don't believe in weighing myself because [I saw after] being constantly weighed in gymnastics [how] just drinking a glass of water means you'll be heavier on the scale. It doesn't mean you're fatter. So I go by how I look, how my clothes feel and inches [measured]."

Today, the bestselling author, popular motivational speaker and budding actress (Scrooged, Naked Gun 3, Baywatch) credits her athletic background with giving her the knowledge to lose the weight and get back on the health track. Her current workout routine is five days a week for 60 to 90 minutes with time off on weekends to spend with her family. "I begin with 30 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular activity, whether it's on a bike, stairmaster or my favorite--the elliptical machine," she says. "But I get real bored, so I've begun to do 15 minutes on each piece of equipment. Otherwise, it seems like forever." Then it's on to 30 minutes of weights to maintain muscle tone. "For me," Retton explains, "cardio is the most important part of my exercise program because that's what keeps the weight off. If I lose that layer of fat, my muscles will come through."

She shares weekends at home in Houston, Texas, with investment broker husband Shannon Kelley and their three children, Shayla, McKenna and Skya. This means long bike rides, soccer and rollerblading. "We get out there, that's for sure," she says. "I'm having so much fun rollerblading that it doesn't feel like exercise, but it is because the next day, my legs and butt are so sore."

Aerobically, blading rates with running as a cardiovascular exercise; plus, it burns calories like mad: about 340 calories per hour. Rettons's routine can use up to 400 calories. Also, the sport is low-impact--unless you fall, in which case it's high-impact.

Just as Retton was a fan of healthy eating pre- and post-Olympics, the self-ordained household cook says she keeps meals balanced and tries to set a good example of healthy eating for her children. Well, most of the time ...

"What I do is try to eat very healthy for six days," she explains. "Then I take one day--usually a Saturday or Sunday--and I splurge. That's the day I eat whatever I want, whether it's pizza with the kids and an ice cream afterward or some chocolate mousse. That's fine and there's no guilt associated with that because I know I've eaten the right foods throughout the week."

The "right foods" include all the standards: salads, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit (peaches and apples being her favorites), grilled chicken or fish and Pam cooking spray. "I never fry anything in butter," she says. "Even my scrambled egg whites for breakfast are fried in Pam spray." Each dinner features a side of carbs. "I'm a real meat and potatoes kind of girl, so we might have noodles with marinara sauce or plain white rice," she says. Snacks include Retton's favorite pretzels, fruit or baked potato. "Baked potatoes are so filling and easy to make," Retton explains. "And they're so very easy to take with you to work. I put butter buds or picante sauce on it to cut out fats."