Lions Legend Lomas Brown on Staying Healthy as a Family

Angela Hernandez

| 3 min read

Detroit Lions Legend Lomas Brown has recently spent time visiting with students across the state as part of the Detroit Lions Play 60 school assembly program, sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. He shared some of his own lessons on staying healthy as a family with the MI Blues Perspectives team:
Lomas Brown, Courtesy Detroit Lions What types of healthy activities do you enjoy doing with your family? We enjoy going for walks and cooking healthy dinners together at home as a family. We have a trampoline in our yard. We live on a lake and love all water sports and activities (swimming, boating, etc). When it comes to healthy eating, we make a lot of “Power Bowls." Our favorite is a mixture of ground turkey, mixed vegetables, seasoning, and brown rice with some fruit on the side. It’s important to eat all your food groups every day. Protein, carbs, dairy, fruit, veggies. How do you stay motivated? My kids and my grandkids are my motivation. I want to watch them grow, witness their success, see them get married, and be able to keep up with them. I need to be healthy and active so I can be there for my family and watch them grow up.
"My kids and my grandkids are my motivation. I need to be healthy and active so I can be there for my family and watch them grow up."
How has your success changed the way you parent? I have always taught my children to stay humble. You can fall down the ladder of success as fast as you can crawl up it. You need to work hard to earn everything you get. Stay humble! How do you get active for 60 minutes every day? I meet with my personal trainer three days per week. I have back problems, so we do several low impact workouts. More reps, less weight. My trainer has taught me to use my body weight for conditioning – we also do a lot of stretching and piYo. Do you use any tools to help you stay on track with your healthy habits? I use my iPhone calendar. As part of my health regime, I eat every 4-5 hours. I actually set the alarm on my phone to remind me to eat, then track what I ate on my calendar. What would you tell your younger self about the importance of being healthy? Drink more water. I didn’t drink enough water when I was younger. Water is the best way to stay hydrated. I try to not drink sugary drinks anymore and have as much water as I can now. How did you make health a priority after playing football professionally? Most importantly, I had to stay on a schedule. As an athlete, you are used to being on a very regimented, football schedule. When I retired and didn’t have that aggressive schedule to keep me in line anymore, I had to adjust and make my own routine. I worked hard to create a personalized healthy lifestyle schedule that just did not revolve around football. To learn more about Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s partnership with the Detroit Lions Play 60 school assembly program visit www.detroitlions.com/play60. If you enjoyed this blog, you might be interested in reading:
Lomas Brown & @RoaryNFL visited Andersonville Elementary to teach kids to play like a Lion with @BCBSM. #MIKidsCan pic.twitter.com/8QAFGSKQWQ

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) March 9, 2016
Photo Credit: MI Blues Perspectives (main), Courtesy image/Detroit Lions (Thumbnail)
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