Redskins Health and Wellness Screening and Fitness Expo
I spent a beautiful Saturday at Redskins stadium-not for a game this time, but for a community Health Screening and Expo event. To attract people to come, it was advertised that the locker rooms and the field would be open to attendees. Roxanna from the American Heart Association also invited Deanna Linz, Mrs. Northeast International, to help out since her platform is the AHA too!
Deanna told me that she has been involved with the AHA for years. She also told me her personal story about how losing both of her parents to heart disease drove her to live the healthiest lifestyle she could- eating healthy and exercising regularly- and that all of that still did not keep heart disease from attacking her- she shared the very moving and personal story about her own heart attack this past year with me. Although I first met Deanna about 2 years ago when we both competed at the Maryland International 2009 pageant and have seen her around at various International state pageants and appearances since, and, again, this summer when she was one of the five judges at the Miss and Miss Teen International pageant, I had never heard her whole personal story. Listening to her was so inspiring!
Spending 5 hours manning a booth together, we got to know each other so well and found we worked great as a team! Although she was not wearing her sash and crown for this event, she is truly a queen! People were amazed to find out that this woman in her 30’s who ate right and was active had a heart attack- she opened the eyes of so many people, showing them that heart disease doesn’t discriminate based on anything- gender, race, age, or even lifestyle. She is an amazing Spokesperson for the AHA and Go Red and I hope we get to work together much more!
I spoke to the youth at the event about my story -telling them about my young cousin Erick that passed away from heart disease 2 years ago at the age of 12 as well as my struggle to overcome eating disorders, a negative self-image, and to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle and self image.
After taking some photos with the Redskinette cheerleaders, meeting some players in the health screening room, and getting some more photos with the Hoggettes, we decided to do our own health screening tests. I was excited to find out that I’m all healthy- total Cholesterol of 136, blood pressure of 107/76, and 16.5% total body fat! I’m so excited that my hard work to eat healthy and get in shape by running almost every day is paying off!
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