Author Revisits IUP with Message of Wellness
By Emily Weber
Indiana Gazette
Before she was an author, a health and lifestyle coach, a Baltimore Ravens Cheerleader and a frequent guest on daytime talk shows, Molly Shattuck was a high school senior from Kittanning staring up at the stars over the Grand Canyon. Struck by the day she and her mother had spent hiking the canyon, she wrote a list of 10 things she wanted to accomplish in her life and set about making them happen the very next day.
“(The list) didn’t change my life,” she said at Monday’s 6 O’Clock Series talk at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “It created the direction of my life. I loved where I came from, but I knew I wanted more.”
That included becoming a Rockette, a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and the first member of her family to graduate from college. Though she’s been told she’s too short to be a Rockette, she became her family’s first college graduate in 1985 when she earned a degree in marketing from IUP. And at 38, after three children and a stint in investment banking and at Sylvan Learning, she tried out for the Ravens’ Cheerleading squad and made it, proving that setting goals and living a healthy lifestyle really opens doors.
“You have to dream it, decide you’re going to do it, be determined, and just do it,” she said of her approach to her list of goals.
No longer a cheerleader, she now works with clients to change their lifestyles and create healthy habits that will allow people to feel better inside and out.
“My goal is to motivate you to move health and wellness to the top of your list,” she said at the beginning of her talk. “You have age on your side, but that only lasts for so long. If you don’t have a foundation of good health, you’re limited in what you can do in life.”
Shattuck shared tips from her book, “Vibrant Living,” published in February, which outlines the four pillars for healthy living she developed in her 21-day program launched in 2011. Properly followed, the program promises to help “transform your body, burst with energy, and live your life with purpose.”
The first pillar is staying hydrated with plenty of water. Shattuck recommends 90 fluid ounces a day and tells her clients to fill up a reusable water bottle three times a day with cool or room-temperature water.
“Water truly will cleanse your system,” she said.
The second pillar is eating real. Shattuck recommends five servings of fruit and vegetables a day while limiting portion sizes, junk food and mindless eating. Eating real means “being in control of your food” by shopping locally when possible and cooking it at home, she said.
“If you do that, you’re going to automatically eat less,” she said.
The third pillar is exercising every day for at least half an hour. She doesn’t recommend clients join a gym or purchase exercise equipment. The trick is to find ways to work exercise into a daily routine, whether that means going for a brisk walk in the morning, playing a sport or even doing cardio during commercial breaks while watching TV.
“Schedule exercise just like you schedule meetings and work,” she said. “Your body’s going to thank you for it. It’s amazing how the slightest bit of physical movement improves your mood, too.”
The last pillar involves “living for others.” Though there are noted physical benefits from doing volunteer work, Shattuck recommends getting involved with a volunteer group or community organization because it makes it easier to connect with others and live a happier life.
“The more you do it, the more you want to do it,” she said of service. “Whatever it is you love to do, give it away. You’ll be more connected to your community.”
Shattuck lives her life as an example of all four of these pillars and is involved in national health advocacy. She’s the Go Red mission and engagement chair of the American Heart Association, the national healthy living ambassador for the American Diabetes Association and the healthy food ambassador for United Way of Central Maryland’s Access to Healthy Food Initiative.
She’s also on the national advisory board for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and a trustee of the United Way of Central Maryland, which keeps her close to her home in Baltimore and her children, Spencer, Wyatt and Lillian.
“Everything in life is better if you’re sharing it with others,” she said.
