Coach Grier's Story
Growing up I loved sports! I shared the dream of many
children and I wanted to be the quarterback for the Washington Redskins.
Being an extremely active child I still spent most of my childhood and
adolescence overweight… and not just a little overweight, a lot over
weight! In fact I was so big I wasn’t allowed to play football until I
reached high school. I always exceeded the weight requirements.
That experience was heartbreaking but I took it in stride and put my passion into playing baseball. I can remember playing on multiple baseball teams in my town, county and even AAU leagues year round. Once I entered high school I continued playing baseball in the spring and football in the fall through my senior year. I recall one year playing fall baseball and football at the same time. After finishing up football practice I changed clothes and went back out to the same field for baseball practice, getting home sometimes after 8 or 9 PM. After high school I had a 4-year college football career, which demands year round training. My highest weight was 318 lbs as a freshman in 2000. What does all that mean? Why would I be talking about my sports background?
My background of being severely overweight while also being an extremely active athlete has formed a strong personal opinion that our children aren’t overweight because they aren’t active enough. In 2006, I lost over 100 lbs, well after my college football career was over. My activity level played almost no part in me becoming a healthier person and I will never in my life be as active as I was while I was overweight. You can see why I don’t entirely blame videogames or TV, not playing enough after school, or not being involved in enough extracurricular activities.
The USA is OBESE BECAUSE WE EAT TOO MUCH! That’s it… it doesn’t really get any simpler than that. Many of us as children learned poor eating habits in our home environment. The onset of adult obesity can be attributed to many things physical and emotional in our lives, but excuses like not having time to prepare healthy food or the lack of educating ourselves to make good choices is unacceptable.
We are a nation of people who are addicted to the ease of fast food, sugary drinks, and high calorie nutritionally empty snacks. The truth is that you can be as active as you want but if you have poor eating habits you are at risk of health related diseases due to being overweight.
That experience was heartbreaking but I took it in stride and put my passion into playing baseball. I can remember playing on multiple baseball teams in my town, county and even AAU leagues year round. Once I entered high school I continued playing baseball in the spring and football in the fall through my senior year. I recall one year playing fall baseball and football at the same time. After finishing up football practice I changed clothes and went back out to the same field for baseball practice, getting home sometimes after 8 or 9 PM. After high school I had a 4-year college football career, which demands year round training. My highest weight was 318 lbs as a freshman in 2000. What does all that mean? Why would I be talking about my sports background?
My background of being severely overweight while also being an extremely active athlete has formed a strong personal opinion that our children aren’t overweight because they aren’t active enough. In 2006, I lost over 100 lbs, well after my college football career was over. My activity level played almost no part in me becoming a healthier person and I will never in my life be as active as I was while I was overweight. You can see why I don’t entirely blame videogames or TV, not playing enough after school, or not being involved in enough extracurricular activities.
The USA is OBESE BECAUSE WE EAT TOO MUCH! That’s it… it doesn’t really get any simpler than that. Many of us as children learned poor eating habits in our home environment. The onset of adult obesity can be attributed to many things physical and emotional in our lives, but excuses like not having time to prepare healthy food or the lack of educating ourselves to make good choices is unacceptable.
We are a nation of people who are addicted to the ease of fast food, sugary drinks, and high calorie nutritionally empty snacks. The truth is that you can be as active as you want but if you have poor eating habits you are at risk of health related diseases due to being overweight.
I also believe that being overweight is NOT genetic but rather is a learned behavior of poor eating habits, which may begin as early as being in the womb. What’s great about this is that it means we have control! Genetics are unchangeable, but eating habits can be changed! Breaking and changing the way you have eaten your entire life is not easy and certainly takes determination and a great support system. I was lucky enough to have my mother take on this challenge with me. She was my first inspiration and she also changed her life by losing over 100 lbs. My Dad joined in and also lost 55 lbs!
My goal as a Health and Physical Education teacher is to share my experience to help students AND their families achieve a healthy lifestyle through proper eating habits along with physical fitness. You cannot have one without the other. My opinions also are not meant to lessen the importance of being physically active. Exercise and being active plays a large role in helping children be fit, reduce stress, and find acceptance in something they love. As we become adults, finding time to be physically active can play a huge part in being healthy. Along with mental health, finding time for exercise can lower cholesterol, increase metabolism, and make us more heart healthy along with many more benefits.
Please join me in my quest to make the next generation of American’s healthier. This is our battle and it takes a family and strong supportive environment. Please read further on CoachGrier.com about what it takes to change your life and maintain that change!
My goal as a Health and Physical Education teacher is to share my experience to help students AND their families achieve a healthy lifestyle through proper eating habits along with physical fitness. You cannot have one without the other. My opinions also are not meant to lessen the importance of being physically active. Exercise and being active plays a large role in helping children be fit, reduce stress, and find acceptance in something they love. As we become adults, finding time to be physically active can play a huge part in being healthy. Along with mental health, finding time for exercise can lower cholesterol, increase metabolism, and make us more heart healthy along with many more benefits.
Please join me in my quest to make the next generation of American’s healthier. This is our battle and it takes a family and strong supportive environment. Please read further on CoachGrier.com about what it takes to change your life and maintain that change!
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