A Heart for Physical Activity

Genesis hosts national fitness advocate to speak during Heart Month

DAVENPORT, IOWA -- On the way to getting a graduate degree in physical education, JoAnne Owens-Nauslar admits to a little “grazing.”

She gained 45 pounds – all while juggling classes at University of Nebraska-Lincoln; teaching grad students; coaching women’s basketball; and, learning how to become an athletic director. She had “slamdunked” a master’s degree in 15 months, but her body was fit for the benches.

Her commitment to lifetime change came the day a professor pointedly said to her: “JoAnne, you have the credentials to be the female leader in our profession. But first, you need to live in a peak performance body.”

Setting out to do just that, she trained for the very first Lincoln (Neb.) Marathon in 1978 and won. On the way, she lost 45 pounds, plus another 10; and achieved a lean 8 percent body fat. Since then, she has lived the benefits of what she calls “a peak performance body” and has spent a career promoting the benefits of healthy, active living.

Today, the motivational speaker, author, youth fitness advocate and real-life cowgirl who lives on a ranch near Lincoln, Neb. is considered one of the nation’s most vocal proponents of physical activity. Most recently, she serves as director of corporate/community development for GeoFitness, Inc., an Orlando, Fla. company dedicated to encouraging physical activity and fitness.

Live in a peak performance body

She champions her cause with passion, energy and empathy. “I’ve been on the other side of not living in a peak performance body, “ says Owens-Nauslar, 59, nicknamed “Dr. Jo” by the youngsters she has inspired over the years. “But if you have the ability to change your lifestyle, you need to do that.”

We are a society of illness, she contends. Many of us have to get seriously ill before we get serious about being well. “Modern medicine and research can do wonders to fix the human body,” she says. “We rely on the great researchers, medical facilities and pharmaceuticals to fix our self-inflicted problems. We look at our hips and say, ‘It took me three years to put that weight on, but I want it gone by the first of March.’ We’re not patient about these processes.”

The vast – and sometimes conflicting – array of weight-loss and fitness strategies can be enough to make one give up and hunker down on the couch with a bowl of ice cream. But two wise words from Dr. Jo simply cut through the fat: “Common sense and moderation.”

“There will be another brownie made tomorrow; no need to eat the whole pan today,” she says. “Have a glass of wine, but not 10 in one setting. There are no bad foods. You can get dealt a bum set of genetics and make inappropriate choices with quality and quantity, but there isn’t anything that’s not on my food list.”

Her presentation is called “Secure Your Own Mask First,” a line borrowed from airline attendants who encourage passengers to secure their own mask first in the event of an emergency before attempting to help others. We also need to work on our own individual health and well-being, before we can be a great role model for our youth.

“I want our nation to approach the problem of poor nutrition and physical inactivity in our children with the same zest that it has taken towards underage tobacco use. I want that same alarm to sound.”

An advocate for kids

For nearly four decades, Dr. Jo has carried a torch for “healthy, active kids and school success.” She served nearly two decades as the state director for Health and Physical Education in Nebraska, led a school board and has worked as director of professional development for the American School Health Association. In her role at Geofitness, Inc., she advocates active solutions for the diabetes and obesity epidemic our nation faces.

“We must demand health instruction and physical education in the critical core day, and equip our schools and community gathering places with Meaningful Movement Labs,” she says. “Access, opportunity, great programs, safety, fun, and accountability are necessary ingredients for a healthier America.”

In 2002, she received the Advocacy in Physical Education Award from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association for helping to convince  ongress to give $50 million to physical education programming and also the “Heroes in School Health” Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has been president of On Deck Circle-Husker Softball, The Husker Athletic Fund, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the Nebraska, the Central District, and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Her many awards and recognitions include Healthy American Fitness Leader, Presidential Citation from National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, the Mabel Lee Award, the Honor Award, and the R. Tait McKenzie Award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance. She has co-authored the books Making Do Out of Doo Doo: Lessons in Life for Hardiness, Health, & Fitness and “Buts” and Bellies Be Gone: Lessons of Being Fit and Faithful.

She keeps herself in shape by running and walking every day and raising Texas Longhorn cattle, quarter and paint horses, llamas and goats with her husband, Red, at their Big-E-Nuff Ranch west of Lincoln, Neb.

“I’ll be 60 in September, so all this year my theme is ‘I’m too sexy to be 60.’ I get up and go for a run. I lift weights. I do the physical labor that comes with a ranch – from lifting 5-gallon buckets of corn to throwing a 60-pound bale,” she says. “When you experience the endorphins that come from a cardiovascular workout, every day can be a great day.”

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