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Health | Fitness (Related) Body and Soul
Web Posted: 06/24/2007 02:54 PM CDT
But before he could improve his health, Horan had to turn to another member of his flock; a member who, coincidentally, had previously relied on Horan for guidance while on his own spiritual journey. Robert McLeroy/Express-News Father Mike Horan works out under the supervision of his personal trainer, Mario Beltran, at a Spectrum club. Today, Horan's weight is down to 270 pounds and dropping. He's careful about his diet and he exercises most days of the week. His feels less pain in his back and knees. "I love going to the gym. If you'd have told me that a year ago? Oh, hell no," says Horan, 53, whose blunt language is softened by his lilting Irish accent. "I had gym memberships, but did they ever see me? No." "He's a perfect example of what can be accomplished when you put your mind and your heart into it and know you're doing something good for yourself," says Marty Vermales, his administrative assistant at St. Luke. "I told him, 'Not only are you saving souls, but you'll be saving lives as well. You'll be an inspiration.'" Horan learned the importance of a healthy lifestyle only after he witnessed the devastating effects of an unhealthy one. He had been overweight since his 20s, but he gained even more when he replaced his two-pack-a-day smoking habit with food 10 years ago. Working at least 12 hours daily as the leader of a church with 13,000 members, he didn't view his health as a priority. Then Bert died. Bert Stott was a member of Horan's church and a good friend. They both loved soccer and coaching kids at St. Luke. In May 2006, Stott had a fatal heart attack during a baseball game at St. Luke while he was running the concession stand. "I watched EMS try to revive him. It was pretty traumatic. It scared the crap out of me, basically," Horan says. Preparing for and conducting the funeral of his friend, Horan contemplated their similarities. They were the same age and they were the same size, even exchanging T-shirts (size 4-5X). "I realized the same possibility (death) was there for me. My doctor had been warning me that I needed to lose weight," he said. Gloria Ferniz/Express-News Father Mike Horan welcomes guests at St Luke's Catholic Church mass. So he decided it was time to get fit. Luckily, another parishioner at St. Luke is a personal trainer at Spectrum Club at Bandera Pointe. Mario Beltran agreed to meet with his pastor to help with his form on the machines. On their first day, Beltran showed up only to find Horan wearing street clothes. Instead of working out, Horan wanted to eat. He took Beltran to Courtyard Café and ordered his usual — a cheeseburger with waffle fries. Beltran wasn't happy. "I said, 'Don't you understand? You're going to die. You're going to end up like Bert,'" says Beltran, 36. "And he said, 'Well, how much are your sessions?' and I thought he was kidding." For Beltran, leading Horan on a journey to better health was an opportunity to repay his pastor, who had led him on his own journey to deeper spirituality. Beltran has attended St. Luke for 11 years, but for most of that time he did so out of an obligation he felt because his kids went to school there. That changed after Horan arrived at St. Luke six years ago, especially after Beltran attended one of Horan's ACTS (Adoration, Community, Theology and Service) retreats, three-day sessions of intensive religious study and exploration designed to strengthen participants' faith. On the retreat, Beltran says, he learned to open his heart and life to God. "He made me realize why I needed to be a spiritual leader for my kids. It's made me a better father," Beltran says, sitting next to Horan near the juice bar at Spectrum. "He's my spiritual giant." "Mario, don't get sentimental," Horan responds. But Beltran, who regards Horan as his spiritual mentor, is serious about his responsibility to Horan's health. "I really took this as a personal quest to make sure he was of a healthy body and healthy spirit because his work is not done here," he says. So in June 2006, a month after Stott's death, Beltran took charge, and the teacher became the student. That reversal hasn't always been easy. Horan, accustomed to being in authority, can be stubborn about taking direction. He often wanted to perform only the exercises he was good at; he would start loading up the squat rack with weights to work his already-powerful legs, ignoring Beltran's instructions to work on upper-body strength. "He is such a powerhouse in the community of St. Luke's. He's the go-to guy. When he comes in here he has to let go. He's not Father Mike. He's Mike who's trying to live a long, healthy life," Beltran says. "I say, 'Do I tell you how to run your church? Do I tell you how to celebrate Mass? (Then) you don't tell me how to train.'" They started slowly so as not to put undue stress on Horan's heart. Beltran's goal was to help Horan get his weight below 300 pounds and to keep the weight off. Horan's goal was more ambitious: to lose 100 pounds in a year. He met his goal in only seven months. Today, Horan does resistance training with Beltran two to three times per week. On his own, he does at least 35 minutes of cardio six days a week, working on a treadmill, bicycle or elliptical trainer. He does 65 minutes once a week. Horan's professional workload hasn't lightened, but he says making time for exercise helps him feel less tired. "It's really helped the stress," he says. "It helps me to relax. I look forward to it." Spectrum nutritionist Nora Idrogo also taught Horan, who has a family history of diabetes, about making healthier food choices and how to read labels. He now eats whole wheat bread instead of white, has cut back on cheese enchiladas and dips his fork into the Thousand Island salad dressing instead of dumping it on his salad. When families from his parish invited him to dinner, his administrative assistant lets them know beforehand what to prepare. Fish is his favorite. "When I think back to some of the food I ate, it was horrendous," he says. "Now I'm really judgmental of what other people have in their shopping carts." Horan has lost at least 12 inches from his waist. He's even dropped two shoe sizes. The radical change prompted several members of St. Luke to ask if he underwent gastric bypass surgery. He's also encouraged other employees at St. Luke to live more healthily. "He would see us eating cake and say, 'What are you eating?'" says Vermales. "He's been an inspiration to a lot of people. People have decided, 'Gosh, if he can do it, we can do it.'" Horan's life is changing in other ways, too. In early June he left St. Luke Catholic Community after six years to move to Holy Name Parish on the Southeast Side. In a way, his new focus on health is essential to his vocation. "I've been given one body by God, and it's up to me how I take care of it. If I want to bring other people closer to him, I need to take care of myself," he says. "I believe that God lives within each one of us so it's important for us to take care of the bodies in which God lives."
For most of his adult life, Father Mike Horan has acted as a spiritual guide for the members of his congregations. But it took the death of one of his parishioners for him to expand his focus to include more earthly matters in the way he lives — specifically, physical health and fitness.
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