A Special Mother's Day Heart Challenge: 15 Busy Utah Moms to Kickoff Their 100-Day Journey to Better Health on Thursday

WHAT:
Mother's Day will be extra special this year for 15 Utah moms who have been selected to compete in the 2015 My Heart Challenge: Mom's Edition, in which they will spend the next 100 days working with experts from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray to become more fit and heart healthy.

Their goal: adopt long-term lifestyle strategies to enable them to maintain optimal weight, nutrition and fitness levels so that they can become as healthy as possible.

The 15 moms were selected from among more than 700 Utah women who applied to participate in the 100-day My Health Challenge. They represent the spectrum and diversity of motherhood found in the Beehive state: young moms with young families, older moms with high school and college-age children, single moms, stay-at-home moms and moms in the workplace.

They all share some common traits: they're all busy mom who tend to place the needs of their families before their own health and well-being. They will work with experts (cardiologists, dietitians, behavior health specialists and exercise experts) from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute to learn how to incorporate heart-healthy habits into their busy lifestyles to reduce their risk of developing heart disease and heart disorders. The mom will be given a comprehensive set of heart tests at the beginning of the My Heart Challenge to establish a baseline. Those same tests will be repeated at the end of 100 days to help firefighters measure their personal progress. Previous year's contestants have included firefighter, schoolteachers and municipal leaders from throughout the Salt Lake Valley.

Media are invited to attend the 2015 My Heart Challenge Breakfast Kick-Off on Thursday in which the moms will officially weigh in and begin their 100-day journey to better health. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute sponsors the My Heart Challenge.

WHEN:
8 a.m. – Thursday, May 7, 2015

WHERE:
Intermountain Medical Center
Doty Education Auditorium – Bldg #6
5121 South Cottonwood Street, Murray

WHO:
– Fifteen 2015 My Heart Challenge: Mom's Edition participants and their families
– Experts from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute