Mike Ditka

“If you are determined enough and willing to pay the price, you can get it done.”

“You see people who have been very heavy in their life who have taken that body, trimmed it down, firmed it up through discipline, exercise and being able to say no. Eating properly, that all comes into it.”

“Well, after I had the heart attack, it was a very simple choice. What the doctor told me I did and I did it religiously. I ate nothing but lean turkey breast or chicken breast or a piece of fish that was very lean. I mean I stayed away from everything.”

“Just because you liked something as a youngster doesn't mean you have to like it as an adult. You can change your taste a little bit on the sweets and things like that.”

“Some people are willing to pay the price and it's the same with staying healthy or eating healthy. There's some discipline involved. There's some sacrifices.”

“Here's what I tell anybody and this is what I believe. The greatest gift we have is the gift of life. We understand that. That comes from our Creator. We're given a body. Now you may not like it, but you can maximize that body the best it can be maximized.”

“There's just me and my wife and a dog and we feed him Healthy Choice also.”

“What you feel spiritually. I think a lot of that has to do with it. If you have no spiritual life, chances are everything is going to aggravate you, you're going to fly off the handle at everything and that's what I did in the past. I've kind of got that under control now.”

“I do like beer, but lately I've started drinking non-alcoholic beer and I like the taste of it and I don't get the alcohol, so that's a good alternative also.”

“Success isn't permanent and failure isn't fatal.”

“Effort without talent is a depressing situation... but talent without effort is a tragedy.”

“I do some weights and I do a lot of stretching.”

“When I get my heart rate up, I get good exercise and I think it's good for a lot of things, plus it's not hurting my hips right now.”

“Eating properly is great. I mean you cut the fat down, cut the cholesterol out, but still you got to get your rest and you got to have some form of exercise.”

“I think your alcohol intake has to change. You know, usually a big person feels they can drink anything they want to and as much as they want to and I've cut that way back.”

“Really, if I'm gonna eat a meat, I'd rather eat venison than anything and I do like it a little on the rare side. That's probably my favorite meat and I've had some awfully good venison in some of the great restaurants.”

“I mean, when you've had a problem in your past, whether it's attributed directly to high cholesterol or not, you want to lower your cholesterol. You want to eat healthy. You want to feel healthy. You want to have a little more energy.”

“Not really, and actually my cholesterol was 190 when I had the heart attack. 190, which isn't that high. I took it down to about 130 and it's probably about 140 or 145 now.”

“If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms.”

“Basically, my problem was attributed to stress more than anything. I don't know what that does and I guess doctors can tell you that there's chemicals that build up in your system when you go through a lot of stress and constant stress.”