My Running Wolf Story

by Jeane Moore

My name is Jeane and I hate to exercise.  I am 71 years old and overweight and diabetic.  Being a diabetic, of course, puts me at a higher risk for kidney and cardiovascular problems.  My mother and father both died of heart-related disease.  So did one of my grandmothers and one of my grandfathers.

But I let myself get to the age of being an elder without learning how to take care of myself, even with all those object lessons.  Well, I knew how in my head but not my gut.  Then a series of good-luck events happened to me.  First, I ran into a neighbor, Jake, at a meeting and saw him without a coat on for the first time in months and he”'d shrunk!  By half!  He had lost 100 pounds.  He gave me a ride home and I said what did you do and he explained his diet to me (he eats less — who knew?  But he had some very useful information on how to accomplish that) and mentioned his support group.  I asked, very casually, if I might go to his support group.  Well, he”'d see.  And he did and I started attending A-POD meetings.

I had family members and friends and a medical provider who certainly wanted to see me lose weight and be healthy and not die.  Not yet.  But A-PODers are diabetics, many of them older, like me, and they struggle with weight and diet and blood-sugar control just like I do.  They knew what to say to me and I was smart enough to listen.  They helped me lose fifty pounds.  And Jake and I rode to the meetings together and I couldn”'t bring myself to call him and say, “Not this week.”Â  He would say, “Well, okay.”Â  And I would shrivel with guilt.

Running Wolf.  I had tried doing exercises at home and I had even tried the Lake Street version of Running Wolf.  As for at home, the words “exercise” and “excuse” looked too much alike.  On Lake Street, Running Wolf was too daunting.  It was too big, too shiny, too much.

Then Running Wolf moved and I was ready.  Jake and I started working out at RW two or three times a week and it is perfect for me.  Just the right size.  Just the right amount of shiny.  Just the right amount of instruction combined with just the right amount of letting me do it at my own pace.  Other patrons who say Hi and smile and sometimes even chat but never interrupt.  No one tells me what to do until I ask.  Perfect.

Think you are too old or too fat for a fitness center?  Think again, Silverlocks.

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