GREENSBORO, N.C. — Health experts stress one secret to a long healthy life is exercising.
No matter what age you are, keeping your body moving is the way to go. WFMY News 2 spoke with an 83-year-old Greensboro woman who stays active not only once or twice a week, but nearly every single day.
Millie Hoffler-Foushee works out at Cone Health's Sagewell Health and Fitness five days out of the week.
"Monday, I just do water, so I have a water class. Tuesday, I have a floor class which is called civil fit," Hoffler-Foushee said.
Determined is what she is and how much work she puts in proves it.
"Sometimes I can do two classes on Wednesdays, it depends," Hoffler-Foushee continued. "On Thursday, I have two classes; a floor class, which is another senior fit class, and then I go to water aerobics."
On Friday, she wraps it up with another water aerobics class.
"This is where I can pick up speed and I don't have to worry about my limbs," Foushee said.
Hoffler-Foushee got into exercising in her 30s.
"I did it off and on after having kids and starting to work and all of that," Foushee said.
But it wasn't until she turned 50 that she began to take it seriously.
"You probably heard the old saying, 'When you get to be 50 everything falls apart,' so I was trying to slow that down some," Foushee said.
Three times a week she'd get on the treadmill, and participate in several Zumba classes. Once she got older, she incorporated water exercises due to hip problems.
"When I got in the water and did all those exercises, all of a sudden everything stopped hurting," Foushee said.
The more she did it, the better she felt.
"Exercise is vital to our overall physical and mental health. It’s important for our heart, lungs, our brain, our bones," Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Sara Early shared.
Early said there are a lot of what she calls "Fad" diet supplements out there that help speed up metabolism or decrease your appetite.
“And those things work for the most part, but once you stop using them, the weight comes back, blood pressure creeps up," Early continued.
That's why she encourages those at a very young age and old to create a healthy lifestyle by exercising throughout the week, if possible.
"It really makes a big difference," Early said.
As Hoffler-Foushee continues on her fitness journey, she’s proud of how far she's come.
"This is what I need to do in order to keep me healthy," Hoffler-Foushee said.