FitClub is honored to feature a story this week about member, Bertha Eaves. Bertha has been a member of FitClub since 1985 and has recently celebrated her 97thbirthday! Courtesy of her daughter, Sandy, who relayed stories about Bertha’s healthy lifestyle to FitClub, we can all learn a few things about healthy living.  Making it look easy, Bertha may have figured out the three keys to a long, healthy and happy life.

Image

If you struggle with consistency, Bertha should be your new role model. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless the roads are slick, you can find Bertha at FitClub in the early morning hours. She puts herself through her circuit training and then catches up with her social circle over a glass of orange juice. Talking to Sandy, you get the feeling that this is not an obligation for Bertha, just a part of her routine that she enjoys and that makes her feel good.  This is just who Bertha is, she has always been a woman that enjoyed physical activity. Whether it was long walks and bike rides on vacation or roller skating at the Moonlight Gardens when she was a young woman, you can tell that Bertha is not a woman that looks for excuses to avoid physical activity.  She was an accomplished skater in the years before organized sports were available to girls and young women.  It was even at the roller skating rink where Bertha met the man that would be her husband.

Her social circle gives her the accountability that we all need to hit our goals.  Bertha knows that if she misses a morning workout, her group of friends will call to check in on her.  It seems that what may have started as accountability has now become dependability. The people Bertha shares her mornings with know that they can find her at FitClub three mornings each week, enjoying her active workout and a glass of orange juice.  A social circle of healthy, like-minded people is priceless when you’re building a workout routine and it seems to have worked beautifully for this group of active people.

There’s no doubt that Bertha has been dedicated to her physical fitness and Sandy reports that for Bertha it’s never been about weight loss.  Bertha has always been petite and fit and she just enjoys the feeling that comes from being active.  For Bertha it’s definitely paying off.  She’s able to stay injury free and as physically active as she’d like, even comfortably sitting on the floor to play cards with her family.

Bertha also reportedly has mastered the art of a balanced lifestyle, which for some of us can be the hardest act to master. Bertha has a lifelong sweet tooth and enjoys sugar so much that when she adopted her beloved cat, she kept the name the shelter had given it.  Sugar!

FitClub is honored to celebrate Bertha’s birthday month this July and wishes her many more birthdays celebrated with a glass of orange juice, many friends, a loving family, and yes, many more workouts, too!

Thank you for inspiring all of us, Bertha, and happiest of birthdays!