[sontaikle]

I read this in the paper today and I was blown away. Esther Cohen is pushing 95 and goes to the gym three times a week and eats healthy. Her doctor said "her health is excellent for a 45 year old."

Amazing! She is truly an inspiration and her excellent health shows the benefits of regular exercise

Here's the article. You may not be able to read all of if you're not a newsday subscriber:
http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/ret...-rat-1.3633728

I'll post some highlights:

This fitness buff from Bay Shore has good reason to smile. In her mid-90s, Esther (everyone calls her Esther) walks without a cane, has lived in the same home for more than half a century, enjoys an active social life with friends and family -- and she remembers everybody's names.
"She's always smiling and laughing, always happy," says Valentin Ledano of Brentwood, a morning regular at the gym. Ledano, 44, shakes his head admiringly as Esther, still smiling and without any assistance, hops on the next machine in her workout routine. "Incredible," he says.
Her physician of seven years, Dr. Jeffrey Nakhjavan, a family medicine practitioner in West Babylon, concurs. When asked if Esther is in good health for her age -- she turns 95 on Friday -- he laughs and says, "Her health is excellent for a 45-year-old."

Esther, who was born in 1917 and grew up in the Bronx, started training at Bally when it was a few miles from its current location and called Holiday Spa. That was in 1976. Esther was 59, and her husband, Abe, was 65 and recently retired.

"He wanted to stay home and relax like everybody else," recalls their son Jack Cohen, 73, who lives with his mother. "My brother forced him to join a gym. He said: 'Dad, you've got to do something. You can't just stay home.' " Abe decided his son might be right. He signed up at the local gym, and, of course, his wife followed. "Whatever he said, she did," Jack says. "That's the way their marriage was. But in this case, it was a good thing she did."

For more than 30 years, the couple went to the gym almost daily. They used the machines, they did calisthenics and -- just as important -- they made friends there. Even when the gym moved and its name changed from Holiday to Jack LaLanne, to Bally Total Fitness, the Cohens stuck with it. In 2009, Abe died at age 98. After a brief period following his death, Esther returned to the gym and, since then, has been going three times a week.

"I think the key is that she has continued to do it for so many years," says exercise physiologist Hank Williford, a senior fitness expert, at Auburn University-Montgomery in Alabama, who doesn't know Esther but supports physical activity regardless of age. "Exercise is all about day after day after day."

ESTHER’S EVERYDAY DIET
Breakfast One slice whole-wheat low-sodium bread with sugar-free jelly and five prunes.
Lunch A sandwich with whole-wheat low- sodium bread, low-sodium bologna, turkey or salami. A couple of times a week, she’ll pick up lunch from Subway.
Dinner Fish, chicken, or turkey burger with potato, veggies and salad.
Dessert Fruit. There’s no junk food in her cupboards.

[chubbybunny29]

Its truly a testament to the power of good nutrition, exercise and doing things to keep your brain learning!

[astrophe]

WTG Esther!

I love hearing about healthy aging.

A.

[berryblondeboys]

Maybe I should show this to my mother in law who is always talking abut how she can't do things because of her "birth certificate". That is awesome. I told my husband we should do that and he said we should try. We just came back from taking a class together which we do together twice a week. Otherwise we go alone for other activities.

[konfyoozed]

going to the gym with my husband is great i want to be like esther and still be walking into the gym with him in 60 years.

awesome story!

[sheilsun]

Yea Esther!! What an awesome person and story. My new role model. Scar;y when you hit 60 and feel life may be just beginning and you now know what you want to do and be when you grow up a bit. I prefer being outdoors so much and try to attain fitness goals walking alot with my dog and enjoying nature. No treadmills or ellipticals(sp?) however always looking for some hills or nature paths for challenge.Walking near water a favorite. Always aiming for healthy nutritious foods with some cheats but getting right back the next morning..mostly Hope this helps.

[Serenity100]

That article is a great read. When she started she was "only" 59 and has kept it up all of these years! She is an inspiration and proof that all you have to do is keep on doing it and never give up.

[ICUwishing]

My 90-yr old Grandma picked up her first dumbbell at 75. She's a 4'10" powerhouse who can kick my @$$ ... Just took up Zumba, and does water aerobics 4 times a week. She'd like Esther.