A Role Model for Fitness. Or Rather, Thousands & Thousands of Role Models

The Disease Management Care Blog salutes Veronika Lusianoviaa* as a role model for fitness, wellness and prevention. Ms. L dotes on Nikolas (a canine of uncertain pedigree), cannot resist the lure of the make-up counters at Macy’s and dons nylons every day. She misses Richard Burton, prefers Vladimir Horowitz and has a working familiarity with Teilard de Chardin. She doesn’t use the TiVo, but only partly because of the GUI: there also little on TV that interests her. She finds email to be marvelous. She rarely queues and resists being rushed, but not because of the effort involved. She is not lazy. Rather, she has learned over her lifetime that there is little that is that important or cannot wait.

She recently decided to pay more attention to her health. At her discreet age, she has been to more than one funeral and knows that while death is fickle, it prefers the passive and the portly. She has also secretly concluded that her bottom should be of more modest proportions. She asked her nice doctor about getting exercise but the few minutes of worth of advice she received was about as helpful as her long deceased second husband’s plumbing skills.

Veronika is baffled by the modern ideals of elite athleticism, professional sport and freakish body builders. She wonders at her neighbor’s chubby son, who dreams of being a professional baseball player yet is partially immobilized by Grand Theft Auto. She has also read about silly persons older than her who jump out of planes, join karate classes, run marathons and other such nonsense. Despite widespread adoration of the famous and rich, she finds few lessons in their leisurely fitness regimes. Ignoring popular media’s cacophony, misinformation, disservice and fixation on rippled abs, Veronika has correctly concluded that more modest levels of exercise are suitable. For this alone she deserves an award.

Veronika had already joined the new Medicare plan because it was cheaper, she could see the same doctor, there is no intention of snowbirding to the strip malls and condos of Florida and the plan helps pay for some of her pills. She found out afterwards that the plan sponsored a once a week exercise program. She doesn’t care about the business model, but did care about having to forego the nylons. For this brave act also she deserves an award.

You go Veronika!

*Veronika is, of course a very fictional woman. However, a Google search on Silver Sneakers will generate hundreds of hits like this about many thousands of real persons much like Veronika who have something to teach the United States about the attainment of fitness.