Health Team

Workout buddies help maintain motivation

Whenever you see Rebecca Foster at the Rex Wellness Center in Garner, Charmayne White is always nearby.

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GARNER, N.C. — Whenever you see Rebecca Foster at the Rex Wellness Center in Garner, Charmayne White is always nearby.

“Charmayne and I have been working out over five years together,” Foster said.

When she started working out, Foster, 39, wanted to drop 15 pounds. She has lost 25 pounds.

White’s motivation was to get healthy. “I had a heart attack when I was in my mid-30s,” she said.

White, now 47, has lost 52 pounds and gone from taking eight medications to two.

Sometimes, one of them doesn't feel like working out.

“She’ll give me a call, won’t give me anytime to say, ‘Let’s do it later.’ She’s just real cut and dry, ‘We’re going to meet at 6,’” Foster said.

Success begins with having a support system – a friend, or group of friends.

Doctors suggest people set realistic, attainable goals and choose the kind of exercise program they enjoy most.

“The more that they like the program that they're on, the more that they're going to continue to stick with it,” said Jenny Hampton, of Rex Wellness Center in Garner.

Foster and White began with a fitness evaluation to make sure their exercise program was safe.

They both work out six days a week with cardiovascular exercise and weights. They also keep setting new goals.

“My goal is to drop 10 pounds of fat and replace it with muscle,” Foster said.

“My goals are always the same. I mean, they increase, but I don't do a New Year's resolution because it's something you should do all the time,” White said.

Regardless of the type of exercise you choose, everyone should do some kind of physical activity, even just walking, for an hour a day, five days a week, doctors say.

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