Fit for Life Makes Friends for Life

Having just completed their monthly Fit for Life assessments, Bessie Cunningham and Gertrude West could contain their smiles no longer.

“I’ve lost seven pounds!” Cunningham said joyfully.

“I’ve lost 13 pounds!” West said proudly.

Fit for Life is a program of the Monsanto Family Branch of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis, focusing on promoting healthy habits and cardiovascular health in adult African Americans living in north St. Louis City. The program is designed to give participants the tools to self-manage their health and risk factors for heart disease and provide a structured health and fitness program in a safe, comfortable, and non-intimidating environment. Funded in part with a MFH grant, it is an example of how effective programs can in fact help improve the health of residents, as in this North St. Louis neighborhood.

“We’re not just a weight loss program,” said Cindy Chafin, Fit for Life coordinator. “We’re teaching people how to live healthy, active lifestyles through exercise and diet.” The program is free and open to anyone, but 80 percent of the participants are women and most are between 50 and 60 years old and on limited budgets.

Through organized activities like chair aerobics, line dancing and water aerobics, program participants begin to feel the positive effects of exercising almost immediately.

“My back pain is much better and overall I just feel better,” said Linda Reynolds, who after three months in the program has also lost 15 pounds.

The YMCA encourages Fit for Life participants to continue in their new healthy lifestyle after the six-month program concludes. No one is denied YMCA membership based on inability to pay, and the organization works with Fit for Life graduates financial needs so they can continue to live active, healthy lives.

The Fit for Life program illustrates the YMCA mission of putting Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirits, minds and bodies. Through exercise and diet, participants build healthy bodies and, according to Chafin, build healthier spirits and minds at the same time. The program has also proven that perceived barriers to improving health within the urban African-American community aren’t as insurmountable as was believed – and that when people are given access to programs and tools that help them improve their health, they do in fact take action and responsibility for their own health.

“There’s a great social component to this program that unites its participants,” she said. “They care about each other. They encourage one another. They worry if someone doesn’t show up for class.”

In addition to the many physical benefits, West enjoys the social aspects of bonding with other Fit for Lifers. “I love all of the new friends I’ve made here at the YMCA,” she said.

Monsanto Family YMCA
5555 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63112
314.367.4646
www.ymcastlouis.org/monsanto