I always took pride in my shapely arms.

I was in denial that they were looking more like sausages as of late.

I am an eighteen-year metastatic breast cancer survivor and devote my life to my health. I eat a healthy diet, lead a very active life, and prescribe to many healthy lifestyle practices, but I am a rebel when it comes to exercise.

I do not like structure or schedules, so do my own version of free spirited exercises, such as biking, walking, yoga, and swimming.

I am a nature girl!

But at age fifty-eight, my free spirited exercise program was clearly lacking and I was searching for something more.

Enter my svelte sister Jodi, who could not hide her shock at my recent weight gain, and reminded me again and again of my need for an effective exercise program.

Her repeated comments about my lack of “shape” were offensive and irritating (to me) until she said: "I am shocked that you would let yourself go like this. Fat is bad for cancer”.

What a wake up call. She said the magic words. I did not want to do anything to put myself at risk for a repeat of cancer. So I listened to her instead of shutting her out.

She felt that the missing link for me was free weights for strength and tone, and suggested that I use one of her DVD’s to guide me.

I had a real aversion to exercising in a chair, feeling that I was way to fit (and cool) for that!

But in my state of desperation, I let her show me her Sit Down and Tone Up “quickie” twenty-minute exercise routine for the first time in our lifetime of sisterdom.

It was fun to find a common thread to our parallel lives.

And I loved learning specific moves to target the areas of my body that I wanted to tone via her carefully crafted DVD.

It became even more appealing to me when she suggested that I learn the various moves, and then use them in any setting of my choosing. In other words, I did not need to remain locked into the DVD or a chair.

Perfect for a free spirit such as myself.

I bought some weights, and learned the moves.

Then I took my show on the road by beginning a daily walking regimen using my weights and Jodi's moves.

I am loving the results, and feel eternally blessed and grateful that as a result of my sister’s not so gentle prodding, combined with her talent and expertise at what she does, I am reducing my fat, micro-managing muscle building for the first time ever, and feeling much stronger and balanced, while helping my body to remain cancer free and healthy.

Chair Dancing Fitness can be cool! And you don’t have to be confined to the chair.

Gayle Stolove is an 20 year metastatic breast cancer survivor. Please see her website for additional info www.whollymacrobiotics.com

Gayle Stolove / Sister of Jodi Stolove
Gayle Stolove / Wholly Macro
Ph: 954 764-6371 Fax: 954 763-6698>
whollymacro@bellsouth.net