Hill: It's never too late to get in shape

I am on a fitness kick, thanks to my employer. We have a gym just across the street from our main building and a wellness coordinator who maps out daily workouts for us and monitors our weekly progress.

I am thrilled with the results. I'm losing weight, toning muscles, and I have totally revamped my diet.

My oldest daughter is doing something similar. The mother of my two granddaughters, ages 5 and 21 months, has started running. She has a very athletic background, and in just four weeks, she's already running up to four miles a day. She's even entered two upcoming races.

Aside from the obvious benefits, there's one that has taken us by surprise. The girls are mimicking us.

Though the girls are very active and trim, they're seeing that exercise is making their mommy and grandmother look and feel better.

One of my daily goals is to log at least 10,000 steps on my pedometer, which now seems permanently attached to me. At first, I thought 10,000 steps was a crazy goal. Little did I realize that on days I spend time with my grandchildren, I easily reach 10,000 steps.

On a recent Saturday, my 5-year-old granddaughter spent the night with me. By 8 p.m., I had passed the 10,000 mark. I was ready to call it a night when she asked if we could exercise together. So for the next half-hour, we did jumping jacks, lunges, squats, push-ups and lifted weights (she lifted Barbie dolls). By bedtime, I had more than 12,000 steps recorded on my pedometer.

I've discovered that exercising is a great new activity to share with my granddaughter. While health reports constantly remind us that obesity, even in children, is prevalent today, our family is doing something positive to stay healthy. And I'm willing to bet that my granddaughter soon will be running right alongside her mommy.

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