Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Turn on the television and pay attention to the commercials. Diet programs are advertised continually.
Some of these diets are "miracles cures" for excess weight - melting away pounds without an effort.
But Anne Keller doesn't agree with those quick weight-loss fixes.
"To get tone muscles, you have to exercise," said Keller.
Keller has been a registered nurse for 28 years, working in intensive care for 10 years. Then she wanted a new challenge and moved into orthopedics..
"I enjoy change," she said concerning the reasons for the switch.
Later, she was faced with a different kind of change. Pain wormed its way up her neck.
She didn't even go to the doctor. But the pain pushed her to change her lifestyle.
Suddenly, she had a new challenge.
"I decided I was going to get active," said Keller, her voice clearly relaying her enthusiasm for exercise and her new lifestyle.
"It wasn't easy to start those first two months. It takes the consistent commitment to change."
Keller found a group of walkers/runners who shared her commitment to exercise in JIM.
JIM is Joints In Motion, a national organization geared to get people into exercise and activity.
Keller said the organization, which is associated with the Arthritis Foundation, seeks to make the public aware that exercise is one of two major treatments for most cases of arthritis, according to Keller.
"Arthritis does not discriminate," said Keller, adding that it isn't an old person's disease.
Injuries, especially sports injuries, spur the symptoms of arthritis, says Ginger Dodd, the development director and coordinator at the Arthritis Foundation in Fort Wayne.
Low impact exercises, like walking or aquatic aerobics, can alleviate the symptoms of arthritis, said Dodd.
In light of good health and public education, JIM is flying to Hawaii for a 26.2-mile marathon. Seven people in the Warsaw community are committed to raising funds. Two members of the group are arthritis sufferers.
Each person is trying to raise $3,750 for the Hawaiian marathon. Besides gathering contributions by writing letters and asking "'rich Aunt Susie,' if you know what I mean," Keller laughed, JIM has planned at least one fund-raiser.
During Art in the Park, planned for Sept. 8, in Warsaw's Central Park, JIM will host a Nelson's Golden Glo Chicken Barbecue from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Along with the fund-raising, Keller and her JIM walking partners want people to join them in adding exercise to their lives.
The public knows the benefits of exercise and they have no excuse not to start, said Keller, adding, "Stop reading and start doing. These words on paper are worth nothing unless we do something."
The JIM walker partners have a group walk weekly on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays between 6 and 7 a.m. at Janes Park near Kosciusko Community Hospital.
"Putting (exercise) in the day planner" and making it "a lifestyle, not a hobby," is the tough part, said Keller.
"You have to say, 'How bad do I want this.'"
