GREENSBORO, N.C. — The New Year’s resolutions are just around the corner. Many people typically have health and fitness, or getting in better shape, on the list of goals for the new year.
This Greensboro woman might inspire you because nothing is stopping her, not even her age.
Meet Bess Lamson. She is turning 100 on Dec. 31.
While some people ask for rest at 100 years old, Lamson is not weighed down by her age and is still giving her 100%.
“I’ve been exercising all my life,” Bess Lamson said. “They have trainers, but I don’t use a trainer. I know what I need to do because I have been doing it for years.”
From the row machine and elliptical, to the leg press and bike, you will find Lamson working out right next to her daughter, Terri Drew, at least two days a week.
“I’ve got to at least keep up with my mom; she’s making me look bad,” Drew said.
Drew said her mom doesn’t just lift weights, but she also lifts other people’s spirits. She said Lamson brings smiles and inspiration to everyone she meets.
“I just admire her. I try to take notes,” Drew said.
Blaze Thompson is the owner of PurEnergy Fitness Center, where Bess Lamson goes to workout. He said she inspires everyone.
“She’s Bess and she’s here for work,” Thompson said. “Bess is an inspiration to me. I am 45 and this woman is doing it at 100 years old. She does all the things that we talk about in the exercise. She takes care of her diet. She shows up and consistently gets on the cardio machines and then she strength trains also. She hits the basics; she does compound exercises. You will see her on the leg press and she goes for reps and she challenges herself.”
Bess Lamson had a knee replacement when she was 90 years old, but that didn’t stop her.
If you ask her the secret to a long life, it’s using the skills you have before you lose them.
“You know you just have to keep moving your body and exercising. I [also] try to eat right,” Lamson said. “I eat a lot of peanut butter banana sandwiches for potassium and protein, and at night I cook some kind of meat most time and vegetables.”
She said during the holidays she might have a sweet or two, but typically avoids junk food and eats fruits and yogurt instead.
With every step she takes into a new day, she said she is thankful to be this healthy.
She wants to remind people that no matter what your age is, the greatest wealth is health.
“I am going to keep doing what I am doing; it’s worked so far,” she laughed.