Nan’s Secret to Staying Happy & Healthy

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Nan dancing at SC croppedA typical day for Winter Park resident Nan Druskin, begins with an hour walk around town, then Zumba class, weights and cardio exercise at the Winter Park Community Center (WPCC).

In the afternoon she takes her neighbor’s dog for a walk, and then heads back to the WPCC for a course on improving balance. After that she meets with one of the Healthy Central Florida (HCF) walking groups at the YMCA for a 40 minute walk.

Finally, just before bed, she practices her eight Tai Chi moves – that equates to about 25,000 steps a day.  She’s been tracking her steps in HCF’s Walk90 competition – a 90 day walking challenge.  She just completed over 900 miles and finished in 4th place out of nearly 400 walkers.

The HCF team first met Nan when she joined Walk with a Doc – a free, weekly 40-minute walk with a physician.  Nan is there every Thursday evening helping lead the pack of 8-10 walkers.Nan SC with friends (002)

She describes the groups she’s involved with as family – where everyone looks out for one another.  “If I see a new face in class, I introduce them to everyone because I want them to feel welcome.”  She added, “You can’t have health without happiness – getting involved and building relationships with people is just as important as exercise.”

A former Latin teacher at Colonial High School for 22 years, Nan now volunteers as a teacher for the CATCH Healthy Habits after school program, a program led by the Rollins College VOICE program (Volunteers Organized for Community Engagement) and funded by the Winter Park Health Foundation.  The program connects adults 50+ with kids in grades K-5, where they teach a lesson on healthy eating habits and lead the children in 30 minutes of physical exercise.  “I can take the dullest lesson and make it exciting.  It’s a scripted course so I add visual aids whenever I can to add more impact for the kids”, said Nan.

What is Nan’s advice for a healthy and happy life?  She says, “There are so many community programs – take advantage of it.  You will meet people with similar interests and end up doing more and more.”

Healthy Central Florida makes it easy to get started.  Meet new people and get active by coming to one of HCF’s weekly walks and have the added pleasure of meeting nice people like Nan.