1 . I used to be fit. But _____ a mounting list of injuries, the most active workout I do these days is _____ in front of the TV. But when I _____ a big European study on the benefits of chair yoga in the newspaper, I made up my mind to try it. Chair yoga _____ poses like twists and bends that are changed to be done while sitting on a chair.

I choose a chair yoga video on YouTube. The 10-minute _____ is a combination of slow movements every day. In each _____ my body remembers all that yoga I used to do 15 years ago. That isn’t to _____ it’s not challenging. And _____ I probably couldn’t get through a regular yoga class anymore, this way I still get to experience some of the sense of focus and _____ of being in that yoga   “flow”. Because it doesn’t need too much _____ I can even do it in that _____ dead time in the evenings when I’m too worn out to work but I can’t settle into a TV show because my kid isn’t in bed yet.

Chair yoga probably isn’t going to turn me into a _____ gym girl, but I notice that my neck and shoulders— _____ sore from staring at a computer too much—become less tight, and it’s also useful for helping my _____. It’s almost like mentally changing the channel—even for such a short period of time. It _____ my brain-from a state of great anger to one of just breathing. I’ll take it.

2 . Exercise and I have never had a good relationship because of my fear of sports.   From a young age, my dad __________ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, __________.

When I entered University of Regina, my dad __________ telling me “You have to find a way to stay __________ ”or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I __________ to give swimming a shot, but I __________ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was __________ to convince myself that “Yeah, that’s OK. ”

The spring semester came.   A friend of mine __________ me one day asking if I wanted to go to Zumba with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically exercise dancing to Latin and pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be __________ .

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my __________ of tea. The instructor would always say: “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my __________ about sports. I didn’t have to be __________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to __________ the music and move. Zumba did __________ me from the Freshman 15, but it also did so much more. It let me make __________ with my unpleasant past with physical fitness, and enjoy staying healthy.

5 . A few years ago, I felt like a true failure. I was doing Weight Watchers for the third time in order to lose weight, but not making ________.

At that time, I spent hours every day working out to my videos and was still ________. I thought I was meant to be overweight forever and there was no need to ________ it. I needed a ________ of heart and mind. That change came in the most ________ way. It came with running. After dinner on Thanksgiving, I went out for a ________ with my family. I had turned my little MP3 player on and was ________ the music when my favorite song came on. I felt like dancing, but that was impossible, for I had my children with me. So I caught the speed a bit and started to run slowly. I was quite ________ with my burst of activity.

What was more surprising was that I ________ the next morning and went out again. After running, I felt strong and ________ at the same time. I ________ the good feelings I felt when I used to run 20 years ago and decided that I wanted more of that. I ________ up for a spring race and practiced hard for it.

________ my weight is still heavier than what I would like, I no longer care about it. I try to stay more focused on my life. Most ________, my workouts are less than an hour per day and I take Sundays off completely. My ________ is to keep exercising in my life but not let it control my life. After all, I am so much more important than my weight.

6 . Several years ago, when I was in New York, I decided it was time to get my middle­aged self back into shape. The _________ near my house was tiny. I was the weakest person there and I felt _________ as I did my pull­ups (引体向上). However, nobody really seemed to _________ me.

One day, I was on my favorite machine, one assisted pull­up machine that nobody else had ever needed to _________. I had just _________ a set when a huge guy walked up to me and asked, “Why are you always doing assisted pull­ups?” I looked at him, embarrassed, searching for a(n) _________. “Because I can’t do real ones,” I finally _________.

“Yes, you can. You are strong,” he smiled. “Get over here, and I’ll _________ you.”

We walked over to the “real” pull­up bar, and he _________ how to do it. He watched me carefully. Then he told me to come back the next day and try a real one. So I did. “__________ practicing,” he told me. “By the end of the month, you’ll be __________ to knock out four or five.”

After that day, I started to love going there. I was still the weakest one there. But I could do pull­ups: first two, then nine. When I stopped __________ looking foolish, I started asking others questions.

There were __________ everywhere in that gym, as long as I was willing to ask for __________. By the time I left New York, I could complete ten pull­ups and I had been certified as a personal __________, so I could teach other women what I’d learned in that gym.

9 . About six months ago, I joined a gym. Every morning, there was one personal trainer there who practised at the same time that my little group did our________. He worked out with such a quiet________that he made it all look very easy, although I knew all too well how hard he was working. Whenever I tended to complain and________, I watched him push himself to his own limits, and I found myself________to work as hard and without complaint.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching him do chin-ups (引体向上). He made them look________. I broke away from my group and asked him if I could try a chin-up. I had never tried before, but he just made it look so easy. He eagerly stepped aside and________me to step up to the bar. I pulled myself up without thinking...once...then twice. That was all I had in me. I had no________left. I told him that was all I had, so he stepped up behind me and________me up for a third and fourth “pull”. It felt so good.

The next day when I was done with my workout, I asked him to spot me again. Again, I did two. Again, on Day 3 and so on. I thought it was a________that I could only do two. but when I came lo the gym at the end of the week, he was standing there, nodding his head and said to me he was________with my chin-ups. He told me that when they are training firefighters, the men are required to do five chin-ups, and women are required to do one or two. He________that most people couldn't do them at all, and that he was amazed that I could. He further told me that if l________every day, I would be doing five or six in no time. At this point I should probably________that I am 50 years old... and female.

If he had told me at the very beginning how________it was, I more than likely would not have tried at all. ________I might have tried, but given it only half an effort, because failure would have been the expectation. I applauded him for letting me believe that for me, it was not only a possibility, but that success was a realistic expectation.