HERMITAGE, PA. 'Try to be better,' model urges crowd

The health fair raised funds for the American Heart Association and Red Cross.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- It's never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle, supermodel Kim Alexis said during an appearance at Hickory High School on Saturday evening.
"I grew up a swimmer, so I was used to exercise. From the age of 6 on, I was used to swimming, and I would swim up to 51/2 hours a day. I found, at an early age, because I was modeling, I wanted to preserve what I already had. So I was very much into nutrition and cleansing and fasting and exercise so I would maintain the youthful appearance," Alexis recalled.
"It was really a lot of searching, discovery, reading a lot of different books and trial and error to figure out what worked for me," added Alexis, who was born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., and now lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
"You don't have to settle for what you've got. You can always try to be better. As we get older, we get stuck in ruts, and we forget that we can learn or do different things," she told the audience. "Love yourself the way you are, and try to make healthy changes," she urged.
Health fair
The occasion was a health fair, "Spring to Health 2003," and sponsored by Sharon Regional Health System and NuBridge Development Inc. Some 250 people, paying $12 admission per person, attended the event, whose proceeds went to local chapters of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross.
Alexis, who has been on more than 500 magazine covers and starred in numerous TV shows, signed copies of her book titled "A Model for a Better Future," (published in 1998 by Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tenn.) and discussed how health and fitness positively affected her professional and personal life.
She has made six swimsuit appearances in Sports Illustrated and guest starred in TV programs, such as "Cheers," "The Commish," "Hope and Gloria" and the soap opera "Sunset Beach," and appeared in the movie "Holy Man." She has launched inspirational workout CDs titled "Praise Walk" and "Praise Workout."
Surgeon spoke, too
Also speaking at the health fair was Dr. Maryann Payne, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Sharon Regional Heart Institute, who advised the audience on methods of preventing heart disease, including smoking cessation, weight loss, exercise and control of cholesterol levels and diabetes.
Dr. Payne also discussed heart-attack warning signs, including chest pain radiating to one's arm or jaw, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath and heavy perspiration. Women may have abdominal and jaw pain without the usual chest pain, she added.
Heart disease, not breast cancer, is the most common cause of death for women, said Dr. Payne, who is board certified in both general and cardiothoracic surgery.
Only the 34th woman in the United States to be board certified in cardiothoracic (heart and lung) surgery, she completed her bachelor's and medical degrees at The Ohio State University, followed by a five-year general surgery residency and a a four-year cardiothoracic surgery residency, both at Allegeheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The event also featured blood-pressure and respiratory screenings and Lion Dance, Kung Fu and Tai Chi demonstrations.