76 someone who is excited and happy to work with you. We will walk you through everything. We show everyone all the exercises and proper form, so you don’t have to know a single thing. “Clients know that if they can get here, they’re going to feel better when they leave.” All clients are given a wellness key, a USB drive containing their exercise program that plugs into every piece of equipment in the Fitness and Wellness Center. The key tells them what to do at each machine, such as what weight to set and how many repetitions to complete. They also have access to a free online account that displays their exercise program, progress, and all relevant statistics. The client base for the Fitness and Wellness Center is half VSU employees and half community members. Unlike the other CEMR facilities, the Fitness and Wellness Center does not serve students “mostly because students don’t need the service we provide, but also it provides a safe environment for VSU employees without students exercising here,” Thomas said. “We’re in this niche market where we serve people who don’t need to go to cardiac rehab or something so specialized, but they need something that’s more safe and structured than a typical fitness center. “So we have all different types of clients, from the secretary who needs accountability to someone who needs to be monitored the whole time they’re here.” A membership to the Fitness and Wellness Center costs $50 a month. “It’s more expensive than a typical fitness membership, but essentially what you’re getting here is personal training with health coaching added on to that,” Thomas said. “That will run you over $50 a session at other places. “This is the only thing like this in our area. Not only are clients getting exercise programming, but we’re also talking to them about their food choices and their emotional distress and their work life. That’s a huge component in an individual that has multiple chronic diseases because they’re battling a lot.” Moch increased her visits to the Fitness and Wellness Center to four times a week in January 2017, and from September 2016 to March 2017, she lost 50 pounds. “People like Peggy are why I come to work every day — to see her constantly struggling and making progress,” Thomas said. “I just provide people with the opportunity. She has pushed herself every day.” Moch underwent another operation to replace her left knee in May 2017. “They have to cut through a lot of muscle,” she said. “Not only do you have to rebuild that muscle, but also those tendons are now really, really tight. You have to stretch them — things that can make you say ‘ow.’ “In the beginning, you have a tremendous amount of bone pain because they’ve cut off these bones and they’re trying to heal. The leg is stiff and swollen. Then you have to rehabilitate it. It is a tremendous amount of work.”