Kids say the darnedest things. Sometimes their utterances can even be life-changing.

That was true for Ruth Glenn of Kailua when a student piped up in her music class 26 years ago.

She recalls standing in front of her Kainalu Elementary fifth-grade music class when one of her students said something precocious — and embarrassing.

"I even remember his name — it was Jerome," she said. "He asked me: 'Mrs. Glenn, what is that jiggling under your arms?'

" 'That, Jerome, is called flab,' I told him. I vowed that day that I would start exercising regularly, and that I would never have flab again."

She kept her word. The fit and trim senior works out every day.

Name: Ruth Glenn.

Age: 68.

Profession: Retired elementary school teacher.

Height: 5 feet 2.

Weight: 108 pounds.

Workout habits: Four or five yoga classes per week at the Windward YMCA. In addition, five days of body-toning classes, step aerobics, weights and cardio machines, and the treadmill.

When and why I started working out: In 1978 — to fight flab.

My good foods/bad foods: "Lots of vegetables, fruits and grains, chicken and fish (no meat). Bad — a bite of something sweet after lunch and dinner, usually a hard candy to suck on."

My biggest motivator: "Jerome's comments in music class and the 'natural high' I feel after my exercise routine."

My biggest roadblock to fitness: "No excuses because I'm retired. Exercise is a part of my daily routine, like eating and sleeping. It's my first priority."

What saves my sanity: "The calmness generated from my yoga classes — learning to breathe deeply."

My next challenge: "To maintain this level of exercise as I age."

Advice for those in the same boat: "Make time to exercise consistently. No excuses if you're retired."