What We Can Learn From Jack LaLanne

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being at a ground breaking conference on food addiction and the obesity epidemic. I will be writing a series of blogs, over the next few months, to share what I learned with you.

The legendary Jack LaLanne was there to speak and accept a lifetime achievement award for his visionary work in fitness, health and food addiction. Jack was a pioneer in both exercise and nutrition. He was telling us as early as the l950's to avoid white sugar, white flour and refined carbohydrates. He was one of the first to link alcohol addiction to sugar addiction.

When Jack was 15 he heard a lecture on health and wellness and as a chubby, unhealthy teenager was inspired to turn his life around. He is now 94! He still works out 2 hours a day, drives a corvette and eats right. He doesn't eat white sugar or white flour and hasn't since he was 15. Neither does his wife, Elaine, and at 83 she is beautiful, vibrant and fit.

So here are some of my favorite things Jack said last weekend:

"Your waistline is your lifeline."

"If it tastes good, spit it out."

"Everyday is a good day if I wake up."

"You are the most important person here."

Elaine was talking about meeting Jack and how at the time she was smoking and eating doughnuts. Jack told her she needed to get rid of the cigs, eat fruits and vegetables, and exercise. He also told her that he wouldn't be telling her that if he didn't like her. So Elaine said,

"You changed my life."

Jack corrected her and said,

"No, Elaine. You changed your life."

Jack is saying what I have been saying for years. Take responsibility for your health and credit for your successes.

So Connie Bennett, who was interviewing Jack, asked him to lead us in some exercise. So Jack said,

"OK, get up. Sit down. Get up. Sit down. Now raise your knee to your chest. Now the other knee. Now both at once..."

Jack was doing all this with us and better than most of us who were half his age. This man practiced what he preached and is living proof of what eating right and exercising can do for you.

I heard from Davey, who was the young man in charge of getting Jack to and from where he was supposed to be, that when he went to take his arm to help Jack walk, Jack pulled his arm away. Jack LaLanne does not need help. Neither will you if you choose to get healthy.

Lastly, Jack said,

"No one is putting bad food in your mouth."

So thank you Jack for being a visionary and for being a living example of what taking good care of yourself can do. If Jack can do it, you can do it because you are the most important person here.

Jack and I

If you are interested in seeing what Jack is up to these days you can visit his website http://www.jacklalanne.com/.

Comments

[RadiantSparkles]

What a great article! Jack is amazing!

Sugar addiction and alcohol addiction are one and the same thing. They both stem from having a sugar sensitivity which is characterised by an imbalance in the body's biochemistry. Did you know that Kathleen DesMaisons received the world's first PhD in Addictive Nutrition and the program she devised to heal sugar sensitivity works far beyond anything I could have imagined!

I look forward to your further insights!

[Catothemuchyounger]

While the diet is one part of the puzzle, the exercise is the other. That, IMO, should include a good, balanced, full body strength training program based on compound movements (squat, deadlift, shoulder press, bench press, row, chin up, etc.) that you change regularly as to exercises, sets, and reps.

Jack Lalanne is amazing, but he did not get where he is just by eating right. Real strength training will build muscle and strengthen your bones, and help you stay strong and healthy now, and as you age.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Jack says, "Exercise is king, nutrition is queen. Put them together and you have a kingdom."

[singermuse]

I love Jack La Lanne! I used to watch him on tv as a child and I would bounce around in front of the telly.,
Bless Him for being so positive, such a force for good in this world!
How many people have decided to become "active adults" and athletes because of him?
He was so sincere, not hyping any "superfoods" or the "product of the month" just good healthy eating.
Where are the future "Jack La Lanne's" who won't be seduced by the lure of making a buck or hyping some pill or powder? Where are our future healthy people, eating REAL FOOD without having to resort to some manufactured additive?

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi singermuse,
Great comments, thank you. Jack is an inspiration for sure. Great question about where the future Jack LaLannes are. We need them as our country is very unhealthy, not fit and getting fatter by the day.

[LadyR]

Thanks, Irene! Yes, I feel great!!! Never felt better in my life, and one of the best benefits of my diet changes is that I've lost all cravings for my former way of eating. And that's saying a great deal, for always before I'd eventually get bored with whatever diet I was on and would return to the old eating pattern. But now, since all the cravings have left me, even when I flirt now and again with the idea of eating pizza or going out to dinner, I compare it to my typical healthy dinner and since nothing in the past compares to the enjoyment and satisfaction I get out of eating healthy meals in the present, the desire to eat pizza and the like leaves me. Amazing. I'm freed at last from being at the mercy of my former cravings. That's not to say I don't allow myself to have a bit of a treat now and again, just that I'm not at the mercy of such foods anymore. Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

[krisgarfield]

UNREAL!!!!!

Jack is my hero. Thank you for such an uplifting article, especially in this scary time of THE flu.
We MUST be responsible for our health because we owe it to not only ourselves, but our loved ones. If we stay healthy by avoiding obesity, it can ease the drain on our already fragile healthcare system.

A sane diet and physical activity strengthens our immunity against these awful pandemics,
which will be more commonplace in the near future.

Love the pix by the way!

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your insightful comment Kris. We can only control what we have power over and taking care of ourselves is one of those things. Jack is living proof of that. Stay well.

[LadyR]

Couldn't agree more. I've lost 40 pounds cutting out white carbs and refined product and replacing them with lean protein, fresh fruits, vegetables, nonfat milk and yogurt, a bit of good cheese in small amounts, very small amounts of good olive oil and whole grains, no more than 1/2 cup of them per meal, and the 1/2 cup is my measure for a single portion of anything. My body is now efficiently processing the amount of calories I put into it daily, which averages around 1600-1630, hence my current body weight of 160. I have about 25 pounds to go, and these last pounds I'll burn through exercise. Target weight goal is 135, as I'm 5'7". Figure that will be just about perfect.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for your comment LadyR. It is very clear that you get it. I bet you feel really good too. Congrats on your success and best of luck getting the last 25 lbs. off. More and more research is backing up what Jack knew long ago and what you have found out by doing. Keep up the great work.

[gfk]

Jack is the man. He looks amazing.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

So does his wife. He is the man.

[Ohioan730]

I'm convinced that dude is going to live to be 130. All he needs is to go to Okinawa and hang out with some Japanese ladies and eat some Sushi and do some Yoga and he might be around for 140!

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your comment Ohioan. I think you're right. He showed very few signs of a slow down. It is one thing to tell people what to do, Jack has actually done it and is still here to show us he was/is right.