“The Jack LaLanne Way To Vibrant Good Health” was first published in 1960..almost 50 years ago. Born September 26, 1914, Jack is alive and enthusiastically kicking at 95 years young. He rises at 5:00am each day for a 2 hour workout…1 1/2 hours on weights and a 30 minute swim or walk. He eats healthy, lives simply yet joyfully and has been married to his wife Elaine for 50 years. One of my favorite LaLanneisms is “DO, DON’T STEW”. Jack is a role model doer.
In contrast I’m a stewer born in 1956, when Jack was 42. I am 53 years old. Like millions of other menopausal women of middle age, I have sadly let myself go. Starting and stopping diets, exercise regimes and numerous projects over the years, today I find myself 50 pounds overweight, living in a messy house, and finding it hard to complete projects I start. I picked up Jack’s book a few days ago and began to read and really absorb what he was saying. Never mind that the advice was from 50 years ago, his words make sense and inspired me enough to want to begin anew. As Jack says on pages 34-35, “I look at it this way. The years you’ve lived are gone, like all the $10 bills you’ve spent and forgotten. You can’t do a thing with those years except remember them. The years you have now are currency you can use. They’re as good as new.”
Jack starts his book on page one with “Get a calendar and circle the date. This is your day. Starting today, something is going to happen for you-something you may not have thought possible.” He calls it on page 34 your Rebirthday. So here I begin on December 13, 2009, my Rebirthday, to follow Jack’s advice and change my life.
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall(page 2) The first thing Jack asks is for you to strip down naked and take an appraisal of yourself. “Now take off your clothes, all of them, and stand bravely up to the mirror.” Yikes! I am apple shaped. At 5’3″ and small boned, I’m carrying 171.6 pounds and my body fat distribution is mostly around the abdomen with rolls of fat leaning forward and down towards the floor. In other words, there is no waistline at all. I am saddened by my naked visualization. I use to have a rockin figure when I was in my 20′s and 30′s. I was even approached a few times to model even though I’m petite. My thighs and hips are rippling with cellulite and my face is heavy and puffy. Not a pretty site. “Does your mirror say it’s impossible to change what you see there into what you would like to be? It’s taken years, your mind tell you, to get into this condition. So it will take a like number of years, you think, to undo it? Ah, but that’s not the way it works. The longest journey begins with the first step. You have taken that step by examining yourself candidly. It won’t take years. I tell you flatly it won’t even take months. We’re going to get results right away.”
“Honestly Now, How Do You Stack Up?” Measurements are the next step. Jack calls this the “Coming-In Tape”. Here is how I “stack up” (E-Gad!)
Chest: Around Bust 40.5 inches Under Bust 35.5 inches
Arms: 12.5 inches
Waist: Just Below Rib Cage 40 inches, Middle Waist 41 inches(this is actually supposed to be the smallest part of the waist; I told you I was apple shaped), Low Waist 42.5 inches
Hips: 44 inches(OMG!)
Thighs: Largest Part, near groin 25.5 inches, Smallest Part, above knee 16.75 inches
Calf(largest part) 14.25 inches
Ankle(at smallest part) 8.5 inches
Weight(without clothing, upon arising) 171.6 pounds
Jack has a Magic Reducing Plan Number One on pages 59-61. He suggests that you follow Menus No. 1 for seven days, break training for one full day, then resume the plan for another seven days. He states, If you follow the program exactly as directed, you should lose one pound per day.” My husband, Rick has volunteered to go on the diet with me. Tommorrow I will post the diet and give you my first day results.
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