Jack Lalanne's Live Young Forever

After seeing Jack and Elaine Lalanne on PBS during the fund-raising period showing their fitness regimen, I decided to look more closely at him. He is in his 90s and is still very fit and active. I'd also seen him on some 60 Minutes and other news program interviews over the past couple of years.

I decided to check out his book--Live Young Forever: 12 Steps to Optimum Health, Fitness, & Longevity--from my local library. He has some excellent advice. He's been on this fitness train for over 70 years, and I agree with pretty much everything he says. His philosophies of eating fresh vegetables and fruits, exercise that includes daily stretching, getting a good night's sleep, quitting smoking, drinking alcohol only in moderation if at all, avoiding too much caffeine, and being happy each day to be alive are all viewpoints I share.

He believes in avoiding pharmaceutical drugs unless for life sustaining purposes and that most people can enjoy good health by taking care of themselves, eating healthy foods, exercising, and so on, and thus slim down and avoid the need for prescription drugs to alleviate health problems. In other words, by living a healthy lifestyle, you don't need prescription drugs like anti-depressants, cholesterol-lowering statins, and so on.

We as a nation are overweight, obese, full of health problems as a result, and could be happier and healthier by doing away with sugar and too much fats in our diet. We should focus on eating foods that are grown in a clean way, and not for example animal flesh raised on factory farms where the animals are treated inhumanely and more predisposed to disease and spreading harmful bacteria. We will help ourselves and the planet by eating and supporting local, especially organically-grown produce.

I highly recommend his book as a way to re-examine our lifestyles, eating and exercise habits, and how we can get more out of our lives by being healthier.

Going Silver--To Color or Not to Color

I started getting streaks of silver when I was in my 30s. Then it looked cool--sort of a frosted look. I got a lot of compliments on it. As I reached my 40s and my hair continued to get more silver, I started coloring it. Eventually, though, I got tired of the gray roots and having to deal with the whole dyeing process. Even though I used really good color with lots of conditioners, my hair felt dry and damaged. I didn't like how it felt, and I got tired of always having to color it. Coloring my hair in my bathroom was a messy job, and I didn't want to spend the bucks on getting it done in a salon.

When I reached my 50s I thought--to heck with this--I just want to be natural. I'm in my 50s--why shouldn't I have silver hair? I don't see that many men coloring their hair. Why is it that according to our society, when men go silver they look distinguished, but when women go silver they just look old and tired?

A lot of my friends who are my age still color their hair for various reasons. And I don't fault them their personal preferences. I respect their choice. Maybe they think their husbands will find they don't look as sexy or as youthful as they'd like them to be. But really, a true man and a sensitive and loving man will find his wife to be just as attractive with silver hair as she does with dyed hair.

The pressure for women of a certain age to dye their hair and cover their gray comes from the multi-billion dollar cosmetics and fashion industries. It really has nothing to do with a woman's attractiveness. Dyeing your hair damages it, and really it looks so unnatural. You see a face that is aging gracefully with some wrinkles and so on, and then this hair that is usually orange or otherwise brassy and metalic, which doesn't match the face. Plus it's got to be dangerous to put those chemicals on your scalp every few weeks--the scalp has more blood vessels than almost anywhere else in your body. Those chemicals are bound to get into your bloodstream and your system and be damaging on a cellular level. I have no proof of that, but it makes sense. Why is there so much cancer these days? Is there a link?

The need for women in our society and culture to dye their hair rather than celebrating their stage in life is just a symptom of a culture and society that devalues its more elderly and and ageing population. The focus on youth without a balance for appreciation of wisdom and the value that older people contribute diminishes us as a people. Many other cultures such as our native Americans, and many Asian and African cultures place great value on the elderly in their populations.

Of course there is also the devaluation of women in general in many societies. I'm sure that fact comes into play as well when women feel the need to try to look younger. If women are to be unappreciated because of their age, maybe they feel they can at least try to hang onto some of their youthfulness by appearing younger and therefore feel more wanted and valued.

When I see other women who have let their hair be its natural silver, it looks clean, healthy, and shiny and really beautiful. Just something to think about.

Weight Watchers Plan--This is Do-able!

I've been fighting my weight most of my adult life. For many years I was just what you might call zaftig or pleasingly plump, curves in the right places and so on. But as I got older, the curves weren't so pleasing and neither was my lipid profile. Being overweight or obese (if you calculate BMI) has been hard on my joints, too.

Weight Watchers is a proven and sound program. I'd not succeeded on it in the past, though, and had a bad attitude about it. Then some colleagues where I work organized a Weight Watchers at work program, and our company even paid for part of our membership costs. I figured what the heck, I may as well try again. Because the results of my blood work last November showed my bad cholesterol to be high, my blood sugar to be high, and some other numbers that didn't look too great--both my primary care doctor and my endocrinologist were telling me I had to lose weight. Heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, thyroid problems were all looming on the horizon.

So, I started in on the program with a fresh outlook. I have to say that I am now in love with the Weight Watchers program. Their medical experts have done all of the nutritional, medical, psychological, dietary, and other research to come up with a plan that is easy to follow. I've managed to achieve a weight loss of almost 10 pounds after 5 weeks on the program, and I say "I can do this."  I feel better already.

I'll blog more about this soon.

The Lacuna

I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's most recent novel, The Lacuna. Always one of my favorite writers, Barbara Kingsolver has created another beautifully worded and engaging tale. Born in the U.S, the main character Harrison Shepherd moves to Mexico as a boy with his Mexican mother.  His years in Mexico resonate with the sights, tastes, and smells of this colorful country as he experiences the social and political waves that occurred in the first part of the 20th century. Living with and in the employ of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and later Russian political activist Lev Trotsky, Shepherd's experiences forever shape his destiny.

As you get to the end of the novel where Shepherd has moved to Asheville, North Carolina, you might detect some parallels between his experiences in post World War II United States and the current political climate. Then it was fear of communists--now it's fear of Muslims.

I highly recommend this novel.

Do you really need alcohol to have a good time?

I recently joined Weight Watchers for the upteenth time, but I'll blog more about that later. At the most recent meeting one of the members was asking about how others handle going out and socializing, drinking alchohol, and how the points add up when you do that. (for non WWs--points are like calories/fat/fiber all calculated to help you track what you eat and drink.)

Alcohol does pack the calories and has little if any nutritional value. Red wine is supposed to be good for you with antioxidants and so on, so here's some ideas. If you want to drink and socialize, choose a red wine spritzer and sip it slowly. Alternate between that and just sparkling water with lime, like a San Pellegrino or Perrier.

I actually gave up alcohol about 15 years ago when I was dating a guy who had an alcohol dependency problem--to show him that you can really have fun without it. And it's true--if you enjoy a few sparkling waters with lime and focus instead on just being with the people around you, really listening to what they say, enjoying their company and the conversation, and not focusing on getting a "buzz" or how wasted you're getting--you can actually enjoy a sociable outing with friends drinking little or no alcohol.