Life Lessons from a Master....

Today's Post: Thursday, 1-27-2011

The physical fitness and healthy living advocate and pioneer Jack LaLanne died last Sunday at age 96.

And, he might easily have lived a few years longer had he escaped the two things that caused his death.

But the most important thing to take away from this is not only how long he lived.:

For starters, he lived 20 years longer than the current median expected lifespan for average men and about 10 years longer than men who are nonsmokers and in the top ten percent of being financially well off.

But there is much more.

He was literally 100 % still there mentally the whole 96 years. He was still himself and enjoying conversations with his family up until the day he died. And, he had written something for publication only a few days before.

He also worked out and exercised up to a few months before he died.

In short, his real and enjoyable and high quality life was the whole 96 years!

The average American today begins to be limited physically as much as 20 years before he dies with physical inability, reductions in circulation, degenerative disease, and poor quality of life from those conditions and the side effects of the drugs he takes. Jack’s real and enjoyable and high quality life was FORTY years longer! And, many of the few average men who live past age 76 tend to suffer from some kind of mental decline and are no longer all there mentally.

And, most men who are nonsmokers and in the top ten percent of being financially well off tend to begin to be limited physically as much as 10 years before they die with physical inability, reductions in circulation, degenerative disease and poor quality of life from those conditions and the side effects of the drugs they take. And, many of these men who live past age 86, tend to suffer from some kind of mental decline and are no longer all there mentally.

How on earth did he manage to do all that?

Those are the lessons of a real life master.

Mercifully they are not complicated or impossible to do.

He found that sugary packaged foods and drinks were making him fat, irritable, and feeling awful as a teenager. Then he heard a Paul Bragg lecture that avoiding those things and eating abundant organic fruit and vegetables much of it uncooked might help him feel dramatically better and likely to stay that way. He completely both got rid of the junk food and soft drinks and did eat far more organic fruit and vegetables much of it uncooked. (Later, he also added eating wild caught fish and rarely if ever ate meat. Over the years, that saved him from the effects of eating fat from grain fed animals &, before there were supplements for it, kept his omega 3 intake high.)

He found that stopping bad food and eating right worked. He felt dramatically better. He became less fat. And, he was also dramatically less irritable.

About that time, he also discovered that regular, vigorous exercise of all kinds and strength training by lifting weights every week had a similar effect.

So, he decided to keep doing that also.

But he also realized most of the people around him did not yet know these two key things.

So he began teaching people and motivating them to do what he was doing.

The people who listened to him and took his advice got similar results.

Not long ago, I think on his 95th birthday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article about Jack LaLanne and in that article they quoted several of his former students who were also older. They all were so glad they had taken his advice. They spoke of when they met friends the same age who had not done so who had horrible quality of life, or degenerative diseases – or when they went to their funerals. Meanwhile they were still alive and had decent lives. They realized they were able to because they took Jack LaLanne’s advice.

Scott Ostler, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Sports page did a column on Jack LaLanne on Tuesday this week. He noted that Jack’s mental attitude was unusually good. (He clearly was at the top of Martin Seligman’s optimism measure.) From early in his career he was outgoing and enthusiastic.

And, when Scott Ostler once asked Jack if he didn’t get discouraged that sometimes he was fighting a losing battle from the people who didn’t know what Jack knew or listen to him, Jack immediately said, “I never think about that. I think about things I can improve.” He also spent his time doing something constructive about the things he could improve. He was unusually proactive.

He also had a sense of humor and was fond of getting people’s attention or making them think by using it.

And, he was skilled at asking similar questions. When he ran his first gym, he would call people who had missed a couple of sessions and say, “How can I help you if you aren’t here?!”

Then, in addition to eating right, exercising, and developing positive and productive thinking skills, he found a woman who was a good fit for him and his lifestyle. He married her and then made a very strong and effective effort to treat her unusually well.

1. Stop eating and drinking junk. Eat good quality real food instead. Do both every day and keep doing it.

2. Get regular vigorous exercise including strength training virtually every week.

3. Learn and practice positive and proactive thinking skills.

4. Find someone as a life partner who is a good fit for you and treat that person unusually well.

Those four things are not that complicated really.

But, my God, look at the results they get!

Ten to 20 years more life and 20 to 40 years more life worth living.

These are the lessons of a life master.

Do please consider doing likewise!