Depending on your stage in life, there is a unique and timely message for each of us in Jack LaLanne's death. In essence, Jack LaLanne's passion for healthy living is something, for our own health's sake, we should not be living without.
For teenagers without clear direction, LaLanne’s “bad-boy turns fitness hero” story is especially significant, possessing that “feel it in your gut” inspiration to achieve the impossible dream the “Rocky” saga invokes. In addition, we can all learn a valuable lesson from LaLanne’s decision to take up weight training and eat right at a young age, which transformed him from a “sugar junkie and high school flunky” to the poster boy of health and physical fitness. This inspirational success story of a “turned-around youth” became the foundation of LaLanne’s lifetime mission to inspire the same healthy “turn around” for others.
Millions of baby boomers literally grew up on Jack LaLanne’s infectious and often humorous energy he dished out during the Jack LaLanne Show (watch his first episodes here), noted as the longest running fitness show in television history. You only had to watch the Jack LaLanne Show once to see he possessed the unique ability to draw the viewers in, giving them the feeling he was talking directly with them, one on one. Jack's natural on-camera persona and magical talent for being able to completely engage the audience are skills valued by the most seasoned TV personalities on-air today.
Jack also had a knack for attracting ongoing media attention throughout his longstanding career, especially when he was performing those daring "feats of fitness strength” he orchestrated to get people to take notice of the incredible things you can accomplish when you are healthy and fit. From swimming shackled in “handcuffs” from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf towing a boat at the age of 60, to celebrating his 70th birthday towing a flotilla of 70 boats for a mile in Long Beach Harbor while handcuffed and shackled – Jack LaLanne was a true testament to the incredible powers of daily exercise and proper nutrition.
For earthbound mortals striving with the best of intentions to consciously make healthy lifestyle choices every day, we need only to summon up a small fraction of the eternal passion Jack LaLanne brought to his life mission in order to make daily exercise and better nutrition habits in ours.
Living a full, robust, and healthy life till the age of 96, our "world-famous nutritionist, author, lecturer, and physical-culture expert on our figure and beauty," Jack LaLanne, can rest in peace knowing he has achieved his life's mission to inspire the masses to live fitter, healthier lives.
Close family members of LaLanne's offer that when the topic of dying would come up, Jack would quip, "I can't die ... it would be bad for my image!" Perhaps LaLanne did not fully comprehend the amazing impact his passion for exercise had already made on the health and fitness industry, nor could he anticipate the positive, earth-moving force his undying devotion to fitness and nutrition would have on today's era -- with his death.
Aprilanne Hurley SFN is a Certified Specialist in Fitness Nutrition and Health Expert for California Living - The Bay Area's original lifestyle show featuring California's trends in food, travel, and healthy living. Hurley's new book The Party Girl Diet available on Amazon.com combines the most current health and nutrition research to date with Hurley's penchant for good living to create a healthy, sustainable diet and lifestyle that lets you "keep the party going ... while you lose the weight!"
Contact Aprilanne Hurley with your diet and lifestyle questions @ aprilanne@DietDayNews.com
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