Ozark Exercise Regimen

We owe a big “Thank You” to Jack LaLanne. "The Godfather of Fitness" was born September 26, 1914 in San Francisco, CA and admittedly, during his childhood days was addicted to sugar and junk foods. At age 15, young Jack heard Paul Bragg speak on health and nutrition which had such a powerful influence, it motivated Jack to focus on his diet and exercise habits.
The Jack LaLanne Show was the longest running health and fitness show in history, airing from 1951 to 1985. In addition to the Jack LaLanne Show, Jack has published numerous books, created countless health and fitness videos, appeared in films, marketed health and exercise equipment and vitamin supplements. Through his career, LaLanne has won numerous awards including the Horatio Alger Award from the Association of Distinguished Americans, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Hall of Fame. At the young age of 94, Jack LaLanne continues to work out every morning for two hours, spending 1 ½ hours in the weight room and ½ hour swimming. Jack LaLanne lives with his wife Elaine in Morro Bay, CA.

Hubby and I are trying to improve our diets and lose some weight. We have adopted the following exercise regimen each day in hopes that by warm weather we will have a slim body for Swimsuit Season…

Ozark Exercise Regimen

For those getting along in years, here is a little secret for building arm and shoulder muscles. Three days a week works well. Begin by standing outside behind the house, and with a 5-lb. potato sack in each hand... extend your arms straight out to your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

After a few weeks, move up to 10-lb. potato sacks and then 50-lb. potato sacks, and finally get to where you can lift a 100 lb. potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

Next...start putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but be careful not to overdo!

Try a Little Harder

Jayme over at Tales from the CoopKeeper is making great strides on her diet, excuse me I should say New Life. She's strong, Superman strong, and she's focused. I can't claim either of those in my M.O. Sure I can be strong for a little while but not long enough to lose many pounds. I sabotage my good intentions by leaving chocolate in the candy dish or buying baked chips. They are still empty calories and I shouldn't even put them in the grocery cart to begin with. Hubby and I are on diets currently and he's already lost an inch around his waist.

According to Dr. Oz that should be our concern as our waist size is a warning signal that our insides are aging too fast. Divide your height in half and your waist size shouldn't be larger than that. 5'4"=64inches, that's a 32 inch waist for me. I'm there, one more cookie and I'm headed for trouble. You know, I didn't really need Dr. Oz to tell me that...I can look in the mirror and see the extra weight. When I sit down my jeans remind me. When I put on last year's tops they don't fit the same.

According to a study by Michigan State University, a healthy lifestyle is defined by four basic criteria:

Not smoking

Holding weight down

Eating right

Exercising

“We have millions of people now going through adult life leading unhealthy lifestyles and a medical system that can treat illnesses and keep you alive longer than ever before,” said Mathew Reeves, a Michigan State University epidemiologist. “If we don’t turn this around, the costs to society are going to be crippling.”

I have a treadmill that sets within eyesight of this computer. It whispers to me,
"Come over here and let's take a walk!"

I always have excuses.

"I need to clean house now."

"I will later, I need to run errands."

"I need to make a few phone calls, then I promise 'll take a walk with you."

Kind of like when the kids were little and wanted to play tea party. Time has a way of robbing the important stuff and then you are left with regrets. One thing I know for sure, I want to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can. It's more than looking good, it's feeling good that is so important. So I'm just gonna try a little harder and make ME a priority. I can do that!
*Photo courtesy of purplejavatroll on Flickr

The Jetson Life

I look forward to Monday's edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. It has the Restaurant Inspection notices, important if you want to eat out and be certain that you won't end up at the emergency room! It also has the Bankruptcy Watch section that might save you from doing business with a less than stable business. But by far my favorite section is the News in Technology. A New York Times article reported the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month had devices that will replace remotes and mouses with simple hand gestures. Reading it I was transported back to the Jetson cartoons that I loved as a child! Jane would be preparing breakfast with little or no effort with high tech appliances that cooked the meal in the blink of an eye! Those appliances have already came to fruition, it's called a microwave and a Kerug!

Almost unbelievable is technology that will allow us to flip through the channels with a simple twist of the hand. Want to raise the volume...just an upward pat. Or a photo on the screen can be enlarged by holding our hand out and spreading apart. Where have you seen this? The 2002 film Minority Report had Tom Cruise moving images around effortlessly on futuristic computer screens with just a few sweeping gestures. This year companies like Microsoft, Hitachi and others will begin selling devices that will make us think we are the Jetsons!

Microsoft has a new video game system called Project Natal that will use nothing more than the human body to play the games. They hope to one-up Nintendo's WII with this technology. In the months ahead Hitachi will offer TV's that will let people turn them on, adjust the volume and change the channels with simple hand motions. Laptops and other computers will follow. The companies behind this technology are GestureTek, Canesta and PrimeSense.

How much larger can they go???
Sharp's 108 inch flat screen for home use

How much smaller can they go???
Nokia N97 mobile computer

I think this all sounds too good to be true! No longer will we set unable to change the channel or adjust the volume because we have lost the remote...Again!