Jackson Free Press

After 10 weeks of the wellness column, I'm still no wellness guru. There's an awful lot more that I could be doing for myself, but when I started I promised that I would take things slow. And did I ever.

The good news is that by simply setting a few rules that I've mostly stuck to, I've lost about five pounds and what I would guess is around an inch off my waist. That means I'm at least in a position where I probably don't need an emergency trip to the tailor in the next few weeks, as long as I stick to the plan.

I've also come up with what I think are some sure-fire remedies for the middle-of-the-day blues and, hopefully, increased healthfulness. And they're easy:
� Drink tons of water.
� Eat small meals through the day, cheating your proteins toward the morning and carbs later, with fruit and veggies all day.
� Avoid empty calories as a rule—sodas and junk food—but remember to make exceptions to your rule so that you enjoy life.
� Exercise regularly.

Those are first steps—baby steps—that can help make a small difference over the course of 10 weeks or so. But they're also the beginning of a lifestyle change.

Next up? Get serious about exercise. As I was surfing the news this weekend a headline caught my eye—Jack LaLanne, a long-time fitness expert who has been called the "godfather of fitness," turned 90 this week. And he's in great shape.

After reading a quick news blurb, I Googled the guy. I read an interview with him from a few years back where he lays out his thoughts and advice on everything from eating to exercise and so on. This is the guy who opened the first health club in the United States and was a pioneer in television exercise shows. (Plus, he's got a cheesy Web site at http://www.jacklalanne.com Hey—the guy's 90!)

He's a huge fan of muscle-building and eating right. He's not as worried about organics as he is about getting plenty of fruits and vegetables—he eats fish but avoids a lot of dairy products and all other meats. As a child—in the late 1920s—he saw a nutritionist on stage who told the audience to eat whole, unprocessed foods. LaLanne gave up sugar and white flour and began exercising.

Today, he has a message that's a lot less utopian (and perhaps less carb-no-carb technical) than what you'll hear from many body-and-diet gurus, one that's perhaps rooted in more common sense and wisdom. You can exercise only three times a week if you do it vigorously. Yoga and tai-chi or other exercises can help you with coordination and circulation. It's almost old-fashioned to think about "circulation" as a goal for exercise—hey, he is 90!—but he's probably also right. Getting the blood pumping and exercising regularly can help your body shed toxins, regenerate itself and build a better life.

LaLanne is a motivational speaker, and he's been doing the exercise-guru thing for about 70 years now, so there's no question that some of it sounds like a pitch. But I like the line "You've got to work at living." Too many people "work at dying," says LaLanne.

"Exercise is king; nutrition is queen," LaLanne told an interviewer for USA Today (and I've seen him say it elsewhere, too). "Put them together, and you've got a kingdom!"

So, that's the word from the Road to Wellness. It's going to take some discipline, but while we're all so busy alternating between working and trying to relax, perhaps it makes sense to put some of that effort toward "working at living" and staying alive.

It takes effort to change your lifestyle—for me, it means going from a somewhat sedentary workaholic to someone who integrates good food and exercise into everyday life.

I'm trying, Jack.