Today at baseball I was the snack mom. I had hard acts to follow. Capri Suns, Oreos, grab bags of chips. My son notified me I would NOT be the mom who brought celery and carrot sticks. I completely caved and brought entertainment food instead of nutrition. My one nod toward actual food was bottled water. Water had not yet been present at snack time. I don’t like bottled water but I didn’t have a big jug and they’re all plastic anyway.
While I watched the kids happily dive into the loot and my son maintain his reputation, a few of us parents leaned against the sagging chain link fence and talked about the scene before us.
Jack LaLanne’s name came up and how he’s always been a fitness guru.
Even now, at 95, he could run circles around me. BIG circles. I’d be out of breath just turning around and around watching him do it. John B., one of our friends, noted that Jack says he only eats soup for lunch, every day. He thinks anything else is too much.
When interviewed by Katie Couric on NBC's Today show, LaLanne said his two simple rules of nutrition are: "if man made it, don't eat it", and "if it tastes good, spit it out." Lalanne also works out for two hours each morning in a serious body-disciplining routine.
On-going, long-term research (by people paid to do on-going, long-term research) does seem to indicate that those who eat less than they need, exercise intensely every day, and stay slightly underweight live the longest.
I’ve had some time to ponder these thoughts and, based on empirical evidence, the pizza and cake I ate for lunch at a kid’s birthday party, and my scale who told me last time I got on not to try and weigh two people at the same time, I just wanted to say goodbye to you all. I’m pretty sure I’ll be dead in about half-an-hour.
Do you think it’s too late for rotten tasting soup?
The Nearly Departed,
Robynn
©Copyright 2010
Photos: Multiple Internet Sources, Katie Couric interview courtesy of Wikipedia
