The Elite Jack LaLanne (Lalaine) – 95 and Going Strong!

Pioneering fitness enthusiast and icon Jack LaLanne celebrated his 95^th birthday on the 26^th of September, stating one of his famous mottos: “I can’t die, it would ruin my image.”  Jack contributes his longevity to both his exercise schedule, he still lifts weights for 90 minutes a day and swims for a half-hour, and his eating habits, which predominantly consist of raw fresh fruits and vegetables.  

With no plans to slow down, and with all this vigor and enthusiasm Jack honored his birthday with both a party and the publication of his 11^th book, Live Young Forever in which he describes how he has kept fit and well through the years.

Jack LaLanne became a household name with his innovative television show, which ran for 34 years.  On the show Jack would educate viewers that he fondly referred to as “students” on health, fitness and exercise long before it was really popular.

Jack continued coming into our homes through his successful infomercial marketing — including his famous juicer.  Ron, my husband, got one of these for us a couple of years ago and we use it frequently.  Fresh juice is ever so yummy and nutritious.  We even take the pulpy fiber that is left over after juicing and sometimes use it to make flax crackers in our dehydrator.

Jack is also known for his incredible demonstrations of strength, which is interesting since Jack started off in life as a rather sickly child.  He had a major addiction for sweeties and all things sugary and had intense headaches, frequently causing him to miss a great deal of school.  However, all this began to change when at age 15, Jack attended a lecture on nutrition by fitness advocate Paul Bragg.  It was this transformation that eventually prompted Jack to open a health club in Oakland, California and to invent what are considered to be the first modern weight machines. 

Then there are Jack LaLanne’s almost Evel Knievel-ish type publicity stunts that he engaged in when he turned 40, 60 and 70.  At 40, he towed a 2,000-pound cabin cruiser while he swam the Golden Gate Channel.  At 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf while towing a half-ton boat and being shackled in handcuffs.  At 70, he swam a portion of the Long Beach harbor with 70 people in 70 boats tied to his back.

Jack LaLanne has been married for 50 years to the love of his life, Elaine.  Jack and Elaine are a great team. He states: “Elaine’s the power beneath my muscle, we’re partners and friends and lovers, everything. She was the Girl Friday over at KGO and I was doing a special there with one of my buddies.  I looked at her and was completely blown away. I ended up doing pushups for her all show.”

95 years young, still going strong and still in great shape, Happy Birthday Jack Lalanne!

Here are a couple of wonderfully inspiring clips from his TV show.   Enjoy and be fit! 

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Female and Male Amputees Perform Inspiring Dance

I came across this amazing video as I was searching for footage of the quadruple  amputee, Kiera Brinkley, who performed at Juillard.  This inspiring couple (each one an amputee)  touched my heart with their beautiful dancing which is performed to Clay Aiken singing Broken Wings. Their story is below the video. 

THE STORY:

Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei dancing to Broken Wings sung by Clay Aiken. Such a beautiful and inspirational dance performed by 2 amputees.

The girl (Ma, Li) was a beautiful promising professional ballerina when she lost her right arm in a car accident in 1996. She was only 19. Her handsome boy friend walked away from her. She tried to kill herself only to be saved by her parents. Her love for her parents gave her the strength to live. She learned how to live her life independently. She learned how to write Chinese beautifully and how to do many things including combing her hair, which she had to cut short from the waist-length to shoulder-length. She learned to cook and to wash clothes …

In a few months she opened her small bookstore. Five years later in 2001, she was invited to compete at the 5th national special performing art competition for handicaps and won the gold medal. That success gave her the hope to return to her beloved stage. In 2002, a handsome 20-year-old young man (Li, Tao) madly fell in love with her. She ran a way from him for fear of being hurt again. After she disappeared in Beijing, Tao searched her up and down despite his parents’ strong objection and ridicule. He finally found her dancing in a bar. They have never been separated since.

They were very broke when SARS was spreading because all theaters were closed. In 2004, he got a license to be her legitimate agent and was trying to help her develop a unique performance. In a cold snowy night, when the two huddled in an underpass to wait for the sunrise in order to catch a bus after a long day at a movie shooting site working as extras, she suddenly had the urge to dance in the snow with him. She had used her dance to tell him her story so many times before and this time, after their "dance" ended, he suddenly realized that THIS should be her unique performance.

In September 2005, she ran into a 21-year-old young man (Zhai, Xiaowei). He was being trained to be a cyclist for the national special olympics. He had never danced before. He climbed on a tractor when he was 4 years old and fell off it and lost his left leg. His dad asked him, "The doctor will have to amputate your leg. Are you afraid?" He couldn’t comprehend what would be so different so he said no. His dad said, "You are going to face many challenges and difficulties in life, are you afraid?" He asked, "What are ‘challenges and difficulties?’ Do they taste good?" His dad laughed with tears, "Yes, they’re like your favorite candies. You just need to eat them one piece at a time!" (Then his dad ran out of the room in tears.)

So he’s always very optimistic and athletic with a great sense of humor. He had tried high-jump, long-jump, diving, swimming, and just settled on cycling. His coach believed that he would be able to get 2-3 gold medals in the national special Olympics games. (In the video interview, you can see him doing a bridge with great ease!) He initially didn’t understand how he could "dance," so Li invited him to see her performing "Hand in Hand" with another male actor. He felt that he saw a perfect soul dancing on the stage and agreed to give it a try.

Li & Tao treated him like their younger brother and they stayed under the same roof during the more than 1 year of intensive training and practice. One would not be able to imagine the kind of challenges and difficulties they faced. He had NO dancing background and she is a perfectionist. There are so many touching stories. Much determination has gone into the making of this performance. Just for that one "drop" move at 3:41 of the clip, he landed her on the hard floor more than 1000 times!!! To get the move right, they started at 8 a.m. and got the first successful move shortly after 8 pm! All they did was to train and to practice from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. day-in and day-out until the three of them ran out of money in early 2007 …

The rest is history. In April they were one of the finalists among 7000 competitors in the 4th CCTV national dance competition. It is the first time a handicapped couple ever entered the competition. They won the Silver medal with the 99.17 high score and not to mention the highest audience popular votes. They became an instant national hit.

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Is Maya the Next Dancing Baby Beyonce?

This is such an adorable and inspiring "baby" video!   Sweet little 22 month old Maya is the daughter of my wonderful friends, Cerise and Renato.  Maya was so eager to get out on the dance floor and learn to line dance with friends Tammy, Veronica, Laura, Sara and  little Adam.  She is so inspirational in having no fear or self-consciousness.  She hasn’t been socialized to worry about what people will think of her "performance."  She dances just for the pure joy of dancing, of trying something new and having fun.  Ahh….the sheer exhilaration, the wonderment and the delight of being in the moment.  I was so happy that I had my camera on hand to capture this.  

What would you do if you were not worried about what people would think?  It’s so interesting that often we are immobilized because we worry about how others will judge us. A long time ago I heard a saying that has stuck with me through the years:  "You wouldn’t worry about what people think of you, if you knew how rarely they do."  So go on and dance like no one is watching.  And share this inspirational video with your friends so they’ll get dancing too! 

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