If You Want to Live, Move!: Putting the Boom Back into Boomers

by Elaine LaLanne, Jaime Brenkus

Hello, Boomers! We’re dedicating this book to you so you can get that old “boom” back. With over 100 years of fitness and nutrition experience combined, we knew as we rounded the corner to another year and another phase of our lives, we needed to write this book, "If You Want to Live, Move!" and share our best secrets and tips with our fellow boomers (and seniors!). We‘re keyed-up to show how you, too, can enjoy abundant strength, energy, flexibility and endurance to live a long, productive life which you richly deserve. We feel you are holding in your hands a prescription for ageless energy and timeless health. We are fitness and nutrition professionals. As good fortune would have it, we stumbled upon the secret many, many years ago (it’s not really a secret, as you will learn) of living a life of vitality, optimism and prime physical health. One of us was born in 1926, and the other was born in 1961. One of us lives on the west coast and one in the Midwest. One of us is a woman, one of us, a man. One, a senior (from the greatest generation that ever lived), one a boomer. On the surface, it appears we don’t have much in common.In fact, we have a lot in common; the most important is We both have a passion for teaching others the right way to live fuller, richer lives! You could say we both ‘talk the talk’ and ‘walk the walk’. So, let us talk to you about a new beginning and walk you through it! This book is about how to dig deep to create more energy, immense joy and better health. It explores the intersection of fitness and aging, and ultimately answers these two Is there a secret magic potion for living longer? (yes and no) Which is most important, diet or exercise, for feeling younger and being healthier? (both) We put our brains together to come up with a plan for changing your life for the better. In this book, you’ll learn easy, effective ways to deal with difficult challenges we all face as we climb over the next hill, including low energy, increasing weight and sagging skin, achy bones and joints, irritability, and melancholy. But our main focus will be on showing you how moving your body and eating high-value foods will increase the odds that you ride into your golden years with energy and vitality. You don’t need a background in anatomy or physiology to use this book. It simply weaves together information that we’ve learned over the course of our lives, and you can choose the tools presented here that work best for you. The mind and body are fascinating subjects, but we haven’t attempted to be comprehensive here. Rather, we focused on simple methods that have had an effect on our clients over the years. Different things work for different people, so choose the exercises and tips that work best for you.A word of caution, please seek advice from a medical professional before you begin any new exercise regimen or diet.Finally, if we know one thing for sure, it's that making small changes consistently will lead to big changes in your body and your experience of daily living.Remember this, when you change your habits, you change your life."If You Want to Live, Move!" is an update simplified program that empowers you to take the right action each day on a consistent basis so you can realize the rich rewards that are rightfully yours – energy, strength, and renewed health.This book is designed so that you can quickly access the nuts and bolts of our program and get right to it.We have laid out this book to be an easy (and illuminating) read. If you need more information and motivation, we have included additional resources for that as well.Plus, we are here to help you every step of the way. Keep in touch with both of us at www.8minuteworkouts.com.

188 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2019

Reviews

[Mary Crosthwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. If you're one of those, (Like I was), wondering why you should buy yet another health and fitness book I'll explain what this book did for me. I work out at home, I have weights, a treadmill and use YouTube videos. However, I am not an expert on fitness and have always wondered if I am getting a complete workout. The book has a section entitles "Ageless Energy and Timeless Health Exercises" which have 5 days of exercises with 11-12 exercises to do each day. No special equipment is required and you start with minimal reps (10-15.) It has been so helpful for me.

There is also a recipe section that has recipes by YouTube content creator Dani Spies, Clean and Delicious. The recipes haven't appeared on her channel or blog to my knowledge.

Boomers will enjoy the photos of Jack and Elaine from the 40's and 50's, and how about an ad for the Glamour Stretcher! Yes, I had one in the 60's. I got the book from their web site, couldn't find it on Amazon. Best of luck and stay healthy!

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very flowing, easy read and great for highlighting points with your colored marker in the paperback edition.
Having watched Jack LaLanne's TV show as a young kid, Elaine's book was a must read - an update from Jack's 'Revitalize Your Life After 50' and Elaine's 'Fitness after Fifty' now that I've passed 65.
Though read for personal reasons, I found this work of immense interest and its contents helpful, encouraging and inspiring - star rating relates to the book's contribution to my personal needs. Overall, this work is a good resource for the researcher and enthusiast.

- - Learn your A, B, Cs
- A. If man-made (processed), don't eat it.
- B. Exercise is King, nutrition is Queen, put them together and you've got a kingdom.
- C. Ten seconds on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.

- - And reflect upon Jack LaLanne's 10 Habits:
- 1. Get used to waking up early—really early. For years, Jack LaLanne began each day not long after the previous night’s bar crowd was stumbling home, rising at 4 a.m. to start his daily workout regimen. He started sleeping in until 5 a.m. once he hit his twilight years.
- 2. Don't skip the cardio. Though he was known for his weight training, after he pumped his iron, LaLanne would go for a 30-minute run, followed by a 30-minute swim either against a current or restrained in place by a belt.
- 3. Eat twice a day. LaLanne consumed exactly two meals, breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was taken late in the morning after his workout and usually consisted of “several hard-boiled egg whites, a cup of broth, oatmeal with soy milk, and seasonal fruit.” Dinner was more egg whites, salad, and fish. Snacks were strictly verboten.
- 4. No meat, either. Fish was pretty much the only animal LaLanne ate. (His New York Times obit says he occasionally enjoyed a roast turkey sandwich, though LaLanne has been quoted as saying that he never touched the stuff.)
- 5. Kick the sugar habit. Jack LaLanne never ate a Twinkie—in part because the last time he ate a dessert (in 1929) the iconic junk food hadn't been invented yet.
- 6. Stop cooking everything. The raw-food diet isn’t just the province of earthy neo-hippie—bodybuilder LaLanne ate at least 10 raw, fresh vegetables every day.
- 7. Make sure it tastes bad. LaLanne passed on processed foods. "If man makes it," he liked to say, "don't eat it." But even more draconian was his stance on flavor: “If it tastes good,” he ordered, “spit it out.”
- 8. Don't believe the vitamins-are-all-hype hype. LaLanne filled his diet with vitamin supplements—40 to 50 of them, he once told Larry King—that spanned the alphabet “from A to Z,” plus various minerals and enzymes. “If you don't take vitamins on a regular basis it's like going to bed with a rattlesnake,” he declared, “it's going to get you.”
- 9. Exercise the whole body. “There are 640 muscles in the human body,” LaLanne said, “and I take every one of them into account as I plan each exercise routine.”
- 10. No matter who you are, you’ve got to work out. LaLanne revolutionized fitness by advocating weight training for women, but he didn't stop there. He insisted that exercise was for everyone, from the disabled to the elderly. “The only way you can hurt the body is not use it,” he liked to say. “Inactivity is the killer, and remembers, it’s never too late.”
(The Daily Beast-Published 01.24.11)

- - And, of course...

"If it tastes good, spit it out. All those cakes and pies and candy and ice cream -- all that terrible fast food stuff! I just bought a new corvette sports car ... would I put oil in the gas tank? Would I?"
- Jack LaLanne (AZ Quotes)

[Nan Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elaine LaLanne is an inspiration, and though in her 90s, her philosophy of health and wellness is mostly current and relevant. Her dietary choices to not align with my beliefs, but have served her well and therefore cannot be criticized.

She writes in an honest and enthusiastic style.