Jack LaLanne
Jack LaLanne
Francois Henri "Jack" LaLannewas an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert and motivational speaker who is sometimes called "the godfather of fitness" and the "first fitness superhero." He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was age 15. He also had behavioral problems, but "turned his life around" after listening to a public lecture about the benefits of good nutrition by health food pioneer Paul Bragg. During his career, he came to believe that...
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth26 September 1914
CitySan Francisco, CA
I don't think about wealth. I get one thing in my mind, "How can I help people...come on humans...do something, you know. Let's wake up. Man alive...you're half dead. Let's do some living".
Be young. Keep yourself young by having a good, sporty car like a Corvette. It keeps you on your toes. It keeps you young. It keeps you thinking young. It keeps you thinking modern and good things. Corvette is a modern, modern automobile.
Jesus, when he was on Earth, he was out there helping people, right? Why did he perform those miracles? To call attention to his profession. Why do you think I do these incredible feats ? To call attention to my profession!
I have one thing in my mind. How can I get people to start taking care of themselves? That's all I think about.
George Burns was more athletic than you think he was. And he was a very social man--he loved people, he enjoyed life. He worked at living. Old George was a social lion, he got around and did things. That's the key right there. It starts with your brain. Some people, when they get to 60 years old have no interests anymore, have no friends left. George Burns was busy all the time doing something.
Who puts the food in your mouth? Who goes to the bathroom for ya? You do. You came on this earth alone and you are going to leave alone. Think about it. If anything happens to Jack La Lanne good or bad, I made it happen. If anything happens to you good or bad, you made it happen -- right?
The crusade is never off my mind -- the exercise I do, the food I eat, the thought I think -- all this and how I can help make my profession better-respected. To me, this one thing -- physical culture and nutrition -- is the salvation of America.
I never think of my age, never - I could be 20 or 100. I never think about it, I'm just me.
I think fat, out-of-shape people should be fined.
Everything you do in life, I don't care, good or bad - don't blame God, don't blame the devil, don't blame me, blame you. You control everything! The thoughts you think, the words you utter, the foods you eat, the exercise you do. Everything is controlled by you.
I train like I'm training for the Olympics or for a Mr. America contest, the way I've always trained my whole life. You see, life is a battlefield. Life is survival of the fittest... How many healthy people do you know? How many happy people do you know? Think about it. People work at dying, they don't work at living. My workout is my obligation to life. It's my tranquilizer. It's part of the way I tell the truth--and telling the truth is what's kept me going all these years.
Develop a positive attitude. Think and picture how amazing you are going to be. Visualize it!
The tape measure doesn't lie. Get that tape measure out and put it on your hips and your waist. Keep checking it. And keep exercising and cutting those calories down until that tape measure gets close to where you were in your prime.
I'm a believer in routine. I like to see people work out at the same time each day.