Welcome!

Welcome to the “Be Like Jack & Jill” Blog! We thank you for reading, and welcome your feedback.

My wife and I are embarking upon an experiment: Eat and train as close as we can to Jack Lalanne and Jillian Michaels, for one year.

Why? There is a bit of a Myth Busters mentality at work here.

First, we want to see if mere mortals, such as us, can really live the way they do. Their diets, if you believe their books and interviews, are dang near perfect. Jack Lalanne hasn’t had dessert for roughly the past eighty years. (80!) Jillian Michaels is less strict, having a dose of chocolate daily. Of course it is organic, dark, and perfectly portioned chocolate once daily. (My wife is quite happy her health guru eats chocolate!) Lalanne exercises for two hours daily, while Michaels busts her tail in the gym 5 hours a week. That’s a big time commitment. (Especially from Jack, thanks a lot buddy)

Second and our biggest motivator: does eating completely clean while exercising like a fiend really make you feel as amazing as they claim? Can I look forward to bursting with vim & vigor everyday? Sleeping like a log every night? Can I get rid of my weekly headaches? Will I quit losing my hair? OK, maybe not so much that last one, but will we really feel all that much better for all of the sacrifice?

Sure, we expect to lose fat, shed inches, and become walking Greek statues with better skin tone. OK. But we are really focusing on the health aspects of this way of life. Denise and I are in our late thirties. Our son will turn one year old in a few weeks, and we would like more kids. (Lord willing) Therefore we HAVE to stay healthy and active well into our fifties and beyond in order to be the kind of parents we want to be. Is this the path?

So, let’s find out together. We start this coming week. We will be trying out and sharing new recipes, new exercises. There will no doubt be a fair amount of whining along the way as we adjust, but I promise to keep that to a minimum.

Excelsior!

Cliff