A Message To Our Generation

What is the legacy that our generation is leaving for the next? Previous generations pioneered this country, settled the land, connected the coasts, fulfilled manifest destiny, built industry, constructed our infrastructure, reached the moon, and kept the world safe during two world wars.

What is our legacy?

$16T in national debt, $4T in state government debt (including pensions), massing local government debt, over $2T in personal debt, a current federal income tax rate that today 47% of Americans are declared too poor to be able to pay, nearly 1 in 2 Americans needs public assistance (including social security), inflation adjusted household income has been relatively flat for 15 years, cities devistated by exported manufacturing, an expensive underproducing education system, looming European depression, and a dysfunctional two party political system unable to produce leaders.

How big is the debt? To payoff the current government debt would equate to a $17,000 per year paycheck tax on every working American for ten years... plus interest.

Some declare a 2010 Levi Braddock PA commercial stands to represent a message from the younger generation to our own: You broke it, and now we must recreate it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YyvOGKu6ds

Is that the legacy of our generation? Have we left a broken mess for our next generation to fix?

My Fitness Pal

If you are serious about diet and excercise then you should maintain a log. And guess what? I have an App for that!

I have mentioned MyFitnessPal in the past but want to dive into it deeper. This app is available on smartphones and you can access your data on a PC via their web site too! There is a complete library of excercises and food available to select for your log. If you don't find something you need? You can add it. The food library includes all the details about every kind of food you can imagine. But my favorite part? All you need to do is aim your smart phone's camera at the food's UPC symbol and the product will look it up for you and add it to your food log.

Once all this data has been entered you can perform analysis to see what is going on. The app provides charts and graphs for tracking weight, calories, and will even compare excercise to food to tell you the net result for the day.

The greatest success with a diet plan often involves friends. My fitness pal supports that with social sharing tools where you can link your data with your friends and report progress through facebook. Free add-ons include a weight loss ticker for your blog and various BMR, BMI, and Heart Rate calulators.

If you are serious about your diet and/or workout, you need to log it. My Fitness Pal is a great tool for that.

The Effects of Muscle

As you grow old it become easy to put on weight and difficult to take it off. Why? I believe it is because of a reduction in muscle density and mass.




Our bodies reach their natural maximum physical potential somewhere around age 21. At age 21 it has taken 21 years to build up your muscle mass. After age 21 your muscle mass begins to deteriorate. If you don't use it you lose it and over the years the muscle mass slowly trickles away. It slips away slowly and you probably don't even notice it until that game of baseball on the weekend leaves you sore the next day, or that back ache from too much activity leaves you thinking "I am not as young as I used to be".



Teenagers are able to perform feats of athleticism with relative ease. Those in their 40s and 50s struggle because they lack the muscle endurance that they once had.



The amount of muscle directly impacts your metabolic rate (how quickly you naturally burn calories). Your body needs more calories throughout the day to care for muscles. If you do not have much muscle then you don't need many calories. Know someone who brags they eat a lot and it doesn't effect them? They probably have a high metabolism rate. And that is probably a result of strong dense muscles.



As muscle mass slips away through the years so does our daily calorie requirements. Most people do not account for this. They continue to eat what they always have or more. This results in a buildup of fat. And without muscle mass fueling metabolism or helping with workouts, losing the fat becomes increasingly difficult to get rid of.



When people want to lose weight they usually gravitate toward diet and exercise. For exercise they want to do cardio because that burns calories and has an immediate rewarding short-term effect. However cardio will burn muscle just as much as it will burn fat. After about 10 weeks of a cardio program, progress starts to crash. The body usually adapts to cardio programs and the loss of muscle reduces in the effects of the exercise.



Instead of solely focusing on cardio for workouts, you would be far better to include weight training and resistance training. Resistance training will help you to maintain your muscle mass and could slow the effects of aging on your muscles. Building up muscles will help with metabolism. In addition when you do cardio you are only burning calories while you are doing cardio. With weight training you burn calories during the exercise and you burn calories for hours afterwards as your body repairs the muscles from your workout.



Many people complain that they do not want to build up bulky muscles. Don't worry about that. Your first goal should be to get back some of the muscles that you have lost. And then second there is nothing wrong with looking lean. Some bulky muscles will look a lot better then some bulky fat.



If you can return your muscles to the condition they were in your early twenties then I believe you will have the metabolism and the stamina that you had in your 20s. You will be able to deal with weight gain and weight loss much easier.



Note: Author is not an expert. Always seek the advice of your doctor and experts before starting any physical fitness program

2012 Princess of the 80's

The 88-Blog is crowning Julianne Hough the 2012 Princess of the 80’s. What qualifies her for this incredible distinction? Three qualifications: First, she stared as Ariel in the recent remake of Footloose. Second, she stared as Sherrie Christian in the 80’s rock movie Rock of Ages. Most important, though, she was born in 1988!




According to the Internet Movie Database, Julianne was raise in Utah, the youngest of 5 children. Her mother enrolled Julianne in performing classes at an early age. She studied Latin Ballroom Dancing, studied dance in London, and attended the Italia Conti Academy. At age 15 she won the Junio World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion at the Blackpool Dance Festival. She performed in dance competitions in the trio 2B1G (2 Boys, 1 Girl). What does all this dance training have to do with Julianne Hough’s fame? At age 18, the 5’4” Julianne was a dancer on ABC’s Show Me the Money, and at 20 joined the cast of Dancing with Stars where she won season 4 and season 5!



She can dance, which is good for the movie Footloose. But where does the acting come in? Her first acting role was at age 11with a small role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Age 22 came Burlesque. Then she landed footloose in 2011.



Dancing. Acting. In Rock of Ages she displayed an ability to sing too. Actually, Julianne Hough is a country singer. Her debut album was released in 2008 and debuted #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart, and #3 on the Billboard 200. “That song in my head” hit 18 on the country chart followed by “My Hallelujah song” that hit 44. Julianne Hough is a bona fide country singing star!



Singing? Dancing? Acting? All comes together in the 2012 movie Rock of Ages as that country music voice blasts out 80’s rock anthems. My recommendation is that she continues to remake 80's movies - perhaps some role in the upcoming remake of Dirty Dancing?

Patty Jackson: I'm good enough, and smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!

Patty Jackson: I'm good enough, and smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!


The 88-Blog is doing a series on fitness for those who want to get in better shape

for the reunion. Who better to ask about fitness then a physed teacher? The Class of 88’s own Patty Jackson.

Patty is a physical education teacher and coach who loves playing sports, hanging with friends at the Lake Ontario bay, and talking with friends on facebook. While it is amazing that she’s had the same partner for 15 years and has 3 cats, perhaps the most amazing is that she says she can tie a cherry stem with her tongue. Wow.

Patty has decided to practice what she teaches. “While I cannot claim to be the healthiest person, I do believe that eating healthy, without depriving myself is a must,” Patty explains. “I had gained a few pounds and thought it was about time I got rid of my “spare tire”! I lost 20 pounds, which I have kept off for about 18 months. I even went down 3 pant sizes!” Patty said. “Since I am a PE teacher I am very active throughout the day. But my exercise regimen tends to go in spurts. You do need to stay in really good shape to keep up with the demands,” she explains. What is Patty’s diet and fitness secret? “You can’t just diet, and you can’t just work out, both have to happen.”

We all fall into times when we just don’t want to work out. “When I fall into my “lazy” mode,” Patty explains,” I don’t do much and it shows.” Starting a workout requires one important step: starting. “Once I start working out and get a couple days in, I want to do more and more.”

Finding time to work out can be difficult. Finding a work out that you enjoy doing can make it a little easier. “My favorite workout routine is the INSANITY program. I like it because it is all about kick-butt cardio, with no weights involved. I also enjoy P90X Ab Ripper X! I can’t get out of bed for 2 days after I do that one.” One of the keys to a workout program is moderation and building stamina – don’t try to do too much at one time, but continue to push yourself to do more every time. “Right now I am training for a 5K. I have been making myself to 3.2 miles every other day,” Patty explains. “I can’t run it all yet, but I am hoping to soon!”

To be healthy you have to eat healthy. “I love Ramen Noodles, but they are 11 point of Weight Watchers”, Patty says. Does that mean Ramen Noodles are off the menu? “I don’t deprive myself of things I really want.” There will be ups and downs and times we fall off the diet wagon. “I eat what I want, but try to eat smaller portions. And if I go overboard, it’s back to the INSANITY workout!”

Studies have shown that those who socialize their fitness efforts have the greatest success. One of the many ways to socialize is to join friends in a workout program after work.”If I do a workout with co-workers after work, it makes me push myself so much harder.” Another way to socialize your efforts is to use Weight Watchers. “If you are serious about losing a few pounds, I truly recommend Weight Watchers Online! Weight Watchers taught me to eat fruits and veggies when I am hungry along with just a couple Lays dill pickle chips (my favorite),” Patty explains. “I also really enjoy Special K crisps, and you can have 30 for only 2 points, so you can still have that crunch!”

A common question everyone wants to know: what is on your MP3 player? “I can listen to anything while working out even if it’s slow – I love music! My ipod has over 1000 songs, with anything from Eminem, to Olivia Newton John, Rob Zombie, Wilson Philips, Snoop Dog, Black Eyed Peas… you name it, I have it!”

Patty Jackson practices what she teaches: eat healthy and work out.

Rock of Ages Movie

If the movie Grease was about the 80’s instead of the 50’s, you would have Rock of Ages. Following similar attempts to meld Top 40 hits into a Broadway play (such as Mama Mia and Movin’ Out) Rock of Ages is a Broadway hit. Now it is rocking a movie theater near you! The story is about a small town girl named Sherrie and a city boy Drew who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursing their Hollywood dreams. The musical features great 80’s hits from Def Lepard, Bon Jovi, Guns N’Roses, and more.




The movie is centered around a live performance bar named The Bourbon, owned by Alec Baldwin’s character. The movie’s stars includes Tom Cruise as a drunken rocker whose career is waning while he searches for the perfect love song. Mexico City native Diego Boneta plays a bar hand with rock and role dreams. His love interest, played by Julianne Hough, learns the rough realities of surviving on the Sunset Strip. Other note worthies include Russell Brand, whose character is a scruffy stage hand; Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose character is the Mayor’s wife attempting to close The Bourbon. Paul Giamatti’s character is a sleazy manager. Mary J. Blige’s character runs a gentleman’s club. And Malin Akerman’s character is a reporter for the Roling Stones. There is even a cameo by 80’s singer Debbie Gibson.



Just as Grease exaggerated the characteristics of the 50’s, Rock of Ages exaggerates the rock scene of the 80’s – poking fun at fashion, trends, and thoughts at the time. The story is an afterthought whose purpose is weave the large library of 80’s hits together. Nevertheless, it is the music that makes the movie. Some of my favorite scenes were when several different 80’s songs were mixed together into one.



If you are a fan of 80’s music then this movie is a must see! For a more detailed review of the movie (including spoilers) check out the June 2012 80’s show at the 88 Podcast available on itunes and at: http://88podcast.gilbertinternettv.com/

Dirty Dancing Remake Delayed

Previously reported on this blog: a remake of the 80's Dirty Dancing is in the work! The film featured Frances 'Baby" Houseman, a high-school graduate visiting a Catskills resort, and Johnny Castle, a dance instructor. The low-budget film became a cultural landmark and gave us famous quotes such as "Nobody puts Baby in a corner".

The remake was originally set to hit theaters in July 2013. Lionsgate has pushed that date back to 2014. Why? Unconfirmed reports say Kenny Ortega has his eye on actors who are unavailable at the present time. Faced with finding new leads or waiting, Lionsgate has decided to wait until those unidentified actors are available.

88-TV is back online!

A few months ago someone contacted me to say that 88TV was just looping "Who is" video. Who Is is a segment where you see the picture of someone today and have to guess who they are. I thought the comment was odd because there is 19 hours of video on 88TV - how could this be possible? I checked it out and it was true! Due to confusion, the hosting company deleted 18 hours of 88TV video!




Luckily I keep backups. But since 88TV has evolved over the years the backups are spread around in many different locations. It took a long time just to (A) assemble a list of everything that was missing (I didn't have a master list of the nearly 300 video files that had been loaded); (B) Locate all the video.



Once I found the video, the next step was uploading the massive amounts of video to the service provider. Video files are huge and the service provider has daily bandwidth limitations. I didn't work on it every day, but I worked on it whenever I had a few free moments. It took a month to reload all the video.



With the video loaded into the service provider, the final step was to recreate the story boards. The video plays in an order that I create. I don’t want to bore the viewer with hours of the same kind of video, so, I break it up. You can watch ten minutes of one kind of video and then see something completely different.

There are many different video segments: Andover events, Christmas 2010 Podcast from Andover, 90&91 KG Show, 2008 Reunion, 88 Video Yearbook, July 2011 Podcast from Andover, and more!

Story board is finished. The station is relaunched! I even have add some new content. So, be sure to check out 88TV today! You can find it at:

http://88tv.gilbertinternettv.com/

New video Link:

Following our series 'Getting ready of the Reunion", this commercial should get you motivated.

Managing the bathroom scale

In out series "Getting ready for the reunion" we need to talk about your bathroom scale. First, let me assure you: no one cares about your bathroom scale. Whether you are big, small, tan, white as a ghost, frizzy hair, or completely bald - your friends and classmates want to see you and share memories.

Nevertheless, many will unnecessarily feel the need to drop a few pounds. It is for those individuals that this series is being written.

Experts say safe weight reduction is a pound or two per week. During weight reduction our scales become our friends when they say something we like, and become discouraging when they don't. How often should you weigh yourself during your journey of preparation? Some experts say daily, and some say weekly. I disagree with both camps.

The scale is not an accurate measure of a diet and workout plan. There are too many variables that contribute to your weight: muscle mass, bone density, time of day, hydration, and did you use the restroom (for a few examples). Did you know that if you drink a 16oz beverage your weight can increase by a pound?

Imagine a diet where you expect to lose a pound this week but you drank a 16oz coffee and now the scale says your diet is blown! Or, if you aren't managing hydration very well, the reverse might happen giving you a temporary gift that is quickly taken away as you rehydrate.

Weight fluctuates every day, so, avoid discouragement and don't weigh daily.

Instead weigh weekly on the same day at the same time. Weighing weekly will spread those weight fluctuations over 7 days giving you a better chance to see a reduction.

However, I recommend doing 14 day comparisons to reduce the fluctuations even further. When you weigh weekly compare the results to two weeks ago. It is very possible to have wild weight fluctuations within even 7 days. So spread the comparison out over as many days as you can.

If you are dieting and exercising and having a calories deficit your weight will go down over time. If you were to plot your weight daily you might see the weight bounce all over the graph, but, have a general downward slope to the average.

Since the point of getting on the scale is to gain encouragement, you should set yourself up for success. Avoid discouraging short term comparisons and do comparisons over very long time periods.

No time to work out?

In our series for getting ready for the reunion:

Don't want to go to the gym? Can't afford a personal trainer? No time to work out? Not motivated?

All you need is 12 minutes, a living room, and this website will give you all the motivation you need:
Http://bodyrock.tv

Now you have no excuses!

Are You Fat?

People avoid reunions because they think they are fat. Are you obese? If you are using a 200 year old Body Mass Index (BMI) chart, then you probably are! The BMI divides your height (in meters) by your weight (in kilograms) to give you a number that tells you how fat you are. While BMI is widely used to judge us, we need to put the BMI into perspective. Don't let the BMI determine whether or not you'll attend your reunion.


If you aren't carrying any extra weight, the BMI considers you to be normal. Can you "pinch an inch"? Then the BMI probably doesn't consider you normal. Normal is if you look good in a bikini (women) or shirtless (guys) at the beach. Maybe that was you at age 17, but lets be honest: a lot of water has gone over that damn during more than two decades!

One step below normal is underweight. If we can see rib cages and arm bones then you may need to eat more pasta and get your weight back up. Rib cages and arm bones are not attractive. 25 years out of high school, I suspect few (if any) of us have this problem.


If you can pinch an inch (or more) then you are probably overweight - ie - you carry some fat. You can be classified as overweight for lots of other reasons too: perhaps you have high muscle density, large bones, or are blessed with ginormous boobs. Some extra weight is OK in time of famine or illness. There have been many cases where individuals who were underweight died while battling the flu because their body didn't have enough in reserve. In the US, I think that overweight has become the new normal.



The next level on the BMI scale is a word that has been demonized in pop culture: obese. When you hear the word obese your mind races to images of the 800 pound man who couldn't get out of bed. Not true. Obese simply means: if you are 20% over from your normal weight. For most of us that means we've enjoyed too many Christmas cookies and over the years it has added up. The concern is that most experts believe health problems can begin to occur when you carry around 20% fat all day long, so health experts will encourage you to get this weight down. I'm not a health professional so my opinion is worthless, regardless, I see many people who would be in the obese category and they look normal to me. Maybe they aren't hitting the beach in a bikini, but that's OK. If you are obese and are happy - forget the media stereotypes and be comfortable with yourself.

The next level on most BMI scales is Extremely Obese, which is a BMI above 40. I've had periods in my life where I have packed on the pounds but I dare say I have never been in this category. Frankly, I could not imagine the pain and discomfort of being extremely obese. At my heaviest I had difficulty with mobility, sleeping, and getting comfortable - I can't imagine what it must be like for these poor souls. If you have slipped into the category then I encourage you to talk with your doctor about getting a plan together. Get a person trainer - yes they are expensive, but worth it. Use a network of friends to help you stay on track. Just because you tried in the past and it didn't work? Doesn't mean you haven't found the thing that'll work for you. It isn't easy, but I would encourage you to take back your life.




At the end of the day, regardless of where you fall on the BMI? The world is made up of a variety of people. They come in all shapes and sizes. Our class is no different than the rest of the world. We have each had our own difficulties and challenges, successes and triumphs, and those must be measured by something other than our waistline.

Getting ready for the reunion.... using your iphone!

If you are getting ready for the 25th anniversary reunion, you might be tempted to try shedding a few pounds. Let me promise you: that is not necessary. We all know that the guys have lost their hair and the girls have lost there figures - it has been 25 years! Come as you are! But regardless, if you are tempted to look better, you can take advantage of the digital age to help your quest. Whether you have an iPhone, iPad, or an iPod Touch, these are some great applications:

My Fitness Pal - Free - This app will give you an outstanding food log to record calories and exercise. You can take a picture of a UPC bar code and it will translate that into a food log entry. The app helps you to set goals and track progress.

Nike+ GPS - $1.99 - This app is marketed to runners but works just as well for walkers too. The app tracks your movement on a map, will tell you about your progress, and will provide motivation through your accomplishments. I usually don't like to pay for apps, but this one is worth it.

Heartbeat - Free - Maintaining a high heart rate during work outs is a great way to burn calories. This application lets you determine your heart rate by tapping on the screen in coordination with your heart beat. This app is free but paid versions will let you log your heart rate.

Monumental - Free - Get out of your office chair and go climb the stairs! This app makes stair climbing fun by tracking how high you've climbed and giving you prizes the more you go.

Meal Maker - Free - Getting your meals under control is a great way to get your waist under control. Meal Maker will let you enter your family's favorite meals (hopefully low-cal), build them into a day-by-day menu, and produce a grocery list.

Body Fitness - Free - If you've done resistance training then you know what a pain it is to keep track of sets, reps, and weights. This app includes a fitness journal so you know what needs to be done each day. It also includes diagrams of exercises so you know you are doing them right.

As with all exercise programs, consult a doctor before starting. What Apps have you found that are useful?