I think Jack LaLanne is a true American hero. I remember exercising with him in the 60's at 2 p.m. in the afternoon while my daughter took her nap. His unbridled enthusiasm was motivating at a time when it was difficult for me to find any other time to workout.

Jack will celebrate his 88th birthday in a couple of weeks. Happily, he's still going strong. I had the privilege of working with Jack on a project several years ago. He was a spokesperson and I was a writer for a fitness company that developed a series of assessments to determine, based on body fat, flexibility, strength, etc., if you were "in shape" for your age. Jack, who was 84 at the time, tested at 28 years of age. He was still doing hundreds of pushups at a drop of a hat and though he wouldn't let me do a body composition on him I'm certain he was well below the 15 percent norms for men.

I eat pretty healthfully but I do have an A. M. diet coke habit. I fill a 32-oz cup with crushed ice and pour diet cola over it. Over the course of a couple of hours the ice melts and I get my a.m. jolt along with some fluid. I'm the one who says that if caffeine was discovered today it wouldn't be allowed in our food supply because it's so addicting. Nevertheless, it's one of the habits that I've eliminated periodically then returned to--usually when I'm stressed. The point is that one morning I (who'd although I was 58 had assessment results that showed me to be 35) arrived at the site with my cola cup in hand. Jack immediately gave me a hard time. I got the familiar, "you wouldn't feed that to your dog" routine delivered in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. I gave him some back talk about my few vices and was told I should be ashamed of myself. Jack truly practices what he preaches. I saw that over and over again.

However, there was one subject on which we disagreed. It was mentioned in the Dateline piece. Jack doesn't believe we need to drink milk. He'd give me the "we're the only species that get milk pushed on us after we're weaned." I'd retort that other species don't live long enough to get osteoporosis and he'd say, "I don't have osteoporosis and I haven't had milk for sixty years." Then I'd tell him again how wonderful he is and that the reason he doesn't have osteoporosis is because he's been lifting weights and working out every day-a habit even he can't get most Americans to do. I'd quote statistics and research studies but he wouldn't budge. In short, Jack is a very good teacher but not a very good listener.

SMART WOMEN, STRONG BONES, the book about osteoporosis I co-authored with Beverly Whipple, Ph.D. is, once again being revised and updated and will be published by Beyond Words, Inc. in concert with my PBS show on the subject next spring. The research continues to warn about the grave consequences of this silent thief. Osteoporosis is now the cause of death for more women than breast cancer. Breast cancer is curable. Osteoporosis is not. However, it is a preventable disease. There are two things that make a critical difference. The first is exercise that includes something you do on your feet combined with a strength building workout. The second is calcium intake.

If, like Jack, you don't believe in drinking milk, you better start living his lifestyle. That includes a two hour a day workout, eating only fresh fruits, vegetables and grains, no saturated fats, fish as a protein source and a handful of vitamins to cover the bases. Don't mess with Jack when it comes to fitness and don't mess with me when it comes to bone health.