1. Your name, title, and age? What do you do for a living?
Karen Curtiss, Author, Safe & Sound in the Hospital: Must-Have Checklists and Tools for Your Loved One’s Care, age 57
2. Who was the person that inspired you as a child to eat healthy and stay fit? What was their relationship to you?
My energetic mother! At 78, she is still non-stop sports and her doctor recently told her that she’s his only patient who’s not on any kind of medication.
3. What did they do to inspire you?
My earliest memory is of my mother doing jumping jacks in our living room with Jack LaLane. She couldn’t spend time in the kitchen without using the counter to stretch her legs. For the past 50 years, Mom has been on tennis and golf teams, and usually rides her bike back and forth to matches. Recently, however, she had to give up tennis due to a torn rotator cuff, but her reaction was: “Well now I’ll have time to try Pilates!” Mom never stocked soft drinks or snacks in our pantry, and every dinner included 2 veggies and some sort of protein. Also, a good breakfast was mandatory!
4. How did their lesson change your life?
I married a man who also enjoys an active, healthy lifestyle! Like my mother, I don’t sit still for long and love my walks and yoga. As my husband, mother and I have all aged, we’ve picked up the habit of eating small, colorful meals scattered through the day.
5. Do you convey their message to kids in your life presently?
Our sons, aged 14 and 18, have picked up good eating habits. They actually snack on baby carrots and sugar snap peas! They play every sport that has a ball, and work out regularly — just like their father!
6. What would be your main message to children today to lead healthy lifestyles?
Play sports that are fun for you. You’ll feel good and do better in sports if not “weighed down” by white foods — sugar and flour are not your friends.
7. Do you have a web site you would like to promote….web address only?