OK, so you don’t want blue skin; fair enough. But those slim, agile limbs and CGI waistlines! – what wouldn’t you do to have those? You decide to take the leap …
back to nature, where such endowments are a natural given in the hunter gatherer lifestyle. Suddenly ancient ways are making sense. Time to get hunting & gathering …
You’ve been great at hunting for bargains and gathering weight, but now you’ve seen Avatar …
1. Back to the Plot
Square one. You realise that, like the Na’vi, you’re living on a plot of soil – well it was, before you had it concreted a decade ago. It’s out with the concrete and in with a magical, Pandora-style vege & herb garden. Out with that designer pebble courtyard and in with a luscious little lawn. Trimming inches 
off your waist as you trim the grass with a dinky little push-mower, you’re in tune with nature. Exercise, now integrated into daily home-living, is not only burning off calories, it is increasing your metabolic rate and your lean tissue mass! Every muscle sings as you dig compost and plant and weed your green heaven. Gathering your very own harvest, you thank the goddess you haven’t lost the plot.
2. Out with Labour Saving Devices
Was there white-ware on Pandora? You didn’t even see a laundry, let alone white-ware. You realise over-civilization has you in its deadly, muscle-wasting grip. No longer. You’re washing laundry by hand, picturing yourself dressing real scanty like the Na’vi once your new body is fully formed. Hanging clothes out in the sun, your big-stretch regime has new meaning. Everything hums as you ‘vacuum’ the floor with your hand-sweeper (remember those cute 
push-things grandma had?). Manual labour is back ‘in’ as do-it-by-hand beaters, graters, peelers and lemon-squeezers consume energy – yours, not the environment’s. Your thighs are lithe from constant knee-bends, your arms are firm enough to go sleeveless and you’ve actually got a waist! But what to do with the waste? A boomer truckload of white-ware & electrical gadgetry is donated to those in need – frantic parents with a house full of kids to raise, for instance. You are now free to fight the good fight …
3. Facing the Cold, Hard Fax
On the 3D battlefield, you were in retreat and your stomach, in advance. You stand on attack, bravely facing the fax – the cold, hard truth aliens have been bleeping to humans since consumerism took over planet Earth. It is this:
Consume Less. If you have surplus fat, you’ve eaten more calories than you need. There is no way to shed weight, and keep it off, other than eating less and exercising more. End of transmission. Gulp. Blush. Surely the facts don’t have to be that black & white? That cold?
Luckily, you’ll only need to eat moderately less, and exercise moderately more – that’s hot! But you soon go cold realising it has to be ongoing. As it turns out ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ are your friends’ – extreme temperatures can increase your metabolic rate by up to 20% – it’s all gong to work out as you work out.
It’s off to hot yoga, or at least a weekly sauna. You jog in the winter air, take bracing, short, cool showers and go easier on the central heating. Being cold makes you fidget, but fidgeting is also your friend! According to US research, fidgety humans are more likely to be slim than laid-back humans. Movement, of any sort, is hot – that’s cool! You pace around. You rapidly improve at 
yoga, Avatar suppleness now yours to show off! You’re stronger too as you do a little weight-lifting at the supermarket, grabbing five pounds of butter in each hand and carrying them up and down the aisle. You’re so smart! But your stroppy playfulness is short lived. It dawns on you that this 10 lbs of butter is how much extra fat you’ve got stored inside you. Groan. You’re gonna have to do the calorie drop sometime. You decide to ditch the butter … a good way to up your health as you lower your carbon footprint as well as your weight.
If only you could get it over with and go back to normal life. But no, it’s not a quick fix. It’s going to take months to lose that weight in a healthy way, and the rest of your life to keep it off. Yes, you’ll have to permanently eat less if you want to keep your new Avatar body. You won’t be able to go back to the amount you used to eat, because your Avatar Metabolism is slower. It’s slower because you have less weight to carry around. It’s slower because you now eat less. You’re not so hungry because your stomach has shrunk, (and that’s one big stretch you’ll never need to do again!) You will eat less from now on. You’ve faced the cold, hard fax. They took a bit of digesting … but at least you’re digesting something!
4. Learning New, Ancient Ways
It’s induction time; you’re the chosen one – the one who will be super-gorgeous, lithe, fit, muscle-endowed and trim. Your hope for a bright future lies with the alien ancestors. You’ve already started Echo Living, so you’re well on the way backwards. Step further now, into the ancient ways …
~ Mining Precious Minerals
Planet Pandora’s bogglingly valuable mineral, ‘unobtanium’ is not nearly as in demand on planet Earth as the one you’re discovering: ‘weightlossium,’ which is highly active when you get back to the essentials; minerals & vitamins. You discover seaweed, the ultimate mineral-rich food, and other ancient, super-foods. Every calorie counts. You go nutrient-rich – wholefoods, high in nutrients, low in calories; juicy fresh fruit & vegetables being the most valuable. You tread carefully with energy-dense foods – refined, high in calories and low in nutrients; gluggy fries & donuts, and ‘empty’ foods like candy for instance. You start digging into the garden instead of digging in at the bakery, dessert restaurant, sweet shop, or fast food stop. You’re high on nutrition, low on calories. Your new culinary goldmine is raking in the profits.
~Becoming Unrefined
Leaping around in the wild, you’re eating foods as nature made them. Nothing is refined on Pandora – no food industry exists to refine it. No fillers, additives, artificial preservatives, colours, flavours, humectants, emulsifiers, sweeteners, acidity regulators, modified genes and other profit-making, up-sizing ingredients. Your taste buds burst you into new heights of ecstasy.
As you serve up dinner in your little cabin, you’re doing the diet and it’s delicious! All the vitamins you need are within the healthy, natural foods you love; (though being vegan on Earth you take B12, maybe Vit.D). Sitting on the throne, you reach a new level of ‘regular,’ enjoying kiwifruit, delicious whole grains and the all that natural fibre without even thinking – each day is a moving experience! What a relief – returning to your, natural, unrefined, radiant self! 🙂
Tell us how you go experimenting with your new Avatar body – or at least what you think about ‘weightlossium!’ There’s more coming up, so look out for Part Two … (it will find you if you subscribe by email, top right column). May the force be with you!
Baby Boomer Girl 
Hi Boomer Girl,
Was watching this TedX video: http://tedxsydney.com/site/item.cfm?item=8DBDEC0BC290F6C97CE259C06DF011D4 and Dr. David Sinclair mentioned that it was ‘natural/normal’ to die of a splinter in the foot not so very long ago. But life improves, and we don’t settle for what was ‘normal ageing’ or ‘normal dying’ as the norm any more.
By exercising, we improve our Quality of Life, we change what was called ‘normal older’ to something better.
And yes, while we may choose not to exercise (and eat clean, a most important adjunct to exercise), we are choosing to accept something like death by splinter, if you get my drift, at a time when we know better.
The scary thing, I’ve noticed, is that the habits of a lifetime (e.g., not having exercised/moved for decades) often dictate what we continue to do (and stay happy doing/not doing): it’s called Inertia.
So good on you, Boomy Girl.
Love that flexibility of yours. Wow!
And here’s an offer: If you’ve still difficulty with those arms drooping, give me shout. I may be able to help.
Cheers
Mel d’Rego
Thanks for taking time to write so thoughtfully – lots to think about, Mel. I watched the video. Interesting to note that this aspect of the ageing process is turned off when we exercise and when we don’t eat. Looks like a bit of fast-land running and fasting is in order! My habits of a lifetime pull strongly on me. But I’m not giving up – slow changes are becoming new habits. How do you help people stop flapping about their flaps, Mel? I might take you up on it! 🙂
Great post!
hi,really nice shirt,do you know where i can find that great.thanks,bill
Very good post. Hope to read more excellent posts in the near future.
Hi,nice jeans in your post, I love great jeans, I need to find one for me.
If only I could find jeans that made my legs look like that! – I can’t see any evidence of clothing on those Na’vi legs … still, people do see things differently! Good luck in your mission with the jeans retailers!
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I love this blog. Thanks for the great information. I have it bookmarked and will be back.
Hi Radha,
If you ask me you could have made at least 3 posts of this. (LOL)
You’re right about all this but you have too much in this post for me to remember, girl.
Today we have the first sunny spring-like day , here in Wildevank, the Netherland . So for the first time this season I have my laundry drying up in the sun outside , in the garden.
We have had a long winter here and I have the intention to really do a lot of chores in our garden and around the house this coming spring and summer.
I’m losing strenght in my arms and the reason I can show my arm is just because they are firm of the overweight I carry on with me.(LOL)Not so healthy, I would say.
I didn’t even see the film avatar yet. No thank you I don’t need to become like anyone else. I want to be healthy and I’m very pleased and grateful with being the baby boomer I am. I want to be slimmer and most important, healthy. I’ve been slim when I was younger for a long time.
There is nothing wrong with building muscle, doing chores needed and enjoying working in the garden en enjoying life. But I am ok with myself as an older person now.
I’m very grateful with my life and with the fact that I am so aware of who I am and what I want to do and who I want to become.And I’m working on becoming that person.
By the way, thank you for putting me on your twitterlist of “real people”. It’s true, that’s my mantra. I want to be myself, because everyone else is taken. And how can people really get to know me, if I try to be someone else?
Warm Regards,
Deana
What a great comment, Deana. Yes, I agree that self acceptance is the most important thing. My article is somewhat in jest – with a few grains of truth put in a fun way to encourage myself on the ‘healthy-living’ path. Hopefully I’ll shed a few pounds in the process, but loving life and being healthy are truly where it’s at! I can ‘see’ you out there in the sun, hanging out your washing – good on you! And your “I want to be myself because everyone else is taken” is a perfect line, thank you.
Joe, you are absolutely correct, it shows that you’re an authority on the subject. I admire someone that takes the pride you have and with your projecton of information. So when i actually do sit down to read material, I appreciate well written and organized blogs like this one. I have it bookmarked and will be back. Thanks.
Very creatively written. Love it and I can expect part 2 around the corner. I’m a vegetarian, actually vegan, eating tons of raw foods (plant based). Give me dandelions unsprayed and I have a fresh salad, stop the car if I spot an unsprayed fruit tree, or halt that walk if I landed in front of my neighbors green grapes. Love fresh foods for taste and nutrients. One of my best friends in the kitchen is my Cusinart food processor. Meals in 5 minutes or less-my style.
Now since I love to eat I have to find exercise programs that put a fast step to my kick such as Zumba or turbokick box. Shake the body is super fun with great teachers and music. Add a dose of laughter and more calories will sizzle away. I love yoga too, but that is more relaxing, not cardio as the ones I described. Off to dance soon–Zumba!
Very nice site!
Well you can count me in. I’ll be more likely to turn blue than have a slim body again tho! My mantra these days “must not eat fast food”. It’s just also so tempting and so very available. The good news is that the World Health Organization has announced that diet coke is an essential part of daily nutrition – part of the grains group.
I have one of those push powers as well, although actually get more exercise doing the great Canadian sport of snow shovelling.
Maybe a few people would be interested in doing a monthly check in on progress.
What a great idea, Brenda – thanks! I, for one, would LOVE to do a monthly check in! In writing the article I gained enough motivation to get on track and am starting to see modest results: in 2 weeks I shed 1kg (about x2 pounds).
What do you picture re checking in? – I’m sure you’ll have some great ideas …
Perhaps a check in could be in the form of sharing a recipe others might enjoy or sharing a success???
I am currently getting good ideas and recipes from the Tosca Reno site at http://www.eatcleandiet.com While it is a commercial site, there are lots of freebies, including her blog.
Thanks for your suggestions below, Brenda – recipes & success stories – let’s have’em! Enter as new comments, as the way the thread is structured it only allows my one reply to your comment and your reply to my reply … then zilch – not sure why!
4 starters I’ve a little success to report – almost a kilo down over the past two weeks, so I’m happy … as I figured I have to walk my talk! Will report in next month … oh boy … gotta keep going!
Well I must say…
I find that exercise and eating are partners for balance.
If I don’t exersize, I have a much higher tendency to over eat. I describe it best within the experience of having excess energy. If I do not express it with exersise, for some crazy reason I get restless, and want to eat to relax it. This then turns into stagnant excess energy that does not feel able to balance itself… until I run.
Then when I run, I eat healthier and like a horse and I only feel great!
Thanks, Ratna – I get it. Exercise is crucial 4 me too. If I don’t exercise I get tense, then I want to eat … It made a difference to me learning, after all these years, that exercise doesn’t only burn calories & build muscle, it increases metabolism – and for me, like you, keeps my energy balanced. Then I don’t go down the spiral of feeling sluggish & tense, eating too much, to comfort myself, then becoming even more sluggish and tense!
I wrote this article partly in fun, and partly to support my own efforts. I’m not very overweight, but I want to gift myself my dream of having the same slimness I took for granted in my youth. Let’s see if I can do it!!!! Anyone else out there so we can support each other to live the dream?