on my cereal. I didn’t know you could
eat it without sugar,” he laughs.
Brian’s life is becoming sweeter
(sans sugar) as well. “At night now
I think to myself, ‘I’d rather go out
walking than sit here alone.’ And I
now average 12,000 steps a day.”
His mother is excited and relieved
by the changes in her son’s life. “People
are stopping me on the street and say-
ing, ‘Isn’t it wonderful about Brian?’ ”
As for Jan, she and her husband,
Rory, 67, are eating more fruits and
vegetables as well. “And I cook with
olive oil instead of butter,” she says.
“Sometimes Rory complains about
the smaller portions, but he’s getting
used to it.”
For Brian, however, the Vitality Proj-
ect changed far more than his waist-
line. It reinvigorated his outlook on
life. “I took a purpose workshop, and
it reminded me that I’m good at what
I do—I have a natural talent to do
social work,” he says. “These days at
work I’ll try something off-the-wall, a
new technique with a kid I’m helping.
And I’m really pumped up about a role
I have in a community-theater play. It’s
small, but I haven’t done theater here
in 15 years, and it’s something I love.
It’s just incredible how much better
I feel. About everything.” ;
QuickShop
Dan Buettner is the author of The Blue
Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From
the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.
Photo Credits Big 5-Oh Page 72: Michael Stipe: Andrew
Marks/Corbis; Katherine Ross: Sara De Boer/Retna Ltd.; Gene Hackman: Evan
Agostini/Getty Images; Julius Erving: Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Tony
Robbins: Courtesy of R.R.I.; Meg Tilly: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images; Gennifer
Flowers: Judy Eddy/WENN; Victoria Principal: Jason Merritt/Getty Images.
Solution to Puzzle on page 59
CASTLE MAJA IMAGINE
AS TA I RE PROMO LABORER
WYATTONTHESET SCATTER
SEP TOP EL I S ACU
THEWI CKERP I CKERUPPER
LECH NAHA IVES ADA
SMEL T PAC RE I N SPUN
HEREAWHACK THEREAWHACK
OMAN HURT RAPS YESES
POT WEST SILL MALE
SOMEASSEMBLYREWIRED
OA T Y V I ES ED I E TRY
SOPOR RO TC CH I N SHEA
EVERYWHEREAWHACKWHACK
RARE HANA R I B HANKS
I TS DEN T HA I L SPED
FEEL I NGAL I T TLEWHEEZY
AVE LATH SAO AAA
FES T I VE PORCUP I NEWI L L
AVO I DED SNOOP NEVER TO
BANNERS EBBS RESEAT
