Jack LaLanne: physically -- and fiscally-- fit at 93
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Bankrate: One of the biggest fears of the baby boomers is that they'll outlive their money.

LaLanne: Everybody worries about all this stuff. Think about how fortunate you are, and if you've got problems, do something about them. Even if you're a baby boomer, get a job and work! You can work until you're 80 or 90 years old. But too many people want to depend on their insurance and retire. Retirement -- that's a death knell.

Bankrate: When you were a child, you were addicted to sugar and junk food. You were also very troubled.

LaLanne: I had a hell of a life. It was like hell on earth. Every day I'd have these blinding headaches, and I would throw up and then eat more cakes and pies and candy. My mother got me in the habit of eating this stuff. I was an irritable kid, so if I'd start crying, my mother would give me some ice cream or cake, and I became addicted to it. Do you know how many people are addicted to sugar? Worse than alcoholics! They've got to have their sugar.

Bankrate: What does sugar do to you?

LaLanne: It takes away all the vitamin B. And there are so many other minerals that it destroys. So I was prone to rages as a child. I tried to commit suicide, and I tried to set our house on fire. I chased my brother with an ax. He used to make fun of me and give me a bad time. And I had an uncontrollable temper because of all this sugar. Then at 15 years old, I attended a health lecture. And within two weeks, my whole life changed. I was born again. I started eating more fruits and vegetables and quit all sugar, all unnatural foods. And I started exercising at the YMCA in Berkeley, Calif. I had to. I'd have been dead.

Bankrate: This was during the Depression, when not many people were thinking of such things. How did you get on to the notion of bodybuilding?

LaLanne: I was this little skinny kid, and kids used to make fun of me. I wanted to have a good body, so I wanted to lift weights. I went down to the foundry and I got some weights made, and I started a little gym in my backyard. Then I got the Berkeley policeman and firemen who couldn't pass the physical to start exercising. And within two months, every one of them passed the physical. That got me so excited, boy. I said, "Man, I can help people! I can change their life!" So I opened my first big health spa in 1936 in downtown Oakland, Calif.

Bankrate: Did people think you were nuts?

LaLanne: Are you kidding? People said, "Jack LaLanne, that guy has women working out with the weights. He's got athletes working out with the weights. He's got old people working out with the weights. The women will get muscle-bound. The old people will have heart attacks. The athletes won't be able to train. They won't be able to lift their arms, because the muscles will get in the way." You can't believe what I went through. And today, there's not one world-class athlete, man or woman, not working out with the weights.