A Good Book for Women

Hi Everyone,


I'm trying to stick to my goal of writing a post once a month.  Nothing like cutting it close on this one, since it's January 31st!  At least I was able to take a 10 day cruise in the eastern Caribbean this month.   It was so nice to be in the warm weather and water.  But now, back to reality!  At least we've had some great bike-riding weather this week.  I hope you had a chance to get out and enjoy the nice weather.


So, I got a chance to do a lot of reading while on the cruise, and I'd like to review one of the books I read, hoping you might either want to read it, or at least be able to grab a helpful piece of information from what I'm sharing.


The book is titled, Younger Next Year (for Women), Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy--Until You're 80 and Beyond.  It was written by Chris Crowley, (a seventy-something, retired lawyer from Wall Street), and Henry S. Lodge, MD.  Chris was a patient of Dr. Lodge's and learned from him about how to change his life/health for the better. Each author takes a turn writing alternate chapters throughout the book-Chris giving you the 'This is what it did for me' feedback, plus a lot of good pep talks;  and Dr. Lodge scientifically explaining, right down to the cellular level, why his advice works.


Males writing a book specifically for women?  Well, they wrote one for everybody, but decided to write another book, specifically for women who are in the last third+ of their lives, especially since some scientific information can be geared towards the post-menopausal woman.  You should see all of the yellow highlighting I did in my book!  And, I'd love to go over so much of it here, but I know brevity is needed, so I'll try to keep it short.


Here are Harry's (Dr. Lodge's) Rules: 


1.  Exercise 6 days a week for the rest of your life.


2.  Within those 6 days, four of them should be serious aerobic exercise for the rest of your life.


3.  Also within those 6 days, you should do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.


4.  Spend less than you make.


5.  Quit eating crap!


6.  Care.


7.  Connect and commit.


Here are some quotes from the book:
 
*"Bad things do happen to some older women in America.  Bone loss is a terrible problem.  Heart attacks and strokes are the great killers of women.  Lots more women than men do die broke.  But the terrible things are probably not going to happen to you.  Because the worst things turn out to be voluntary. You do not have to go there.  So don't."


*"70% of aging is voluntary...you do not have to do it.  And you can also skip 50% of all the sickness and serious accidents you'd expect to have from the time you turn fifty to the day you die."


*"70% of premature death is lifestyle-related."


*"Most American women today will live into their mid-eighties or early nineties, whether they're in great shape or shuffling around on walkers."


*"There is an immutable biology of aging, and you can't do anything about it: hair gets gray, gravity takes its toll and movies go to half price.  Your maximum heart rate declines steadily over time, regardless of how active you are. That's big.  Your skin degenerates, too, regardless of lifestyle.  So you will look old, no matter what.  But you do not have to act old or feel old.  That's what counts."


OK.  Enough.  I could say so much more.  This is a well-written and motivating book.  I hope you gained at least one tidbit of knowledge or one inkling of motivation from what I have reported in this post.


Take good care,


Mary