Vanessa's Reviews > Younger Next Year for Women

This guide is very convincing in its advice to achieve the best health as possible for middle aged and older adults.

There is a lot to like about this book. The authors' goal is not for the reader to reverse or stall the aging process. It is to make a lifestyle change to improve the body, mind, and spirit while going through the aging process.

The main of the book is getting the physical body in shape to live to the best quality of life at age 50, 60, and beyond. The authors contend that the quality of life as an older person is improved if the person can remain ambulatory (like being able to to sustain a fall without breaking a hip) and to be metabolically free of diseases.

They assert that if a woman exercises six days a week (4 aerobic; 2 weight training) for 40-60 minutes a day she can stave off the risks of heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, diabetes, etc. The continued exercise prevents hardening of the arteries and aerobic-intense exercise produce C-10 cells, which repair the body and reduce the production of C-6 cells, which inflame the body. That is a very basic statement--they go into greater detail.

Their diet advice is to "not eat junk." It's not to go on a diet per se but to do the exercises and eat as many whole foods as possible, rich in nutrition and fiber. They claim that the body will even out and manage it's proper weight after a year or so of living this lifestyle.

The last section deals with being sociable and having good relationships with people as a healthy social life ties into a healthy lifestyle. When we are older we may outlive our spouse or family members--would we have enough enriching connections with the persons in our circle?

Exercise. Eat less junk. Move and groove in your social circle. These factors help to make up a healthy lifestyle and lead to a great quality of life.

The book's drawbacks? The authors are both wealthy white men and I feel that they think their audience are just wealthy white WASPs in good health with maybe 20 pounds to lose.

Their financial advice for going into retirement? Downgrade your Lexus to another maker and sell your summer house (to only buy another summer home in a lesser desired location to save money). With the summer home, I thought they were going to suggest if you own multiple properties to sell them save one, not to downgrade them.

They try to use humor to get their points across but for many readers I fear the humor would be interpreted as insults made by two privileged (albeit hard-working and who I think have their hearts in the right place) men. I personally don't mind being called or thought of as a "fatty" or "walrus" as I am very fat. Some women would not care for that, though. The humor cloaks to my mind their personal judgmental behaviors, which I can tolerate. But I can't fully recommend the book to all women.

I've been slowly working toward the exercise/eating routine that they suggest.

There are other versions of Younger Next Year. I'm currently reading the "original" version. It seems to be geared more toward a male readership.