Appears Younger Than Stated Age: A Doctor's Secrets on the Art of Staying Young Paperback – January 3, 2013

The book's title, Appears Younger Than Stated Age is actually a phrase of art - a kind of short-hand - from the medical world. As a practicing physician, James has encountered the phrase on the medical charts that inform a doctor's overall assessment of a patient being treated. It's a good thing, he points out, to not look as old as you "are."

The message of the book is pretty simple - don t do things that will make you age before your time. And DO do things that will enhance not only your outward appearance, but will also increase your physical well-being. The idea here is that inwardly healthy people will generally look that way - their underlying excellent physical condition will be mirrored in their outward appearance.

The book cites numerous plainly spoken examples of Do's and Don'ts. On the Don ' list - smoking, drinking alcohol, sedentary life-style, fast food, and excessive consumption of calorie-dense foods (laced with fat, sugar, salt etc.). On the Do list - exercise at least an hour a day, stay mentally active, eat at home more than you go out and - perhaps Jim's most heart-felt dictum - do not allow yourself to get or remain obese.

As I explained to Jim when we first talked about this book, I am a practicing Christian Scientist. As such, I felt that I would have a fundamentally different approach to the subject matter - but I was pleased to find that there were so many aspects of Jim's message on which I could find common ground. In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has this to say:
Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, - to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success. (p 405:5-11)

Surely, when we master the propensities we are taking a firm stand in our consciousness against the claim that we might be powerless to say "No" to too many sweets. We are taking a stand for our ability to choose to rise ninety minutes early to get in a good hour of exercise at the Spin Studio. And we are claiming as our own, the right to look as good outwardly as our comprehension of our true inner beauty and expression of health - both concepts, ideas of the divine Mind - will dictate.

Said another way - it doesn't matter if you jog 10 miles a day and eat only tofu - if you don t take a firm mental stance against the claims of old age and too much consumption that are constantly bombarding us via the broadcast media, you won't experience the full benefit of your efforts. As Jim puts it - in chapter 21 "If you really want to appear younger than your stated age, you must not only be physically fit but must also have a sharp mind and a good mental attitude." "Appears Younger Than Stated Age" is a well-stated, thoroughly researched and compelling exposition of the basics - what you should do, starting Today - to lose weight and avoid the unpleasant consequences of physical (as contrasted with chronological) aging. --Will Heining
Librarian, Christian Science Reading Room
Los Angeles, CA