Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy - Until You're 80 and Beyond [Paperback]

Chris Crowley (Author), Henry S. Lodge M.D. M.D. (Author), Gail Sheehy (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2007

Co-written by one of the country's most prominent internists, Dr. Henry "Harry" Lodge, and his star patient, the 73-year-old Chris Crowley, Younger Next Year for Women is a book of hope, a guide to aging without fear or anxiety. This is a book of hope, a guide to aging without fear or anxiety. Using the same inspired structure of alternating voices, Chris and Harry have recast material specifically for women, who already live longer and take better care of themselves than men. New material covers menopause and post-menopause, as well as cardiac disease, osteoporosis, sexuality, and more.

This is the book that can show us how to turn back our biological clocks—how to put off 70% of the normal problems of aging (weakness, sore joints, bad balance) and eliminate 50% of serious illness and injury. The key to the program is found in Harry's Rules: Exercise six days a week. Don't eat crap. Connect and commit to others. There are seven rules all together, based on the latest findings in cell physiology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and experimental psychology. Dr. Lodge explains how and why they work—and Chris Crowley, who is living proof of their effectiveness (skiing better today, for example, than he did twenty years ago), gives the just-as-essential motivation.

Both men and women can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, then continue to live with newfound vitality and pleasure deep into our 80s and beyond.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crowley and Lodge rework their bestselling Younger Next Year (which targeted men) to address health and aging concerns for women. Former attorney Crowley's chatty voice alternates with internist-gerontologist Lodge's straightforward medical perspective. The authors promise that major lifestyle changes, including a six-days-a-week exercise regime, and a positive view of aging will make the "next third" of life—the stage after menopause—the most fulfilling. Because women live longer, are highly motivated for change and fear aging less than men do, the authors contend, they will reap great benefits from the program. Crowley and Lodge put their own spin on commonsense health essentials, with Lodge adding information on the latest antiaging breakthroughs. A variety of activities (biking, skiing, sailing, yoga) will likely make the intensive exercise plan more enjoyable. Although there is little new material, women may find the 71-year-old Crowley's cheerleading appealing—the old buddy tone of the previous edition is exchanged for that of a male "girlfriend"—and a great motivator not only for making lifestyle changes but for equating health with how one feels, not how one looks. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“A must-read for women...Dr. Lodge and Mr. Crowley offer a very clear choice: Do you want the thirty years after menopause to be good years or not? And then they explain exactly how to achieve the better option.This is an excellent book, motivating, good-natured and honest.”
— Laura L. Forese, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer, New York–Presbyterian Hospital

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1 Reprint edition (October 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761147748
• ISBN-13: 978-0761147749
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (247 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Women's Health > General

More About the Author

Chris Crowley, 73, is a former litigator (Davis Polk & Wardwell) who retired in 1990 to ski, sail, bike, play tennis, cook, write these books, and take his passion for them on the road. The author is a contributing expert to HealthCentral.com. He lives in New York City.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

248 of 253 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts a Fire in your tailpipe to get up and go January 3, 2007

By Reviewer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read Dr. Lodges and Chris Crowley's book and it changed me forever. I first saw these two authors on CBN and then ordered the book, "Younger Next Year for Women". What I like about this book in terms of its style and reading is that it is balanced between Dr. Lodge's biology and DNA subject matter and Chris Crowley's shoot from the hip style. Yes, they do advocate exercise, but nothing so mundane as you find in typical exercise or motivation books. Nothing in any other exercise book ever woke me up like this book. More than just another exercise or fitness book, this book explains why and how we age, why we get fat, why and how we program our body and cells to die instead of grow. This book explains how our modern life style has confused the programming of our body and caused us to get fat, grow old, get stiff, get diseased and finally die. These things don't just happen to us - we cause them to happen! That's right, we program our DNA and cells to age and die by our life style and activity, or lack thereof, which tells our body what to do with the next generation of cells. It also goes into what our bodies were designed for and how to work in harmony with that perfect design to obtain optimum performance. Once I learned this, I suddenly became aware that I had been setting my body up to die, day by day, one dead cell after another. I changed in the instant I read the first couple of chapters. This book is a real eye opener and instead of motivating you to do push ups or do this or that, this book integrates the whole life system of human evolution and biology and social attitude based on the design and makeup of the human genetic machine. It puts you on the right track to do what your body and cells were made to do and to do it well for a long and healthy life. I read this book cover to cover and it motivated me to begin an exercise and "life" program which completely changed my health for the better. I now do six days a week of cardio and exercise, have more energy, more drive, more motivation each day than I've ever had in my life and for the first time in my life, I'm pain free with more flexibility, endurance, and resiliancy than ever before. I've lost 15 lbs and dropped to a size 2 and can meet my daily work challenges with so much energy, I'm amazed. I have no longer programmed my body and cells to die but to live, and live fully and live each day with zeal and motivation. In changing my diet I also discovered I had food allergies which I never knew I had before. This book took me into a new direction and opened a whole other area of thought about my health, diet and exercise and spurned me in a new direction of wellness and wellness research. I've told many people about it and am buying several copies for friends and family. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to awaken their minds and bodies and be alive again. And especially for anyone in that age zone where health becomes a daily issue of concern.

149 of 159 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best is yet to come!!! July 26, 2006

By bjbobbie

Format:Hardcover

I can't even count the number of self-help books I have read. I have a degree in holistic science. I "know" all the things we are supposed to do. But having come thru a particularly tough phase in life, including the loss of a committed relationship, two cross country relocations and two job changes all within the last 5-6 years, I hit the age of 60 wondering, where did all the time go? what do I do now? is it true, as I always believed, that it is "never too late"? While I was pondering those questions, the age of 61 rolled around, and all of a sudden I felt everything from the last few years finally took its toll. I tried adding up the positives: I finally live in my most favorite place; I am consistently thought to look younger than I am; I work for a wonderful organization that serves a great cause; I have had amazingly good health and I am the only one I know past 60 who has no aches nor pains; I ran a half-marathon this spring; I have great friends; I have a meaningful spiritual life. Yet I still felt like I had run out of luck, and the downhill slide was before me.

I am literally driving my car around with three crates of books I need to get rid of, but somehow I got captured once again by a book club that offers those 5-6 books for 99 cents. One of the clinchers was the title of this book. I thought, how crazy can I be - falling for a title like that?!

Earlier this week my book package came, and last night I read almost this whole book (I recommend reading Part II well before you finish Part I, it is totally inspirational). The two-generational perspective of Chris and Harry is unique; Chris' wit and his own story often fool the reader into thinking it's the voice of the younger one. Harry has the scientific backup and puts the nuts and bolts into Chris' idealism. This is truly one of the best books I have ever read, or perhaps it was just what I needed at the time of life I have reached - whether you want to use Gail Sheehy's term "Second Adulthood" or the Third Act or however you want to think of what used to be called the "golden years."

I saw retirement kill my father in his early 80s, so I had already decided that I didn't want to go that route. My financial condition assures that! One reviewer herein commented that the book did not address mental fitness - it certainly does. Chris makes much of getting involved in new relationships, in taking on new causes and interests and activities - I love his, just say "yes" when you have an opportunity to become involved in something but feel like sitting home and watching TV. I couldn't believe I reached a point in life where I was turning into a couch potato.

Having been a regular runner and a fair tennis player, I felt my half-marathon last spring was my last hurrah. I have been going home after work and taking naps, something I have never done in my life. I have wept at the thought of never receiving another hug or a kiss, as there are no prospects of connectedness for me (I am probably wearing my negativity on my face, driving anyone away who still has a zest for life). I lost a great love, having found him after I was 50, so I have become convinced, after 60, the odds are totally against me. And even what enthusiasm I may have had for life has been drowned in a horror that no matter what good may come my way, OLD WOMAN is stamped on every succeeding day.

Today I have a new lease on life from this book. That crazy sign-up for yet another book club must have been Providence. I can't get back my youth but I am taking back my life. I took a brisk walk before breakfast this morning, did a few minutes of yoga, and went online to Amazon to see if I could get this book - every woman I know, my friends from their 40s to their 70s, is getting this book for the next birthday or holiday gift.

Get it, read it, live it, give it. I finally feel like I am going to have a great life again, and I'll be such a magnet of goodness and joy and warmth, like Chris - maybe there will even be love again. For now I am going to hug my cat a little more and spend more time with friends and less time with the TV. The science in this book is sound, and the inspiration is unmatched. Thanks to Harry and Chris for snapping me out of the gloom and doom and - their word - decay. I am 61 years young!!!!

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Motivating Book July 29, 2007

By Cate

Format:Hardcover

Chris and Harry tag-team throughout this book to provide good information and inspiration. As other reviewers have stated, most of the information isn't new, but it's said in a way that makes it relevant and useful. And Chris is a jolly role model for all of us.

I'm not sure why this book motivates me when I already knew much of the information in it. Maybe it was the ongoing (relentless) mention of aging as decay in the US. Or pounding home the point of how much control we have over how we age. Or maybe just wanting to have fun being 71 like Chris. (My mom, 78, has heart disease. Her sister died at 71 and her other sister, 69, has cancer.)

I love the dead honest tone of this book. No diet plan, no recipes, no Kumbaya, no gimmicks - just straight talk with some humor thrown in.

A bit of criticism: I wish they had added a female author for this book. Getting the male perspective on female aging was usually fine, but sometimes seemed lacking. Chris and Harry could quote statistics and give examples, but they really don't know. (Notable difference between reading Gail Sheehy's books on menopause and female aging, and reading this book.)