Fit and Fabulous After 40: A 5-Part Program for Turning Back the Clock (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fitness celebrity and former gymnast Denise Austin always took care of her body. "In my 20s, however, I was more concerned with looking good in a bikini," she admits. "These days I'm focused on feeling good and staying healthy--and if I can still get away with wearing a bikini, that's a bonus!" Writing at age 43, she reminds us that 40 certainly isn't the end of the road--in fact, we probably have another 40 years or more to look forward to.

In Fit and Fabulous After 40, Austin shows us how to "turn back the clock" with exercise (aerobic, stretching, balance, and strength training), diet, health, beauty, and a positive outlook. She challenges us to set a weekly goal in each area for four weeks and provides sample programs in all areas. Photographs illustrate a good selection of strength-training, yoga, and Pilates-inspired exercises, and she provides a workout log to keep you on track.

Her dietary suggestions emphasize a balance of 50 to 55 percent complex carbohydrates, 20 to 25 percent protein, and 25 percent fat, keeping portions moderate and including lots of fruits and vegetables. She describes 10 "nutritional powerhouses" that have been shown to have anti-aging benefits, such as soy, blueberries, oatmeal, and flaxseed, with tips for including more of these in your diet. She also describes 10 "age accelerators" that you'd be wise to avoid, such as breakfast "desserts," fatty meats, creamy salad dressings, and stick margarine. She includes dozens of helpful (and sometimes entertaining) tips, such as "Don't go [to a fast-food restaurant] when you're hungry--you'll order fries." A meal plan with sample recipes makes her suggestions easy to follow.

Her health tips include 6 "body-sense strategies," 10 "must-have medical tests," breathing exercises, and instructions for how to do Kegels (exercises for the pelvic-floor muscles that help prevent incontinence and improve sexual response). She also offers skin, hair, and nail tips. If you think of Denise Austin as just a perky exercise leader, you'll be thoroughly impressed by the amount of helpful, sensible information in Fit and Fabulous. --Joan Price

Product Description

America’s favorite fitness expert presents a breakthrough program to win the war against aging–a battle she has personally fought and won.

We all know that aging is inevitable–but how gracefully you age is up to you. Scientific research shows that we can turn back the clock and retain our youthful strength and energy through a targeted regimen of age-busting exercise and nutrition. Now, in Fit and Fabulous After 40, award-winning fitness expert Denise Austin presents her own revolutionary, sure-fire plan to help you stay healthy, strong, slim, and fabulous–no matter what your age.

Built around Austin’s five-part pyramid plan of exercise, diet, health, beauty and attitude, Fit and Fabulous After 40 features a fat-blasting anti-aging regimen that helps you literally defy gravity (no more sagging body parts) and sculpt every inch of yourself, from chin to kneecaps with special “Stop-the-Clock” fitness routines. By exercising for just thirty minutes a day, and using cutting-edge fitness techniques such as yoga and Pilates-based exercises, you will build strength, shed extra pounds, improve flexibility and balance and look years younger. Austin then shows you how to eat for optimum health and vitality, with delicious slimming recipes that complement the vitamins and supplements she recommends. She also presents invaluable advice on common health concerns for women, such as menopause, breast cancer and heart disease, as well as special beauty tips–including anti-wrinkle exercises. Fit and Fabulous After 40 also includes:

*Easy-to-follow workout plans for every day of the week

*Toning exercises to target specific areas of the body such as arms, legs, buttocks and bust

*Weekly “nutrient-filled” meal plans that incorporate proven age-defying foods such as soy, fish and green vegetables

*Denise’s personal vitamin and supplement regimen

*A BodySense Health checklist to help you keep tabs on your health and wellbeing

Designed to fit even the most hectic schedules, and easily tailored to individual health concerns and needs, Fit and Fabulous After 40 offers a modern, realistic fountain of youth for every woman who wants to recharge and restore her unlimited vitality.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1st edition (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767904710
• ISBN-13: 978-0767904711
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #772,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #15 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Authors, A-Z > Austin, Denise
  #60 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Exercise & Fitness > By Trainer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best "After 40" fitness book I've read yet!, March 17, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I always liked Denise Austin's low impact aerobics tapes because they were sane and do-able. Now, Austin provides the same type of good advice in a book that is head and shoulders above other "after 40" books I have read.

The theme of Fit and Fabulous After 40 is how to get into the groove of habits that set you up for great health. One important one Austin puts in the book is to start up a four-week plan for exercise. This is important to avoid a lifetime of fitness attempts that are just a series of great beginnings and no follow-through. The inclusion of Kegel exercises is clever. While you are building good exercise habits, you can incorporate simple but valuable pelvic exercises that pay off big time later on.

Austin doesn't neglect eating habits and gives tips on avoiding trouble spots when you go to fast-food restaurants. Again, this helps you to build good habits. And there are tips for getting into the habit of taking the right medical tests for preventative health care.

In my opinion, this is one of the best "After 40" health books ever written because it has not only the right information, but it presents it so you can develop good habits and keep them. Hurray, Denise! Good job!

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Denise is the best. Her book proves it., June 26, 2001

By	L. Baldwin (Bremerton, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book and the video Staying Fit at any age. Both have been great assests for me. So motivating in fact, that I get up at 7am now to do her Fit and Lite and Denise Austin works out on Lifetime. Then I flip open the book and plan goals for the day. She is very motivating. I think it's because she's 'natural' ah..no...'falseness'....if you get what I mean. She's just regular and she treats us that way too. A good buy for the money, I certainly recommend it. The receipes are great

48 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-Developed Approach to Better Health and Appearance, June 6, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Any woman over 40 will find much useful information in this book. Ms. Austin looks at how attention to exercise, nutrition, health, beauty, and attitude can make women feel and look better while actually being healthier and more energetic. Her writing style is positive and friendly, and she addresses many important issues about women's health that I have not seen as well addressed in other books. The exercises are well illustrated, and even I could use most of the recipes. The book has two weaknesses that you should watch out for. Some of the exercises (especially the yoga) could cause you to hurt your back. The proposed diet, while a healthy one, is not as well suited for all blood types as Live Right 4 Your Type would recommend. The diet here seems to be pretty close to the ideal one for those with Type B blood.

Unlike some authors who write about health and aging, Ms. Austin consulted experts to give you the latest information. She also adds her own experiences as a working mother of two. The practical advice for how to get more done in less time will be very welcome for busy women.

By having a balance of exercise, a better diet, living a healthier lifestyle, using beauty restoratives, and maintaining a positive attitude, you should live longer, look better, and enjoy a healthier life. If you ignore the exercises that could strain your back and follow Live Right 4 Your Type for a diet that matches your blood type, this is clearly a five star book. If you have cardiovascular disease, your diet will have to go the low-fat route more than either book recommends (see Dean Ornish's Reversing Heart Disease).

Having seen how much more specific the book could be by focusing on women over 40, I came away impressed that more health books should take such a more segmented approach. In many cases, Ms. Austin is able to give you advice by decade of age to make her recommendations even more specific. For example, the book includes Kegel exercises to strengthen muscles in the pelvic area that can be weakened after childbirth or during menopause. The number and variety of exercises to tone specific sections of the body are truly amazing. No wonder Ms. Austin looks so much younger than her years! I admire her hard work very much now that I better understand what is required.

But the book also ties this information into helping you set goals and establish new habits. If you don't make changes, then all of this information does you no good. Obviously, no one will make all of these changes. Ms. Austin does a good job of helping you understand which changes will probably be the most helpful for you. She uses a combination of quizzes about your current life style and research on the benefits of changes to give you that perspective.

After you finish reading and learning from this book, you might also want to think about toning up your relationships with other people. As Dean Ornish points out in Love and Survival and Ms. Austin emphasizes here, having more and better human connection is great for health and longevity. You might find books like Life Strategies and Relationship Rescue to be helpful for that area, as well.

Imagine yourself more positively relating to others and to yourself. May you find all the love you would like to have in the process!