Realage: Are You as Young as You Can Be?

It was this book that opened my eyes on how well I was or wasn't taking care of myself. I was motivated after the first chapter to do things like taking aspirin, limit cell phone calls, taking vitamins, watching diet, etc. I have reduced my realage from my chronological age by 15 years now. If a book can influence people to take care of themselves based on medical science, why not pick up a copy? It's an investment in your life!

Thanks to this book I've reduced my age from 34 to 29, and have more energy than I have in years. The beauty of Roizen's program is that some of the steps are extremely easy, like just taking an aspirin. Others, such as regular aerobic exercise, are more difficult, but knowing you're buying yourself extra years makes the effort worthwhile. I'm giving this book as a Christmas gift to my future in-laws.

I had fun taking the test, more fun finding out that I am six years younger than my chronological age, and even more fun telling people that! However, I already know that having a healthy life style, exercising, eating well, relieving stress and a great marriage are all things that keep me feeling and looking younger. I found the rest of the book a little disappointing, because each chapter repeats, although in much more detail, the items on the test. This is a good book for someone who wants a general overview of things to do to be healthy and problems that an unhealthy life style can cause. Practicing what Dr. Roizen suggests takes time, you may need more detail and want to review what you should do with your own advisors. I also suggest you read another new book that will help you understand why it is difficult for some people to change their life habits, called THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION, by Mitchell, Coles and Metz. The first half of the book talks about our bad habits or "stalls", like THE TRADITION STALL (I grew up on lasagna or chicken soup and matzoh balls, or bread and butter - and I like those foods) or The Misconception Stall (I don't have time to exercise or meditate, when you will find that if you do, you begin to do things so much better, you have created the time). The second half shares eight steps to make progress at 20 times the usual rate. If you read REAL AGE and THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION together, you will develop ideas to get "younger and better" faster!

Dr. Roizen's approach -- laid out in clear and simple English by co-author Elizabeth Stephenson -- is compelling, easy to understand, and easy to act upon. It gets past a lot of the mumbo jumbo and conflicting health advice we get bombarded with every day, through a startlingly simple concept -- "Real Age" -- that distills the best scientific research available into a comprehensive health program a child of 5 could understand . For the first time, you will see how focusing on two or three key things can really make a significant difference in your overall level of personal health, allowing you to ignore the stuff that is "nice to do", but really not all that important. (And some of it, like flossing your teeth or taking Vitamin B does not require Herculean feats of athleticism). Everyone should take the Real Age test and learn how to start living a healthier life starting tomorrow. One caveat: While I would give the book a 5-star rating, the Real Age web site deserves only 2 stars -- I encountered significant delays getting on to it, and then it took forever to fill out the questionnaire. This part still needs some work. I'm sure there are millions out there who would love to be tracking weekly progress on their Real Age -- but not if takes this long to log on!!