If you sometimes have trouble staying motivated to take good care of yourself (and who doesn’t!) here are a few ideas that have worked for me recently.

Motivational Tip #1: A friend lent me his copy of this terrific new book, Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You’re 80 and Beyond. It’s a “guy” book: written by guys for guys, but I enjoyed it too. One author is an M.D.; the other is a 70-year old who claims to ski better than he could at 50! It’s funny, motivating and contains tons of good common sense along with a few surprises.

The thought I left with is that so much of what we usually think of as necessary negative aspects of aging is really not necessary. The authors explain how vigor and vitality are possible as we age, and how so much illness in later life is the consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Motivational Tip #2: To stay on track with healthy eating, I weigh myself every day. Experts used to advise against this saying there are normal weight fluctuations one should not be concerned with. I always knew it worked for me. I don’t freak out over one or two pounds, but if I see three I try to be more careful for a couple of days. Now many experts agree that daily weighing works for many people.

Motivational Tip #3: I also calculate my Body Fat Percentage (BFP) every six months or so. It encourages me if I am in the normal range and, when I’m above the normal range, it scares me enough to focus more on resistance work. Did you know that studies show you can dramatically improve health and mobility even into your eighties with a minimal strength training program? Click here to learn more. Learn how to calculate your BFP by clicking here .

Motivational Tip #4: My biggest new motivator this month came in the form of a request from my friends. They felt the classes at the gym where I used to teach were becoming less and less age appropriate for them. Some were so dissatisfied, they dropped out of the classes and were trying to make up for them by working on the equipment only. Also a few were injured in the high impact aerobics classes or the (too forceful for aging joints) Tai Bo classes. Read more about age-appropriate exercise.

My friends asked management to “bring Jean back” and management agreed. This has been a great incentive for me to dust off and update my routines. Next Monday I will start teaching three classes a week. Now I will have no excuse to skip my workouts!

I’m a firm believer in “different strokes for different folks”. If you have some motivational tips that work for you, please send them to bowler_j@yahoo.com so we can share them with all our readers.

Jean

Hair Regrowth Test Report

I can’t think of anything that ages one’s appearance more than a receding hairline. Put a wig on someone with a deep “widow’s peak” and see fifteen or twenty years disappear before your eyes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a magic solution to regrow hair lost to genetic balding?

We reported some intriguing and unexpected hair regrowth results several months ago when we tested an antiaging face cream containing active copper. Click here to learn more.

At a reader’s suggestion, we began a test of copper-containing hair regrowth products on a woman with advanced androgenic balding. Read Mary’s three-month report, including before and after photos, by clicking here

New Antiaging Treatments from Avon Avon has a long held reputation for good value in antiaging treatment creams. The company just launched two new products in its Anew Clinical line: a two-step Laser facial treatment and Lift and Tuck for the body. These join the other Clinical products: Face Cream with amino polypeptides, Deep Crease Concentrate with Botox mimicking argiriline, Two-step Facial Peel with AHAs and Micro-Exfoliant with micronized aluminum crystals.

Avon promises its new “laser” system targets and corrects the appearance of dark spots, mild redness and broken capillaries with “laser-like precision”. When I placed my own order, I asked my Avon representative to have other purchasers contact me if they would like to share their experiences. Click here to read our conclusions.

We promise a report on Avon’s Clinical Lift and Tuck in a future issue.

Add Steaming to Your Culinary Repertoire

I recently bought a steamer and have been experimenting with recipes. Not only is steaming a low-fat way to cook seafood and vegetables, it also preserves more nutrients in the delicious sauces that result. High antioxidant herbs make up for the flavor usually supplied by a lot of high fat butter. As well, steamed dishes have extra eye appeal because the vegetables retain their vibrant colors. Here is one of my favorite steamed creations.

Jean’s Steamed White Fish with Spinach and Pine Nuts

Serves two.

¼ pine nuts
1 T. butter
½ medium onion, sliced
2 t. minced garlic
10 oz. frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
10 oz. white fish filets such as cod, catfish or halibut
½ t. seasoned salt
¼ t. seasoned pepper
1 T. parsley
1 T. oregano
2 t. thyme
¼ c. white wine + 1 T. lemon juice
2-3 slices Swiss cheese

Toast pine nuts until golden (about 2-3 min.).

Add butter, garlic and onion; sauté until onion is limp.

Put water in bottom of steamer per manufacturer’s directions.

Put in the steamer rack.

Cover the bottom and sides of the rack with heavy aluminum foil.

Lay spinach in bottom.

Cover with fish filets.

Season with salt, pepper and herbs.

Layer onion mix on top.

Cover.

Put on medium heat until steam starts, then lower to simmer.

Steam 8-10 min. Remove from heat.

Let steam settle. Carefully remove cover.

Pour white wine and lemon juice over fish.

Lay cheese slices on top.

Cover.

Return to heat.

Steam 3-5 minutes until cheese melts. Let stand 3 minutes before uncovering.

Serve.