Gerontologists say that 70 percent of the aging process is 
controllable with the right lifestyle choices.  Anti-aging 
expert Barbara Morris agrees, and has written a hot new book, 
Put Old on Hold that explains how and why at 75, she feels and 
functions as a 50-year old.  She says, “It’s easy when you start 
early to make anti-aging lifestyle and attitude adjustments. If 
I can do it, others can do it too. The traditional aging process 
that our society has adopted unnecessarily relegates middle age 
people to early decline. There is a better way.”

In Put Old on Hold, Barbara Morris, who works full time as a 
pharmacist, offers plenty of “what works for me” advice. Here 
are five of her “power tools” for smart women (and men, when 
they are not too stubborn to listen!) to help control the aging 
process:


1. Take control.   

   Aging is inevitable but getting old is strictly an option. 
   Smart women don’t buy into society’s outdated model for 
   aging; instead, they constantly grow and improve, defying 
   convention and horse-and-buggy traditions and customs. If 
   you don’t take charge of your life, and you just let life 
   happen – life will just happen, and the result will be 
   typical, fossilized old age we accept as normal.  

   Bottom line: Smart women decide how old they are going to 
   be no matter how old they actually are.


2. Inventory and monitor youthful characteristics.  

   Observe old people. What is it about their “oldness” you 
   would like to avoid? How strong and flexible are you, 
   mentally and physically? Can you bend and touch your toes? 
   Can you walk up stairs without becoming out of breath? Keep 
   and improve what you can, while you can! Youth makes us 
   arrogant. Every day we see a seemingly unchanging image in 
   the mirror that slips away even as we admire what we see. 

   Bottom line: Smart women stay aware of what they have and 
   work to keep it.  


3. Plan your future.   

   By age 50, smart women have a plan for a healthy, productive 
   second life at retirement age because they know they will 
   probably live to 100 or more. In 1950, there were a mere 
   2,300 centenarians. Today, there are over 40,000. By 2050 
   close to a million people will be 100 or more. 

   Bottom line: Smart women maximize their future by protecting 
   and building their health, and visualizing their future.


4. Avoid the ultimate social disease.  

   No, it’s not sexually transmitted, it’s worse than that – 
   it’s self-inflicted, and it’s called retirement. Once you 
   internalize that you are no longer productive, that you no 
   longer have goals, decline sets in rapidly. Everything slows 
   – movement, reaction time, thinking, walking, talking. The 
   mind and body go into a shutdown mode in preparation for the 
   final event -- death. 

   Bottom line: Smart women rewire instead of retire.


5. Manage and fix correctable symptoms of aging.  

   For example, a slow shuffling gait, poor posture, 
   unattractive teeth, and uncorrected hearing loss.  Invest 
   time, effort, and money where it matters: Buy a treadmill 
   and use it daily to maintain a youthful gait, cardiovascular 
   fitness and weight control. Get on an anti-aging diet, and 
   do weight-bearing exercise daily to stay strong and upright. 

   Bottom line: Smart women manage how they change with age.