Exercise: The Antiaging Secret!

Did you know that if you don’t exercise, you’ll lose about 50 percent of your muscle mass between the ages of 20 and 90? Keeping your body strong doesn’t just thwart weight gain, notes Judith Sherman-Wolin, a fitness instructor and author of Muscle Your Way Through Menopause...and Beyond, it also keeps you looking younger by:

1. Improving skin elasticity and tone

2. Reducing risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and arthritis

3. Lowering blood pressure

4. Slowing down loss of bone mass due to osteoporosis

3 Things Every Dieter Should Own:
Julia shares her musts for getting fit

Workout videos you love. Julia has kept fit with two favorites: “I use Kathy Smith Lifts Weights to Lose Weight and Cathe Friedrich’s Cathe Gym Style series.”

Not-too-heavy hand weights. Julia bought a pair of 3-lb. dumbbells so she could strengthen her arms, back and shoulders.

An accurate scale. When you’re dieting, every pound counts, so splurge on a new scale. Julia’s scale measures her body-fat percentage. “I bought Tanita Model’s 2001 so I can monitor my body’s changes every day!” Tanita 2001 Body Fat Scale, $40, amazon.com

MYTH: “I Won’t Lose Weight if I Build Muscle” The opposite is true! Muscle burns more calories than fat, so when you have more muscle, your body is blasting off calories even when you’re not exercising.