It's a fun meme, the whole something is the new. Like fifty is the new forty. And sixty is the new fifty. Sure, fifty today looks nothing like it did just one generation ago when fifty was "over the hill."

We are more engaged, take better care of ourselves, are more active. This doesn't change the fact that there are physical changes going on in these more active bodies. Aging changes us on the inside and the outside.

Wrinkles get a lot of attention and money thrown their way because we can see them and mostly — except maybe for laugh wrinkles — want to banish them.

The more important changes, like those occurring in our cardiovascular system, our ears, and our bones, to name a few, get less. Unless we have a problem like high blood pressure or painful arthritis, we are likely to accept the changes as just what happens at this age.

To a degree, there are changes tied loosely to the decades. This shortie talks about what goes on inside in the fifth decade. Why should you care?

Well, when you know what's coming, you can up your healthy aging game to minimize the downsides of these changes.

This is what this shortie is about. To let you know what happens decade by decade inside so you can bring mindfulness to your activities, lifestyle, and how you think about your aging self.

One of the best ways to start, (after you listen to the episode of course,) is to grab my Power of 5 email workshop. It contains everything you need — really at any age — to slow down the effects of aging. (She says humbly)

I did a mini-Shortie inside a Shortie on genes because so many people believe our genes control of how we age. They contribute, but only between 20% and 30%. The rest is up to us.

Bruce Lipton introduced me to the concept of epigenetics. What's that? Epi means above or around. It's the science of what influences genes to turn on and off. And it's the foundation of my idea that Everything is Food! I did an early episode on that topic. A Shortie before I officially launched Shorties. It's my philosophy so have a listen if you haven't yet.

Another important concept I covered is testing. You may know my motto, test don't guess. Baseline testing at 50, if you haven't done them earlier, is important. Why?

So you can track changes that happen behind the scenes and not have a big, bad health surprise when you are fifty-five or sixty. We can reverse most lifestyle problems and diseases at any age but plan on it taking longer. Not to mention you will probably feel less than fabulous as the years go on when something like inflammation is building.

In this episode I mention my ebook on testing. If you don't see it on the website yet, email me and I'll get it to you. We had a glitch today but it will be up and running by Tuesday end of day.