We all want to look good, but the inevitability of aging makes maintaining your looks harder with every passing year. With age come wrinkles, sagging, and a whole host of other things nobody wants to think about. In the absence of a fountain of youth, how do you combat the effects of time on your body?
Workout
There’s no doubt that working out can keep you feeling better and healthier well into your senior years. Working out can also help you maintain your appearance as well. There’s the obvious weight loss, muscle tone and shaping aspect of staying fit. It also helps with things like posture, confidence, and your complexion. Getting fit doesn’t just give you the kind of abs that make women swoon; sweating can help keep your pores unclogged (just wash your face afterwards), your testosterone going and your sex life active.
Take Care of Your Skin
Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and it’s a major part of your physical appearance. Caring for your skin should be a no-brainer, especially as you age. Any athlete can tell you the advantages of hydration, and it’s just as true for your skin. As you age, skin gets saggy, losing its elasticity. It droops, wrinkles, and changes texture. A proper skin care regimen should include moisturizing and protecting your skin from anything harmful – the biggest one being the sun. The right sunscreen can prevent the skin from getting rougher, spotting, and the ever-dreaded skin cancer. Like saving for retirement, skin care should start early and be consistent.
Sleep
Poor sleep can cause back pain, weight gain, reduced immune function and cardiovascular disease. Goal-driven people can be tempted to lower sleep in their list of priorities, but a good night’s sleep is a key in keeping yourself mentally sharp, active, and in good health for years to come. That good health translates to a healthy-looking body; weight gain and illness can irrevocably change your body’s look for the worse. Lack of a good night’s sleep can also cause you to look more run-down and makes you age prematurely. They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing.
Knock Out the Bad Habits
Bad habits can prematurely age you. The biggest offender is smoking. Smoking not only makes you more prone to health issues, it changes your skin tone, reduces skin elasticity, and increases wrinkles and roughness — and that’s not including all the terrible things it does to your teeth.
Eat better. Minding your diet isn’t just for bulking and cutting — it can affect the way you age, too. Drink more water. Depending on your activity level, drink 8 to 16 cups of water a day. Stop eating too many french fries, not enough fish, using margarine, shunning the good stuff (whole grains, veggies, and green tea), drinking a lot of alcohol and coffee, and basically put all the worst things in your body.
Not only are you double daring your body to break down, you’re prematurely aging yourself. A good diet reduces your skin’s inflammatory response, keeps sagging and wrinkling at bay, reduce bloating and help you out with that whole sleep thing.
The bottom line is this: whether you’re inexperienced with healthy lifestyles or a practically live at the gym, small changes in how you live, grocery shop or eat can drastically change the way you age.
Nice piece!
As for me it is not so hard to maintain your appearance in an excellent condition. It is up to you. The main rule is consistency. Without daily efforts, you most likely fail. So pity, but it is true. Nobody but you. And as an experienced dermatologist, I do recommend a face mask. Women’s facial skin needs it. You should better bring it as much attention as possible. Do you facial procedures on the constant base and you will definitely look great!
Be healthy!
Thanks for the useful article!