Getting older is not easy. You wake up in the morning, gaze at your reflection in the mirror, and discover a person who seems older than the last time you looked. But if you’re thinking about going to the plastic surgeon to magically remove the years from your face, then don’t. Seniors resorting to artificial enhancements risk unnecessary medical complications, not to mention the high cost of certain surgical operations. There are better, more potent ways to look and feel younger, and these anti-aging solutions can rejuvenate you from the inside out. The following are the best natural, health-giving ways to look and feel young and significantly slow down the aging process without having to endure the surgeon’s scalpel.
1. Avoid certain common stimulants. Perhaps, you have always known that cigarette smoking can make you look a lot older than your actual age, and perhaps too you have constantly ignored the warning signs. Now that you are a senior, you cannot go on ignoring it. In fact, medical experts say that even the single act of kicking the cigarette smoking habit can immediately shave the years off your face. The same goes for caffeine and alcohol, which do not only stress out your system, but can also lead to the development of certain aging-related diseases, such as heart and liver disease.
2. Try to live as stress-free as possible. This may be a b it complicated to follow, but if you’d focus on the end result, you’d realize it’s all worth the effort. Stress is always present at every turn, but the secret is in learning how to systematically stress-proof the way you think. Try to integrate into your weekly schedule a trip to the spa or sauna. Go fishing. Or find a local yoga instructor that specializes in helping seniors. Aside from these, find books or DVDs about stress management.
3. Move. The surest way to continue your downward slide toward aging is sitting at home and watching television or surfing the internet for hours on end. Fitness experts say that low levels of activity, or worse, inactivity, can effectively diminish your vitality and leave you more vulnerable to stress. Moreover, not getting enough exercise can make you gain pounds, which then shoves you into a vicious stress cycle. On the other hand, isn’t it wonderful that all the previously mentioned evils of inactivity can be quickly solved by just going out that door and start walking? Yes, walk. As an exercise, walking does not entail any membership fee, it’s free, it’s enjoyable (especially if you walk along breathtaking vistas of natural scenery”or shop windows glittering with diamonds, whichever gets your pulse throbbing), and it’s a great cardiovascular workout.
4. Socialize more often. The biggest social problem seniors face is the gradual loss of friends and family to death and sickness. It seems the longer you are able to live, the lonelier you become. These days, it no longer has to be so. There are several senior support groups that exist just to help seniors connect with one another. Often, the sense of loneliness and isolation can be overcome by simply participating in your local community’s socio-civic activities. Forge new friendships and make use of social networking sites such as Facebook. The sense of fulfillment you derive from making a meaningful connection with others can lend you a youthful glow.
5. Eat better foods. Fat and sugar are awfully bad for your body, especially as you age. If all your life you have eaten nothing but slabs of bacon and eggs for your breakfast, or huge servings of burgers and milkshake every time you’re out, then it’s high time you reconsidered the things you put in your mouth. We are what we eat, and if we eat food that have been proven by medical research to be bad for our health, then you can’t expect to stay feeling good in the long run. The internal damage can stress our internal organs”our heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys”and can make us feel and look older than we actually are. On the other hand, replacing fatty and sugary foods with lots of fruits and veggies can significantly uplift our sense of well-being, and it will eventually show in our demeanor. Consult a nutritionist if you can. But if you can’t, a good rule of thumb is: the more colorful the food on your plate is, the more nutritious and rejuvenating it is.