A recent episode of the Oprah show featured Cybill Shepherd, Linda Evans and Teri Hatcher, icons of the movie and television world who are all famous for their looks. As women who are aging gracefully, they have all struggled with how to do so, while mostly avoiding Botox and other forms of plastic surgery. (Hatcher has admitted to Botox and Evans had plastic surgery. Neither one regrets it, but neither is planning to do further work.)
Aging is something that happens (hopefully) to all of us, and it is a booming business both in stores and online. The reality of aging can lead many women to consider crazy options, both surgical and herbal. Not all of these are safe, and many of them have serious consequences. As our population ages, many more people are afflicted with chronic diseases and conditions that can cause aging to speed up and in many cases, affect the looks. There are many diets advertised to help slow or reverse the aging process, and although there are some foods with proven anti-aging properties, such as salmon, green tea and garlic – there really is no magic food.
All is not lost though! There are several habits that you can begin that will help you age gracefully and can help you maintain a healthier body.
- Start, and more importantly, maintain an exercise habit. Find an exercise that you enjoy, be it boxing, jogging,yoga, skiing or weight training, and try to participate at least three times a week. Many studies have proven that routine physical exercise helps your body to recover quickly from illness and ward off many germs.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet low in sugars and fats.
- Get plenty of sleep.
- Take your vitamins. A good multi, with the addition of vitamins C and E and Beta Carotene, will help reduce the free radicals in your body.
- Drink your water! Staying well hydrated improves the quality of your skin.
- Avoid the sun. Not only does prolonged sun exposure cause skin cancer, it also causes the skin to wrinkle.
Shepherd said it best with this quote via Oprah.com: “If we don’t work to develop that depth and [have] more fun too—and really laughing and crying as much as possible—learning to love ourselves as we age is one of the most challenging things we can do.” She continued, “Look at everything and find something you can love about your body.”
Evans added: “What you look like has nothing to do with what you think about yourself, and that’s where we get confused.” She continued, “The outside has nothing to do with the inside. And the thing that’s so mysterious to me is everything we’re basing our value on is outside of us.” She also said: “The great thing about aging is you do get wiser and you do get more certain in yourself of what you are and what you want.Loving yourself doesn’t mean having a massage or getting your hair done. It means truly knowing your values.”
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