There are only very few things in life that are certain for people. The first is death; we’re all going to get there and it’s the only thing that every single member of the human race has in common. The second is taxes; we’ve all got a responsibility to pay those! The last? Aging. We will all follow the same pattern – if we are lucky – from birth, to teenage, to young adult, to middle age, to elderly. Aging isn’t something that people are generally afraid of, especially given the fact that not everyone is guaranteed to age. It’s a luxury to be able to get to old age relatively unscathed. The issue is when you’re sitting in young adulthood or middle age and realising that you have crow’s feet. Life marches on and you soon realise how quickly it’s marching across your face!
From the moment we are born we begin to age rapidly. You can, of course, slow that aging process right down with various products for your skin and foods for your system. The way you live your life has a direct impact on how your skin and your body ages, and your lifestyle will affect your health, too. The choices that you make for your life could change everything and slow down that process of aging, until you feel as young as you like. You can look younger than your real age, feel younger than your real age and spend time fooling everyone! The trouble is, it can work both ways. If adopting a healthy lifestyle can make your aging process start to reverse, then having a lifestyle packed with unhealthy behaviour can also have an impact. Unhealthy living can make you look older, your skin can look dull and you can end up feeling sluggish and bloated all the time. It’s not a pretty look, and health makes you glow. So, what steps can you take to slow the process of aging down while speeding up your healthy look?
Scented Candles
Did you know that the environmental interruptions of scented candles can speed up the aging process in your skin? If you’re a fiend for burning candles like these but you are also mindful of your health, you could be putting your own aging process in the fast lane and not even realise it. Nearly all of those scented candles that you love so much are made with paraffin wax and have an artificial scent added in for maximum sniff potential. The problem with these is that they release cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and toluene. There’s nothing wrong with wanting fresh smells in the home; we all want our homes to smell inviting, but the best way to do that is to open some windows! The natural fresh air can make a house smell great. If you miss your scented delights, swap to a beeswax candle with a cotton wick so that you get that cleaner burning smell
Stub Out Cigs
Quitting cigarettes is probably the hardest habit to give up, but if you value your looks ten give up you must! You’re not just giving yourself a gift of youth, but everyone around you will benefit. Swapping to a vape from somewhere like www.vapeshop.co.uk is going to benefit your skin, your lungs and your general brain health so quickly. The smoke from the cigarettes is probably one of the most significant ways you can age yourself that there is, and chronic exposure over time can see your skin dull, your teeth brown and your eyes lose their shine. Your arteries harden, your lungs change colour and your organs are affected. It’s not a nice way to age, it doesn’t make you smell good and it’s a drain on your wallet.
Destress Your Life
We live in a fast-paced world full of situations that keep us in the mind for stress and upset. Work, family commitments, social anxieties; life is filled with issues that keep us feeling pressured and stressed out. Being mindful about your level of stress is important if you hope to get rid of it, and you have to give yourself a set amount of time each day so that you can unwind, destress and make yourself feel relaxed. Whether you choose to take a form of passive exercise, such as yoga, pilates or swimming or you choose to burn off adrenaline with a vigorous workout, you should try and work out what will reduce your stress. Stress is toxic, and not just in frown lines. It can raise your blood pressure, put pressure on your heart and the physical symptoms of stress are often hard to cope with.
Eat Fresh
A lot of how you feel within yourself comes from what you consume. They always say that you are what you eat, but don’t forget about what you drink! If you are going through life and not drinking enough water, you’re going to be dehydrated both on the inside and the outside. The effects of dehydration can really speed up the aging process in your body, in the same way that you can age simply by not eating the correct amounts of fresh food. We need minerals and vitamins every day so that we can feel more awake and alive within ourselves. By taking your diet back to basics and eating in a way that is mindful, you can give your body the nourishment that it needs to feel energetic and young.
Socialise
Your mood can have a huge effect on your health, but not many people know that. Spending time miserable and feeling depressed can lead to a physical manifestation of symptoms that make you feel sluggish, tired and anxious. Anxiety can make you lonely, and unless you have surrounded yourself by supportive and happy people, you can succumb to that loneliness. By socialising with people from work, in your friendship circle and family, you are giving yourself the chance to slow down aging. You can lower your stress levels and combat life’s challenges far easier
Say No To Soda
Sugar is a big factor in physical signs of aging. It’s not just sugar, though, as we find a lot of natural sugars in our food and drinks that are good for us. However, added sugars and drinks like soda that are full of chemicals such as aspartame are unnecessary for our consumption. Yes, they taste nice – almost everything that is addictive does – but that doesn’t mean you need them. Swap sugary sodas for sparkling water and add a squeeze of fresh fruit juice to taste. Read about the nasty side effects of soda here so that you can make better decisions about what you are consuming.
Health and aging go hand in hand, with you in control of both. If you are making the conscious decision not to look after your own health, then you put yourself in a position where you simply cannot complain about the way your body reacts to that decision! Take the time to make a healthy decision about your life and you can slow that aging process down enough to be able to feel younger the older you get. Age is but a number, but there’s nothing worse than looking twenty years older than you actually are. Avoid feeling like you are old before your time with good food decisions and take a moment to appreciate the body you were given. It’s a temple, look after it!
One Response
Great post. I found that for my aging parents, physical activity is a top priority for maintaining their quality of life. After retiring and moving to FL they took up pickleball. Apart from being low-impact, there is a great social aspect – they’ve got a whole new circle of friends now- and that is another critical part about aging, keeping socially active and engaged to ward off loneliness -which has lots of negative effects.