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Are you freaking out about going into your 40s or 50s? Women are the number one target for anti-aging tricks and scams and far too many end up spending hundreds of dollars every month on products that are not healthy or even remotely effective. There are genuine secrets to staying young, and none of them involve a one-off purchase at the beauty store or weird beauty rituals that damage your skin.
So what options do we have? When all else fails, the best thing to do is stick to what we know to be true, at least in terms of improving your mental and physical health. The following are seven proven anti-aging tips for women to look and feel younger:
1. Wear a Genuine Smile
A genuine smile sends a message to the world that you are confident, happy, and content with life. When you wear a scowl, it makes you look older, stressed, and unhappy. There’s also another reason to smile, and psychologists refer to it as the facial feedback phenomenon.
Smiling sends positive messages to the brain, which then releases “feel good” endorphins and generates happier feelings.
This can be useful when dealing with a stressful situation or experiencing a low mental state, as it sets the stage for turning things around. Smiling is also contagious, so when you spread some cheer, there will be more of it coming back to you.
Make it your mission always to have a positive attitude, and it will change the way the world sees you.
2. Spend Time with Young People
Young people are playful, motivated, highly optimistic, and full of life. Spending time with younger people will stir some of those same energies in you and make you feel alive again.
If you’ve been taking yourself too seriously, it’s going to be much easier to let loose and have fun when hanging out with kids or young adults who haven’t lost that vibrant energy. Young people will remind you to get the most out of life and how to feel free – which is something many of us forget in the course of life.
If you have young kids, make time during the weekend and visit the park for fun and games; it’s totally worth it.
3. Burn Fat the Old Fashioned Way
Weight management gets harder after 40, but don’t give up on trying to look good. It just takes more time and commitment, but if you can set aside an hour (or less) every morning for exercise, it will change how you approach the rest of the day.
Exercise will boost your energy levels, reduce stress, and more importantly, it will keep you healthy for longer. It also helps to develop a sense of purpose and when you exercise you’re basically training your mind to have discipline and accomplish goals, which, as you’ll find, can be applied in other areas of your life.
To get into a fitness routine, you may have to start small with simple exercises and then gradually build from there. For example, pick a time of day that you have time, and walk for just 5 minutes. On the next day walk for six minutes. Do this until you’re comfortable walking for 30 minutes every day and now you’re ready to switch things up. Instead of walking, run for one minute and then walk for 29 minutes. Add one minute every day until you’re running half an hour every day. This method can be applied in different activities, as long as you’re increasing the amount of time you spend exercising.
4. Fight Aging in Your Sleep
One way that people bring on signs of aging is by sleeping on the stomach. It works against you because gravity makes fluids pool around the face and pulls it downward. What follows are puffy eyes and sagging skin, which will get worse over time.
To adopt a new sleeping position after years of sleeping on your stomach, you will need to make it harder for you to roll back to your default position. The more comfortable you are on your back, the more likely you’ll sleep in this position through the night.
Use lots of pillows to fix your body comfortably on your back, and then place one pillow below the knees so the legs are slightly lifted, and another pillow to support the head. Don’t leave any gaps between the body and mattress.
5. Grab a Glass of Water
Dehydration speeds up aging and dries the skin, leaving you wrinkly and dull. To avoid this, make sure you don’t shortchange your body of water because long-term dehydration can rob your skin of elasticity, and it won’t be easy to bounce back.
Drink at least six glasses a day and eat foods that are water-dense. Water increases your energy levels and improves mental performance, both of which are important when fighting signs of aging.
6. Give Your Skin What it Really Needs
Your skin knows how to take care of itself, but it needs a solid supply of nutrients and water to stay in good health. Instead of spending money on creams and lotions, focus on eating healthy food and throw in plenty of fruits and vegetables, which your body needs for vitamins and minerals.
As long as your body is getting all the nutrients it needs from real food, you won’t have to spend a lot of time taking care of your skin. Sunscreen and moisturizer are all you need to keep your skin looking awesome through the years. Start buying organic food and eat lots of fruits to give your skin the nutrients it needs to take care of itself.
7. Find Friends Who Make You Laugh
How often do you meet up with friends to talk and laugh? You may not realize it but friends are an essential part of a happy life, and they can boost your mood and energy when going through rough times. With good friends by your side, you will find that you have the energy to do more in life and chase after your dreams; and because good friends keep you grounded, you will also be reminded to stay true to yourself.
What this means is that you will learn to love yourself through the years even as other people struggle to accept the change that age has brought on. A person that’s full of life and love radiates positive energy, and that makes them attractive to the world because they have everything we’ve lost in adulthood: humor, good vibes, passion, creativity, and the energy of a child.
So if you hadn’t spent much time taking care of yourself and have been thinking that damage has been done, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A simple change of mindset will do wonders in your life.
Adopt these tips today and live a full life with lots of good memories.
Dr. Sean Daneshmand has been nominated as a “Top Doctor in San Diego” as published in San Diego Magazine continuously since 2008-2018. He has also completed extensive training in Aesthetic procedures including Vaser Liposelection and has been the Medical Director of Ageless and Beautiful Medical Spa since May 2005.