I have been contemplating on this topic of aging. It is often said that youth is wasted on the young. I look back when I was young and I agree on this adage. If I had the power to turn back time, I will start a lot of habits that I am only starting now at the point in my life when some of the signs of aging are starting to be visible. You know what I mean - the lines on my forehead that multiplies every year. The two strands of gray hair on my head which was not there before. Speaking of hair - I've always had a great full head of hair but in the past two years - it has thinned and I wonder if the hot showers are to be blamed.
The funny thing is - strangers are usually surprised when I tell them that I am forty one years old. They tell me that I don't look forty one. I ask them - what should forty one look like? To this they respond - definitely not like you. So - I look younger than my age - or younger than most people my age. I thank these strangers for their kind words and feel good about myself for two minutes, look in the mirror and notice the two strands of gray hair and remind myself - that I should hold on to this youthful look for as long a I can.
You are familiar with the story of Dorian Grey. He is a man who remained youthful for a long time - while his painting and/or photograph aged. In the real world, someone who is able to keep his youthful looks is said to benefit from the Dorian Grey effect. I am hoping that my friend Dorian keeps me company for a very long time.
So my friend, today I will share with you three things that you should start taking care of right now - to help us retain our youthful look well into our 50s and hopefully even in our sixties. Taking care of these three things will go a long way in ensuring that people will continue to be surprised when we reveal to them our chronological age.
1. The Skin
Science has definitely come a long way in artificially giving people youthful skin. I have friends who started getting Botox injections as early as their mid-30s. I'm happy to share with you that I have not gone that route. I am not sure if I will in the future - but right now - our genes and our daily routines are helping us stay away from Botox.
To start with - we have natually oily skin. This helps a lot because it keeps our skin from drying up. Your friends actually tell you that you should moisturize --- and that may be true for parts of your body that dry up - like your hands, your legs and the area around your eyes. However - applying a moisturizer on your face will do you harm than good. You will get pimple break outs from the moisturizers that your friends are using. What I have realized works for me is this "miracle" cream that my dermatologist has prescribed for me. I asked her what is in her concoction and she told me that it's got tretinoin, AHA and a whole lot of other secret ingredients.
The other items that are important for taking care of our skin is sunscreen. Sun damage can really cause the lines on your face to develop fast. Your face will also be lackluster when you have continuous sun exposure. Thank God we don't like being outdoors. However - even when we spend most of our time indoors - it is still important to wear sunscreen all the time.
2. Hair
There are two important characteristics of hair that can lead to youthful look. One is the absence of grey hair. The other is how full your head of hair is. For a very long time, we are able to resist the onset of grey hair. I noticed that whenever we get into a stressful situation - for a long period of time, a strand of gray hair appears on our forehead. So avoid stress - or I guess the better advice is to be able to manage stress. In future letters, I will tell you my secret in managing stress. And no - avoiding the cause of stress is not the solution. Let's just say that facing our problems and solving it and asking for help to solve it is the best way to reduce the effects of stress on our body and our hair.
The other problem that we are now encountering is thinning hair. For the longest time, Papa ( our father ) has advised us strongly against using hot water when we shower. I disregarded that advice. When we moved to Baguio - I continued to shower with hot water --- which would have been OK if it we were just using it for our body --- but to use it to wash our hair turned out to be a big mistake. A year into our stay in Baguio - we noticed our hair continued to thin. That's when we started to listen to Papa's advice. It slowed down the hair fall but it continued. Thank heavens our dermatologist also had a remedy for this. Note that I will not mention the product name because I'm not a doctor. It's best to consult with a physician for this problem.
I have also switched shampoo. This brand I can mention. I am now using Lauat. I found it in the drugstore and it promised that it will help eliminate hair fall. I have been using it for a month and I'm happy to say that I do feel that my hair is thicker ever since I started using it.
3. Muscle
I know that you just started working out. Good for you. That will help a lot in developing your self confidence. In fact --- beefing up in our early thirties helped us transition from the ugly duckling to the not so ugly duckling that we discover ourselves to be in our late thirties. However - it is in our forties that we transformed into the beautiful swan that I am. Have patience my dear - you will reach this state.
Anyways - going back to the topic of muscle. We both know that we get attracted to men who have a good physique. So it is just natural that if those muscular men are attractive - if we are to continue to look attractive and young - we need to keep our muscle well into our old age. The only way to do this is through resistance training. You like running - and there's no harm in that - but if you want to look great - you need to cut down on the long distance running and invest your time in weight lifting.
Recently - I have learned that all along in my thirties - I focused on the wrong thing when I was lifting weights. My weight training session was all about the pump - that awesome look that I get when I look in front of the mirror. The problem is - as the day progressed - the pump goes away. The mistake lies in the fact that I didn't structure my workout to progressively get stronger. Today - I'm following a program by a man called Anthony Mychall. He has a blog and his weights workout encourages those who are following it to progressively try to get stronger. For example - if you do three sets of bench presses this week with 40 lbs.for each set and 5 reps per set. The week after, he instructs you to do 45 lbs on the first set with 4 reps and continue with 40 lbs for the second and third set.
Big jumps in weights and reps are mesmerizing when you start lifting weights. The key to keeping a good toned/muscular body is to lift weights that are heavy enough for you to develop those muscles. Look for help in this aspect ( maybe a personal trainer or advice from the many online communities that are dedicated to helping people like you ).
So Mr. Timmy, that's it. Those are the holy trinity of youthful looks - take care of the three of them and you will go on for years and years of looking younger than your chronological age.
The Forty Year old you
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