The anti-ageing industry is a big one.
There are creams and needles and supplements and starvation diets and hold-in and push-up and you name it, there is a product or service promising you eternal youth if you just anti up some hard-earned cash first.
The thing is, though, that no matter what and how much money we spend trying to avoid it, we all get older. And just as well, as my mum would say – the alternative to not ageing is a rather grim one, no?
The good news, however, is that ageing and how we deal with it is no longer confined to either succumbing to the elasticated waistbands and “mom hair” or fighting it nail and tooth with every potion and injectable known to man. Now a new book has come out dishing on how we can have an altogether different approach to getting older, and we are loving what it suggests.
In The Ageless Body authors Peta Bee and Sarah Schenker explain how the key is not aggressive regimes of needles and peels, with trainers and diet chefs on speed-dial, it is rather a series of small changes that can have a dramatic effect on the rate you age.
In fact, this new (and, let’s be honest, far more tempting) approach is more chocolate and red wine than kale and wheatgrass.
Curious as to what they are suggesting? Here are some of the book’s key points:
Don’t bother with breakfast
After years of being told that eating breakfast is essential to fire up metabolism, that breakfast-eaters are slimmer, more quick-thinking and more inclined to eat healthily, the experts are now divided as to how much of this is true and how many of these studied have been founded heavily be cereal companies trying to line their own pockets.
In fact, the cold, hard truth is that the majority of us are eating too much, and that while some people are inclined to need breakfast every day, others are not, and that is fine too.
The authors are suggesting you remind yourself what hunger really feels like, and eat only when you feel like you genuinely need food. Oh, and remember that as we age, our bodies require fewer calories to survive – meaning if you at 35 eat as many calories as you did at 25, you will gain weight.
“A three to four-hour ‘hunger’ gap between meals isn’t just the key to dropping a dress size, it will also help hold back the years, as a mini fast between meals limits the action of an age-accelerating hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1).”
Strengthen your bones
As we get older, our eye sockets, jaw and nose begin to change. Eye sockets enlarge and the angle of the bones beneath the brows decreases, causing frown lines and crow’s feet to form. But if you follow accepted advice for bone health – packing in vitamin D and eating plenty of calcium-containing leafy green vegetables – you’ll be protecting bones in your face as well as elsewhere in your body. The result? Less sagging, no jowls – and fewer frown lines.
Don’t run, walk
Extreme cardio workouts can cause dramatic weight loss and inflict the kind of wear and tear that leads to drawn features, sunken cheeks and hollow eyes. Moderation – and fun – is key.
Sleep more
Study after study also shows stress makes abdominal fat worse – even in otherwise thin women. So adequate rest is key to keeping that slender youthful waist.
Enjoy wine o’clock
According to Bee and Schenker, you don’t even have to ditch your wine habit in a bid to ward off the years. Just make sure you stick to no more than one glass a night, that is…
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