Do you ever take a sneak peek at social media and wonder how some people look no different at all from when they left school, do you look to see which friends look younger and which ones look older?
Well, a study led by Daniel Belsky an assistant professor at the Duke University of medicine used 954 participants and between ages 20-40 and were evaluated using 18 different measures to see how quickly they were ageing.
The initial discovery was that according to their findings a person’s physiological age-matched their physical age. This means that the participants who showed to have aged mentally and functionally also had aged at the same pace physically.
So those who looked older were, in reality, ageing faster than others in their same age group!
CRAZY EH?
The following discovery was that about 80% of the factors that Belsky and his team found to be possible influences on age are completely within a person’s control.
So, in other words, your lifestyle and behaviours seem to affect your age even more than your actual genetics.
We all know that stress can cause premature ageing, refined sugar and processed foods have an adverse reaction on our skin, hair and moods. What can we do if our lives are “Just stressful” and maybe not as easy as some other peoples, are we doomed to ageing quicker because of the cards we have been dealt with in life?
Simple answer NO!
What can you do to stay young?
Exercise
No excuses that it is expensive to join a gym, a fair amount of parks have free equipment these days.
Running or jogging is free to do, and if running with motivation is what you need then what about a running club? Park runs are also free.
If running is physically/mentally out of the question then what about a home workout?
One to suit your ability at present?
The internet has many free videos from 5-minute beginner yoga to 20 minute HIT sessions.
Exercise is vital and to keep moving is proven to retain your youth but it also improves the cardiovascular system and immune system and will elevate your mood.
Try training with a buddy, if that is not for you then there are also free apps available to give you motivation daily. No escaping the fact that exercise will literally improve your cellular functions and keep you young and healthy.
If you know exercise is good for you and you know it will improve your mood but you just can not motivate yourself to do any, then try some mindset work first.
What is Mindset?
Mindsets are not just important for learning new skills. A growth mindset can help you recover from an illness because you believe that you can do something about the illness. A healthy mindset can help you achieve in sport, at work and can also help you grow and develop in relationships. Mindset is imperative for motivation.
Your mind will always try to give you reasons not to exercise the same as reasons to eat in an unhealthy way.
How can you work on your mindset?
I hear the reasons people can not exercise and there are many but with a positive mindset you can begin to change your outlook.
The main reason people do not exercise is …
Too Tired
Exercise actually leads to increased energy.
No time.
You are important enough to give yourself time. Try 20-30 minutes to start but you have to START!
It hurts the next day
That isn’t your body aching, it is your body thanking you the only way it knows how.
First Step!
It is best to have a clear goal of what you want to achieve.
Increased energy
Weight Loss
Weight Gain
Tone up
Feel better
The famous philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how’.” This quote is so relevant to approaching any challenge in life and not just exercise.
When you have your clear goal in place and why you want to achieve it there will be no stopping you.
What else?
What you eat has a direct effect on how you look and feel. A balanced diet can reduce the risk of disease and have a positive impact on your mood.
Aim for…
Lean meats, poultry, oily fish, eggs.
Whole grains, beans, pulses, nuts, seeds.
Vegetables of all colours, fruits within reason and not daily, in my opinion, fruits are still sugar in the body so maybe add a few nuts with them to keep your blood sugar from spiking.
Limit processed foods and refined sugar as these will age you faster.
Alcohol and caffeine within reason.
Hydration is so important. Clean fluids like water or herbal teas.
There are foods that are marketed at making us younger, if you make sure you have balance in all areas then you are almost there. The rest is fine-tuning.
Balance is key
Sounds simple enough to just eat the right things and exercise but you also have to enjoy what you eat and enjoy the exercise.
Find a type of exercise that suits you as an individual. Dancing, cycling, running, yoga, pilates, swimming for example. There are so many classes available for everyone’s taste. I recently started hoop classes and pole classes, I have never felt so strong and also never knew how difficult these classes could be but when you laugh as much as I do in the class it becomes a social getaway.
We all age, it is just a beautiful part of life. How you age is up to you.
We all deserve the very best so is there some area that you feel could be improved?
Could you minimise your stress maybe with some of the following…
Diagrammatic breathing
What about 10 minutes in the morning?
YOGA?
https://youtu.be/VaoV1PrYft4
If you feel you need a more “Tailored to you” plan and some nutritional coaching then message me and let’s talk about goal setting.
Have a great week.
Maria
x
