Taken from Instagram: @workingmumworkingout
Whilst scrolling through our Instagram this week, we were shocked when coming across a post about two women who were the same age, but looked years apart.
So how can these two people be the same age? Most people will undoubtedly point towards a person’s genes as being the difference, but how much is down to stress levels, lifestyle and diet? Should we exercise more, eat lots of green vegs, go to bed early, stop drinking alcohol and coffee or are our chromosomes already figured out and our destiny is written?
Obviously, we are all different and we should learn to love and accept ourselves as we are. We always aim to embrace our changing faces and physiques as the years take their toll, without putting too much emphasis on the physical. However, we can’t help but be inspired by people like Davina Mcall, whose ethos for exercise and healthy living have her looking fantastic at 51!
Images from Instagram @davinamccall
Genes or Environment?
“Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.” – George Bray
In fact, our genes only account for 25% of how long and how well you live. After our late teens, 75% of ageing and living well is based on our own choices. It’s true that genetic disease can affect your life, but your diet and lifestyle can still determine how these things affect you. Some things might seem like the run in the family too but this may be due to environmental influences meaning you are living the same lifestyle as your parents. It’s important to remember that both work together and you can improve your lifestyle no matter what your genes. So what are the lifestyle choices that are important to improve ageing?
Eat Well
Eating well is an obvious one. Davina Mcall credits kicking her sugar addiction to her healthy lifestyle, as well as ensuring she has healthy snacks and cooks from scratch. Jennifer Lopez, 49, focuses on meals that fill her up – including lean proteins, non-starchy veggies, along with healthy fats and complex carbs. There is no doubt, that eating well is important as you get older, and finding a healthy eating style that works for you ensures you can keep it up.
Try our new Midlife Diet Guide to help you with clean eating.
Exercise/Fresh Air
Keeping ourselves fit can only benefit our health so even if you take a daily stroll then your body will be in better shape than not bothering. Check out our article about how detrimental no exercise really is on your health.
Sleep
I know we all hear about how sleep benefits us as we age, but it truly helps. It gives us more energy, we are able to concentrate more, we can cope with a lot more when we aren’t tired! Iman Bowie, 59, does credit her genes for looking so young but she also makes sure she gets enough to sleep and its lights out by 10:30 every night.
Me Time
Always make sure you allow time for yourself. Whether you need to shut yourself in the bathroom and take a soak in the bath, lay down and a deep breath, a sneaky face-pack, all these things will help you de-stress and slow down the ageing process.
Be Yourself and Be Happy!
Many of us want to look and feel younger than we are. But being happy with yourself is the most important way to keep your life stress-free. Constantly trying to reach a goal or reverse ageing is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. There’s nothing wrong with looking your age – or with looking old, for that matter – even if a few of us relish the idea.
Our society is still obsessed with the beauty of youth and with finding ways to cheat nature and look “good for our age” so it is no wonder that we feel we need to make the best of ourselves.
Would we be better people if we looked younger? Would we be kinder to each other and would the little problems in our lives sort themselves out? Probably not! But there’s no doubt that when it comes to boosting a fragile sense of self-esteem, if you think you look good, then you feel better about yourself and more confident, too, which can’t be a bad thing.