Friday, January 28, 2011

How to Look Great & Feel Amazing at Any Age ~



Victoria Moran, who is a life coach, calls this "The Charmed Monday Minute." I subscribed to this and what she says is: "Looking great and feeling amazing call for a strong sense of self-worth & a strong commitment to self-care. Amazingly, this does not make you self-ish, but rather puts you in the perfect position to be able to be a light to everyone around you."
  1. See yourself as the STAR of your life every day of your life.
  2. Stand up straight: you'll look slimmer and feel more in command of any situation.
  3. Make your first drink of the day hot water with an ample squeeze of fresh lemon.
  4. Eat breakfast: it's one of the habits centenarians have in common.
  5. Half the time, do dry skin brushing before bath or shower (brushes are sold at natural food stores.)
  6. The other half, precede bathing with abdyanga, self-massage with warm sesame oil.
  7. Treat yourself to a professional massage every 21 days to keep your immunity up to par. Massage schools have bargain prices. If you live in a city served by Groupon.com, they often have low-cost massage offers as well.
  8. Invert yourself with a yoga headstand or shoulderstand or by lying on a slantboard.
  9. Use creative sun protection: a hat, gloves, barrier (i.e. zinc oxide) sunblock properly applied, avoiding the midday sun.
  10. Buy yourself a juicer that's powerful and easy to clean. Fresh vegetable juice is an infusion of vitality.
  11. Keep a pitcher of water on the counter, a bottle in your bag, and hot water easily accessible.
  12. If you wear makeup, get a lesson every year or so--and remember to lighten up with some concealer just inside the eyes.
  13. Get your brows shaped: it can be like a nonsurgical eye lift.
  14. Exercise four to six days a week and include weight training at least two days every week, upper and lower body.
  15. Adopt a pet; you'll be saving a life, and people with companion animals live longer.
  16. Have role models, women you know or have heard of who've grown older with elegance, grace, and style.
  17. Whether you're turning 30 or 80, see maturing as a gift to appreciate. And let yourself grow older the way you want to do it.
  18. Live for something bigger than you are. Explore your spiritual nature.
The Ageless Acronym: M-E-N-D

MEDITATE
EXERCISE                                                                                                                                                    
NOURISH YOUR BODY & YOUR SOUL
DETOX YOUR BODY & YOUR LIFE

Helpers: A great juicer - I like the Breville Juice Fountain. It's basic, easy to clean, and juices greens as well as any mid-priced juicer out there. If you get really serious, take a look at the Greenstar - it's big, powerful, pricey (around $500), but it juices everything bone-dry and even has an attachment for making wheatgrass juice.
                                                                                                         Victoria Moran
Green Goddess Juice
                                                                                   
1 head romaine (celery can substitute if you're out of romaine)
4-5 stalks kale (another dark leafy green can substitute, but kale is mildest)
2 apples
1 lemon
Juice. Drink daily or almost daily.

A decent blender - I get by fine on top-of-the-line Cuisinart, but connoisseurs of blending swear by the high-powered VitaMix or Blendtec. Legend has it that these can almost blend rocks. You'll use your blender for green smoothies and yummy pureed soups. To learn more about green smoothies, read Victoria Boutenko's Green for Life. She also has a Facebook page called "I'm part of the green smoothie revolution." To make a green smoothie, add mild greens (spinach, kale, romaine, celery) to your fruit smoothie. If you want to use a protein/nutrient powder to supplement your smoothie, the most complete and health-promoting brand I know of is Vega, developed by triathlete Brendan Brazier.

Good knives - A chef's knife and a paring knife, kept sharp, are essential for salads, cruditees, etc. To make a kale salad that is actually yummy, try this:

Magnificently Marinated Kale Salad                                                  
Kale (or mix kale and collard greens)
Red bell pepper, chopped
High-quality oil (olive, hemp, or flax)
Mineral-rich salt (Celtic sea salt or Himalyan earth salt)
Lemon juice and/or apple cider vinegar

Strip kale (and collard if using it) leaves from the stems. Roll them like a cigar and chop finely. (You can also chop in a food processor. The point is to get finely chopped greens.) Then mix the oil and lemon/vinegar (I got with 3 parts oil, 1 part acid) and salt to taste. Mix into the greens and massage the dressing into the greens for a few minutes, really squeezing the greens. This will tenderize them so they'll be yummy to eat. Add the chopped bell pepper and black olives. If you can, let the salad sit for at least two hours so it can fully marinate. Keeps in fridge up to two days.

Supplements to Consider

Check with your doctor or nutritionist to see if you might benefit from:
Vitamin B12 - If you're a vegan, you need to get this supplement form.
Vitamin D - Most Americans are deficient.
Omega 3 - I like the "V-Pure" brand of algae-derived EPA and DHA - easy to swallow and no fishy aftertaste.

Good books --
Crowley, Chris and Henry S. Lodge, M. D.
Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit and Sexy Until You're 80 and Beyond
Read this book and you'll never miss another day of exercise.

Kelder, Peter.
Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth  (Harbor Press, 1998)
This is a very unorthodox series of exercises that supposedly come from Tibet and have remarkable rejuvenative properties. Check with your doctor before doing these if you have any cervical injuries or dizziness problems. In fact, there is a section in the back of the book with caveats from an M.D. on each of the exercises. All that said, people from Dr. Bernie Siegel to actor Martin Sheen swear by these.

Krupp, Charla.
How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better (Springboard Press, 2008)
These are strictly cosmetic suggestions (makeup, clothing, hair styles, glasses) but they do what they say they will.

Moran, Victoria.
Younger By the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body & Revitalize Your Spirit (Harper One, 2005) The only daybook for growing younger.

Zavesta, Tonya.
Rawsome Flex: Beautifying System of Facial Exercises and Raw Foods (BR Publishing, 2008)
30 facial exercises, illustrated.

So it's up to you now! These are just a few suggestions that you might consider doing to help you through your life. I hope something sounds appealing to you! Have a great weekend!

Blessings...Mimi

No comments:

Post a Comment