Anti-Age Your Body the Easy Way

There comes a time when a woman has to decide whether to fight the ageing process or embrace the elasticated waist.

But while some happily wave the white flag and others battle on through starvation diets, injectables and subterfuge, there’s a wave of gorgeous, high-profile women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and even 70s who epitomise an altogether different approach to the whole business.

The likes of Jennifer Aniston and Cate Blanchett – both effortlessly elegant in their mid-40s – and Dame Helen Mirren – a glamorous role model at 70 – represent a new breed redefining the ageing process.

The key is not aggressive regimes of needles and peels, with trainers and diet chefs on speed-dial, it is a series of small changes that can have a dramatic effect on the rate you age. The Ageless Body: How ... Schenker, Sarah Best Price: $2.51 Buy New $13.16 (as of 12:50 UTC - Details)

The trend has been picked up by sports scientist and writer Peta Bee and dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker, who have written a fascinating new book that provides a fresh take on keeping yourself young.

And the great news is there’s no draconian diet plan and no exhausting exercise regime. This new approach is more chocolate and red wine than kale and wheatgrass, and a greater focus on deportment than signing up to a triathlon.

Here we share their more surprising tips and tricks for hitting the pause button . . .

SKIP BREAKFAST

Ignore the studies recommending you fuel-up on calories first thing (many of which are funded by cereal companies). The latest research suggests skipping breakfast – if you want to – can help you lose weight. Joanna Lumley confesses to barely touching breakfast, and Liz Hurley says she maintains her figure by consuming hot water and the occasional espresso in the morning, adding ‘the only meal I have is dinner’.

Of course, cutting back on food generally is not a bad idea. One reason our middle-aged celebrity role models look so fresh is because they keep one step ahead of the thickening waist so typical of middle age. But if you’ve tried fat-watching, carb-cutting or soup-sipping you will know that standard diet advice just doesn’t seem to cut it past the age of 30. Check Amazon for Pricing.

The brutal truth is most of us eat far too much. And, as our metabolisms slow we need fewer calories to survive at 40 than we did at 30, decreasing with every advancing year. In fact, the optimum intake for women of middle age is likely to be 300–400 calories below the official 2,000 a day recommendation.

This doesn’t mean dieting. Instead, the answer to eating less lies in reminding yourself what hunger feels like and eating only when you are hungry, then not putting anything in your mouth until you next feel properly hungry again.

Snacking is big business, and the food industry has perpetuated the myth that hunger is a bad thing. But constant grazing means levels of insulin (the fat-storing hormone) are kept high, putting the body in laying-down-fat mode.

To hit the pause button on middle-aged weight gain, you need to build hunger back into your life. If you eat only when hungry (after around four hours without food) your body will enter a ‘fasted state’. Blood sugar levels drop, levels of insulin slow and your body releases a hormone called glucagon which helps mobilize stores of carbohydrate and fat.

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. A mini fast between meals limits the action of an age-accelerating hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1). Studies show just four hours without food is enough to reduce the amount of IGF-1 your body produces as well as switching on a number of repair genes to prevent damage to your DNA.

Read the Whole Article

Bacon & Butter: The Ul... Celby Richoux Best Price: $1.49 Buy New $5.00 (as of 06:45 UTC - Details)

Amazon.com $25 Gift Ca... Buy New $25.00 (as of 11:45 UTC - Details)

Amazon.com $25 Gift Ca... Buy New $25.00 (as of 07:20 UTC - Details)

Amazon.com $50 Gift Ca... Buy New $50.00 (as of 11:05 UTC - Details)