Reverse Aging Effects: Here’s How

Midlife Myths & Realities: Andrea M. Slominski, Ph.D.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the shift from midlife into old age.

Every day, when I wake up, I look in the mirror, and I give myself a real, knowing smile. I look into my eyes and say, “Hey there, here we are again; great to see you; I love you!”

Youngest I Will Ever Be:

Why do I do this? Honestly, it’s the acknowledgment that today is the youngest I will ever be, and I’m ok with that. I’m ok with aging. It’s a normal part of life. We learn as much in these years while we’re aging as we learned when we were growing up. I wouldn’t want to miss these experiences because they are an important part of life, even though our culture tells us the only important things happen when we’re young. 

“But I do know that if I want to be the best I can be, feel the best I can feel, I have to take care of myself.”

However, if I have anything to say about it, today is not the best I will ever feel. To feel our best we need to reverse aging effects. The good news, is we can.

My Therapeutic Coaching Techniques:

In the past few months, I’ve fallen off my nutritional plan, my exercise plan, and my supplement plan. Yikes! It’s easy to slow down, veer off course, or get distracted by a swerve and a plot twist in our lives. I’m not immune to any of this, even though my life and my passion are about using my therapeutic coaching techniques to help women through the midlife/menopause shift. But I do know that if I want to be the best I can be, feel the best I can feel, I have to take care of myself.

But every day, a voice inside me pipes up, and my internal perfectionist says, “Yes, but there is so much still you have to do today!” I listened to that voice for the first few months of this year and have come back around to understanding how important self-care is. I’m not talking about getting a massage, getting a manicure, or getting a haircut; although these things are nice. I’m talking about serious, conscious lifestyle adjustments so we can have the best experience of aging through midlife and on into our wisdom years.

I’m going to share with you four tips that I have discovered over the past five years, which are very important to our health and happiness during the Regency Years from age 45 to 70+.

Four Tips To Help Reverse Aging Effects:

1. Sleep Is The Empress:

Do whatever you have to do to make sure you get eight hours or more of sleep every night. Your body’s hormonal cascade and reparative functions depend on it.

2. Move It Or Lose It:

Get regular exercise. Two of the most important forms of exercise are walking and weightlifting. Walking keeps your joints mobile and active, and if you can walk outside, it is even better because you can interact with nature. Walking has an added benefit: if your body moves, your thoughts move. Weightlifting, whether machines or free weights, helps prevent muscle loss and bone density loss as we age. The more muscle we have, the higher our metabolism is, and the more calories our body burns at rest. Yes, you can gain muscle mass after menopause. Lifting weights makes you stronger; it gives you better balance and builds more endurance. Exercise is also good for our mental health.

“Weightlifting, whether machines or free weights, helps prevent muscle loss and bone density loss as we age.”

3. Give Up Sugar And Processed Foods:

These two can be responsible for increased inflammation, joint pain, and even arthralgia, defined by Dr. Vonda Wright, orthopedic surgeon, and menopause advocate, as all-over debilitating body pain that develops after estrogen drops.  It was this pain that set me back on my health course. When I got back on my plan, including exercise, eating, sleep, and nutrition, four days after giving up sugar and processed food, my body pain decreased by 90%!

4. Eat More Lean Natural Protein:

Chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef, or natural vegan sources are great sources of protein. Dr. Wright suggests one gram of protein per ideal pound of body weight each day if you are working out, trying to lose weight. and you are weightlifting! That could be 130-150 grams of protein a day. She also recommends. “ . . . a list of anti-inflammatory foods, including:

• Vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, kelp, leeks, olives, turnip greens, and sweet potatoes.
• Fruits: Apples (the skin especially), papayas, pineapples, grapefruit, guava, kiwis, limes, melons, and oranges.
• Herbs/spices: Turmeric, garlic, ginger, basil, black pepper, chives, cilantro, cinnamon, and parsley.
• Nuts/seeds: Almonds, flaxseed, hazelnuts, pecans, sesame/sunflower seeds, and walnuts.
• Vitamins: A, B6, D, E, and K. 1

I’m back on my plan to feel the best I can be. I’m sleeping more, eating what I should eat, and just returned to the gym. Though we can’t reverse the clock on our age, it ‘s possible to work on reversing the clock on how we feel, and, gods and goddesses willing, feel better tomorrow than we do today. One day at a time, one change at a time. We can reverse aging effects.

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