How To Look and Feel Younger
There are so many things in life that are out of our control. We can do all the right things (train, eat well etc etc) and still be struck down with sickness and disease. We can train our butts off and be unfortunate enough to be in a serious car accident.
We are all fully aware that we can’t live forever, there’s no way around it…eventually our time will be up but what sort of life do you want to live while you are alive and in your prime years of parenthood? What sort of condition do you want to be in if you’re lucky enough to live a long life?
I truly believe that being physically and mentally fit and strong will make you more capable of handling life’s struggles and if you are fortunate enough to live a long life so many of your lifestyle choices will play a major role on how young you look and feel along the way.
Now there’s two types ages, your chronological age and your biological age. Chronological is the number of years you’ve been alive, biological age is how old a person seems, the age that their body resembles and or functions at.
For example; two people may both be forty years old chronologically, one of them could have a biological profile that is closer to thirty-four, whereas the other might have a biological profile of forty-seven. Who the hell over the age of 18 wants to look or feel older right!?
So apart from investing in some high quality anti-ageing moisturiser (lol), here’s a few recommendations to help you look and feel younger!
#1 KEEP MOVING, EXERCISING, TRAINING AND PLAYING CONSISTENTLY
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
This quote really appeals to me as someone who’s always loved and enjoyed the benefits of playing sport and being active and is my #1 tip to on how to stay looking and feeling young!
As we move into adulthood though, or even more so into parenthood, staying active seems to be put into the “too-hard” basket for a lot of people. A more sedentary lifestyle seems largely to be the new norm and is hugely detrimental to your health. To the point that research suggests excessive sitting (roughly more than eight hours a day) increases the risk of premature death and some chronic diseases by 10-20%.
My father in-law is an excellent example of reaping the rewards of staying active. He's 73, still plays golf regularly (kicks my butt actually 🤨), plays badminton, exercises weekly and gets amongst it with the Grandkids teaching them how to throw, catch, climb, do cartwheels handstands and the list goes on.
It was only at Christmas time we were walking a trail at Mt. Cootha and he was still easily fit and strong enough to give my 5 & 1/2 and almost 4 year old daughters shoulder rides up and down the trails.
Pretty impressive when you think about it, and with all that he does you would never pick him to be 73.
All this will be much easier to achieve if you start while you’re still relatively young. If you start creating healthy habits now.
Understandably if you have a newborn or readjusting to a new lifestyle after having kids you might need to tweak what you’ve doing but it shouldn’t derail your whole training plan.
If anything you need it now more than ever. Even if only for your mental health and to manage your stress. Plus having a child should be MORE than enough motivation to get your health in order and to give yourself the best chance of living a long healthy life or even just to be the BEST version of yourself now for yourself and your family.
There are plenty of ways to keep moving, and plenty that can be done at your own home, with minimal time or equipment and even with your child in tow.
#2 EAT SMART, EAT MOSTLY NATURAL FOODS
Nutrition is so complex. I’m not a nutritionist or dietician. In a nutshell try to consume mostly whole & minimally processed foods. Limit alcohol and highly processed foods. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Limit sugar (here’s a lesson on sugar and how easy it is to over consume it). Learn to read food labels and understand adequate serving sizes. Drink sufficient amounts of water.
A constant diet of fatty, refined carbohydrate-laden foods is a huge cause of premature ageing. Highly processed foods can cause inflammation in your body. These foods also add unhealthy levels of sodium, cholesterol and fat into your body, increasing your likelihood of obesity.
#3 GET GOOD QUALITY SLEEP
Shoutout to my kids! 🤣 When you get constant crappy sleep it makes everything harder! More effort to get up and train, more effort to eat healthy as well. Insufficient sleep has become a worldwide epidemic. It has been widely proven that a lack of sleep leads to impaired cognition and memory performance. It won’t be perfect all the time, especially with your kids, but over time, prolonged sleep disruptions can severely impact our immune systems, decision making processes, response time and other key brain functions. Sleep deprivation is also linked to a speed-up in the ageing process.
Experts recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. You have to find what works for you though. Best advice, if you find that you are waking up tired or dragging during the day try to get more quality sleep. Try going to bed half an hour earlier and see if it makes a difference.
#4 MANAGE YOUR STRESS
Nothing can age you quite as fast as a constant sense of worry, anxiety and stress. Another shoutout to my kids ha-ha! 🤣
Studies have shown that prolonged periods of stress can actually alter your DNA. Chronic stress caused by work, family unrest or other triggers, leads to increased blood pressure and sleep disruptions. These all have a negative impact on how we age.
Do your best to find healthy ways to deal with stress. Taking some time each day to unplug and enjoy some quiet solitude can go a long way towards reducing your stress levels. Go for a walk, read a book, train, journal, meditate, catch up with mates for a laugh etc. or soak in a warm tub. Make de-stressing a priority!
If you can find and manage a healthy combination of the above tips it will definitely help you look and feel younger. I swear I never had a single grey or too many stresses in life until I became a Father ha-ha. Jokes aside I wouldn’t change it for the world. It really is the greatest gift and honour to have my two girls to love and protect.
It’s given me a greater purpose in life. Even though I’ve always loved being healthy and active it’s made all of the above so much more important to me and I want to help as many Dads as possible to enjoy the benefits of being fit, strong and healthy.
If you need some help getting your health on track please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to help.