Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips #44: Free To Be Me

The anti-aging industry is a $56 billion business and that number is expected to rise to $72 billion by 2009, according to the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Have you ever googled "anti-aging?" You get 16,600,000 results! There are thousands of products on the market - some of which work and some that don't - for combatting wrinkles, age spots, sagging skin and all the unsightly tell-tale signs of aging. There are innovative procedures such as injections for just about every body part - lips, nasolabial folds, crow's feet, neck, hands - even feet. There are surgeries to correct just about any flaw you can think up.

I am not against opting for procedures that can safely make me look and feel younger, but I just thought I'd remind you that there are plenty of things you can do to start Aging Backwards that won't cost an arm and a leg. In fact, they're free.

Aging Backwards Freebies:

1) Exercise. By now you're probably getting tired of hearing me tout exercise, exercise, exercise, but studies continue to show that regular exercise keeps you young and healthy. Instead of telling you to exercise, I'm going to offer some ways to motivate you. I love to work out, but even I want to be a couch potato sometimes. When the couch potato syndrome comes over me, I "fake" the workout. By that I mean that I tell myself I'm just going to "play along," go through the motions and not really work out, but at least I won't be sitting around. So, I don the cutest outfit I can find in my closet, put on my sneaks and set out to exercise, whether it's a brisk walk, one of my favorite workout DVDs or going to the gym. (The walk is free.) No matter how tired or lethargic I feel, five minutes into the workout I find new energy and get into the groove. Try it. Here's another trick I use to motivate myself: I'll go online and look at beautiful clothes or workout sites where people with beautifully healthy bodies are exercising and that reminds me that in order to keep Aging Backwards, I have to get moving. If they can do it, so can I.

2) Sleep. Another subject I talk about constantly is beauty rest, but that's because it's so important. Sleep is free - take advantage of that. When we sleep, our bodies produce hormones that keep us healthy and youthful. Why pay for hormones when you can get them for free?

3) Water. Recent studies have debunked the 8 x 8 (eight, eight-ounce glasses) water myth, but I don't think anyone can argue that pure, fresh water is good for us. According to recent report, which you can read in detail HERE, drinking eight glasses of water a day does not necessarily improve skin tone nor is it required for good health. Still, I'm Aging Backwards and I love to drink my pure, fresh water (free from the tap and not all tap water is "bad," plus it keeps those plastic bottles out of the eco-system). It is possible to drink too much water, so pacing yourself and listening to your body is the best advice.

4) Laughter. Can laughing keep you Aging Backwards and fight heart disease? According to researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine it can. A study done by cardiologists there revealed that "people with heart disease responded less humorously to everyday life situations," according to lead researcher Dr. Michael Miller. He added, "The recommendation for a healthy heart may one day be exercise, eat right and laugh a few times a day."

5) Meditation. "Mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health," said David Creswell, a UCLA psychologist and lead researcher in a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine. When Creswell and his team compared the brains of people who had mindful dispositions with those who were considered less mindful, there were measurable differences in their brain activity. The mindful subjects' brains showed more activity in the right prefrontal cortex and a calming of the amygdala (the region responsible for emotional processing) when they labeled their emotions. Read the article HERE.

So, feel "free" to join me in Aging Backwards by trying some of these easy, fast and no-cost ways to experience joy and good heath.