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6 lifestyle factors that contribute to ageing -
Smoking
Kate Moss, beware. Cigarette smoke can not only do damage to your body but to your skin as well, devoiding your skin of the necessary vitamin C that makes the skin nicely plump and smooth. And you don’t even have to be a smoker for this to take affect, so stay awake from smokers or those inconsiderate enough to blow smoke in your face.
Too much sun
Tease Nicole Kidman all you like for looking freakishly like a porcelain doll but her resolve to stay away from the sun means retaining her looks and youth. While a little bit of sun exposure is good for uplifting your spirits, too much sun will make your skin appear ‘mottled’, wrinkled and saggy. If you do spend a lot of time out in the sun, make sure you slather on sunscreen spf 15 or higher.
Lack of exercise
Lack of exercise makes you lethargic, overweight, low energy and it doesn’t help your skin either. Regular exercise gets the blood flowing throughout your body, making your skin glow, your cheeks flush and your eyes bright. Exercise also gives you endorphins that help boost your spirits and when you feel good, you look good.
Environment
Cold weather, heated rooms, and polluted air all do damage to your skin, sapping your skin of moisture, thus, susceptible to dryness and wrinkles. In the cold, make sure you wear a good moisturiser. Stay away from the direct flow of the heater in the room or if you can, use a humidifier. And in a polluted environment, make sure you cleanse your face well or get regular facials to eradicate the grimy build-up.
Too much alcohol
They say a glass of red wine a day is good for your health, but be careful not to overdo it. Drinking too much alcohol increases the blood flow near the skin’s surface and, over time, these blood vessels can become permanently damaged, creating broken vessels on the skin’s surface.
Lack of sleep
Nothing says old and tired than eyebags and saggy eyelids due to lack of sleep. Ideally, adults should be sleeping 7 to 9 hours a day to function well the next day, so try to get plenty of rest.
Before giving birth, I was a health freak and a walking calorie counter. I motivated myself to work out 5 hours a week and took long walks during the weekends when it was beautiful day out.
Unfortunately, in between work, feeding bub and getting him to sleep, taking him over to both sets of grandparents during the weekend, this new addition to the household has bereft me of my time to exercise and my sneakers have been sitting in the cupboard down the stairs, gathering dust.
Every week, I weigh myself and I can see those grams piling up and, I’m sure before I know it, I’ll look in the mirror and wonder what had happened to my figure.
So I started thinking about what I could do during the day that could help me keep those kilos at bay, and realised the key is to be physically active and creative, and concentrate instead on shorter bouts of workouts. Yes, you may probably not lose as much weight as if you were working out in a gym for 30 to 60 minutes, but I figured every little bit helps and it beats doing nothing at all.
AT WORK
Walk an extra block to get to work
Park your car further away or get off at an earlier train or bus stop. If this isn’t possible, take a longer route to work. If you’re worried about running late for work, then use this excuse to walk briskly and increase your heart rate. I find this helps me beat the cold as well, while getting some much needed vitamin C as well which seems to boost my spirits.
Skip the elevator and head for the stairs instead
Why would you want to join the throng of bleary-eyed people waiting for the elevators, then squeezing into a tiny cubicle with them, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the elevator mirrors? Opt for the empty stairwell instead and use the stairs to work on your butt and legs. Do this going to work, going home and even when you duck out for lunch.
Not having exercised in a year and a half, I was huffing and puffing after the first flight of stairs and ready to collapse at my boss’ feet. I had to cut short my workout and caught the elevator the rest of the way, but recognising that I was able to tackle more flights of stairs as the days progressed boosted my confidence and made it a challenge for me. I’m hoping by the end of this week, I’ll be able to tackle all 5 flights of stairs.
Do crunches while sitting down
If you have a desk job, you’re obviously spending most of the time sitting at your desk, staring at the computer. Take this time to do crunches. Lean back in your chair, then tighten your stomach muscles, counting 15 seconds as you pull yourself back up. Don’t forget to breathe and if you experience any back discomfort, stop. Do this as many times as you want throughout the day.
Get up and walk around occasionally
Instead of ringing an internal number, pop over and see a colleague. Fill up only half of your water bottle so you have more trips to the water cooler. Don’t let your PA make your coffee, go to the kitchen and do it yourself. Make an excuse to leave your desk every hour or so and give yourself a chance to stretch your legs.
Walk a bit during lunch
It doesn’t take a full hour, or even half an hour, to eat your lunch so why don’t you use some of that time to be physically active? Forget using the rest of your lunch hour to get on Facebook or Twitter, complaining about how you don’t have time for exercise. Get some fresh air and WALK And if you can get a walking buddy, even better.
AT HOME
When you have children, chances are that you’re probably already physically active, with time to watch TV, catch up on sleep, read a good book a thing of the past. But you can always up the intensity and get a bit more creative with your activities –
Don’t just walk when you take your kids out
If you’re taking your bub out in a stroller, stay away from flat grounds and opt for the hill to get your heart rate moving. Quicken your pace, don’t just go for a stroll. If your kids prefer to walk and they’re walking too slow for you, do some lunges or jog around them. This will also create a positive effect on your children who will learn the value of physical exercise.
Join your kids in an activity
Whatever activity your kids are engaged in, don’t just sit there and watch them.
If you’re at a park, encourage your kids to play some sport and join them. Initiate a chasing game for the toddlers or throw a ball around. If you have a bub, entertain them by pretending you’re a member of The Wiggles or High-Five, sing songs, jump and dance around, or join a playgym group.
Think of cleaning as a workout
Vacuuming, sweeping the floor, cleaning out the fridge, scrubbing the toilet walls and tiles are a great way to burn some calories – and keep your house spic and span too. When vacuuming, assume the position as if you were doing a ‘dumbbell row’ to work your back muscles – one leg bent forward (not jutting the knee out beyond the toes), and the other leg stretched out behind, and using the arm opposite the forward leg, push and pull the vacuum cleaner. When cleaning the walls or glass of a shower cubicle, make a big sweep of your arm, very much like the ‘wax on, wax off’ technique in the Karate Kid. As you clean the lower tiles, don’t bend over or even crouch, do a lunge instead and hold this position for as long as you can.
Exercise during the ad breaks
Is there a TV show that you will always make time to watch everyday? Then pass the time during ad breaks by doing sit ups, lunges, weight training, etc.
If you have an opportunity to exercise, take it
Even if it’s only once a week, a fortnight, a month, if you are given the opportunity to exercise vigorously for at least half an hour, take it. Every little bit helps and you’ll find, if you’re keeping yourself physically active throughout all the other days, you’ll see a difference.
Of course, you can be physically active all you want, but if you’re reaching for Doritos and indulging in KFC, you’re wasting your efforts, so make sure you eat healthy.
As I said, it may not burn as much calories as if you were doing regular proper gym workouts, but it’s a start and it beats doing nothing at all.
My husband and sister had a heated argument over the weekend about women and ageing gracefully. My sister argued that it is not in a woman’s nature to age gracefully, and the women who ‘appeared’ to do so had undertaken plastic surgery to look younger – especially in Hollywood. She added that men, as they grow older, only look more distinguished and dignified.
My husband considered this a totally sexist comment, and believed that there are older women in Hollywood who have not gone under the knife and still look quite attractive – perhaps a rare few but they do exist.
In order to prove my sister wrong (more so I could have some hope that women CAN age gracefully), I started scouring the internet to see which older Hollywood actresses had not given in to the pressure of plastic surgery. I came across Make Me Heal.
What was alarming with the articles here is not the number and types of surgeries some actresses have admitted to getting, or how young many actresses were when they had their first plastic surgery. No, the most alarming thing is that no contemporary actress, especially those over 40, are exempt from speculation that they MUST have had plastic surgery, and even proposed ‘evidence’ that these older actresses have not aged as gracefully and as naturally as they claim.
Michelle Pfeiffer
At 51, Pfeiffer is still considered simply stunning, and although tempted by the idea of surgery, especially during the times when she’s feeling tired, she has denied going under the knife. She credits her youthful beauty to exercising in the gym and eating well.
But according to Make Me Heal, Pfeiffer has been lying all along and has given in to the temptation of plastic surgery early in her career, starting with her nose. MMH further states that during a photo taken of Pfeiffer at the premier of Hairspray showed a woman with no wrinkles on her forehead, no sagging around her jaw, chin and neck.
It didn’t occur to MMH that perhaps Pfeiffer may have delved in chemical peels prior to the premier, or that make-up with new innovative technology being advertised, may have helped. Oh no, because to MMH, “it is nearly impossible to have a completely wrinkle-free forehead nearing 50”.
Meryl Streep
At 60 years old, MMH claims Streep has been ‘sporting a very taut neck, no jowls, flawless face that is virtually free of wrinkles and refreshed eyes.”
They add that this appearance was clearly evident in the film The Devil Wears Prada. Again, MMH never considered that perhaps the movie editors worked overtime to ensure Streep appeared this way. Because that never happened in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at all. No, we’re still living in the days where the likes of Photoshop and airbrushing have never been heard of.
Streep’s cheekbones were also under scrutiny. While MMH conceded that Streep has had her cheekbones for ‘decades’, they speculate if she’s had cheek implants. And went on to state with such certainty, “What is difficult to pin down is not the fact that Meryl Streep had cosmetic surgery, which she did, but rather when it happened”.
Sally Field
When I first saw Sally Field in The Flying Nun, I thought she looked like Debbie Reynolds and that she had one of those cute, fresh round faces that would defy age. But MMH was ever pessimistic, claiming that Fields is ‘underplaying her own plastic surgery past as she appears to have already gone under the knife at least one or more times’ – facelift, necklift and blepharoplasty. They did concede though that whatever Field had, it was natural and not ‘overdone’.
And it seems it’s not just the older actresses whose denials of plastic surgery have been scoffed at. Teen celebrities have also come under fire, such as Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens (and Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears before they turned 20), who have triggered speculation that they both have had breast augmentation. Naturally, the fact that these girls are (or were) still in their teen years with their bodies still in development, or there are such things as a Wonderbra these days, have nothing to do with it.
Hollywood has become synonymous with the word fake and when one thinks about showbiz, the word ‘natural’ doesn’t come to mind. Granted, many celebrities have undergone plastic surgery – I realise that’s the nature of the harsh business. But surely, not ALL celebrities have given in to the temptation and retained the mantra that nature is beauty. And I find it sad that people, like the writers of MMH and my own sister, would try and justify their reasons why they think a star has had plastic surgery, often backing it up with ‘because it’s impossible for an older woman to look THAT good’ and concluding that the idea of a woman aging gracefully is nothing but a myth.
I knew going back to work full-time would be a struggle – only because the thought of parting from my son after six and a half months of being tied together at the hip (at times, literally) was unbearable. I had a vision of me in my work clothes tearfully saying goodbye to my son who would also be tearfully reaching out for me and, somehow, already so well advanced, he would be warbling, “Mama, no leave”. And as my maternity leave came to an end, I cursed the huge mortgage, the stupid black cat who would only give away millions to a lucky few, and even Paris Hilton who could well afford to part with some of her millions but choose not to.
But what I didn’t realise that going back to work full-time is like being catapulted back to those first days of being a first-time mum where everything was just a grey blur
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This is it, the final 4. Is it me or did they drag the season out too long? I was expecting the Grand Finale to be last week but was treated to an Easter Special instead which I thought was a bit of a waste of time. Honestly, I wasn’t too keen on watching the contestants who had been booted out come back for new routines and despite a couple of obvious mistakes in some of them, the judges were spared from critiquing and instead asked the former contestants mundane questions such as how the show had affected them, blah blah blah. Anyway, I digress.
The top 4
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Angelina Jolie has been named Most Beauitful Woman in the World by Vanity Fair, claiming 58% of the votes, beating Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Penelope Cruz and Halle Berry. Possibly the only woman not inundated with hate mails when she ‘stole’ arguably the world’s most beautiful man from another, but instead earning comments such as, ‘Well, what guy wouldn’t?’, Jolie seems to have it all – from looks that have seen little or no plastic surgery to her active humanitarian work which only proves she’s not the type to waste her fame and money on frivolous things like her counterparts are wont to do.
Looking back on her transformation through the years, Jolie is a far cry from the child whom she described as being ridiculed for her second-hand clothes, an extremely thin figure with glasses and braces
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It’s been months since you’ve given birth and you hope you’d have gone back to your pre-pregnancy weight. You start regretting all the fried chicken, burgers and fajitas you ate during pregnancy – and probably after birth too – and you develop a hatred for the likes of Heidi Klum and Jessica Alba for shedding off all that weight in just a matter of weeks. How did they do it? Forget liquid diets, diet pills, detox and starvation, here are some celeb yummy-mummies who beat the baby bulge and how they did it -
Jessica Alba - now a hot mama
Jessica Alba was the cause of many fights when I found out she was the reason why my then-boyfriend wouldn’t answer my calls during Dark Angel. So when I heard that she was pregnant, I was smugly certain that her status as the World’s Sexiest Woman would come crashing down. But postpartum, the girl looks even better than before, sporting a bigger bust! Grrr…
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Your arm is sore from the constant patting and rocking, you’re exhausted, frustrated and fighting the urge to cry yourself. You don’t understand why your baby just won’t sleep even though he’s tired. Below are some settling techniques mums resort to when their babies won’t settle -
'Oh, will you go to sleep already!?!'
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The night proved to be one of the best SYTYCD nights with diverse, exciting routines. And I have to say, 'Thank God' to the new and improved batch of choreographers we have this season. So what were the best & the worst of the night?
Noo! Penny leaves the competition due to an injury
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on The Ugly Truth: A Review
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