Appreciating Your Value as You Age

The New York Times ^ | March 17, 2010 | CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

[StilettoRaksha]

AGING is an indiscriminate leveler. You might have been a shapely bombshell who made heads turn. You might have honed your intellect and résumé and let looks take a backseat. Still, most of us will pass a mirror one day and wonder who is that stranger with the droopy eyelids.

It would be easy to dismiss worries about such an aesthetic concern as weak. But two models-turned-psychotherapists argue in “Face It,” their new guide for women, that struggling with changing looks can be no less daunting than dealing with a financial loss, a demotion at work or a divorce.

The answer isn’t simple , if the 20 years’ worth of patient information that the book draws upon is any indication. (They also surveyed other women, 30 to 65, including models because they sometimes consult for modeling agencies.)

[StilettoRaksha]

The sun, sugar, and stress=major aging. If women, especially one's in their early 20’s, stop eating foods with refined sugar, drink only water (and if needed add an antioxidant water booster), wear an spf 30 everyday (one that blocks UVA and UVB rays), use proper skin care with a prescription or good over the counter retinol at night, eat foods high in antioxidants, don’t smoke, drink, or stress, then they will age beautifully.

[StilettoRaksha]

Ping

[Mamzelle]

I love that the stinking progressives age just like the rest of us, and will be the “fellow travelers” who are shot for their uselessness.

[robomatik]

women have a much more difficult time dealing with aging. /obvious statement since the beginning of time.>

[StilettoRaksha]

I think it’s primarily because of society’s obsession with youth.

[ottbmare]

The NYT is again discussing the unique problems of women on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The premise of this book is that today’s women have so many options about preserving their looks—botox, laser resurfacing, spa treatments, lipo, plastic surgery, sophisticated hair coloring, cosmetic dentistry, chemical treatments, etc.—that their grandmothers did not have. The authors and the Times appear to have forgotten that a small cohort of women can even consider these issues: most of us can’t dream of affording these procedures, particularly during a recession.

[StilettoRaksha]

Even for women who can afford treatments, lasers, injections, or whatever, these are temporary fixes and if you go overboard then you’ll look like that cat woman. It’s really what you eat that contributes to aging. If the diet is wrong, then you’ll age even worse.

[ottbmare]

I agree with you to a great degree, but you’re what, 30? Thirty-five? Get back to me when you’re 60 and let me know if you have any lines, sags, age spots, or wrinkles. Or if your bust has sagged or your hair is thinner or your stretch marks show. The best diet in the world can’t fix everything.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

If women, especially one's in their early 20’s, stop eating foods with refined sugar, drink only water (and if needed add an antioxidant water booster), wear an spf 30 everyday (one that blocks UVA and UVB rays), use proper skin care with a prescription or good over the counter retinol at night, eat foods high in antioxidants, don’t smoke, drink, or stress, then they will age beautifully.

They'll still age, though. These suggestions are all good, and will help women (and men) optimize their health and appearance at any age, but aging itself will eventually need to be widely recognized as a problem to be prevented, and a treatment for aging will inevitably be developed. Probably long after everyone currently alive has died of old age.

[Allegra]

If women, especially one's in their early 20’s, stop eating foods with refined sugar, drink only water (and if needed add an antioxidant water booster), wear an spf 30 everyday (one that blocks UVA and UVB rays), use proper skin care with a prescription or good over the counter retinol at night, eat foods high in antioxidants, don’t smoke, drink, or stress, then they will age beautifully.

What's the point of aging beautifully if you can't have any fun? ;-)

[StilettoRaksha]

I’m not in any of the age categories you’ve listed. :)

[StilettoRaksha]

I never said that they won’t age, but that they will age beautifully.

[StilettoRaksha]

I think Sophia Loren looks great — even if she’s had work done.

[wardaddy]

Aging sucks...impending death...you get to the age you know it’s getting closer but you try not to dwell on it.

Then you think about all those folks younger than yourself who have already died.

And you worry about leaving those who love you and the sadness they will have to deal with.

It nice when you’re young and mortality is a distant stranger.

btw...how folks age is more genetics than anything else..sorry

[StilettoRaksha]

:)

Men have it so much easier.

[StilettoRaksha]

I agree. Genetics plays a huge role, but you can still minimize the effects of aging by exercising, eating right, using sunscreen, etc.

[wardaddy]

not smoking...and plenty of exercise seem to be big helps...

right now most of America overeats....I would start there

[Junior_G]

Aging sucks...impending death...you get to the age you know it’s getting closer but you try not to dwell on it.

I've been trying not to dwell on it since I was 17. The inevitability of death is horrifying if you make the mistake of thinking about it for more than a moment.

[wardaddy]

two open heart surgeries for a born bad pump sorta makes not thinking about it harder..lol

[Age of Reason]

I think Sophia Loren looks great

She looked like an alien mutant fifty years ago.

And I haven't seen an improvement, since.