I know you already know these. But I still want to share my 5 healthy, inexpensive ways to look younger and more beautiful. In reality, we are getting older as each day passes by. But we have the option not to look it. So I have been searching for the best concoction to help me in my quest. I’ve bought a lot of products and tried different techniques for the past years.
I’ve always had the misconception that the more expensive a product is, the more effective it is. In the past years, I have bought and tried a lot of makeup and beauty products from drugstore brands like Maybelline and L’Oreal, local brands like Eskinol to high-end brands like Chanel, Burberry and La Mer. I have found that some of the high-end brand products do not really work as expected, however expensive they are. Likewise, some of the cheaper, drugstore brand products surprisingly work really well.
One thing I’ve learned through the years is that, even though a product works effectively on my skin doesn’t mean that it’s 100% healthy in the long run. Some of these products contain ingredients that do harm the skin when used for a long time, causing more damage than benefits.
I still do use these products, but after every few weeks I try to do a sort of cleansing diet from all these chemicals. During this rest time, I make sure that I live a healthy lifestyle and a budget-friendly skincare regimen. I won’t go into detail on the skincare regimen, but will focus on the healthy lifestyle first.
LIFE IS WATER AND WATER IS LIFE
Healthy Inexpensive Ways To Look Younger and More Beautiful
First up is water. Our body is composed mainly of water, so why do we still need to drink so much water on a daily basis? If you look at it literally, the water in our body will become stagnant and stale if it just stays there, right? Everyday, we excrete a lot of water through sweat and urine. This process helps our body to remove toxin and cleanse it from disease-causing impurities. Therefore, we should always replenish it with new and fresh water. We should drink at least 8 to 10 glasses a day.
I used to drink water only during meals. But it’s not a good practice to drink lots of water at one time. It has to be spaced apart like every 2 hours or so. Most of us are awake for 16 to 18 hours a day. So if we drink a glass of water every 2 hours, that would be 8 to 9 glasses a day. I didn’t count the last 2 hours because we should not drink liquids before we sleep to prevent us from unnecessary getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.
My mom also told me that it’s healthy to drink water as soon as waking up. Before drinking or eating anything, even before brushing the teeth! I still couldn’t get myself to do this, because the first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and wash my face. But, I will try it one of these days. Even though I wince at the thought of having to gulp down the water together with the overnight saliva. Gross, I know, right? But if the effect will be beneficial to my health, then why not? It’s just saliva. That’s stale. Lol!
EAT LOTS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Healthy Inexpensive Ways To Look Younger and More Beautiful
We are born carnivores. Those of us who are not vegetarians, we eat meat. We love meat! A juicy steak makes our mouth water and we just love grilled burgers and roasted rib-eye. But having mostly meat in our diet affects our health and skin greatly. In a bad way. As in everything else, there should be balance in our everyday diet. So even though we eat meat, we should also include fruits and vegetables in our meals.
Forget steak and mashed potatoes or burger and fries. Well, do cheat sometimes, we’re all entitled to a cheat day. But most of your daily meals should be well-balanced. Try steak with salad instead. Or a lettuce-wrap minced meat. Burgers with lots of veggies instead of cheese and bacon. Then add whatever fruits are in season. This kind of balanced diet not only makes our body healthy, but also our skin. So why not try to look for vegetables that you love and try to incorporate that in your regular recipes. You will have a scrumptious meal, but at the same time you’re becoming more healthy and beautiful. Younger, too! It’s a win-win situation!
GET PLENTY OF SLEEP
Healthy Inexpensive Ways To Look Younger and More Beautiful
We need to have at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep everyday. With the busy lifestyle these days, it’s hard to follow this religiously. Students have to stay up until the wee hours of the night to study for an exam or to finish a school project, only to wake up early in the morning to prepare for another day at school. For the working class, some of us have to work on a swing shift or even a graveyard shift. These unavoidable circumstances disturb our normal body clock and often cause us not to have enough sleep everyday.
To be honest, I often get only 5 to 6 hours of sleep. Hello, dark circles and dull skin! 🙁 In my exhaustion, though, there are times when I oversleep and get 10 to 12 hours of escape from reality. Well, hello puffy eyes and face! I turn into a puffer fish overnight! Lol!
Years ago, when I was still addicted to online gaming (MMORPGs), I read in a gaming forum that we need to sleep from 10pm to 6am. I think it was a Chinese belief, but I couldn’t remember the whole post. The gist of it was that if we’re sleeping at a certain time of the night, we’re helping a certain part of our body to regenerate.
This is just an example, because I couldn’t remember the exact time for each internal organ. If we sleep from 10 to 11pm, our lungs regenerate. Then from 11 to 12 pm, it is our liver that regenerates. And so on. So if we sleep from 10pm to 6am, aside from regaining energy to face the next day, we also help our body to regenerate. A good anti-aging practice and the best part is, it’s free!
KEEP CALM AND FIGHT STRESS WITH A SMILE
Healthy Inexpensive Ways To Look Younger and More Beautiful
Life is one big stressor, really. Everyday, we encounter things that do stress us. From a simple zit that suddenly pops in our chin in the morning, to the rush hour traffic to and from work, office politics and sometimes a misunderstanding with a loved one or a friend. However, we should not let it get to us. Keep in mind that however stressful a situation is, there always is a solution. Do not succumb to stress!
In our journey from the problem to getting to the solution, it is important how we handle ourselves. Should we sulk, overthink, and stress out? Or should we keep calm, cool and collected? To be honest, I sometimes do the former. When I just couldn’t handle the situation, I get really sad and depressed. Then, when the problem is fixed, I look in the mirror and find that I look like I aged a bit. Thinking back, I see how petty the problem was and that I shouldn’t have stressed about it.
Don’t fight stress with emotional eating! That’s a big NO-NO! Eating a whole gallon of ice cream in one sitting will not solve the problem. It will only be harmful to your health. What to do when stressed? Relax, pray, meditate, smile. If you keep thinking and dwelling on the problem, you will only attract more negative energies. Your mind should be free of negative stuff in order for the positive ones to come into fruition. Good vibes! 😀
You should definitely try it! On a day when you have a hard time hailing a cab and you’re already late for work, and you don’t have the means to get one through GrabTaxi or other cab service companies, try it. Don’t stress out, but breathe deeply, relax and empty your mind. Then, smile and fill your mind with positive thoughts, you can even imagine an empty cab stopping in front of you to let you in. You might be surprised that it will actually happen if you believe it in your heart and mind. See if it works for you. Don’t be a skeptic, alright? Just believe! Keep calm and smile!
EXERCISE IS HAPPINESS
Healthy Inexpensive Ways To Look Younger and More Beautiful
I know a lot of people who frown when they see the word exercise. I also used to be one of them. But that was the time when I was still thinking that exercise had to be conventional. I even bought a treadmill and a stair-master which I hardly used, lol! Then, a few years ago, my husband and I turned to running for our daily exercise. We would wake up at 5:30 in the morning, go to the boardwalk by the bay which was near our place, and run back and forth for about 10 miles. We even bought gears and watches that tell us how much we’ve run, our heart rate and all those sports stuff.
The problem was, I am not a morning person that he is. Every morning that he dragged me out of bed, disturbing my peaceful sleep, I wanted to scream at him. But, I know that he only wanted us to be healthy and fit. However, I could only do so much. We started running around summertime, and after a few months, typhoon season came. A strong storm had caused great damage to the boardwalk and it had to be repaired which took months.
So our running came to a halt, which I greatly appreciated. Not the damage done by the storm. No, I don’t like it when storms do a great deal of damage. To be honest, I cry when I watch news coverage of typhoons and calamities. I know I’m such a cry baby. 😉 But what I appreciated was the fact that we had to quit running. Why would I run every morning when I have no intention of joining a marathon? I’m so not a sports-oriented person.
But, I love dancing! What better way than to exercise while doing what you love, right? My husband was very frustrated when we couldn’t run at the boardwalk anymore. So, what I did was get him to love dancing as well. He doesn’t like Zumba, so that was out of the equation. But he loves hip hop and modern dance. And that was how I convinced him to exercise through dancing instead. It was sort of our cardio exercise while listening to EDM and other club music. He would just add strength training after we dance while I do a little bit of Yoga and Qigong. This had been working for us and has helped us lose 20 lbs. in less than a year. We had gained those unwanted 20 lbs. over the course of 5 years, but we lost all those weight in just less than a year. Success!
What’s also great about exercising through a method that you love? You’re happy doing it, and when you’re happy and less stressed, you age less. 🙂
What are you waiting for? Move that body and exercise! Walk to the supermarket and buy fruits and vegetables for your meals today. Also bring along a bottle of water so you can drink while on the go. Just don’t fall asleep while walking. You now have a sleep schedule, and that’s 10pm tonight! If your work schedule allows it. 😉 I hope you found these 5 Healthy, Inexpensive Ways to Look Younger and More Beautiful really helpful. Have a very happy Savvy Sunday!
Photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net.