hear you! Although it’s true that good genes and good luck are major factors, taking care of your skin, diet and exercise routine can help.
Being overweight can add years - when one sees a slender person, they can often wear more youthful, flattering clothes (and I don’t mean mutton dressed up as lamb!) But losing weight too quickly or being underweight, isn’t an attractive, youthful look on older bodies, either! So if weight’s an issue for you, lose a few pounds but STOP when your saggy skin makes you look and feel worse! Conversely, GAIN a few if you look shrivelled and wizened!
Moisturising DOES help! The trouble is, the good ones can be expensive £20-40 a jar or more. Unless you have the money, you don’t need to spend more and if you don’t have the money, you can spend less. The trick is to use moisturisers that tell you the percentage of people they work for and see if they work for you - if one whole pot makes no difference, try a different brand! You WILL find one that plumps, firms & tightens the skin, reducing fine lines over time - but it may not be the first one you try! (And you may need one for night and one for daytime)
Moisturising DOES work! You should be moisturising your whole body - especially crepey skin around the neck, chest, arms and inner thighs - the calves, feet, buttocks and outer thighs are easier to remember/reach!
As for diet, TRY to keep processed food to a minimum and whether you gorge on refined carbs or eat organic, certain nutritional supplements will help - I’m guessing you’re female, so collagen and well woman supplements will usually have an impact on your skin and hair. I tried several different types/brands of collagen until I found one that made a visible difference, instead of an emotional difference - not that I have anything against the feel good factor, it’s just that I felt even better when I was using creams and supplements that worked for me and I could see it just by looking in the mirror or people who hadn’t seen me for weeks or months were commenting on how I looked.
Another great tip is exercise - toning and stretching - not exhausting high impact cardio. Cardio is often counterproductive as we age - focus on toning skin and muscles, strengthening your body and becoming more supple - youth is toned, strong and supple - aged is saggy and weak.
if you need energy, try vitamin B7 (biotin) with chromium piccolinate; adjust the time of day you take it to suit your energy needs - once it starts working, it will keep you awake at night, so take it before midday or you won’t be able to sleep! Vitamin D combined with vitamin K acts like a hormone for every cell in your body. You can take general supplements but focus on high quality, pure products without fillers and bulking agents.
Try to ignore anyone who tells you all the nutrients you need come from food - in 1970, the nutritional value of food was almost 50% higher than what it is today - simply based on the poor quality of our food now, due to over-farming and chemicals in fertilisers, depleted soil and hormones added to animal feed etc.
The average doctor’s training spends only a few weeks on nutrition - that’s why they simply say ‘eat a balanced diet and exercise’ but can’t advise you on what will really help. For that, you need a specialist. Also, doctors are trained and marketed to by drug companies; their primary focus isn’t going to be ‘look good - feel great!’ Their business is sickness and disease.
You sound as if you’re on the right track already and a little bit of tweaking will really help slow down the aging - we’re all living longer so it’s good to take care of yourself so that you feel good in your body!
Biggest tip for great skin? Don’t stress and get 7-9 hours sleep every night! Good luck!