Best lifestyle choices to look youthful?

[sleepysusie]

Inspired by another thread where a woman said her friend never drank and was child free and looked 25 at 40 I am wondering what the best lifestyle is to stay looking young.

I do drink (too much) and I have 2 kids and at 40 I defiantly feel booze and being a mum with all the stress and lack of sleep have aged me the most although I wouldn't change it.

What do you think are the most aging or youth boosting lifestyle choices smoking or not, having kids or not, stress, water intake, diet, exercise etc what makes the most difference besides skin care?

Avoid the sun - but SPF, hat, glasses when in sun
Good sleep
Good sex
Plenty of water
Plenty of walking
Spend time with people who help you feel happy
Read - keep learning about the world
Go out of your way to help other people feel good about themselves
Cut back/cut out sugar

I'm 60. When people tell me I look younger, I think 'bullshit'. It's just a non-thing people say to you, along with, 'How are you and isn't the weather shit?'. I set no store by it whatsoever.

I would say I look pretty good all things considered and, genetic luck aside, I put this down to:
A comfortable and happy life
Not smoking
Not sunbathing
Using an SPF since around 30
Reasonable diet
Not much alcohol these days, although I drank a lot more when young.

I think I dress pretty well (not really hard work as I love clothes). I also change my style as my body changes.

I think I look pretty good for my age (still relatively young, but four kids in close succession!).

I drink 2-3L of water per day and have done since I was a teenager.

I don't drink coffee and don't drink alcohol unless it's a special occasion.

Get as much sleep as possible (7-8 hours a night, generally - no co sleeping helps with this).

Sunscreen (I live in Australia, so this is absolutely a necessity).

No smoking.

Eating primarily healthy foods, but not worrying about the odd "treat" (and by odd, I mean most days ). As long as the majority of your diet is fresh, nutritious food, you're golden.

Posture

If you have done ballet, or do yoga, you avoid that very ageing dowagers hump

A lot of people have poor posture and it catches up on you

Posture is so important. Old people (and often heavier people) slump and move badly, because their joints are under stress. My Pilates teacher, nearly 70, with grandkids, looks much younger because she moves gracefully and with a sense of lightness that is all due to core strength. One of her rules is never to get up from a chair using its arms to push up from; the movement begins in your thighs.

Great hairstyle and colour
stylish clothes
Keep within a healthy BMI
drink plenty of water
Omega 3
multi vitamins, Zinc and Biotin
excercise daily
walk and cycle
Moisturise, SPF and foundation
Avoid fizzy drinks and limit caffeine
Surround yourself with radiators and ditch the drains

One more thing, I really think that getting your colours done and knowing what suits you is really important as you get older. When you are young you can wear anything but as you get older wearing colours that flatter your colouring makes a big difference. Black in particular can really drain the colour from your face and really only suits darker skins. If you're more Celtic, it really doesn't work! I had mine done 15 years ago, I'm an Autumn, so basically warm colours. It definitely makes me look more youthful. And I used to wear black all the time!

Wrinkles don't really matter.

Thick red and black makeup circles add years - that's why teens wear tons of makeup, to get into pubs. Lose the slap and lose a decade.

Ditto the sulky fish pout. Smile.

I eat a Greek Mediterranean diet and I think plenty of protein is good for skin.
Sleep too.
But I am really good at applying make up lightly and I swear it takes years off me!

my friend is 52 with 3 kids been a single mum forever works full time and looks 35. It's genes

I'm told I look a lot younger than my real age (nearly 40). I think it's mainly down to genetics but it may also be because:

1. I don't drink alcohol
2. I'm a bit overweight (so have plump cheeks)
3. I have freckles!
4. I don't dress like I'm middle aged. I'm still wearing my Topshop clothes from 10+ years ago because I'm broke!

5. And I don't smoke
6. I don't sunbathe

I do have 2 young children and I never get any sleep.

All these things helped, but a lot is down to genes I have great skin and no wrinkles at 41. I wash And moisturise, but nothing special. I have 2dc and need to lose weight but I have a young face. People have always thought I'm younger, even my colleague couldn't believe I'm 41 - despite the fact she came to my 40th last year!

For me its diet and most of the above but weight training and compound movements with yoga are useful.

YY to posture since bad posture is directly correlated with a weak core. Most of what is aging is often down to the loss of muscle mass - this starts in the 30s. I am 5'2" but often find that I am not that much shorter when out and about since other people's posture is so bad! Since I started lifting I have much less of a wingy lower back when I stand.

Also as your skin tone becomes looser, good muscle tone underneath will ameliorate this effect.

I can still fit into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes from the waist down - I have packed on my gains on my back and shoulders!

I had to go on a paleo-ish diet for health reasons at 30, now over a decade later I swear it's like time slowed down on my face (weird way to put it).

No one ever believes my age and can't understand why I haven't got any lines, etc. I'm not showing off here! I have no sense of style and a big arse so I don't think I'm all that!

I reckon it's the low carb/higher fat aspect - quality fats though like avocado, olive/coconut oil, salmon etc. My understanding is that carbs, because they break down to sugar, require insulin to be produced and I think I read that over the lifetime, producing less insulin is a good thing for reasons that now escape me... (sorry to be so vague)

Never sunbathing and always wearing sun protection has made me look a fair bit younger than I am. I also think fake tan can be very ageing in skin thatnalready has a few wrinkles (although v flattering to usually pale legs so swings and roundabouts).

My friends who smoke heavily or smoked heavily but gave up when they had kids look a lot older than their years.

Low carb/high fat.
Acid toning
Red light therapy
SPF.

I think some people 40 plus size 16 upwards actually end up looking younger as their face is softer

I can think of 3 people like this ages 40-50 and all of them I thought were around 5-8y younger

Half of it is state of mind - not thinking 'oh I'm too old for that' but also not being too 'look at me I am down with the kidz yo'. Just being yourself and not thinking about age too much.

I used to walk EVERYWHERE and stayed slim. As soon as I got married and started going everywhere by car, I started to put weight on.

Sunscreen, drinking lots of water.

Keeping your hair and clothes reasonably cool. Not wearing stuff that is clearly 'mumsy' like leggings with dresses over them.

As a GP, I reckon I can tell a smoker over 30 at a glance 99% of the time. Anyone who thinks it doesn't show on their face is deluded. Apart from that, I reckon it's down to sunscreen, genetics...and luck: the single most ageing thing that can happen to you is a serious illness - physical or mental.

I accompanied my cousin for her Botox when I was visiting her overseas. I was tempted to do something but the Plastic surgeon told me that I have beautiful skin and there's no need for botox. We are both 43 and with olive skin.
I did tell him my routine and agreed it was a combination of gene (doubt it as both my parents are wrinkly messes) and good care.
Things I do:
Religiously wear suncream from the age of 18. At least factor 30!
Been using tretinoin since I was 29 and I'm a regular acid user.
Always moisturize and use serums more than creams.
Eat a lot of veggies
Don't drink (maybe once a month and that's a glass)
don't smoke (did in my early 20's but wise up).
I did have kid and a stressful job and other worries in my life
and I love a nice slab of cake at the weekend.
I rec Nigma Talib's book. There's a bit of mumbo jumbo eye-rolling blah blah but there's solid advice too.

1. Do not go through the menopause.
2. Do not have any major stress in your life.

I have not achieved either of these.

I agree - it's the menopause, rather than your 40s, that's the real watershed.

I'm often told I look 10 years younger (I'm 51), and I put most of it down to genes. I've always drank alcohol, I have 1 DS (16), I looked a lot older (frumpy) 10 years ago when I was married and weighed a stone more.

However- I've had jobs in the last few years where I start earlier, and I haven't gone to bed earlier and IMO it's now telling on my face. Plus the bloody menopause