[Mikev75]

^ being fat does age you, but when you lose weight, do it slow and steady. Rapid, dramatic weight lose is a fast track to looking old.

I thought of something else I do: dry brushing

Get a natural bristle body brush. Before you shower, when skin is completely dry, brush upwards with short strokes towards your heart, gradually working your way up. Start at the tip of your left toes going up, then right leg, then left arm and so on.

It won't get rid of wrinkles, but makes skin less dry, improves circulation and will give you better color on your face.

[Dusty]

Teeth whitening. People's teeth yellow as they age, so white teeth is a signal of youth.

You can use the whitening strips available at any drug store. Also whitening toothpaste helps.

Lay off the tea and coffee (my own advice I don't follow).

A nice healthy looking tan (from spray tanning) combined with white teeth is a good signal of health, vitality, and youthfulness.

[Giovonny]

(12-11-2013 03:32 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

anti-aging creams?

I just use coconut oil to moisturize.

(12-11-2013 03:35 PM)Mikev75 Wrote:  

Avoid sugar

Yes.

That is a big one.

Sugar is a killer.

(12-11-2013 10:41 PM)Spider Wrote:  

Gio can you elaborate on your diet?

Tons of veggies and fruit, or more of a paleo lifestyle..?

A combination of both.

I don't follow any "diets".

I just eat a wide variety of fresh, clean food.

Lots of vegatables, meat, fish, rice, beans, eggs, nuts, soups, good fats, water, tea, etc.

(12-11-2013 10:41 PM)Spider Wrote:  

In terms of sleep, do you think sleeping from 11pm - 5am is better than a say, a longer sleep, from 2am - 10am.

I think both of those examples are bad sleep patterns. I wouldn't want to do either one.

Which one is better?

It will vary by individual.

Which allows you to feel more rested?

That is the for you.

(12-11-2013 10:41 PM)Spider Wrote:  

I find that sleeping any less than 8 hours results in me feeling pretty tired the next day

Than, you better get at least 8. Try for 9!

(12-11-2013 10:41 PM)Spider Wrote:  

I wonder if going to bed earlier, or closer to when the sun sets makes a big difference.

In my experience, it will make a big difference.

Earlier sleep, longer sleep, more sleep. Those are always a good idea!

I do go to bed earlier in the winter to stay more in concert with the sun.

(12-11-2013 11:07 PM)bigxxx Wrote:  

Sunscreen is your friend.

I generally agree, but, not all "sunscreens" are the same..

Most are full of harmful chemicals. Read the ingredients.

I am not afraid of the sun. I just get it in moderation. Only 30-45 minutes a day at the most.

If I want "sun screen", I will just stay in the shade or wear long sleeves and a hat with sunglasses.

Before using any sunscreen, google the ingredients and make sure that it is safe to put on your skin. Some of them are actually pretty bad and more harmful than a little sun shine.

(12-11-2013 11:31 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

the decline in testosterone levels in western men over the course of the last few generations is directly related to reduced sunlight exposure

I agree. The sun gives us energy and power.

But, don't get me wrong, TOO MUCH SUN IS BAD. Just get it in moderation.

When I work outside, I wear long sleeves and a big hat.

(12-12-2013 12:00 PM)Dusty Wrote:  

Teeth whitening.

Great call!

I mix a little baking soda in my toothpaste.

[FlyLow]

I'm a coffee drinker too, tried to give it up but I love it too much. I've gotten down to 2 cups a day. My dentist told me to get a Sonic Care toothbrush. I use Crest 3D white along with the sonic care and it definitely helps. Have whitening trays too, just rarely take time to use them.

[StudebacherHoch]

^ All good stuff in this thread. I'm lucky in that when I was young, I looked really young...got carded into my 30s. I'll be 59 next year, and could easily pass for mid-late 40s...my FB friends call me Dorian Grey! Much of it is genetics for me, as I partied my ass off until I was 36...so I should theoretically look a bit worse for the wear. My secret? Eat basically paleo, my only vices are limited coffee and vaporized herb, exercise - skating/surfing/snowboarding, USE MOISTURIZER on my face/body...I have friends my age that didn't care for their faces, and they look like Charles Bronson (not that there's anything wrong with that!), regular teeth whitening, not too much sun - the usual shit. Bottom line - as I'm inching toward 60, I'm glad I had enough discipline to take care of myself...now I can retire - AND be healthy in retirement.

[Kaizen]

If signs of aging/damaged skin are showing up, there is a solution to your problem:

Wrinkles: especially frown lines, crows feet (radiating from eyes), and forehead line

The solution here of course is BoTox. Super safe and effective. Downside has to do with cost and it's an ongoing treatment (approx every 4 months). Doing it regularly prevents lines from setting in.

Scarring (from acne, etc): Laser Resurfacing treatments, chemical peels

Pigmentation Issues: In addition to chemical peels, a treatment called IPL (intense pulse light) can be real helpful here.

[Dusty]

Others may disagree, but I think its possible to go overboard and try too hard to look young. Find a happy balance.

I notice a lot of gay dudes do this. You'll see a 50-something dude wearing skin tight jeans and have a roided up big upper body. Looks ridiculous. In fact, if I see a middle aged or older guy dressed obviously incongruent to his age, I will assume he is until proven otherwise.

It comes off as a form of "try hard" and insecure if your look is too "fake."

If your over 40: no skinny jeans, no roided up look, no bad dye jobs, bad hair pieces, veneer teeth that are too white, etc.

I think slim fit shirt can look good at any age though, if you have the body for it.

[MikeCF]

^ Wow! We had a member of the Fashion Police show up. How is Joan Rivers doing these days?

[Mon]

I make sure to eat lots of foods high in:
*sulfur (arugula, watercress, mustard greens, garlic, onion, radishes, cabbage, kale, broccoli, etc)
*silica (oat grass [we grow it in trays like wheatgrass & juice it], horsetail [tea], nettles, cucumber, bell peppers, radishes, etc)

Sulfur (especially in conjunction with vitamin C) builds collagen and connective tissues. This facilitates elasticity & flexibility of the skin, makes the skin look youthful.
I also supplement with the best supplemental sulfur out there--MethylSulfonylMethane (MSM). This has so many health benefits that they could fill a book... in fact, they have. The best books I've read on the topic are The Miracle of MSM and MSM: On Our Way Back to Health with Sulfur.
But for this discussion, MSM works wonders for the skin, thick hair growth, & flexibility... all markers of youth.

Silica also helps to build collagen, helping to maintain the elasticity & suppleness of the skin. It also strenghthens hair, nails, teeth, and bones. YOUTH, YOUTH, YOUTH. Silica is called, by many, the beauty mineral.
Silica is considered a marker of youth because with age, silica goes way down while calcium goes way up. This is one of the major reasons that we lose flexibility with age, we stiffen with calcium. Calcification is also the culprit in many more fucked up conditions. Check out The Calcium Bomb for more on this.
I also use a silica supplement. The best I've found, and have been using for years, is Orgono Living Silica.

I use adaptogenic herbs, as they help to minimize the physiological effects of stress, nourish the adrenals, and keep cortisol low.

Eat the cleanest foods I can get. This entails eating as-close-to-100%-as-possible organically grown/non-sprayed foods. It helps that I live in Southern California, the Mecca of ecologically conscious farmers.

Qi gong, yoga, meditation

Eat a diet catered to minimizing estrogen toxins (xenoestrogens) and maximizing androgens (this is MAJOR for youth maintenance)

I do a SERIOUS detox (7 - 14 days) at least twice a year... oftentimes four.

LOTS OF BARELY LEGAL PUSSY.

[Screwston]

Is it around 80% genetics or more?

[Dusty]

My teeth are on the large side, and a dentist told me it gives me a youthful appearance . He explained that when people show a lot of teeth when they smile, it is perceived as youthful.

So there is another genetic aspect that may cause you to look younger than your age.

I just looked this up, and this article explains why this is the case. It also explains how some cosmetic dentistry can help some people.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...d=17976984

[The Lizard of Oz]

Some tips on skin care:

Cera Ve is a great and inexpensive moisturizing cream, the best one out there.

Fruit Of The Earth 100% Aloe Vera Gel is another cheap and fantastic product -- this is the aloe gel you want.

Finally, if you're willing to pay a bit more, get some emu oil.

If you use these products on your skin consistently, you will go a long way toward maintaining a moist and healthy skin throughout your life.

Note: before applying creams to your face, it should be moist and lightly patted dry -- not dry, and not soaking wet. Avoid using hot water on your face -- lukewarm water is best!

As regards sunscreen etc, here is a bonus stat about melanoma:

A (cancer free) white man age 30 has a 0.72% chance of developing melanoma by age 60 and a lifetime risk of 2.97%; his lifetime risk of death from melanoma is 0.5%.

In other words, your chance of dying from melanoma if you're a white man of 30 is about 1 in 200. Not very high, is it?

That's not to say that you should fry your skin in the sun. But a little sun exposure won't kill you and will probably do you a lot of good.

[Dusty]

^^^

Thanks Lizard.

How does one "moisturize?" Do you do it once in the morning and that's it?

[The Lizard of Oz]

(12-12-2013 11:56 PM)Dusty Wrote:  

^^^

Thanks Lizard.

How does one "moisturize?" Do you do it once in the morning and that's it?

Depends, but you should moisturize your face at least once a day, and twice a day is good. I always use the aloe gel after shaving in the morning -- basically, it's my aftershave. Then use some Cera Ve before going to bed.

During the winter your skin gets dry so it's a good idea to moisturize more often. The skin on my hands gets very dry, so I'll just put them under lukewarm water, pat dry lightly and slap on some Cera Ve.

[Felix88]

What about cold shower? I take cold shower everyday and I notice my skin look a lot more vigorous than guys my age.

[MunichSux]

Anti-Aging in a nutshell :

1) Have great / amazing genetics.
2) Don't do any sort of drugs, alcohol included.
3) Strength training, for the simple reason that performing within a certain range of your 1RM positively influences your bone density.
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness...efits.aspx
4) Know your average daily caloric expenditure and limit your caloric intake according to it. Eating "healthy" has nothing to do with your bodyfat
ratio, if you consume more calories than your body burns, you'll gain bodyfat / weight, no matter what the quality of your food.
5) Keep your fingers off your hormonal systems, don't fall for the HGH / TRT trap like some here do. Simply google for "HGH Testosterone cancer".

[Brisey]

(12-13-2013 07:17 AM)MunichSux Wrote:  

5) Keep your fingers off your hormonal systems, don't fall for the HGH / TRT trap like some here do. Simply google for "HGH Testosterone cancer".

Any specific links or more information for your last point?

[MunichSux]

Every endocrininologist worth his bucks will tell you that our hormon system is a highly complex, still not 100% understood mechanism not to be messed with on your own !

Some URLs :
http://www.preventcancer.com/avoidable/b..._risks.htm
http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publicatio...vent-aging

[kosko]

(12-11-2013 10:41 PM)Spider Wrote:  

Gio can you elaborate on your diet?

Tons of veggies and fruit, or more of a paleo lifestyle with lots of organic meat and healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, ghee etc.?

In terms of sleep, do you think sleeping from 11pm - 5am is better than a say, a longer sleep, from 2am - 10am.

I find that sleeping any less than 8 hours results in me feeling pretty tired the next day (and not as sharp), but I wonder if going to bed earlier, or closer to when the sun sets makes a big difference.

Sleep is tied to the moon and sun cycles. Literally your body starts to de-load once the sun goes down and will do its most regenerative work between the hours gio posted.

A good rule of thumb is to limit your most stressful work to only the hours the sun is bright using sunrise and sunsets to relax yourself before tasks and before bed. Before bed low lighting and some music is good but don't read with the lights or use a iPad or TV like many do.

If it's hard for you to get to sleep early due to the work schedule then there are hacks you can do to trick your body into going into its regular regenerative stages:

Eye mask
This is key, if your body recognizes light is around it will never go into that deep deep regenerative sleep because it will be confused why your resting at a light time of the day. Indoor lights have the same effect so sleeping with your lights on is a bad habit one should stop.

What an eye mask helps with is that it blocks out light to your sensitive eyes and gives the body a chance to go into deep sleep.

Heavy curtains
You want to sleep in the dark or near dark. If your sleeping into the day make sure you have heavy curtains to block out light.

Blue lights
I need to research these more but yet basically mimic outdoor light and is less aggressive than indoor lighting. Your body can transition better into rest and awake mode with these lights around you versus bright typical indoor lights.

Those are hacks to trick your body to still have deep sleeps but try if you can to reorganize your sced so you can get sleep as early as you can. I'm realizing the old school way of sleeping from 10pm - 4-6am is ideal. That's how most old school guys are programmed. My old man always did this why I always try to stay up late. This time frame is important because the moon gives off different energy then the sun, and at more times more powerful in regard to rhythms a balance. As I mentioned above its important time your active hours when the sun is strongest but it's equal to begin the least active when the moon is it's brightest which is typically from 10pm -3am.

[OGNorCal707]

I'm serious about my skin care regiment, most guys would think I'm a total fruit if they knew the extent. For starters I use a couple different facial cleansers (all natural/organic), I will use a hyaluronic mask or green tea/green clay mask about once a week, I use a facial scrub about twice a week, usually before I shave because I believe it opens up the pores. I always splash a facial toner on my face after I shower and after I shave.

I moisturize every night and since I found out the my local organic grocery store gets shit tons of free samples of different moisturizing creams I amassed a huge collection of samples of up to 10 different types at one point. I usually use a different moisturizer every night and rotate off, I also am a big fan of moisturizing with essential oils and butters. There are too many too mention, but some favorites are Tamanu, Avocado, and Argan.

I will give you guys a tip I've used 10 + brands of facial moisturizers and my current favorite is called Andalou Naturals http://www.andalou.com/, the company is from Marin Co, CA and uses pretty much 100% organic plant extract in it's moisturizers and products.

Gio's original post is a good general outline or introduction, but it's pretty basic stuff most of you should already know and be doing, if you really want to get serious about this stuff there are tons of other things to incorporate into your lifestyle, and your skin care regiment is a good place to start.

[Beyond Borders]

(12-13-2013 03:12 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

most guys would think I'm a total fruit if they knew the extent.

You ARE a fruit, OG.

[rudebwoy]

Munichsux - spewing more hate garbage I see, please don't comment on things you haven't tried. If you want to age "gracefully" that is your choice, but just it goes against your belief system doesn't mean it does not work.

[MunichSux]

(12-13-2013 07:28 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

Munichsux - spewing more hate garbage I see, please don't comment on things you haven't tried. If you want to age "gracefully" that is your choice, but just it goes against your belief system doesn't mean it does not work.

I don't see "hate garbage", just a love for hard facts sans the bs.

I take this chance to add point 6, not so much anti-aging but a general rule of thumb for a good life

6) Stay away from people who rationalize self-defeating behaviour by ignoring hard medical / scientific facts and instead take the bro science route.

[Screwston]

I don't know if its true but I've heard humid weather is good for your skin snd helps you age better.

[sthesia]

(12-13-2013 07:17 AM)MunichSux Wrote:  

5) Keep your fingers off your hormonal systems, don't fall for the HGH / TRT trap like some here do. Simply google for "HGH Testosterone cancer".

Every endocrininologist worth his bucks will tell you that our hormon system is a highly complex, still not 100% understood mechanism not to be messed with on your own !

Some URLs :
http://www.preventcancer.com/avoidable/b..._risks.htm
http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publicatio...vent-aging

There are some ridiculous aspersions being cast & misinformation being spewed in this thread.

If one intelligently reads the link provided from the post above to the National Institute on Aging's publication/summary statement, you will find that they sing a much different tune than the one quoted by the poster above.

Some specific quotes from the NIA document's Testosterone section:

Quote:

For men whose bodies make very little or no testosterone, testosterone replacement may offer benefits. FDA-approved testosterone drugs come in different forms, including patches, injections, and topical gels.

Quote:

Treatment with testosterone drugs can help men with exceptionally low testosterone levels maintain strong muscles and bones and increase their sex drive.

They do endorse the fact that there is still some uncertainty as to what an appropriate level to treat is:

Quote:

It is unclear if men who are at the lower end of the normal range for testosterone production would benefit from treatment.

Quote:

NIA is investigating the role of testosterone therapy in delaying or preventing frailty and helping with other age-related health issues. Results from preliminary studies involving small groups of men are inconclusive.

Quote:

Most epidemiological studies suggest that higher natural levels of testosterone are not associated with a higher incidence of prostate cancer

To be fair & balanced:

Quote:

Until more scientifically rigorous studies are conducted, it is not known if the possible benefits of testosterone therapy outweigh any of its potential risks.

...hardly a condemnation of TRT.


If you have symptoms of low testosterone, get the APPROPRIATE blood tests done with a REPUTABLE doctor. Unfortunately, many doctors are simply not as skilled as others in dealing with this therapy. Just like some neurosurgeons are better than other neurosurgeons at certain types of brain surgery; the same is true for every field of medicine (including endocrinology.) Just like taking your car to a few different body shops to get various opinions/estimates; you should take your health/body to different doctors to get different opinions and treatment options (especially for elective issues.)

One size does NOT fit all in medicine (... despite the algorithm/protocol-ized mess of a system that Obamacare is eventually going to turn our healthcare system into.) Those with the knowledge & resources to seek out the best care possible will do so outside of the system.

The same is true for those wanting to optimize their health & overall life experience. Be skeptical & discerning of all information. Seek out the knowledge for yourself and/or find the best consultants possible and put them to task for you. Trust but verify. It's your life; no one is going to care more about it than you.