More Ways to a More Healthy You

You can't be your best if you don't eat your best, but a proper diet alone won't do it. You have to have proper muscle tone, your eyes have to give off the sparkle that can only come from a body that is properly cared for, and to exude the self-confidence that makes others have confidence in you, you have to get the better of stress before it gets the better of you.

In Strategies for Lifelong Health we talked about how to Eat Yourself Beautiful. In this section we focus on three other health musts. They are the stepping-stones to vitality, the heart of true health.

Be Active

Your body was made to be used; the biggest enemy of your muscles and tissues is inactivity. Sit around too much, ride when you can walk, choose a quiet cocktail in the corner instead of a vigorous turn out on the dance floor, and your body deteriorates. Your metabolic system slows down. You don't rid yourself of the toxins that collect in your tissues and blood vessels, impairing the blood flow and diminishing the body's oxygen supply. Your cells no longer regenerate efficiently, resulting in premature ageing of your entire system.

This is such an unnecessary fate, because activity can keep you young. This doesn't mean you have to pump iron or train for a marathon. But it does mean that you have to change your habits.

From now on, one of your top priorities will be to keep your body in motion. Not hectic frenzy, just movement. Leave a little earlier for an appointment and walk instead of taking a cab. And, when you walk, do it properly: head up, shoulders back, toes pointed straight ahead, your bent knee a bit ahead of the rest of your body so that you come down on your full foot, not with the weight on your heels as so many of us learned to walk. The proper stride tones up the muscles better.

Avoid elevators and take the stairs. At home, don't grumble over having to retrieve something from the basement or an upstairs bedroom. Take advantage of these opportunities to tone up.

That's half the job. The other half is a regular period of concentrated exercise.

Set aside a half-hour once or twice a week and work at some regimen hard enough to really rev up your circulation. It can be an aerobics class, laps around a swimming pool, or a tough tennis game. It doesn't even have to be something athletic. How about a tango class or a folk dancing club?

The particular activity doesn't matter, as long as it's something you enjoy and it provides an excuse for moving your muscles and getting your pulse rate up to one hundred twenty or whatever your doctor recommends for your physical condition.

Your circulatory system will benefit from head to toe. It's a medical fact that getting the blood to course faster through the blood vessels will float away any small deposits and keep new ones from forming.

Increase the amount of movement in your everyday life and you'll see and feel the advantages very quickly. Your skin will look younger, your figure will be trimmer, and your eyes will sparkle. You'll feel more energetic, and there's a good physiological reason for it: The improvement in circulation that comes from regular exercise means a better oxygen supply. That, coupled with a diet of health foods, will increase your vitality and keep you looking younger as the years pass. And, with more oxygen reaching your brain, you'll stay more alert.

Some of the enzymes activated by regular exercise will regulate your appetite naturally, saving you from those sudden cravings that lead you to eat more than you should - and more foolishly than you might otherwise. The other good news is that exercise actually increases your metabolic rate, that is, the speed at which you burn calories. So, if you keep moving you can actually eat more - of the right foods, of course - without gaining weight.

Other enzymes act on your sense of mental well-being, leading you to a feeling of serenity and (the reason there are so many "fitness freaks") almost to a feeling of euphoria. This is the high that you get when you are pushing your system to do its best.

Get Enough Sleep

Exercise can slow the ageing process, but there is only one activity that allows the body to actually regenerate itself and that is sleep. Sleep is our only opportunity for total physical and mental relaxation.

Skimp and you'll show it. Scientists who study this subject report that you lose as much as 15% of your physical and mental capacity if you don't get enough sleep. Few after-midnight galas are going to be worth sacrificing that much of what makes you as good as you are.

But just how much sleep is enough? It varies from one day to the next and from one individual to another. Five hours and one woman is ready to fight tigers, while another is sluggish after eight and a half hours of deep slumber. Listen to what your own body is telling you. If you need more than the average, allow time for it. Don't let yourself be influenced by those who just think you're being lazy.

The time you choose to go to bed and wake up will dictate the amount of time you spend sleeping, but a lot of other habits will determine whether the hours in between are actually restful. Prepare for sleep the way you prepare for any other important segment of your day. Get ready by easing out of the cares of the day and relaxing. Stimulants have to be avoided well before bedtime. So do the problems of business and your personal life. You simply can't keep yourself hyped up until 11:30 working on your presentation for tomorrow's meeting and expect to drop off to dreamland at midnight.

Read a soothing book, or watch something mindless on television for half an hour before getting into bed. Or soak in a warm tub scented with your favourite fragrance. Or sip a glass of warm milk. The US Public Health Service reports new research that shows that a particular piece of grandmotherly advice was well-founded: milk has a high concentration of L-tryptophan, the amino acid that triggers the biochemical process of sleep.

After you've had a good night's sleep, it's equally important not to get up on the wrong side of the bed. Whether you're a morning person, or can't stand to get out of bed until the sun is high in the sky, it's nice to wake up slowly and gently. Stretch while you're still in bed, and then again when you're on your feet. Go over to the window and breathe in the fresh air. You'll feel much more alert and look better as well.

Then help yourself to a glass of warm water into which you've squeezed the juice of half a lemon and added a level teaspoon of honey. All that vitamin C is wonderful for youthful skin and a healthy immune system. In addition, the citric acid does wonders for the circulation in your capillaries. In the long run, it all means more oxygen, which speeds up regeneration of skin cells. Warm lemon juice also gently activates your digestive system and helps to prevent constipation.

You might like to start some days with Vitamin Start, a combination of yoghurt, dried apricots that have soaked overnight in water, and slivered almonds. It's another skin beautifier, full of vitamins A, B, and C.

Fight Stress

Besides the deep sleep of night-time, you have to set aside some other time of the day to shut out the tensions of your life. Otherwise, the pressures will get to you. Long-term stress takes an enormous toll on your whole body. We say we are nervous, but what we are really describing is a wide range of very real physical reactions to the demands placed on us as mothers, daughters, lovers, employees, and neighbours, at virtually every waking moment. And these demands work against our natural health.

"Stress born of the cares of daily living can truly wreak havoc on the skin," warns Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, chief of dermatology at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York; "Our emotions aren't just pinned on our collective sleeves; they're literally branded on the flesh!" Dr. Zizmor calls the skin "a window into the individual's inner condition," and maintains, "Many people who come to the doctor seeking explanations of rashes, pimples, or hives actually are often suffering from nothing more than stress, tension, and psychological unhappiness."

In the long run, doing the things that will make you healthy and beautiful - eating right, getting enough exercise, sleeping long enough each night - give you the strength to counteract stress too. But in the short run - in other words, when the events of the day threaten to gobble you up right now, set aside some time for yourself. I find that ten minutes will do it, if you really concentrate on yourself for that amount of time. My regimen:

Sit - or, even better, lie down - in a darkened room, where you are sure you will not be disturbed.

Close your eyes and try to make your mind totally blank. You can do this easily by repeating one word over and over in your mind. Any word or phrase will do, but pick one with a pleasant sound and no strong connotations. Lilac looms is fine, but something on your afternoon shopping list or the name of the project you are about to pick up won't work.

Then concentrate on relaxing your entire body, one part at a time. Start with your feet and work upwards, really concentrating on how the muscles feel, how the skin feels. If you do it right, you'll feel warm and heavy.

Then get up slowly and take three deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

I try to work in that six-hundred-second routine before my body demands it; midday seems to be best. It's really just a matter of good pacing. But, whenever you take this relaxation break, rest assured that you will get up invigorated, your mind and body responding to the pick-me-up with renewed energy for the rest of the day.