Struggling with aging process...

[Anonymous]

OP here. THANK YOU for the support and the very helpful tips and advice!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drink 4 oz of Aloe Vera juice a day, 2 oz in the am and 2 oz at night. It helps your body absorb nutrients. My husband's real estate agent is 61 and looks like she's in her 40s. She said she looks youthful because of the juice.

I've also heard this. I saw on tv once there is a woman in Oklahoma (?) who devoted her life's savings to starting an aloe vera farm and juice business. What kind are you drinking and where do you get it? Her's was supposed to be the very, very best quality.

[Anonymous]

I looked for some at Whole Foods tonight but could not find any. Went home with cantaloupe and pineapple instead. My son says he doesn't like cantaloupe because it sounds like antylope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked for some at Whole Foods tonight but could not find any. Went home with cantaloupe and pineapple instead. My son says he doesn't like cantaloupe because it sounds like antylope.

thanks for the chuckle tonight. kids say the most hilarious things.

[Anonymous]

9:04 and Whole Foods shopper back again. You know I hate to plug my blog , but this whole discussion made me think about this book I read which had some really good stuff in it about how to live a long life. It's here: http://forjacobandsamantha.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-review.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:04 and Whole Foods shopper back again. You know I hate to plug my blog , but this whole discussion made me think about this book I read which had some really good stuff in it about how to live a long life. It's here: http://forjacobandsamantha.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-review.html

Hi poster, could you kindly send the contact info for the Rafique Salon you recommended? It doesn't come up in google. Thanks for the other advice as well! Just ordered the MD Forte I items.

[Anonymous]

Salon Rafique
3307 M. Street
202-995-4000

Rafique is a nice nice man and a true artist, but he's not cheap.

[Anonymous]

And congrats on the MD Forte I items! I wish you much success and want to hear about it!

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry. Salon Rafique: 202-965-4000.

[Anonymous]

OK, thanks. I also pay a lot of money for my current stylist but have not been so happy the last couple of times and am shopping around. Hopefully will really like Rafique.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

To 9:25 poster: I tried to open the link to your book review, but it didn't work. What is the name of the book? Is the review still available? Not a whole lot of time for leisurely reading these days, but I'd be interesting in perusing this book. And, I think I'll try the MD Forte cleanser too. I've been using Aqua Glycolic cleanser for several months and like the results; the MD Forte II product has a higher percentage of glycolic acid than Aqua Glycolic, so I'm interested to see if it improves my skin tone further. Thanks for sharing. Peace, and happy holidays...

[Anonymous]

Hi. The link works for me. Try again and let me know. My MD Forte arrived yesterday. I'm on Level III now!

The book I reviewed actually was not very good in toto, which is why I kind of distilled the only pieces of the book that I thought were interesting and passed them on. The advice is for those that want to live a long life.

I want to live a life long enough for my kids to have me there for them as long as they feel they need me. And as long as I can enjoy myself. After that, I don't know. The NYT did an interesting studu. There are basically three ways to die: 1) heart attack, accident, or something else that happens with no or little warning; 2) a disease like cancer or Alzheimer's or whatever other disease you want to insert into this category whereby you have some time to plan, say goodby to loved one, and hopefully die comfortably; and 3) dying of old age. Most people, when asked, want # 3. Until they really start to think about it. Old age = frail. Old age = a limited ability to take care of yourself and control your life and major decisions concerning your life. Old age = many of your friends, and some of your family, is already dead. Not all kinds of old age are like this -- some people can hit 90 and still be independent, but the older you get, the harder it is. I think dying sucks, however you have to do it.

[Anonymous]

First user of MD Forte products here. Mine also just arrived. I have a question, though. What do you use for your eyes? And what about sun protection? I currently use Clarins (quite expensive) for everything but am thinking of switching to MD Forte entirely. But couldn't find eye and sun protection products. Advice? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi, if you go to www.theskinstore.com, you will find two M.D. Forte sunscreens -- one is 15, the other is 30. I've tried neither of them. They are under the "protect" category. They do have an eye cream, found in the "renew" category, but it also contains glycolic acid so you will need a suncreen. I have not used the eye cream. Eye creams that contain a sunscreen and do not burn your eye are hard to come by. Murad has a pretty good one. I might try the sunscreen and eye cream too (eye cream only at night).

I also like Philosophy's Hope in a Tube eye cream. It's nice and thick and you can use it on your mouth, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I'm going through a bit of a mid-life crisis! I can't afford Botox or anything of that nature and DH is completely opposed to it anyway. And yet I find myself scrutinizing all of the changes in my body/skin, particularly in the last four years since I've been at home with the kids (I just turned 38). I guess I don't have the best self-esteem and perhaps I've always relied on my looks a bit because I haven't been as confident about what's underneath, if that makes any sense. And now that I'm out of the work force and thus out of the professional/intellectual/cultural loop, I feel like without my looks I'm nothing. DH tells me that this is all my self-perception and not grounded in reality... that I just need to exercise, stay fit and healthy and appreciate each day, and of course he's absolutely right!! He also said that I need to focus on strengthening my emotional/spiritual core and not waste energy on this bologna. It seems like aging is treated as a disease that needs to be battled to the end, at least in our culture, and I guess I've internalized this. How to STOP??

First, it's wonderful your DH is so supportive. His advice is 100% right. My DH gives me the same advice. Of course, easier said than done!

Ditto exercise is the best thing you can do for yourself, and a good healthy diet.

I've thought about surgery and Botox (on a really bad day), but rejected both not because of the expense, but because I don't think either is worth the risk. And I very much distrust cosmetics and creams, not matter how well they work. I had a breast cancer scare that convinced me to eliminate chemicals from my body, diet, and household. So I only use simple, natural products, and my skin looks fine.

I had a recent epiphany when looking at pictures on the Internet of the best- and worst-dressed women of 2008. Some of them are so spectacular looking that they would look great in rags. But a lot of them don't actually look much better than I do. Even much younger women have more lines that I, with sun-damage, ugly-looking botox freeze or surgery stretch. The difference is that they take care of themselves. They dress carefully and look confident, even radiant. I wear mommy duds, look and feel tired.

Women rely on their looks to feed their self-esteem. We get used to those smiles and looks from men that tell us we look good and they like it. It gives us confidence and makes us feel worthwhile. But when we start looking tired and old, those looks and smiles stop. Happily married or not, that attention from men feeds us, and when it disappears, it makes us feel less valuable. My DH says he loves my looks, so that has not changed, but the external world no longer appreciates my looks, and that's a loss for me.

OP, my advice is to stop looking in the mirror. Grieve the past. Your old self is gone. Focus on staying healthy for your children. I've been forcing myself to shed my dowdy mommy clothes and put myself together so I look as good as I can (without chemicals or surgery). When I feared I had breast cancer (false alarm), all I could think about was that I didn't want to die and leave my children. They don't care what I look like, only that I'm alive and healthy. They love me wrinkles, lines, bad hair and all. That's what really matters.