"Do not conquer the world with force, for force only causes resistance."
-- Lao-Tse, in the Tao Te Ching --
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-- Lao-Tse, in the Tao Te Ching --
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I've been on a low fat, low sugar, three small meals and three snacks per day diet since visiting the nutritionist in February. I have lost weight, and the body (clothed, anyway) is looking pretty durn good for an old bat.
Back in February the nutritionist remarked that I had very nice facial skin, relatively unlined and unwrinkled for my age.
Well, not any more. I've noticed a network of fine wrinkles, all over my face, but especially on my left cheek where I have some hitherto almost unnoticeable abrasion scars from a 50-year-ago bicycle accident. The fine wrinkles really age me.
I thought it was just age catching up to me, and the loss of fat in my face.
And then I noticed my elbows this morning. I don't much look at my elbows, they're just there, but I was dressing in the second bedroom, and there's a large mirror there, and I caught a side view as I was pulling my sweater on, and I couldn't believe it. I've always had dry scaly elbows. They'll easily get rough and gray, especially in the winter, but I've never seen anything like this. They, especially the right elbow, have actual callous-like patches, hard, almost black, a quarter to half inch across. So thick and dead I could peel them off.
Now I think the facial wrinkling and elbow drying might be from the lack of oils in my diet.
So I spent some time this morning with my elbows in bowls of warm olive oil, and now when I sit at the computer, I have them resting on foam pads rather than on the counter.
The only actual fats I regularly have in the house is olive oil and margarine. A small bottle of olive oil will last me 6 to 8 months, and 1 pound of margarine will last 4 to 6 months. I trim fat off meats, and use low fat or no fat cheeses, milk, yogurt and whatever. The closest I get to full fat is peanut butter, ice cream (sugar-free), dark chocolate, poppy seed salad dressing, and potato chips, all of which are restricted to occasional treats.
I do use a moisturizer on my face and elbows after washing, and lately I've even been using facial pads on my face, not soap, but I guess that's not enough. I take several daily supplements, including 1200mg each of fish oil and lecithin. I guess I should increase them. And maybe add some oils back into my diet.
Olive oil is allowed, right?
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3 comments:
Drink a lot of water.
Also, there's this thing called "microdermabrasion". I think my boss had it and she looks rejuvenated.
Sounds like you're doing a lot of good things, and yes, add lots of water in. That being said, I am nearing 40 and just within the past year I am horrified to see all of the fine lines/wrinkles/sagging/white hairs that have popped up. I don't know how much of that type of aging we can stop from happening.
I do drink a lot. Every morning I fill bottles with water and line them up on the counter. That's over 2 quarts for the day, and doesn't count the coffee, tea, and whatever fluids are in soup and other foods.
Hmmm. Microdermabrasion. I wonder if that would be better before or after the mini-facelift. (Moot at the moment. Gotta sell the old house first.)
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